Creating Targeted Content

Creating Targeted Content
10 Tips on how to generate targeted ideas for your website content

1. Participate in chat rooms related to your targeted audience. Watch what questions people are asking and ask others what information they're interested in.

2. Examine what information in being broadcast on TV, news and talk shows. That information is usually hot topics.

3. Hang out in similar message boards. People leave questions for information they're seeking. That is a strong indicator of subjects to write about.

4. Survey your web site visitors or current customers. Ask them what type of articles they would like to see published on your web site or in your e-zine.

5. Regularly check your site's guest books. People sometimes leave questions or comments that would help you generate high readership articles.

6. Check online bookstore's best sellers list. They're very good resources for finding winning topics and ideas to write about.

7. Use the time of year to come up with good topics. You could relate your content to the holiday, season, things that happen years ago during that time, etc.

8. Join some related e-mail discussion lists. Explore the question being asked and the subjects people are discussing.

9. Relate your article to a current fad that's going on in your specific industry. The topic is usually interesting to your target audience.

10. Make a file of visitor or customer questions you receive via e-mail or phone. Usually, others have the same questions, but never ask.

Website promotion

Website promotion is a vital area in internet marketing that you should learn to master immediately. Your website is your HQ on the web, and as such, should be made prominent at the soonest possible time. The more people who would know about your website, the more visitors you would have. Increased web site traffic would mean more potential sales and an expanded customer base. Here are ten useful ways to increase the volume of traffic of your site: 1. Get Your Own Domain Name. People will never forget catchy domain names. Getting your own domain name will provide familiarity and recall. Be sure to choose a short and easy to remember domain name that is appropriate to your business. 2. Upload New, Original and Useful Content. Blatant ads such as banners and pop-ups only irritate visitors. Give them information they can't find anywhere else, and give it to them for free. Always think benefits when posting a new article or feature. Thinking of ways to get your visitor what they want will establish respect and more importantly trust. 3. Submit Your Site to Search Engines. Search engines bring more than 75% of traffic to most web sites. Search engine submissions means serious work. This involves search engine positioning and Meta tag placements. It doesn’t end there because you need to test this with a number of search engine tools. This process involves constant monitoring of website competitors, and continuous editing of pages. 4. Pay For Top Spots. The best way to get website traffic without trying too hard would be through paid advertisements. These advertisements would be posted on prime locations or banners of websites. Popular websites like leading newspapers and search engines would provide immediate recognition and visibility to their customers. Of course this entails some substantial advertising budget, but it is a good recourse for those who could afford it. 5. Form an Online Community. An online community can be a message board, email groups, discussion list, and even a chat forum. Actively participate in these on-line groups by posting answers to other people’s questions and post appropriate information. Be visible and include your signature at the end of your postings. Maximize these special interest groups because people in online communities get involved easily and are ready to communicate with others. 6. Start Your Own Mailing List. It is the best way to keep in touch with your prospects and your customers. This is the best way to build the credibility needed to close a sale to your target market. 7. Start an E-Zine for Your Website. An E-zine is an extension of your site, but this will highlight new information and features of your site. People will be reminded of your website as they read each issue. If they find they issue interesting or worth sharing, they can easily and instantly pass this on to the people within their network. 8. Submit Articles. Write your own article and submit it to e-zines, websites and magazines that accept article submissions. Be sure to include your business and contact information and website address in the resource box. 9. Exchange Ads. Create ads that will promote your business and website. Submit this to e-zines or other websites in exchange for free ad space in your own electronic publication. Your presence to other site or publications is very important in getting the increased traffic that you want. This is usually facilitated with either simple links or flashy banners. 10. Update Your Website. Your website should always be up and running. It is to your advantage if you maintain your website with new articles and updated features. Maintain a clean layout and check for broken links, images and pages. If they always find what they want and need, they will surely be coming back each time. Additionally, search engine spiders love a site with changing content!

Buy a Domain Name – Review of Domain Companies to Buy From

Buy a Domain Name – Review of Domain Companies to Buy From

Before you buy a domain name, consider your options. But if you are like most domain buyers, you may be thinking ‘there are so many companies from which I can buy a domain… how do I know which one to choose?’. Well that choice certainly isn’t easy, but it is an important one. I will go over the most important factors to consider when selecting a company with which to buy a domain name.

Firstly, and this may seem obvious, but the company should be reliable. Check out their website and try to judge the credibility of their services. You may also want to do a quick Google search on ‘buy a domain name from company’, which ‘company’ is the name of the domain company that you are investigating. The last thing to check, but this is very important nonetheless, the website of the company should have an ICANN symbol indicating that it is an officially registered company to buy a domain name.

Secondly, consider the usability of the website. This is accessory, but if you plan to have multiple domains, or to buy another domain name later on, you should have an easy way to manage your domains. You should be easily able to set the DNS preferences, domain forwards, whois information, and so on. If these terms seem alien to you, don’t worry. They may not all apply to you, but after you buy a domain name you will soon realize that some of these features may come in handy.

Thirdly, the company shouldn’t monopolize your domain. If you buy a domain from them, but then decide that you don’t like their services, you must be able to change companies. The act of switching companies after you buy a domain name is called domain forwarding. It is an official process with set steps and guidelines. The company from which you plan to buy a domain name should make these processes easy for you.

