Actually there is nothing wrong with paid advertisements, but the problem is that setting up a PPC AdWords campaign or any other for that matter is a risky business, and you need to know exactly what to do in order to avoid getting hurt financially.

However even when you got hit hard in the pocket, you might be going at it still, until you finally feel  being capable of telling the difference between scams and really educational and business oriented resources. From there consider that you did not spend money, but rather  invested money, for the simple reason that you were getting value and knowledge, something that would allow you to get a return on that investment.

After quite some time and experience of joining and investing on a couple of good Internet marketing programs, you will discover that there are actually dozens of free traffic techniques that can provide the same results that the PPC or paid traffic techniques can offer.

However, free traffic techniques take time to deliver actual results, whereas a well laid out PPC campaign can make a good income in a day. It is really up to each person to decide which option is best, based on availability of cash, and risk tolerance, because using PPC poses a risk of losing money etc.

In my personal view, it pays off to be patient and go for free traffic techniques. They will demand an additional effort on your part, but you can gradually scale up your results without risking a single dime. Some of those free traffic techniques involve writing articles, using social bookmarking, creating feeds that link to your content and many others that require a bit of work but little or no money.

If you know how to do things and how to adequately analyze your efforts, you can start a solid Internet business with an unlimited potential for growth with only your brain power and a fair share of effort.

For more tips about internet marketing and how to grow your business online, Contact us so that you can find an efficient internet marketing strategy on how to invest, and strategically grow your business.

What social media sites must be used to distribute your blog?

One strategy to generate more traffic to your website is to use what Google considers high ranking authority social sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

These 3 are different from each other and have varying aspects to cover in your social media marketing strategy.

1. LinkedIn, use WordPress to connect and import your blog in a simple, clean way. Occasionally sharing your link in a post and in your network updates will generate some traffic. But, be careful and don’t spam, because LinkedIn doesn’t like a lot of link promotion.
2. Twitter, create an automated account that will send out your post through a tweet that has a link to your blog. This allows readers to immediately have instant access to your updated content. Again don’t spam your followers, treat them well and provide real valuable information, tips and resources.
3. Facebook, use a note to share the updates you have made to your blog. Providing good content like “how to’s” with screen shots or video is an easy way to get your readers to share it with others on Facebook, through emails, forums and other Social networking sites.

LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are good social media sites where you can share your new blog posts because they are popular and have been proven to be effective tool for promoting business. These social sites can help you earn more money online with your blog because they have many frequent regular visitors.

We usually talk about how to grow your business with Internet marketing, get more customers, increase your conversion rate, and build thousands of daily readers. But today lets talk about the running a business and your Internet marketing strategy that you should consider in Houston.

Below are 5 Marketing mistakes that you should avoid that can hurt your online success.

1. A bad attitude towards your own business is not good because it can affect everyone’s  impression of how they view you. Every web visitor, every person you speak to, every Twitter and Facebook contact will see exactly how you represent your business. In consistent activity can be seen as flaky behavior if:
   • You don’t post for weeks on end.
   • You haven’t created a new product, or followed up with your customers on a service you provided; or sent new industry information to your list within the last six months.
   • You expect your customers to do business with you just because you are online.
2. Market to a demographic not a niche. A niche is “a group of people with a common problem who congregate together.” Keeping that definition in mind, we can easily see that freelancers, home based working parents, small businesses, copywriters, and retirees are not a niche. They can be considered demographics unless they share a common problem. These demographics are smaller than niches and usually easier to target.
3. Don’t look cheap. It’s so easy to set up an online business especially with the help of a WordPress.com or Blogger site. But that is not enough. To avoid looking cheap and unprofessional invest in additional things like: graphics, clip arts, a logo, website header, business cards, and newsletters. Make your site clean, professional, easy to navigate, and your web presence should look worth the prices you charge.
4. Not capturing visitor details. Someone comes to your site, looks around, read some posts, and then leaves. They liked it and intend to come back and read more on your site but they never do because they forget, lose the URL, or get busy. You lose visitors this way and it can be avoided by having a way to capture visitor details — their names and email addresses. Then you can send them email newsletters or information regarding your product or service.
5. You fail to plan for the long term or don’t plan at all. To say that “Business plans are for big businesses” is wrong! When you don’t plan you lose focus of your goals. A good business plan must be drafted so you will know what you are aiming for, what you expect out of your business, and when you’ve reached your goal.

Avoid these 5 common mistakes made by Houston businesses when determining an Internet marketing strategy. These simple tips can help make your online marketing efforts successful and profitable.

The popular site has several free tools and options to help generate traffic and views when marketing your video. I will share some simple but often overlooked strategies we use.

1. Make sure your video content appeals to the targeted audience you are trying to attract.
2. Use the Share option in YouTube. You can share via email with friends and contacts you have in your account. Remember the more friends you have the better your chances are generating a lot of views.
3. Share videos through email. Going viral with your video marketing requires traffic. One strategy that can help accomplish this is to send your friends and family a link to the video that  encourages them to share.
4. Add friends. Adding friends and commenting on other people’s video is a powerful way to gain exposure on YouTube, encourage interaction and build relationships.
5. Update through Bulletin Board (New Feature). A bulletin is a way to send an update to your subscribers directly from your channel. You can post what your working on or include a link to a video that will appear in their recent activity on their homepage.
6. Invite people to subscribe to your videos. This feature is available in your account once you request a friend invite.
7. Use StumbleUpon.com to submit videos. StumbleUpon is a popular social site where you can upload your video, import your email addresses and then send to your friends on stumble upon.
8. Use Social Media. You can leverage Digg and other social sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Orkut to connect accounts and automatically share your activity feed to your profile on other websites.

