16
May
0

The Best Method of SEO, Period!

By Ditch-the-Boss.com | Filed in Uncategorized

Search engine optimization is an always changing science with nobody ever truly understanding the most effective ways to boost a site to the top of the search engines. For all intensive purposes it’s nothing more than a guessing game. However, there is one factor that has always made more difference than any other element in terms of SEO benefit. And that is backlinks.

A backlink is simply a hyperlink from another site that points to yours. The higher the page rank of the site pointing to yours, the more powerful that link will typically be for boosting your rankings. SEOs have been all over the strategy of link building for years and this isn’t exactly secret information. However, the search engines, most notably Google, have been tweaking their algorithm to become better equipped to “catch” those who are building links for the sole purpose of SEO.

Most recently Google has targeted blog communities that share links with one another and you can bet that similar updates are in the works. While it could be well argued that building backlinks is still the most powerful SEO strategy it is becoming more and more dangerous to build unnatural amounts of links in a relatively short time period. So, what’s the answer then?

I’m going to tell you…

Build Natural Links

Building natural links can be a slow process, but knowing that the only backlinks you’ll be getting are from those that are truly influenced by you and your content will force you to do 2 things:

  1. Write your content for people, not search engines
  2. Produce stellar, link-worthy content

These two things are ultimately what the search engines want to put at the top of the search engines and you can bet that they’ll progressively hone their efforts on making sure that is exactly what happens. Will they ever get there? Who knows. What I do know is that they’re moving in that direction and you don’t want to be blacklisted for engaging in excessive or unnatural link building practices.

I realize this is going to cause many people to think I’m crazy and have no clue what I’m talking about. Perhaps you’re right, but I have spent a long time working on building my online presence and constructing a site that will survive on its own merits and I refuse to risk losing my organic traffic to build a bunch of unearned backlinks.

Acceptable Link Building Methods

Before you send me your nasty comments, there are ways that you can naturally build links without only relying on your content to influence others to link to you:

  • Blog commenting
  • Writing quality guest articles

I realize that most blog comments provide “no follow” backlinks, but blog comment links are something that would be part of a natural link profile by someone that is truly engaged in their field. Plus, most people believe there are SEO benefits of building “no follow” backlinks – they are just much less than those that are followed.

Writing guest articles is another method you can use, but the emphasis needs to be on quality. This means writing a quality article for a quality site. Not writing some 150 word article to post on a site like Build My Rank! Actually, Google has recently de-indexed BMR links. I’m sure this made a lot of people flip their wig, as many blog owners spent thousands of hours writing short articles for BMR only to have it wind up wasted.

Again, this is the kind of direction the search engines are headed, so you want to steer clear of any questionable link building practices. Don’t let the allure of short-term success compromise your ability to build a long-term sustainable online business.

Write content that influences your visitors, provide them with value, and give them a reason to want to link to you. If you do this, you’ll naturally get the links over time, the search engines will take notice and you’ll have a steady stream of traffic on a site that will earn you money for years down the line.

 

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15
May
0

Managing Small Business Debt

By Guest Author | Filed in Uncategorized

Having small business debt can be scary: you have to worry about meeting monthly debt payments while trying to launch or expand a successful business. I’m going to provide you with some techniques to reduce monthly debt payments or reduce the monthly cost of running your business.

One of your main strategies should be to negotiate whenever you think it could save the business some cash. In other words…

Speak directly with your suppliers.

Whether your suppliers provide office necessities, cooking ingredients or construction equipment, they may be willing to negotiate with you on prices. This is especially true if you tend to buy in bulk and make regular purchases. You may even be able to take advantage of bulk deals by partnering with other small businesses in your area.

Also discuss payment terms with your suppliers. You may be able to create long-term repayment plans to cover your bills in smaller increments. This is best done once you’ve already established a good payment history and the supplier knows you are a trustworthy buyer. Though a payment plan may not save you money, it can help you budget more effectively.

Try renegotiating lending terms, as well.  This is an especially good idea if your credit score has improved or if typical interest rates have dropped since you initially took out the loan. One way to get better loan terms is to refinance your current loan. Much like loan consolidation, this can lower your monthly payments by reducing your interest rate. That means more of your money goes directly towards paying down the loan and less goes towards paying off interest.

