Posted by admin on May 26th, 2008 — Posted in Promoting Stuff
Public relations is how a business conveys information to the public to build good will, credibility, name recognition and prestige. PR activities include:
Press releases, articles and newsletters;
Company-sponsored events and activities;
Speaking engagements and interviews, and
Trade shows and conventions.
Web site PR is all about news, and top companies rely on the Web to spread it. As newspapers shrink in size and circulation, on-line news outlets multiply. Though often overlooked, Web site PR is surprisingly easy, affordable and effective, as long as you follow a few simple rules.
The first step is to make sure your company Web site is media-friendly. Journalists begin research by cruising a target company’s site. They look for PR contacts, basic company facts, corporate position statements, financial information and images to download for the story. With that in mind, a powerhouse PR site will have:
Easy navigation;
Clear, concise and jargon-free content;
Current news and archived press releases;
A “Media Room” with photos of key executives, personal contact information and newsworthy charts and graphics;
Financial data, and
A consistent and compelling overall message.
Follow these guidelines and all visitors - not just journalists - will develop a clear and favorable impression of your company.
After giving your site a PR tune-up, tell the world what you are all about. Companies can submit news stories directly to on-line wire services, where industry news sites, blogs and message boards regularly pick them up. Stories on “hot” topics can rapidly circulate among blogs, providing the company with highly effective - and free - viral marketing. If direct submission is not practical, the company can work through an on-line PR firm that specializes in article placement.
PR submissions come in many flavors, such as technical white papers, press releases, customer success stories and opinion-editorial pieces. Each type requires a different emphasis and style; properly crafted submissions quickly will grab the attention of editors and readers. Above all, articles must have real informative value; otherwise, they get lost in the shuffle. For example, EzineArticles, a popular submission site, receives nearly 9,000 articles per month! Despite the proliferation of news, analysts see nothing but growth for Web site PR; in fact developing technologies such as “podcasting” open up whole new vistas of opportunity.
Companies that fancy themselves sharp Web marketers because they do effective search marketing and pay-per-click campaigns often miss the public-relations boat. PR does not replace on-line advertising, but compliments it. Article placement can enhance optimization, and PR reaches targeted market segments with information-rich content. This means when a qualified prospect spots your ad or scans Google results, they will recognize your name - and click.
Aaron Wittersheim is president of Whoast Inc., a suburban Chicago search marketing firm. For more information, visit http://www.whoast.com.
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Posted by admin on April 28th, 2008 — Posted in Promoting Stuff
Many people see our prices as low or even cheap and, yes, we are
very competitive. M6.net is actually one of the leaders on the
Internet for best-priced web hosting. We are able to offer low
prices confidently due to extensive experience in the web
hosting industry.
M6 has experienced just about every challenge there is to
running an efficient, effective and profitable web hosting
business. Offering the best-priced web hosting, and, multiple
website hosting accounts comes easy when you consider a few
well-followed principles.
Experience - We have been operating for over 4 years, but,
instead of being distracted into other areas like web design or
consulting services, we have maintained a focus on pure web
hosting.
Single Platform - We have focused on one platform, Microsoft
Windows NT /Windows 2000 servers, with a limit to the number of
’boutique’, third party, development platforms.
Relationships - We have maintained a strong relationship with
our suppliers and backbone providers and have not moved in 3
years, we have simply increased our usage and strengthened our
ties.
Budgeting - We project and budget all expansions week-to-week up
to 2 years at a time. Every new server, every extra bandwidth,
is budgeted, we are never surprised by spikes in server or
network usage.
Honesty - We provide clear and simple account plans that detail
as much as possible what you get for each account plan.
Training - We are constantly training and re-training our staff
in the latest techniques and programs. With regularly updated
network, server and support procedures, we can ensure M6.net is
running as efficiently as a network, server and support
administration team can.
Reliability - An enthusiastic and dedicated team ensures that
reliability is at a very high standard, we are concerned about
our efforts, and strive to maintain a continually sound service.
We have well informing web site at http://www.m6.net , which is
very user friendly, most questions can be answered there, but if
more information is needed contact our sales staff on
sales@m6.net .
Basically, M6.net provides web hosting, it’s all we do and we do
it very well.
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Posted by admin on April 20th, 2008 — Posted in Promoting Stuff
News stories about hoodia gordonii have people searching for this natural appetite suppressant. The plant grows wild only in areas of southern Africa and is apparently relatively hard to cultivate. The San people of southern Africa reported that consumption of hoodia results in suppressed appetite. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa reported in 1963 that injecting lab animals with extracts of hoodia results in weight loss, but not due to any apparent toxic effect. A British pharmaceutical company heard about hoodia gordonii and began to investigate for themselves. They released results in 2001 of a clinical study of overweight volunteers who were given hoodia extract and the results were positive. There was a significant reduction in daily caloric intake and a significant reduction in body fat. In 2004, scientists at Brown University Medical School in Rhode Island reported that injecting laboratory rats with extract of hoodia results in increased levels of ATP, a neurotransmitter and cell energy source. Rats reduced their food intake over a 24 hour period by 40-60%.