Implementing these techniques with the free tools mentioned will help you get more traffic and make more money online using these simple video marketing strategies.

Like any marketing strategy social media takes maintenance, a clear vision of the big picture,  coordination to meet the ultimate goal, which is to establish trust, build the brand, and increase sales.

If you think you can overcome the stumbling blocks that I have previously stated then a well executed social media strategy could work wonders for you. Here are 9 reasons why you should consider social media.

1. It can bring would-be customers for your product
   Companies that use traditional marketing spend millions to locate their target markets. Why bother with these methods when you can simply establish a social media strategy that will help put you where potential customers are hanging out.
2. It tells you what interests them
   Social media gives businesses on a small budget the ability to find out what people are saying about you and your competitors in your industry. It’s getting Free market research without paying for it. You will know if your product is working or needs adjustments.
3. It introduces your brand
   If your company is new you can introduce your products and services through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. You can talk about topics of interest with friends and followers and people will soon start inviting their friends over to see what’s going on, which is an effective way to make connections that lead to sales.
4. It expands your reach
   Even though your product is an established brand it may still be missing out on some potential customers. Through social media, you can find and communicate with more prospects. These places can become portals to a larger audience for your products and services because your customers can spread the word for you to their network of online communities.
5. It gives you users feedback
   This is a big advantage because through social media you can immediately know how your customers feel about your product. This allows you to find ways to improve the the comments and retain the services they praised.
6. It provides a test audience
   Companies use it to test a product or service first, before selling it. Within social media you can find those willing to implement your ideas and give you valuable feedback before you launch.
7. It showcases your company’s personality
   You can avoid being a faceless, impersonal storefront, by letting people know who you are by providing personal contact with customers using social media. Commenting, blogs posting and inviting conversation, allows your customers to connect with you and your brand.
8. It makes you accessible
   Fans, friends, and followers have direct access to you thereby, you can quickly respond to your customers’ problems and frustrations before they explode into a big mess. Likewise, being able to personally respond to positive feedback strengthens bonds by making people feel that their opinions matter.
9. It lets you share
   Through social media, you can create all kinds of content and share it by posting it in one place. Make videos; write articles, add blog posts and podcasts to your pages, where everyone can access them.

Your customers are out there having conversations on social media with or without you. You can choose to join in or not. But think about the potential that social media marketing offers. It may be worth your time to start exploring it today.

5 Powerful Steps in a Sales Process and Internet Marketing:

• Marketing/Prospecting – Prospecting is the result of the marketing that you have made; it’s the process of delivering targeted qualified traffic to your website. This can be achieve by advertisement that directs people to your site by the use of search engine optimization or pay per clicks that will delivery your unique selling proposition.
• Build Credibility and Trust – In a business, trust is built by interaction to your client or customer.  Letting them feel that they are welcomed by greeting a person as the walk in the door, or just by physically helping them find what kind of product or service they want is a way of building trust and credibility between your client and your company. The same thing goes for any site you build, it should have that same trust and credibility in the elements that surround the design and the development of your website. Your site should work as a personal shopper, a live virtual assistant that knows the needs that your visitor has and offers the solutions for those needs easily accessible.
• Escort and Court the Buyer – Take a look at your current site and see if it helps your visitors to identify and find the best solutions to their problem. Guide them in finding the right tools they need to solve the problem they may be having. A person happens to be on your site because they are looking for a solution to a problem. That solution can be a product or a service. Internet marketing studies show that 7 out of 10 visitors that come to a site are ready to buy after seeing your product or service 7 times. Take the time to escort and court them to and offer what they need.
• Present the Product/Service – As you present your products or services to your visitor, be sure that you are continually keeping their attention and interest by motivating them to continue with the sale. Presentation is the process wherein you show the client or customer the services and products that you have and then guide them in the selection process.
• Close the Sale – Take a look at each product that you offer, provide enough information about the product, give them the assurance policies and / or guarantees regarding their purchase. Another vital part of the close that is often missed is clearly communicating your guarantee and assurance that you will stand behind the product or service. Consider adding testimonials for each product or service to build added credibility. One thing that many e-commerce sites forget to do is provide payment information which is the most important part of closing the sale.

The easiest way to create a new tab within your Facebook Page is by using the Static FBML application only that this Static FBML application will require you to understand a basic level of HTML but if you have no idea about HTML then use an application like Dreamweaver of Microsoft FrontPage thereby create a good social media marketing strategy that can make you more money online.

Here are a few other tips that you should keep in mind to create a fairly effective landing tab:

1. Call all visitors to action by educating your visitors about why they should join your Facebook Page and encourage them to actually join. This is an important social media marketing strategy that can grow your list of fans fast.
2. Write in the second person rather than by writing about yourself and your company. Write as if you’re talking to the person who you want to become a fan. Explain why they should join and the benefits they’ll get from your page.
3. Place important parts at beginning and end because some people tend to scan or skim the information and read only the beginning and end of landing pages. Therefore put the most important content at the beginning or at the end to help boost your social media marketing strategy and make more money online.
4. Don’t link to other pages if you want to get visitors to take an action by joining your page and becoming part of an effective social media marketing strategy.
5. Perform some basic testing by trying to make some subtle adjustments to your landing tab and measuring the difference in the number of new fans you receive each day.