Consider Cost Cutting Ideas for Your Small Business

In addition to renegotiating terms with lenders and suppliers, consider making changes internally. Particularly examine whether you’re using all the space you have. If not, you have a few options. If you’re renting the area, downsize to a smaller location to reduce your rent. If you own the location and have extra room, lease it out to earn extra income.

If you’re already late on loan or credit card payments or know you won’t be able to afford this month’s bill, contact you’re creditors as soon as possible. You may be able to work out a repayment plan. Keep in mind that if you do not pay the amount in full, you may be subject to additional late fees and interest charges. By immediately contacting your creditors, you may be able to stop negative information from appearing on your credit report, avoid paying past-due charges and prevent collection actions against you.

The Option of Debt Settlement

If your business’s debt is in the form of credit card debt or other similar unsecured debts, look into debt settlement as a way out. In debt settlement, you or someone working on your behalf negotiates with your creditors to have the total debt amount reduced. By participating in debt settlement, you can cut your total debt amount and have a much smaller balance to deal with.

Whatever the state of your small business’s debt, you may have opportunities to cut expenses and rework loan terms. Consider all your options and find out what will work for your business.

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14
May
0

When It’s Time to Monetize Your Blog or Website

By Ditch-the-Boss.com | Filed in Uncategorized

Many blog or website owners struggle with knowing when the time is right to add some monetization strategies and start earning some money for all of their hard work adding quality content to their sites. Some people like to advocate hard and fast rules for determining when it’s time to start earning money with a site:

  • Once you’re getting at least 100 unique visitors per day
  • After your site is at least 12 months old
  • As soon as you’ve posted 50 pages of unique content

The truth is that no one can tell you when it’s time for you to begin implementing money making methods on your blog or website. Only you can make that decision.

That being said, there are a number of things you’ll want to consider in terms of deciding when to monetize your site and what strategies you ultimately implement. Let’s look at a few of them…

A Sign That It’s Time to Monetize

There is one sign that any site owner can’t ignore – the requests of their visitors. If your visitors are regularly asking questions regarding a specific topic, they are telling you something loud and clear. They are telling you that they have a problem that they need solved and they want you to solve it for them.

For instance, if you run a fitness site and people are constantly emailing you asking for suggestions for meal recipes, you would be a fool not to create an ebook with recipes. Then, the next time someone comes to your site with that problem, you will already have a solution for them – one that will make you money!

Consider Your Visitors’ Experience

If you are getting a decent flow of traffic it can be extremely tempting to put ads up all over the place to give yourself the most opportunities to convert your visitors into cash. Most of the time having a plethora of advertisements tends to cheapen their perceived value at best and annoy your visitors to the point of never returning at worst.

In general, people are used to seeing ads of various types on websites, but seeing a site riddled with ads will stand out as being spammy, no matter how great your content is.

Don’t be afraid to advertise and earn yourself some money for all of your hard work, but be sure to consider the experience of your visitors so you don’t compromise your ability to continue building your online presence.

Only Recommend Quality Products You’ve Used or Are Familiar With

A basic tenet of business is to build a repertoire of repeat customers. Nothing will ruin your trust and credibility like suggesting a poor quality product to your visitors.

On the other hand, if you recommend a quality product to your followers that solves a problem they are struggling with, they will be thankful and much more likely to act on other suggestions you provide. In other words, by only becoming an affiliate of quality products that you know you can stand behind you’ll build a list of lifelong customers and stand to make considerably more money in the long run.

A method that Pat Flynn of SmartPassiveIncome.com uses is to disclose when using an affiliate link. He also states that he’ll answer any questions his visitors have about the products he promotes. This transparency makes people much more comfortable listening to his suggestions and creates and aura of trust around Pat’s site and his affiliate links.

I couldn’t begin to guess how much of an impact this has, but Pat is earning well into six figures on a monthly basis and I’m sure this plays a part.

While there is no surefire way to know when it is time to start making some money with your site, I hope that this article has at least given you some aspects to consider.

 

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12
May
0

A Complete Guide for Building an Extensive Email List for a Profitable Email Marketing Campaign

By Ditch-the-Boss.com | Filed in Uncategorized

It’s been well said by many successful online entrepreneurs that the money is in the list. “The list” refers to a list of subscribers that have found your site to be helpful, thought provoking or has invoked some sort of benefit to them that ultimately enticed them to trust you with their email address, which means a lot to people these days.