Finally, the best way to learn about the domain industry is simply to read. The most helpful resource that I have found have been the Domain Book (at Domain Book) and the DomainSocial forums. If you want an all-in-one, easy to access resource, then check out the book before you buy a domain name.

Operating Your Own Membership Site

The purpose of membership websites are many and varied. Whilst the majority tend to be related to Internet marketing, membership websites are starting to diversify. In recent times I've seen sites that are related to cooking, self improvement and other topics that are of interest to a broader audience. It's only common sense that this new trend to choose non-internet niches will continue. Why compete in a fairly saturated market like Internet marketing when the membership world is literally your oyster?

More and more people are discovering that setting up and running a membership site isn't the gargantuan task they may have thought it would be. Granted, it does take some work, research and study, but there are very few businesses that don't require at least some effort on your part.

Let's look at some things that are required to run a successful membership site.

1. Passion and Dedication - It's always easier to provide information, services and products to others if you have a keen interest in the product you are selling. If your only motivation for wanting to run a membership site is because you see others making money with them, then don't waste your time. Unless you are willing to put the time in to maintain and develop your site you will end up with a poor reputation and a lot of disgruntled members.

2. A Good Domain - If you've ever looked around at other membership sites you'll see that they nearly always have a relevant domain name. This is important as it is part of your branding. There are plenty of good examples of well thought out, branded membership sites. Names like Mr. Overdeliver and SureFireWealth are good names that enhance the overall concept of the membership site and are easy to remember.

3. Starting Content- You usually can't start a membership site if you don't have any content. This could be information, scripts, e-books and/or your own products. When most people join a membership site they expect to see something that they can use straight away. If you have a large amount of content you don't necessarily have to offer it all up straight away. Keep in mind that your members will expect regular updates, so it's best to try to always overdeliver. You can't do that if you've given everything out on day 1.

4. A Good Script - This is a topic in itself, but basically you need to work out your membership fees and structure first. You also need to be sure of how you are going to present your products and which payment methods and processors you will use. Once you know the answer to these questions you can look for a script that has the appropriate membership structures, can deliver your products in a way that suits your site and supports your payment processor(s).

5. Commitment - This is one of the most essential 'ingredients'. Whilst membership sites will, for the most part, run on autopilot, you still need to maintain and update them regularly. Provide a helpdesk and a forum where members can get in touch with you and interact with each other. Some of the best membership sites are thriving communities because they provide these features to their members.

So there you have it in a nutshell. You'll notice that I didn't mention anything technical. That's because with the range of membership scripts and information that is available the technical aspects and requirements have become quite a minor issue.

Yes, you really can run a membership site but to be successful it will take some time, dedication and work. The rewards for a well run membership site can be quite extraordinary though.

How To Make Fast Cash From Writing Articles

Webmasters are crying out for new and fresh articles, writing articles is the hottest thing on the internet at the moment. It is one of the best and cost effective ways to drive traffic to a website. The great thing is, is that you too can start to cash in on the huge demand for quality articles. You do not have to be a particularly great writer to write good quality articles that will make you money. Here is a list of 12 ways that you can make fast cash from writing articles:

1. Drive traffic to your website

You can put a link to your website at the end of the article to let people who are interested in what you are offering to click on your link.

2. Market affiliates

You can market affiliates by writing a short information articles about the product or service and put a link at the end of the article for the affiliate website. Although to make the link look more professional it would be better to have a domain name of a similar name to the affiliate main website forwarded to your URL link provided by the affiliate.

3. Articles with adsense

You can create a content rich website full of quality information articles that drive traffic to your website. Just register with google and put the google adsense on your article pages to earn money from every click.

4. Write a blog

A blog is short for weblog, you can use your article writing skills to write a blog and drive traffic to your blog site and make money from adsense or promote affiliate programs.

5. Create a mailing list

Give away free articles for subscribing to a newsletter or send them a new articles regularly, once you have captured their names and email addresses, the possibilities are endless, you can promote affiliate programs through your article or direct them to a adsense rich article.

6. ebook

When you have created a number of articles you can put together related articles to create a ebook to sell.
7. Viral ebook

Similar to creating an ebook, but instead of selling the ebook you just give it away for free and within each article in the ebook you will be promoting your affiliates and website, this will spread like wildfire on the internet and is a good money maker for you.

8. Sell your articles on ebay

You can sell your articles on ebay for a minimal price say 99 cents or even cheaper, the objective here is to sell as much as possible to drive people to your affiliate program or website. This will not only create money from selling on ebay but will also make you money by promoting your affiliates or website

9. Sell your articles to webmasters

As I said before people are crying out for good quality articles, webmasters are constantly looking for good quality content to put on their websites. Your can search for discussion forums related to the subject of your article and once you have registered, you can post your offer on the forum. As long as the price is reasonable then webmasters will be more then willing to pay for a good quality article.

10. Give your articles away for free to webmaster

Instead of selling your articles to websmasters, give it away for free to publish on their website to promote your affiliate or website.

11. Submit your articles to directories and ezines

Submit all your articles to as many good quality directories and ezines as you can find, this will create a high level of traffic to your affiliate links or your website.

12. Promote your article writing skills on elance

Once you have some experience of article writing and have got a number of articles under your belt, you can start making bids for article projects on elance and can provide them with examples of your work by sending them your articles that you have written and if they like what they see and the price is reasonable then you will have another opportunity to make money from article writing