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Posted by themainwahm
on Friday, January 04 2008 @ 22:59:17 EST (434 reads)
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Guest writes I have been in internet marketing for over ten years and have seen marketing techniques come and go. Some are still around and some are new and innovative. Below you will find what I believe to be the best and most effective online marketing techniques.
Article Marketing - Article marketing was and is one of the most powerful online marketing methods available. Not only does it do wonders for you and your business, it is free as well!
Article marketing consists of writing helpful, informative, easy to understand articles that actually help your readers, not try to sell them something. Then you submit them to article banks, directories and ezine publishers. When your article runs in a popular ezine, it can do great things for your business. Writing articles is not as hard as you might think so give it a try. You will be delightfully surprised at how much it can affect your business.
Remember:
Don't worry about fancy words. People are looking for help, not big words.
Advertise in your resource box, not your article.
Provide real, helpful info and resources, hot hype!
Write from the heart! Let your personality shine through in your articles.
Blogging - Blogging is a newer form of online marketing that just started becoming popular in the late 90's. Blog is short for weblog and means an online publication in the form of a log or journal. Blogs can increase your customer base, your traffic and your search engine ranking, thus increasing your sales.
Blogging can be done for free through such sites as:
blogger.com
wordpress.com
and livejournal.com
Be sure and update your blog regularly; everyday would be best as people like fresh content, ideas and information.
Ezine Publishing - Ezine publishing has been around much longer than blogging and is far more effective, in my opinion. Your ezine needs to contain helpful resources and information, not just sales pitches. Develop a relationship with your readers. Let them know they can trust you and rely on you when they need your help.
Things to remember when putting together your ezine:
Keep it clean and easy to read.
Limit your advertising and be selective.
Always provide quality content and information.
Add your personality so your readers can get to know you.
Always provide contact info and be accessible.
Be consistent; send your ezine regularly as scheduled.
Be sure and proofread before sending it out.
Online Networking - Online networking, as with offline networking, is very important to your business. This is when you connect with as many people as possible to learn more and share more about your business. Many leads can come from networking. There are several ways to do this online.
Email Discussion Groups: Go to yahoogroups.com and search for appropriate groups.
Message Boards: Be sure and follow the rules for posting and offer your help as much as possible.
Social Sites: Such as MySpace.com, Ryze, Merchant Circle, etc. These can be great ways to make more contacts and get leads.
Joint Ventures - This is when you enter into an agreement with another online marketer that will benefit both sides.
Examples of joint ventures:
Ezine Ad Swaps
eBook Ad Swaps
Subscription Page Ad Swaps
Affiliate Programs
Exchange Advertising for % of Sales
and the list goes on and on. Be creative and come up with new ways you and your associates can help each other.
Podcasting - Podcasting is using digital media files which are distributed all over the internet via syndication feeds. Podcasting is still a fairly new way of online marketing and has great potential. Podcasting can be powerful because it uses voice not written words to get the message across. Offer your articles, do voice interviews, offer a chapter in your ebook via podcast, etc. Again, use your imagination to create new ways to spread the word about your business.
Ezine Advertising - Advertising your business, product, service, etc. in quality ezines can be well worth the money spent. There are a few things you can to to help you choose which ezines to advertise in.
Do a search to find ezines that cater to your target market. For example: if you are advertising kids' books, you don't want to advertise in an ezine about cars.
Once you find several targeted ezines, subscribe to them so you can look them over and see if the publisher is reliable in sending them out. You can also look over the other ads and make sure the publisher is selective in their advertising. You can possibly learn what the other readers think of the ezine as well.
Try contacting the publisher to see if they respond to your email. Ask about testimonials from other advertisers. Find out how many ads they run per issue and what the costs are.
You could also ask the publisher to do an ad swap to get an idea of what the response is like. Be selective in your choices and always code your ads so you know which ezines actually deliver.
I hope this article has given you some insight as to how to market your home/online business. I use several of these methods (and should be using the rest) and know from experience that they work!
The possibilities with the internet are endless and we need to keep up with new and innovative ways of marketing ourselves and our business. And we need to keep using tried and true methods as well.
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Freelancing Career - Be Your Own Boss and Make Money at Home
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Posted by themainwahm
on Friday, September 07 2007 @ 07:57:28 EDT (499 reads)
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lkcheng writes Before you can make money with freelancing, you must first understand what it means to be a freelancer. A freelancer is a person who works independently by contracting his/her services. If you choose freelancing as a career, you will be negotiating the terms and conditions, including terms of payment with the client, and ensuring that work is completed well within the turnaround time, to the client's satisfaction.
A freelancer will need to keep abreast of the latest developments to be able to compete in the highly competitive freelance market. This requires long hours of reading and researching, understanding the needs of the market. You need to maintain constant contact with the trends in the market and needs of the clients and see where your services can be used.
Because of the highly competitive nature of the freelance market, assessing your skills and marketing your work effectively forms the basis of a long - lasting freelance career. You can offer your services in areas that you are passionate about, that you have enough knowledge of, and where you are sure you can do a great job. There are various fields to choose from, like web designing, writing, accounting, proof reading, medical transcription, programming, graphic designing, photographer, translator, illustrator and thousands of others. Decide on your niche in which you are competent to offer your services.
The next step is to get your resume or profile ready. A resume should be exceptionally well written, be able to sell your strengths to your potential clients. Do not make it complicated, keep it simple, using short easy to read paragraphs, clearly outlining your qualifications or any experience you may have. The resume should be a reflection of your personality and at the same time professional.
Remember, once you are out there, you only have a short time to make an impact on your potential client. This can make the difference between getting hired or losing out on a project. There are several freelance job boards and you need to find the right one. It is worth investing your time in the beginning to see what the different boards out there are and see what suits your needs. If you were a freelance writer, you definitely would not want to waste your time on a site for designers. Another very important thing to take into consideration is to see who your competitors are. If there are people that are offering prices that you cannot beat and you feel the prices are not worth your effort, then do not waste your time sticking on there.
Once you have decided on the board, enter the details of your already prepared resume or profile. Although, this is time consuming, entering this in each and every board you choose is needed. This is an essential tool to get you going and that's the first thing clients see before going further.
Getting freelance jobs when you are just starting off takes time and you should have the patience to keep marketing yourself until you land yourself that first job. One of the most common mistakes people make is to bring their prices down when they do not land themselves a job. Remember never ever sell yourself short. Bid a fair price, that is not too high or too low, making sure it is worth your time. The people looking for freelancers need you. Never show desperation because that will have an impact on your future bids.
Freelance jobs can provide a steady income and satisfaction of being your own boss. Just be smart and market yourself the right way, with clear communication. Nothing will stop you from having a glorious growing online freelance business.
Resource Box
Alan Liew is the webmaster of http://moneymakerinfo.blogspot.com - The blog contains opportunities, tips and ideas to make money online.
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