You are here: Home / Archives for Internet marketing

Secrets to Increasing Your Search Engine Rankings

June 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Driving visitors to your website takes more than just having good content. People need to know that your website exists.

Through Working Naked Day, the holiday I sponsor, thousands of people learned about Working Naked… the blog and the lifestyle. But now that the holiday is over, I spend time each day working on my search engine rankings through social media and other methods. I want to keep my site traffic strong.

I could hire someone to handle my search engine optimization (SEO) but that can be expensive. Instead, I downloaded the e-book “50 SEO Secrets for Mom Entrepreneurs” by Holly Klaassen (affiliate link). This e-book offers practical, quick, and effective tips that work not only for moms, but for anyone who wants to increase his or her site traffic.

Holly breaks down the mystery of SEO into 50 easy-to-use tips including:

  • Get traffic from Yahoo. Go to Yahoo Answers and run a search for topics related to your business or niche. Provide helpful and well thought out answers to questions and include a link back to helpful information or articles on your site.
  • Keep urls short. While your urls should be descriptive, they should also be fairly short. The shorter they are, the easier it is for people to remember them, cut and paste them into their blog or an email, or write on a business card.
  • Go after “long tail” keywords. Rather than trying to be found with popular (and competitive) phrases such as “chocolates,” try longer, more descriptive phrases such as “milk chocolate truffles.” [Read more...]
Filed Under: Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Working at home Tagged With: , , ,

What Not to Do With Your Web Site

September 17, 2010 By

My Web site is a work in progress. I make a few changes to it and then a month later I think of a few more things I need to update. Within the next few weeks I’ll be making a few more changes. It never ends.

In “11 Reasons Customers Don’t Trust Your Web Site,” writer Lisa Barone shares common sense tips and easy-to-stop-doing strategies for making your site better.It’s more of a list of Web site mistakes you may be making including:

  • It’s littered with typos. Do your best to find typos and squash them dead. It’s hard to believe what someone has written when every other word is spelled wrong. Also, it looks bad if your phone number is wrong. My number changed recently but I didn’t change it on my site until last week. (Oprah, if you tried to call before, try again!) [Read more...]
Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Home office technology, Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Marketing/Public Relations, Working at home Tagged With: , ,

5 Ways Twitter Makes You a Better Person

September 17, 2010 By

Guest post by San Sharma

If you work alone or from home, there’s no denying that Twitter is an invaluable tool, both professionally and personally. As part of a marketing strategy, Twitter can help spread the word about your business. And when you’re feeling disconnected, Twitter can make you feel a part of the world around you.

But in some circles, Twitter, Facebook and social media, in general, is considered a bad thing. “We’re all getting self-obsessed,” some complain. To them I say, Twitter can actually make you a better person.

Here’s some ‘Twitterquette’ to demonstrate how:

  1. Be more open
    Contrary to popular belief, Twitter’s not all about what you had for lunch. But its 140-character limit and the ways in which you can tweet – from your desk or from your mobile phone – make Twitter an ideal platform to share a little more about yourself. Being transparent with your [Read more...]
Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Home office technology, Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Working at home, Working with clients Tagged With: , , , ,

There’s More to Twitter Than Tweeting Your Next Task

September 1, 2010 By

Last week, at a party, I mentioned that Twitter has been invaluable to my business.  A few of my friends said (as they rolled their eyes) that it doesn’t matter if someone’s on their way to the gym or late to get a haircut.

They don’t get it. Others don’t either, unless they use Twitter often.

Twitter isn’t just about letting others know what you’re doing through your tweets. The truth is that unless you’re a major celebrity, not everyone cares where you’re going or where you’ve been.

There are a few ways that you can use Twitter to help you grow your business including:

Drawing traffic to your blog. When you update your blog (which you should do several times a week), tweet your latest blog headline and a (shortened) link. The better the headline, the faster your followers will flock to your site. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Working with clients Tagged With: , , ,

You Get What You Pay For

August 5, 2010 By

Guest post by Katrina Sawa

You’ve heard this phrase, but do you really pay attention to this when it comes to investing in yourself or your business? Many entrepreneurs do not. I know this because I talk with hundreds of women entrepreneurs every month. They are continuously trying to find ways to cut costs, get stuff for free, find someone to trade for services or find a reason why they “can’t afford it” or shouldn’t invest.

Yes, it’s fine and very important to cut costs when you can in your life, business, and in any economic market. However, when it comes to necessary things in the running and marketing of your business or making sales, why would you risk it? Here are some areas where you do not want to skimp or be cheap: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working at home, Working with clients Tagged With: , , , ,

4 Ways to Make the Road to Success a Little Less Bumpy

July 19, 2010 By

My son just earned his driving permit.  When he slips into the driver’s side and carefully adjusts the mirrors and seat, I realize that everything is new to him.  Yet at some point, he’ll run on autopilot and driving will seem second nature to him.

