Additional Resources
Recommended Resources & Free Tools
ONLINE MARKETING RESOURCES
While we'd love to have you for a client, we realize that you may not quite be ready for a consultant, yet. Learn all you can about how the Internet works for business to give your venture the best chance of succeeding. These are the tools and resources we use, recommend and urge you to explore.
We use or have used each one and can recommend them highly.
How to find out what people want – what services or products you should be selling, Finding your NICHE
1) The granddaddy of all online marketing & promotion tools is Wordtracker. Don't leave “home” without! Find out what people are going on line to find. See their actual search terms, that they typed into Google, MSN etc. KNOW what's hot, what niches are big, how to spin your product so it will be in demand! They have a free KW University, as well as a free trial of kw searches on their database.
2) Dr. Andy Williams pioneered SEO sites for small businesses and his Keyword Results Analyzer software is the perfect companion to Wordtracker. Instantly analyze thousands of keywords to identify hidden niches in areas where people are searching desperately, but where there are few websites to fill the need. Indispensable for managing KW data!
Creating Magnetic Content that attracts targeted visitors to your site
One of the most difficult tasks for many of our clients is the step of creating content – filling your website with all your knowledge, massaging it to align with those in demand keywords, that give your visitor precisely what they were looking for.
It is not easy. We have written hundreds of keyword optimized web pages for our clients - we know how hard it is! But if you're not going to engage us to write for you, one way to get niche-based content is to use private label articles. Basically someone else writes that oh-so-targeted-content (It's usually fairly generic so you will have to customise it a little to meet your specific needs) but it's far more effective than starting from a blank page, or screen.
So don't start from scratch, Get Fresh, Professional, Effective Content Here.
Getting Visitors to your site (Search Engine Optimization or SEO)
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Now that you have your Niche and killer Content, how do you make sure visitors FIND your site? It's not just a matter of submitting to Google. If that were the case every site in the world would rank #1! We've learned a ton from Aaron Wall's SEO Book – a complete resource for up to date search engine optimization. While you won't likely become an SEP pro using this book, you will be able to do basic SEO on your site and to know when a consultant is not giving you the straight goods! And getting the jump on getting traffic can mean the difference between success and pain...
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The Full Meal Deal – THE Internet Marketing Home Run!
1) Years ago a young guy named Corey Rudle (from Vancouver!) changed the way the Internet worked by providing for FREE, information that was previously very expensive to obtain. In doing so he established some very sound principles for selling products online. We use his updated materials regularly to ensure we are on the leading edge of internet marketing technology. He offers a home study course that is over-the-top! Not cheap, but it comes with a stupidly brilliant no-fail guarantee. If custom professional website marketing services are not in your budget, the Internet Marketing Centre, founded by Corey, offers some great DIY tools for the beginner web owner/entrepreneur. It also offers the ultimate selection of tools for the experienced webmaster as well. We recommend this program highly! Visit the site and see what it's all about. marketingtips.com
2) Check out our review of Derek Gehl's SEO Lab and get a “backstage pass” on us - Click Here.
3) With all your new content you can start to promote yourself as an expert. Just as you struggled with getting content for your site, other web entrepreneurs are struggling too. Want to strike a win-win deal? Let them add your content to their sites in the form of an article, and they will keep a link back to your site in the by-line. Article Submitter automates submitting your articles to hundreds or content sites so you promote your expertise and get “link juice” in return. A real time saving traffic builder.
Analysis - is the traffic coming yet?
For the new web entrepreneur, tracking and analysing where your visitors are coming from, what they are doing on your site, and where they leave is often a huge challenge.
We LOVE Visitorville, 3D graphics of all the people visiting your site. Watch them walk (or take a bus) through all your pages. It's like a video game that helps you refine your web site optimization to bring you more traffic and paying customers. Seriously, never be bored by statistics again. See your site come alive. It IS AWESOME.
Building Relationships with your Visitors
Now that your site is search engine optimised and you are getting traffic, you‘ll want to keep in contact with them using your newsletters, courses, and inform them of special promotions and new products to keep them coming back. Email marketing is not the big bad wolf of the Internet. Far from it, using double opt-in strategies to eliminate span adn unwanted email, your list is your gold. We once launched a brand new product, sent notifications to our list, and within 45 minutes had 18 sales. These email and subscription tools make it too easy.