Building an extensive subscribers list isn’t easy. In fact it takes a lot of work! Sure you could just throw up a sign up form on your site and hope that people see it and subscribe just because they like something you’ve written. The truth is that people are hesitant to just throw their email address to some random site owner, so you’ll need to be intentional about enticing them in many different ways to trust you and subscribe to your site.

The rest of this article is going to run through the various methods of quickly building an extensive subscriber list. I will touch on some ways to engage your subscribers, but I’ll save digging into making money from your subscriber list for a future article. Alright, let’s look at the methods of building and maintaining a healthy list of subscribers – also known as repeat visitors and potential customers.

Installing a Subscriber Sign Up Form

In order to most efficiently manage your subscriber list you’ll want to use an opt in email marketing service provider. The two most popular ones are Aweber and icontact. I prefer icontact’s interface, but that is just a matter of personal preference and either one will work just fine. You can sign up for either service for less than $10 per month and icontact let’s you use their service for a full month for free before committing, which is a plus.

Once you have your account setup with icontact you can create your subscriber sign up form in just a few simple steps and start collecting your e-mail lists:

  • Login to icontact
  • Click “Contacts” at the top of the page
  • Click “Signup Forms” at the top of the page
  • Click the “Create a HTML Form” button at the bottom of the page
  • Configure your colors and click “Next”
  • Name your signup form, check the list(s) it will correlate to and choose the fields of info you’ll require (most people should collect email only as I’ll explain a little later)
  • Create a “thank you for subscribing page” and enter the URL of that page for the success page URL and click “Save” (if you want to use an error page, create one and enter the URL for the error page URL)
  • Now your list is created and you’ll click on the text link that says “View HTML”
  • From this page you can simply copy and paste the Automatic Signup Form HTML code into your site’s code where you want your signup form to appear

Note that this will create a simple signup for with a border and a text box. If you want something more elaborate you’ll need to do some extra coding, if you have the skills, or hire someone to make it look more professional. You can hire freelancers on elance.com to do this kind of thing for fairly cheap (easily less than $50).

Alright, so now you have your signup form, but how are you going to get people to take action and sign up to join your email list? It is this act of getting people to sign up that differentiates those that have tens of thousands of subscribers from those with a couple hundred or less. Not to worry, if you implement the strategies I’m about to share with you your list will continually grow as your traffic builds and you’ll eventually have a massive list to engage with and make money from.

Let’s take a look at some effective strategies for building your list of subscribers…

Write Engaging and Influential On-Site Content

Sometimes the best way to sell is to actually not sell at all. What I mean is that instead of just directly asking your visitors to subscribe to your site, let your content wow them into making that decision a no-brainer. If they read an amazing article you’ve written and then see a signup form the decision to enter their email address and subscribe will be an easy one because they’ll want to receive more excellent content like what they’ve just read.

Writing to influence others takes practice and is an art as much as it is a science. However, just do your best to produce the absolute best content you can. Your visitors will take notice and your list will grow because of it. Don’t worry if you aren’t the most prolific writer. Just keep plugging away learning and writing. Your quality will improve over time and you can always go back and improve posts that are getting a high volume of traffic later on if you feel they could use some tweaking.

Create a Free Product That Solves a Problem for Your Visitors

This is list building 101. The quid pro quo act of offering something in return for your visitor signing up. In all honesty, this is is pretty standard. So if you don’t have a free product to give away, go ahead and throw up the sign up form, but start working on a quality free product that solves a problem for your visitors. The simplest product to provide would be an ebook that solves a problem for your visitors.

For instance, on my site, RippedOut.com, I wrote a 30+ page ebook on how to build a ripped physique that I give away to every person that subscribes to my site. The majority of my subscribers took the action of entering their email address for no other reason than they wanted their free copy of my book. Without this enticement my list would be a far cry from what is today.

So, figure out a problem that your typical visitor would have, write a quality ebook that helps them with that problem and use it to encourage them to subscribe.

Collect as Little Information as Possible

People will already be apprehensive enough about giving you their email address. If you start asking them for their name, address and next of kin, they’re going to be much less likely to commit. In most instances an email address is sufficient.

If you want to collect their first name in order have a more personal email engagement with them, that’s probably okay. However, I wouldn’t go any further than requiring a first name and email address unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Provide Exclusive Content Shared Only With Your Subscribers

Word of mouth is probably the strongest method of marketing any brand or product can have. Nothing carries more weight than someone telling others about the incredible experience they’ve had on your site or from using the information provided to them as a subscriber.