Many people have questions about hoodia gordonii. The majority of questions are about safety and side effects. Many appetite suppressants contain stimulants and use of stimulants may result in unwanted side effects from sleeplessness to increased heart rate to, in the case of Ephedra, death. Apparently use of hoodia results in no unwanted side effects other than suppression of thirst, as well as hunger, which means that dieters need to be conscious of water consumption to avoid dehydration. The clinical studies by Phytopharm have not been completed at this time. Most information about hoodia gordonii comes from Phytopharm. There have been informal studies by interested doctors in the United States and no unwanted side effects have been reported. However, the importance of talking to one’s doctor about hoodia gordonii can not be overstressed. If they have not heard about hoodia, they soon will. One should be in relatively good health before using hoodia, results vary among individuals and all available products are not the same. A little investigation into ingredients and sometimes a little trial and error is necessary to find an effective product.
A non-profit South African based company, Hoodia gordonii.co.za, is involved in providing accurate information about hoodia gordonii supplements to interested consumers. They have had the products from several different companies tested by Alkemists Pharmaceuticals laboratories. These hoodia results are not so promising. While there are companies whose products do contain genuine hoodia gordonii powder, there are many products that do not. A list of products that have been tested and the results of those tests are available for view at their website. They have not tested every product on the market as testing is expensive and was sponsored by Desert Burn Industries and Ethno Africa. Many companies that are aware of customers concerns about hoodia gordonii authenticity have had their own testing done and display these results on their websites.
In conclusion, comparing use of hoodia results in lab animals to anticipated results in people could be a problem. Animals only eat because they are hungry. People eat for a variety of reasons and hunger is only one of them. While use of hoodia gordonii may suppress the appetite, it may not suppress psychological cravings and eating out of boredom. Binge eaters, habitual overeaters and those who need to “clean their plates” may not be helped by an appetite suppressant. Available information about hoodia gordonii’s effectiveness as an appetite suppressant is promising, but it is not a “miracle cure” for obesity.
For more information about hoodia results, visit the Hoodia Info Blog.
Patsy Hamilton is an editor of the Hoodia Info Blog. Visit us at http://hoodiainfo.blogspot.com
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Posted by admin on April 8th, 2008 — Posted in Promoting Stuff
Pixel Ads, What are they and why do you want one?
They’re catchy… they’re hip… they’re just flat compelling!
No more big ugly clunky banners screaming at you like the
used-car salesman on late-night TV.
Pixel ads are like little jewelry boxes, you’ve simply got to
open them and see what’s inside.
Pixel ads are tiny (10 x 10) ads delivered on high content
web sites.
Your little icon and powerful ad copy begs the viewer’s
attention. It’s just plain irresistible.
Once the viewer moves his mouse to the icon, your
ad copy jumps out, grabbing his complete attention.
There’s only one thing left to do… Click!
It’s just that simple. Clean, crisp, hip… ads that
capture your reader’s attention and move them to
action.
You can find examples of pixel ads at
http://PixelsAnyone.com
How to get your Pixel Ad done right!
Pixel ads, those catchy little icons popping up everywhere demand
new and creative thought.
You get 10 x 10 pixels of space to grab your viewer’s attention,
captivate their curiosity, and compel them to action.
Pretty tall order!
Actually it’s easy as 1, 2, 3.
1. Find the right pixel ad provider.
**Here are 5 things to consider when selecting your pixel ad service.
**List size, can they get your ad in front of millions of eyeballs?
**Do they have the server resources? “Banwidth limit exceeded” doesn’t make you any money.
**Can you call on your ad service for help?
**What kind of experience does your ad service have in the industry? Are they professionals?
**Will you have access to your stats? You want to know your ad is working for you.
2. Create your icon.
Use the dominant color of your web site.
Keep your icon as simple and crisp as possible.
Generally reducing an existing logo is not acceptable.
3. Captivate your viewrt with a catchy slogan
Your “alt tag” is the all important message. You get
50 characters to pique your reader’s curiosity and
move them to action.
Use short description words and strong action type
verbs. Your only goal is get your viewer to click on
your ad.