When I look back at my career and think about every job I’ve ever had, I realize I’ve experienced the same thing. At first I’d learn everything I could and then eventually I’d go into autopilot.  There was nothing new to learn, my boss refused to do anything differently and I quit using my business skills.

Working from home has changed everything.  As my own boss, I can’t afford to sit back and coast through each business day.  Instead, I make a conscious effort to develop more skills. This keeps me in the loop and keeps my business from being left behind.  There are a few ways to do the same.

  • Sign up for webinars in your field. You could spend a solid year (virtually) attending every [Read more...]
Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working at home Tagged With: , , ,

Social Media Strategies That Make Sense and Cents

June 30, 2010 By

Guest post by Becky Powell

Social media is just another tool in your box of tactics, but leaving your digital footprint requires a thought-out strategy.

Think Smarter Not Harder. Now, most journalists have their own blogs, Twitter and Facebook, so you may reach exponentially larger audiences, all from sending to one contact. And remember many communication tools are multi-purpose – embed links, photos and videos that direct readers to your web site, Facebook, Twitter and more. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office technology, Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Marketing/Public Relations, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working with clients

Copyblogger Makes Writing Your Blog Easier

June 25, 2010 By

The blog Copyblogger is as addictive as chocolate, and if their blog posts had calories, I’d go over my daily limit! If you haven’t taken the time to check out this blog bursting with useful and practical writing and SEO tips, drop everything and read one, two or as many blog posts as you can.

I try to read one post and then click off, but I can’t help clicking on the links to other posts. An hour later I have to stop reading and get back to work. A few of my favorite Copyblogger posts are:

The 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers. The first tip is to be prolific:“The more you write, the better your writing gets.” Another tip is to be concise. Short paragraphs, bulleted points and numbered lists keep your readers interested.

How to be Interesting. (I read this one twice, thank you!) It’s important to be wrong as well as right and to surprise people by doing the opposite of what you normally do. Also, make people laugh.

20 Warning Signs That Your Content Sucks. The truth hurts and Copyblogger isn’t afraid to be direct about your blogging skills. This list of 20 questions will make you take a close look at your blog to figure out what’s working and what’s not. This list is invaluable to anyone wanting to improve his or her blog.

Filed Under: Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Time mgmt./Productivity Tagged With: , , ,

Getting Started With E-mail Marketing

June 24, 2010 By

Guest post by Wendy Lowe

For small businesses, e-mail marketing is one of the best tools available to increase revenue and awareness of what you’re offering.  However, a lot of people don’t know where to start.

Here is a great list to get you on the road to effective e-mail marketing.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Take a step back and think through what you’re trying to accomplish.  The best way to do this is to see things through your customer’s eyes – what would they want?

  • What type of information would attract attention and get people to open, read and act on your e-mail [Read more...]
Filed Under: Home office technology, Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations Tagged With: , , ,

Martha Stewart Whips up a Batch of Social Media Tips

June 17, 2010 By

When I think of social media, Chris Brogan and Brian Solis come to mind, not Martha Stewart. So what does this culinary queen and media mogul know about social media? Apparently a lot. In a recent blog post, Jesse Stanchak of SmartBlog On Social Media highlights a few of the social media tips Stewart shared during a recent speech. With almost 2 million Twitter followers and 72,000 Facebook fans, Stewart’s tips are worth following.

  1. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. At its core, Stewart said, social marketing is about finding your own voice and communicating your brand’s personality. It’s easy to do what everyone else is doing and hope for a good response.  Mix it up, break the rules and be willing to let others see the real you.
  2. Find yourself a good co-pilot. Throughout her keynote, Martha Stewart tossed questions and remind-me-later asides at Eliad Laskin, her all-purpose technical guru. At some point you’ll realize that you can’t do everything and actually, you shouldn’t.  Find someone who has strengths in areas you don’t.
  3. Go where your customers are — and remember that everyone’s a customer. Instead of picking one platform, Stewart advises finding ways to adjust your pitch to reach the different communities that form online. My Twitter and LinkedIn accounts are all business while my Facebook account combines aspects of both my business and personal life.
Filed Under: Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Marketing/Public Relations, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working with clients Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts
Hide me
Sign up now for an excerpt from Organize Your Home Office for Success!
Name Email
Show me
Sign up now for an excerpt from Organize Your Home Office for Success!
Enter your e-mail address below to get an excerpt from Organize Your Home Office for Success. You'll also receive updates and occasional promotions that are available only to subscribers. We respect your privacy and will not share your information with anyone.
Close