Free Teleseminar: Expanding Visibility with Content

August 8, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment

Join me on Tuesday, August 10th at 4PM EST when I’ll be interviewed by Roger C. Parker of Published & Profitable. We’ll be discussing how to expand your visibility using content, and why you should be considering giving some of your best content away.

Don’t forget — if you can’t make the call, don’t worry – you’ll be able to access the replay for (36) hours afterward, via the Published & Profitable website. If you have a question on this topic, you can submit it using the form below, and I’ll answer it during the call.

Phone number to call:

Webcast Player:

Question Submission:

Replay: Available for (36) hours after event only.

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Filed under HOW-TO, RESOURCES · Tagged with ask traci, expanding your visibility with content, free teleseminar, guest posting

LinkShare Twitter Tool Helps Publishers Monetize Twitter Feeds

October 29, 2009 by admin · 2 Comments

With the holidays around the corner and seasonal online shopping on the rise, the LinkShare TweetShop Tool comes at an opportune time for publishers to share more online and take advantage of increased interest among online shoppers.

In the advent of the Twitter-adoption explosion, this new tool brings a host of new possibilities to our affiliate network that is easy, fun and effective at driving revenue.

LinkShare, a leading performance marketing network provider, today announced the LinkShare TweetShop Tool that enables anyone with a Twitter following to monetize their Twitter feeds, and easily turn customized tweets into an effective shopping tool. Generally available to publishers in its network, this innovation further demonstrates the company’s commitment to creating applications that are Easy, Fast and Open – easy-to-use, fast-to-market, and open across channels – and is the latest feature in LinkShare’s Bento Box, a showcase of new tools and applications.

More than 50 million live Twitter accounts exist today with approximately 4.6 million people using Twitter on a daily basis, according to recent research by RJMetrics and Quantcast. These numbers represent a massive demographic with huge market potential that is largely untapped as few companies today have successfully created ways to monetize Twitter feeds.

Additionally, nearly half of all “value hunters” – a new market segment identified in a recent survey by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates – are searching online for the best deals and promotions. Since this growing segment of online shoppers purchase something online once a week or more(3), they represent a growing consumer base that will be using tools like Twitter to find new products, search for deals, and satiate their everyday retail needs.

“With the holidays around the corner and seasonal online shopping on the rise, the LinkShare TweetShop Tool comes at an opportune time for publishers to share more online and take advantage of increased interest among online shoppers,” said Mark Kirschner, CMO, LinkShare. “In the advent of the Twitter-adoption explosion, this new tool brings a host of new possibilities to our affiliate network that is easy, fun and effective at driving revenue.”

With the LinkShare TweetShop Tool, publishers can easily customize tweets through the user interface which automatically creates a shortened URL that directs an online shopper to the landing page for the recommended object of affection.

Through three easy steps, publishers can turn their Twitter stream into a new revenue channel. Just Pick, Point and Post.

Pick the item to tweet about.
Point out the cool-factor.
Post as an updated tweet without the hassle of having to both find the webpage of that item and shorten the URL to fit into his/her tweet.

In light of the recent FTC rulings regarding full disclosure for endorsements, sponsorships and the terms and conditions that apply to any special offer, LinkShare recommends following common sense guidelines when using its new LinkShare TweetShop Tool, such as those developed by the Performance Marketing Alliance:

Avoid tweeting false or unsubstantiated product claims
Never create a fake/spam twitter account just to post new advertisements
Clearly and conspicuously disclose any connections with the advertiser and/or the affiliate network
Be creative! If it is an ad, it should sound like one, but go beyond a product pitch
Don’t abuse it. Daunted followers will stop following you and this will undermine your credibility you have built up in your online community

To check out the buzz on this new LinkShare TweetShop Tool, hear what industry experts have to say and add to the conversation, search and/ or tweet on the following hashtag: #TweetShop.

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Filed under HOW-TO, RESOURCES · Tagged with affiliate marketing, linkshare, monetizing, twitter

Balihoo Announces Integrated Co-op Marketing Solution

October 29, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment

Balihoo, provider of Local Marketing Automation technology and services to national brands with local marketing needs, has announced the wide availability of an Integrated Co-op Marketing solution.

Balihoo’s solution combines creative customization, local media execution and co-op funding into a single Integrated Co-op Marketing platform to give product manufacturers and their resellers a single location to manage all co-op marketing activities. Embedded in Balihoo’s Local Marketing Automation platform, this represents the industry’s first closed-loop co-op marketing solution that functions across all advertising and marketing mediums.

“This is a game-changing technology for the co-op marketing industry,” said Pete Gombert, Balihoo CEO. “The net result is a more effective, more efficient co-op marketing model that increases revenue and decreases costs across the entire value chain.”

Balihoo’s Integrated Co-op Marketing platform is being leveraged in a broad range of business verticals, from the durable home good industry to medical product manufacturing.

“With this platform our customers are able to quickly and easily develop and implement highly effective local marketing campaigns,” said Dan Hinkle, Nobel Biocare Senior Director Practice Development Solutions. “Combining Balihoo’s technology with Nobel Biocare’s consumer research enables our partners to reduce advertising costs, improve consumer awareness and increase practice production.”

According to Balihoo Vice President of Product Management Kevin Donaldson, the true breakthrough is in combining the creative, media and financial components with a layer of reporting that gives the national brand full visibility into all local marketing efforts. “Our national clients are now able to see exactly who is doing what at the local level and tie that back into return on investment reporting to understand the true value of their co-op marketing program.”

Learn more by requesting the Integrated Co-op Marketing white paper at www.balihoo.com/icm.