Make it all simple with these tools,
onMarketer. You can create customer surveys, questionnaires, send emails and really pretty HTML newsletters to subscribers. Create HTML emails, newsletters. This is inexpensive and highly effective - Free Trial
Vertical Response. Perfect for the business with a smaller list: pay as you go email campaigs,no monthly subscription, opt-in forms and newsletter management. Send a free test email campaign to up to 10 recipients
when you try VerticalResponse.
Aweber autoresponder. This is a great system for sending automatic periodic emails to your list of subscribers. For example, when you create your free 4 part e-mail course, Aweber will automaticallt send the 4 email lessons at time you specify and only to those subscribers you specify. It's another hands-free way to keep in contact with all your valuable leads. They even give you the custom sign up form to put on your site. Aweber Autoresponder, try the free demo.
Web Design Resources we use:
1) Vector graphic components for your custom artwork.
Vector illustrations are 100% scaleable, so they can be reused for everything from billboards to business cards – one graphic does it all. Save a ton of time and extend your design budget by using vector designs. JPGs are not at all scalable so they are not a good choice for using in your corporate graphics. JPGs cannot be resized without loosing much of the details. Vectors are the only way to create professional, multi-use graphics that save you money. Design once, use 10000000 times. Try these great and affordable vector artwork vendors.
2) Stock Photos
For the web, you can't beat istockphoto. Web images for a buck. We buy from istock for many of our projects, even we can't create stock imagery for that price!
For your print projects, we like Jupiter Images, hand picked professional stock photos for your print ad campaigns. Make sure to review their image libraires before you design your marketing pieces. Photos.com
3) Logos
We don't use logo design software or offshore designers when you hire us to design a professional logo, for you but if your budget won't allow custom work, logoworks does very nice logos for a crazy price, We’ve arranged for you to get $20 off your Professional Logo Design.
4) Web Design Templates
We generally don't use pre-designed commercial templates either, but a few of our clients have requested that we make modifications to free templates that they had previously purchased. So we have had the opportunity to use some of these and we've found that there a some very BAD templates out there. The ones that are easiest to use and customize are____. If you don't yet have the budget for a custom designed website, these template resources are the only way to go.
2) We weren't sure where to put this tool – actually a complete set of business-building web tools, From hosting to newsletters, Sitebuild It (SBI) is a remarkably effective all-in-one-web business solution.
It is complete with a built in SEO feature; all sorts of online help; an automated site builder, no HTML or coding knowledge required! And amazing success, with more than a few hundred well-documented case studies.
SBI is another Canadian Internet business success story itself, based in Montréal. We love SBI. We use it for several of our own sites, and we can report that the clients for whom SBI is good fit, LOVE it too.
You can use it as a complete DIY web business, or we can help you through it or build a custom SBI site for you. SBI is NOT for everyone though. Call us to make sure SBI is the right solution for your business.
Pro Toos for Web Developers - Our Secret Tools
1) If you are serious about your website, you'll need some Pro tools. The first and foremost on this list is Firefox. A free open source browser that will enable you to virtually unlock the secrets of the web. It comes with a never ending stream of add ons and plug-ins that make building a web site toooo simple! It's what browsing the Internet was always meant to be. Far more secure than Internet Explorer and faster too. Its FREE.
Generate a stream of hands-free revenue for FREE
2) If you develop keyword-rich, high demand content for your website, you can also earn significant cash each month from Google. There are thousands of web owners receiveing in excess of $100,000 each month from Google.
The case studies are well documented on Google's AdSense site, with many more described in forums all over the net. And personally we feel that this is one of the best ways to create supplimentary income.
Talk to us about how to set this up on your site, but only IF you're ready to create in demand information that people are actively seeking. If your web goals are a little less abitions, the free Google cash is not for you. Hey, nothing in life is truly free! But check it out for yourself.
OUR FAVORITE BOOKS
These are the classics for any online business! We continue to refer to these authors and their work on an almost daily basis.
We're know you'll find them more than just useful - they are a lively read - you won't be disapointed!