JPEAdvertising.com and AskShari.com are specialists
in Pixel Ad design and delivery. You can count on
them to deliver the goods. You can view their pixel site
at http://pixelsanyone.com
Jane Mark is the CEO of JPE Advertising, a full service Professional
Online Ad Agency. http://jpeadvertising.com and Star of the online
Soap Opera, Joe? Yes Mable? Are We Rich Yet? http://joeandmable.com
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Posted by admin on April 3rd, 2008 — Posted in Promoting Stuff
One of the big factors in search engine ranking is how many sites link to your website. Each link counts as a vote for your website, pushing it up in the search engines’ listings. Not only that, but every link gives others that much more of a chance to visit your website. So how do you get other sites to link to yours?
One of the best ways is to put the links in yourself. On blogs, you can leave comments and include a link to your website. So visit plenty of blogs that are related to your site’s topic and leave comments. Make sure they are valid comments, insightful when possible. This will make others more likely to visit your site.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, post in forums that are related to your site’s topic. Make sure to have a signature with your name and website address. While not all search engines count links in forums, if your messages are helpful and demonstrate your knowledge of the topic, people will be that much more likely to visit your site.
Write about a controversial topic. If you have an opinion about a controversial topic in your industry, write about it. Articulate your opinion, using good writing skills. Other sites will likely link directly to your article. And if your page design is consistent, they can easily get to the rest of your site from there.
You can also submit your website to various link directories online. Though the general purpose link directories tend not to be counted by the search engines, you can find directories specific to your industry. Maybe your business is already listed in some online listings. See if you can add your website address.
There are, of course, plenty of ways to get sites to link to yours. If you know of more, feel free to contact me.
Tim is the owner and senior web designer at T&S Web Design. His company has developed and maintained website for dozens of small businesses and organizations. Tim also maintains a blog with free website advice for small business owners, GetASiteOnline.com.
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Posted by admin on March 24th, 2008 — Posted in Promoting Stuff
If you’re like most people, you find you don’t have enough time to do the things you really want to do. And when you think about it, if you did, you probably wouldn’t have the money to do them.
Sort of a catch 22.
The main reason you’re reading this is to change all that, no? But here’s the deal: It is going to take some time and patience. Those are two things most people lack nowadays. Most should be doing what my wife is doing - but that’s another story.
Ask any marketer worth his or her salt and you’ll soon find that testing is the de facto standard of that industry. They track and test everything. Here’s just an example:
On a 30 second radio ad they normally test the following criteria:
- Time of day it airs
- Adjacent programming
- Man or woman announcing
- Serious or comedic delivery
- Fast or slow delivery
- Leading paragraph
- Frequency of ad on the air (times it runs per day)
- Day of the week
- Week of the month
- Month of the year
You get the picture. They are more meticulous than those who do baseball scoring and stats. And can you guess why that may be?
Because they want to monetize every second of that airtime to their advantage. To them, it’s a business - it ain’t a hobby! So, approach to this whole AdSense thing is everything. Is it a hobby; a few ads on a few pages? Or are you dead serious about making this work?
If you’re serious, you MUST take notes. You must become aware of what is working and, of course, what isn’t.
So, how do you do that?
Google AdSense makes it easier to see what is making you money and what isn’t by breaking your ads down by channel and day. You can create any number of customized reports to track the code included on your pages which displays the AdSense ads.
But, it doesn’t end there. You must test, just as the radio ad people, for criteria on your webpage. Like:
- Ad color
- Ad placement
- Ad type (size)
- Ad frequency (one, two or three blocks on a page?)
Testing is impossible when you have no traffic. You need visitors (feedback, clicks), in order to track your numbers each day. Once you have visitors, you can see what works and what doesn’t and adjust accordingly. Now, remember; don’t go about changing your AdSense around daily. Real testing requires leaving the page as is for a week or more, unless, of course, you have thousands of visitors a day.
So, hello Dave, what do I do?
I recommend looking at the successful site that display AdSense ad’s. Google has a few examples of successful AdSense campaigns - https://www.google.com/adsense/newsandstudies. See where they place their ads. See what colors they use. And notice how they blend well with the context.
As your site receives more visitors, you’ll be better able to compare your AdSense statistics with your web pages. Don’t forget to do that. Treat this like a business. Print out the pages with ad’s and your AdSense stats for each week and you will have an idea what is happening. And, guess what? A pattern will appear.
Take your time with this and do it right. It will pay BIG dividends if you put time into it.
Founder of one of the first web hosting companies on the Internet, World Wide Mart, Dave Jackson has been teaching others how to monetize their web sites for over ten years. Currently he teaches others to create a solid residual income by creating quality web sites of great benefit to visitors and monetizing them using contextual ads. His blog is Making Money with Contextual Ads.
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