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Filed under RESOURCES, TECHNOLOGY · Tagged with

Small Businesses Make Big Impact with Savvy Tech Tools

October 26, 2009 by admin · 2 Comments

Easy and often inexpensive ways to do better business may be at your fingertips.

If, that is, your fingertips are on the buttons of some of today’s increasingly important-though sometimes surprising-business technology. Here’s a look at six you may care to consider:

Twitter (http://twitter.com)-this microblogging site, in which updates consist of no more than 140 characters, has proved to be a useful tool to reach current and potential customers in a new way.

Bing Local Listing Center (https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx)–the new search engine from Microsoft lets you manage your business listing on the Bing Local Listing Center. It’s similar to the Yellow Pages but adds details about a business that its customers most want to know.

HubSpot (http://hubspot.com)–as small businesses consider utilizing online social media tools, software from companies such as HubSpot can help them make this decision. HubSpot helps businesses get found on the Internet by the right prospects and convert more of them into leads.

Social networks–small businesses can benefit from sites such as LinkedIn (linkedin.com) and Facebook (facebook.com), where sharing information about your business or specials on products and services is easier than ever.

Touch screen, Web-connected printers (http://lexmark.com)–these all-in-one devices (AIO’s) are much more than just printers. They now offer customized solutions such as Lexmark’s new line of inkjet, touch screen AIO’s that connect to the Web to save preprogrammed tasks as one button.

Free Web Toolbar–there are several online tools that can quickly and easily increase your efficiency. The Lexmark Web Toolbar, for example, eliminates unwanted ads and graphics. It works with any printer and is easy to install from lexmark.com.

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Filed under COFFEE BREAK, RESOURCES · Tagged with RESOURCES, small business tools, smart marketing, web technology

Coffee Break: The Right WORD is Key to Your Success

July 8, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment

The question of driving interested traffic to your website or blog is one that all webmasters share.

Watching some webmasters clean up while your site languishes on the vine is a terrible feeling — like being the last kid picked in a schoolyard game of kickball.

You may as well be the ball!

Admittedly, there is no shortage of “experts” out there who offer all manner of formulas, tips and strategies that will drive hordes of traffic your way — so let me ask you this:

Do you want tire kickers and freebie seekers, or do you want buyers?

I don’t know about you – but I choose the latter.

You see, many of those same “experts” would have you believe that the holy grail of traffic domination lies solely in identifying as many high-traffic keywords as you can.

Frankly, that’s a load of crap. If you want to attract traffic that is actually seeking out what you have to offer — folks who are not phobic about opening up their wallets and making a purchase — then you need to focus your efforts on those keywords that deliver the goods.

After all, as the saying goes — “money talks, and BS walks.”

A couple of colleagues of mine, Kathe Lucas and Denise Hall, have created a no-holds-barred 40-page report that will quickly get you up to speed and dominating the “money talks” keyword segment of your niche. Best of all, you can snap up this little gem for less than the price of a pair of fancy coffee drinks.

And as you well know, I NEVER joke when it comes to caffeine.

My only gripe about this report is the sub-title. In light of all the whoopla surrounding Michael Jackson’s passing, the books’ sub-title of “ABC…Easy as 1-2-3” did make me cringe a little.

But I am willing to overlook that, and you should, too. You can read all about this report by visiting this link.

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Filed under COFFEE BREAK, RESOURCES, TECHNOLOGY · Tagged with get more buyers, keyword optimization, keyword selection, traffic generation

Holy Cow! Tools Help You Stand Out from the Herd

July 6, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment

There are now more than a billion people online. Most of us use the internet to engage in some kind of social activity — virtual communications like email, instant message or video.

We belong to virtual communities like social networks, image sharing or interest groups, and in these communities we have created virtual identities like homepages, avatars and blogs.

But what about those instances when you need something a little less “virtual?”

Online stationer MOO dreams up new tools that help people turn virtual content into beautiful print products. In addition, their printing technology allows every card or sticker in a pack to carry a different image.

What better way to stand out from the herd?

Un-Herd Of Approach to Printing
MOO’s range of customizable print products are available to customers in over 150 countries. Using partnerships and integrations with some of the world’s leading online communities including Flickr, Facebook, Fotolog, Bebo, LiveJournal, Vox, Habbo Hotel and Second Life, MOO has enabled some 200 million end users to turn their photos, or thousands of unique MOO designs, into custom stationery products such as greeting cards, stickers and business cards.

The Man Behind MOO
Richard Moross, the thirty-something creative force behind MOO, is utterly convinced that design can change the world. Since graduating in 2000 he has worked in a range of creative businesses — from start-ups to global organizations — before founding MOO in August 2004.

The latest addition to the MOO product line is their MOO Business Cards.

MOO offers full-color cards that combine high-quality design with one-of-a-kind printing options — meaning, every one of your business cards have can feature a unique design. For small business owners, MOO offers the ability to showcase your product line, client work or brand statements across a set of cards, creating the ultimate in affordable business promotional tools.

What Could YOU do with MOO?

Designers can showcase web designs or print creatives
Indie artists can promote their one-of-a-kind creations
Forward-thinking corporations can feature mission statements or objectives.
Writers can share favorite quotes from famous writers
The possibilities are endless!

Milking the Idea for Business
MOO is the perfect solution for small business owners that are looking for a way to create a standout image on a budget. With the option of printing as few as 50 cards at a time, your order will be printed and shipped within 48 hours. You might consider adding some MiniCards to your order as well – simply hole punch them to create a high-end hangtag that is sure to get noticed. You can tie your business image together with MOO’s NoteCards, Postcards and Greeting Cards to create a professional, cohesive brand image.

For more information, visit their website.