- Net Words by Nick Usborne
- The Long Tail
- The On-line Copywriters handbook by Rober Bly
- How to Use the Internet to Advertise, Promote and Market Your Business or Web Site—With Little or No Money
- Online Marketing Success Stories: Insider Secrets, from the Experts Who Are Making Millions on the Internet Today
A guide to creating copy that connects with customers and makes the saleAdvertising and promotion professionals have long known that, while bells and whistles may grab a customer's attention, words make the sale. Yet, nearly a decade into the Web revolution, E-commerce professionals are just now waking up to the fact that the usual high-tech, graphics-heavy approach to site design is bad for business.
Net Words explores the reasons why and makes a strong case for a revolutionary new approach to copywriting tailored to the unique demands of a powerful new medium. With the help of dozens of examples of successful and unsuccessful on-line writing, author Nick Usborne shows readers how to harness the power of the written word for the Web. Readers learn how to imbue a business with a distinctive on-line "voice" and use it to forge lasting bonds with customers, increase market share, and close sales.
From Publishers WeeklyWired editor Anderson declares the death of "common culture"—and insists that it's for the best. Why don't we all watch the same TV shows, like we used to? Because not long ago, "we had fewer alternatives to compete for our screen attention," he writes. Smash hits have existed largely because of scarcity: with a finite number of bookstore shelves and theaters and Wal-Mart CD racks, "it's only sensible to fill them with the titles that will sell best."
Today, Web sites and online retailers offer seemingly infinite inventory, and the result is the "shattering of the mainstream into a zillion different cultural shards." These "countless niches" are market opportunities for those who cast a wide net and de-emphasize the search for blockbusters. It's a provocative analysis and almost certainly on target—though Anderson's assurances that these principles are equally applicable outside the media and entertainment industries are not entirely convincing. The book overuses its examples from Google, Rhapsody, iTunes, Amazon, Netflix and eBay, and it doesn't help that most of the charts of "Long Tail" curves look the same. But Anderson manages to explain a murky trend in clear language, giving entrepreneurs and the rest of us plenty to think about.(July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The On-line Copywriter's handbook by Rober Bly
Book DescriptionThe Web has developed its own set of rules and attitudes for writing hard-hitting marketing copy. Robert Bly's The Online Copywriter's Handbook is the first practical and authoritative guide to what exactly those rules are and how they differ from writing for print audiences. From novices just taking their first copywriting steps to veterans looking to add impact and results to their online efforts, it covers everything from general fundamentals of writing effective copy to specific Web copywriting tips.
How to Use the Internet to Advertise, Promote and Market Your Business or Web Site—With Little or No Money
Book DescriptionInterested in promoting your business and/or Web site, but don't have the big budget for traditional advertising? This new book will show you how to build, promote, and make money off of your Web site or brick and mortar store using the Internet, with minimal costs. Let us arm you with the knowledge you need to make your business a success! Learn how to generate more traffic for your site or store with hundreds of Internet marketing methods, including many free and low-cost promotions.
This book presents a comprehensive, hands-on, step-by-step guide for increasing Web site traffic and traditional store traffic by using hundreds of proven tips, tools, and techniques. Learn how to target more customers to your business and optimize your Web site from a marketing perspective. You will learn to target your campaign, use keywords, generate free advertising, search-engine strategies, learn the inside secrets of e-mail marketing, how to build Web communities, co-branding, auto-responders, Google advertising, banner advertising, eBay storefronts, Web-design information, search-engine registration, directories, and real-world examples of what strategies are succeeding and what strategies are failing.
"...Anyone considering a web business will find this book valuable reading." --Michael Warren, President; USA4SALE Networks, Inc.
Online Marketing Success Stories: Insider Secrets, from the Experts Who Are Making Millions on the Internet Today
Book DescriptionStanding out in the turmoil of today’s Internet marketplace is a major challenge. There are many books and courses on Internet marketing; this is the only book that will provide you with insider secrets. We asked the marketing experts who make their living on the Internet every day—and they talked.
Online Marketing Success Stories will give you real-life examples of how successful businesses market their products online. The information is so useful that you can read a page and put the idea into action today! We spent thousands of hours interviewing, e-mailing, and communicating with hundreds of today’s most successful e-commerce marketers. This book not only chronicles their achievements, but is a compilation of their secrets and proven successful ideas. If you are interested in learning hundreds of hints, tricks, and secrets on how to make money (or more money) with your Web site, then this book is for you.