So make sure you go above and beyond with your subscribers. Give them content and tips that are exclusive to your email list subscribers and not shared on your website. Make the tips actionable and measurable. For instance, if you were running a site about weight loss, you could provide a weekly diet plan for losing 5-10 pounds in a month. This will obviously be dependent upon your niche, but I think you get the idea.

Make your subscribers be happy with their decision to subscribe and they will share that decision with others.

Use a Light Box & Have Frequent Calls to Action to Join Your E-Mail List

A light box is a box of content that appears over the actual on-page content. Light boxes are similar to pop-ups and are usually confused for pop-ups. However, light boxes are included on the actual page your visitors are viewing and aren’t technically a pop-up.

Your light box should include your free product and your sign up form. I fought the temptation of adding a light box to RippedOut.com for a long time because I didn’t want to annoy my visitors. I decided to put one up as an experiment to see if there was any difference and I will never be without a light box again!

My subscribe rate increased by 400% and has led to hundreds of additional subscribers to my email list over the past 12 months. I have heard that certain niches don’t get the same kind of incredible results I experienced, but the potential a light box provides makes it well worth trying.

After your visitors close the light box, they will be on the page they intended to visit. Make sure to include your signup form on this page as well. Preferably somewhere near the top of the page and again near the end of the post. I have found a sign up form at the top right of the posting is a good place, but you’ll want to experiment and see what works best with your visitors.

You can also place a sign up form within the text of your posting. I like to use a quick message like, “Do you like what you’re reading? Subscribe to this site to receive exclusive tips and content to help you…”

This kind of call to action tends to work well. Especially if you’re providing engaging content that you’re visitor feels like they can’t do without!

There’s a point when too many calls to subscribe can become tacky, so don’t overdo it.

Create a Subscribers-Only Forum

This is an option I’ve never personally tried, but is something I would like to implement in the future. Everybody likes a forum community of like-minded individuals and this can be a great way to “sell” your visitors on subscribing. You’ll obviously want to display the benefits of gaining access to your forum, but I think this would be a great way to build a list while remaining engaged with your visitors.

A forum will also give you valuable feedback regarding what your average visitor is into, what questions they have, the problems they need solved and what they desire to get out of your site. For a keen marketer this information is extremely important and can be worth thousands by itself.

Use Social Media to Build Trust

Social media like Facebook and Twitter are great ways to keep in touch with your audience and give them a quick way to check in and see what you’re up to. Some of your visitors will enjoy reading your content, but won’t be ready to take that step of providing you their email address. Although they are willing to “like” your Facebook page or follow you on Twitter.

After following your Facebook feed for a few weeks they will start to feel more connected to you and their trust in you will begin to grow. This gradual building of trust will in many cases eventually lead to them subscribing, telling others about the excellent content you’re providing, or both.

Many internet marketers are against using social media to further their brand. While I’d agree that they immediate profits aren’t there with social media (in most cases), there are tangible long-term benefits of connecting with people interested in your brand. Ignore using social media to further your reach at your own peril!

Ask Your Current Subscribers to Tell Their Friends About the Benefits of Becoming a Subscriber

Once you have your excellent free product, unique and useful content to share with your subscribers and significant social media following, don’t be shy about telling your followers to tell their friends about subscribing to your site. If you’ve enhanced their lives, most of your subscribers will be more than happy to send out a quick Facebook posting, Twitter update or email about the impact your site has had on them.

Besides, it never hurts to ask. So what if only 10% of your list actually shares your site with others? That could still mean hundreds or thousands of people being exposed to your brand that would otherwise have probably never even heard of you. The power of suggestion should never be underestimated. Especially when it comes to those who trust you as an authority in your niche.

These are the best ways I know to build an extensive email list of subscribers. I use most of them on a daily basis and can tell you from first-hand experience that if you’re not implementing most or all of these strategies you’re not building your subscriber list as effectively as you could otherwise.

I hope you’ve found this article helpful. I’ve worked into the wee hours of the morning writing this out for you :) . If you have any strategies for building a subscriber list, or have any comments about this posting you’d like to share, please feel free to leave a comment below.

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10
May
0

The Advantages of Holding Meetings at Conference Venues

By Guest Author | Filed in Uncategorized

Conference venues are large rooms or corporate offices where you can hold meetings for employees, customers, or just general gatherings of people.  Doing an event at a conference venue speaks to the professionalism of your business and it enhances the view people have on the quality and integrity of your products or services.

Building your Brand

Building a brand for your business is essential to succeeding as a company in today’s competitive environment. However, not every business understands exactly what this means and how conference venues can help achieve it. When you hold an event at a conference venue, the people who will be attending the event are sure to notice the company that invited them to the gathering. Not only will they notice them, but they will subconsciously start to appraise the company and think higher of them. This can do a considerable amount of good, especially since word of mouth is one of the strongest ways to obtain business. Believe it or not, simply holding events at conference venues will make people start to refer your business to their family, friends, and colleges. This is branding at its finest and if you hold the event at a prime location that is popular and highly regarded, your branding will be more effective.

Professional Appearance

Anytime you have people gathering for an event in a highly professional location, it speaks to the professionalism of your business. The actual location of your business  may not be as professional as a conference venue or have the accessories on hand to assist your guests and fulfill their needs. This is why conference venues are in such high demand, every business needs a strong location to treat their guests to something nice that will reflect positively on the company. If you were to hold the gathering at a mediocre location, then your guests would have a mediocre view on your business as a whole. The location for your conference venue is everything when it comes to maintaining a professional appearance. A good way to leave your guests feeling like you’re the top dog in your industry is to hold the event at a modern location that has plenty of lighting, lots of seating, and in a prime location for business.

No Preparation Needed

Preparing for an event or meeting of any type can be very stressful. Depending on the number of people that will be attending the event, it can be extremely difficult as well. There are lots of different factors that you have to consider when it comes to pampering your guests and making sure everything is just right for the event. For instance some things that are often overlooked are having the right amount of seats for everyone, making sure the room is well lit and any presentations that will be performed can be easily seen from the back of the room, making sure the tables and chairs are clean and professional looking, and having your technological resources in place and ready for the event.

In all, conference venues provide an easy solution to meet a variety of different needs as a business.

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10
May
0

Upgrade Your Breakrooms, Let Your Employees Relax

By Guest Author | Filed in Uncategorized

An effectively managed workplace allows for improving the working capabilities of the workers. A well maintained office will not only mean kept up cabins, chairs and computer desks and tables. The canteen or the break room is also an essential part of the office. Providing the workers with a proper ambiance when they wish to take a break is such a crucial point that one should not take the chance of meddling with it.

If you are an entrepreneur, keep in mind that the better operating environment you offer your workers the more productive they’ll be and the more benefit you’ll receive from them. When your employees know that you’re also concerned about details like how they will spend their leisure time, they will appreciate it. The related increase in morale will increase their efficiency.

An often overlooked accessory that needs to be of high quality in your office is the utility and breakroom tables. They are great additions to an office canteen, not only with regards to the appearance but also with regards to application. Apart from offering a new look to the canteen, these have several other uses as well. It could be used as a position where your workers can sit and talk among themselves. Near to the coffee pot and the freezer, these tables are in a perfect position to provide your employees with the opportunity to have a relaxed and friendly discussion.

Style and Space Considerations for the Modern Breakroom

Although the utility and breakroom tables have been a part of business life for a long time, latest variations in the style of these platforms has modified their look. Now tables made of glass, wrought irons, and other different material and design motifs, apart from the conventional wooden ones, are also available. These can be a great inclusion to the furniture in your break rooms in order to provide a stylish and magnificent look.

The break room atmosphere must be such that it provides the workers both comfort and useability. The furniture should be comfortable and aesthetically appealing. Also, try to utilize the space in the room efficiently. Don’t cramp in a number of chairs and tables inside a small area. Make sure that there is enough space for free movement.

Don’t cause your employees to fear feeling claustrophobic. If the area is large enough to allow it, position the kitchen ten or twenty yards from the seats and tables. This will create the impression the area is larger than it is, and will help provide a calm and relaxing environment for your workers.

Buying Office Furniture that Fits with Your Company’s Style

With plenty of companies specializing in office furniture,  you can now choose utility and breakroom tables which will suit the mood and atmosphere of your office. They will also give a contemporary and innovative look to everything from your lunch room to your executive offices.

Keep in mind that many times these tables act as the platform where the employer gels with his or her employees.

This article was contributed by Jimy Jones. Jimy has been dealing with the nuances of office furniture for a long time. His articles on utility and breakroom tables have been featured on  a number of websites are a useful resource for employers to “spice up” their office areas.

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