Music & Marketing: URBANIZED!

How do you measure the success of a blog? By the number of visitors it receives. Traffic is essential to the survival of a site. So, what are easy and efficient ways to get it?

from wagtiradio.com



1) Provide quality content
Quality over quantity is a motto that should be in every blogger's mind. As such, editing and proofreading are two prerequisites. Before you publish anything, make sure that your content is as typo-free as possible.

2) Provide useful content
A blog is like a product. If you want to sell, your articles must be unique and visitors must relate to them. At times, it may be difficult to come up with new ideas. To overcome this problem, you could:
- set up Google alerts to receive news in your inbox. When you find an interesting article, share an extract in your blog or write something on the topic.

- visit websites like AllTop or Mashable and subscribe to valuable blogs in your niche.

And if you are an entrepreneur, why not check out the questions asked by members of LinkedIn? Some will fuel your creativity.

3) Write great titles
Titles are the main attention grabbers. When written well, they will make visitors read the articles attached to them. For example, if you want to offer tips on book promotion, something like X [number] Great Tips to Promote Your Book would work. Remember that people love numbers and lists, so organize the post as such. Be clear and concise.

4) Blog often
A blog regularly updated will bring traffic. So, try to contribute to its growth at least twice a week.

5) Ask questions
Asking questions is the best way to engage readers and show them that you care. There are three proven ways to do it:

• Ask a question in the first paragraph of your post. This will draw their attention to the problem that you are trying to solve.


• Ask a question in your conclusion in order to open the discussion. Visitors will leave comments more easily.


• Invite people to suggest future topics. Why not conduct a survey?

6) Tag, Tag, Tag
Tags or keywords are specific words that describe an item. When blog articles are published, they will be indexed by search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) according to those specific words. Without them, search engines may overlook the posts and they will end up at the bottom of the pile. So, tag all your articles and pictures.

7) Share your posts
Share your posts on sites like Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, and Stumble Upon. Search engines love them. Use Hootsuite and Ping.fm to update all your networks at once.

8) Allow visitors to subscribe to your blog
By using a tool like Feedburner, you give visitors the opportunity to stay connected with your blog by subscribing to it. Every time you publish a new article, subscribers receive a notice. It is a great way to build up a loyal audience.

9) Submit articles to directories
This is a very efficient way to get your name out there. EzineArticles and eHow are the best article submission directories right now and rank really high in search engines. Let me give you an example.

A while ago, I submitted one of my previous posts to EzineArticles. The article got accepted. Type 'rejection reviewers' in Google search and you will see 'Authors & Six Tips to Avoid Rejection from Reviewers' appear third on the first page of the search engine.

10) Answer comments & visit other blogs
Too often, bloggers do not follow up with readers comments or emails. They do not even take the time to visit others blogs or sites. Imagine a company that would not care about its customers. It would lose business very quickly. A blog works like a company. If you do not set aside some time to provide good customer service, you will get no traffic.

Should you really have no time to connect with those who contact you privately, just let them know that you will respond to their messages later. And make sure that you do!

11) Add a link to your blog in your signature
In this day and age, we all use emails. It takes a couple of seconds to add a link to your blog in your signature block. And it may bring a LOT of traffic.

12) Be patient
Solid and constant traffic does not happen overnight. So, continue working hard and do not lose heart. Good things happen to those who wait!

Now, are there other tips that I may have forgotten?

The goal of recruiting is to find the right person at the right time. Logically, that means one source is never enough. You’ll want to tap into diverse mediums to find the best candidates. Social media is no exception. Each platform has its own unique demographic. You’ll want to consider that audience when making the decision about which applications to use for your recruiting efforts.

Regardless of the application, there are some common elements to using social media for recruiting. Here are six things to consider when using any social media application for recruiting.
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1. Create an Online Presence That Reflects Who You Are
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Having a nice avatar, succinct bio and current contact information will make people want to connect with you. Be sure to organize your social media profiles to provide potential contacts with a better idea of who you are so they have a reason to communicate with you and form a relationship.

“It’s about being human”, explains Bill Boorman, author of the Recruiting Unblog. “People connect with people, not brands. Connect with everyone because you never know who will make that referral or connection for you.”

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2. Make the Most of Your Time
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A large part of any success with social media is involvement. This is especially true if you want to use social media for recruiting. While mobile applications can help with this, Boorman agrees, “It takes a big investment of time to build a talent community.” To target your efforts, he suggests asking people directly which channels they use and looking at what your competitors are doing. “Consider directing your messages to a single point, like a relevant blog or company website.”

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3. Individualize Your Approach
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At some point, you have to connect with people you don’t know and become a part of their conversations. “I actually find it easy,” says Chris Havrilla national recruiting manager for Hitachi Consulting, a global leader in delivering business and IT strategies. “I have found if you communicate with people in a meaningful and thoughtful manner, you can never go wrong.”

Havrilla’s approach is to connect with people who have a genuine interest in his business and industry. “I follow or connect with people related to that space, ‘listen’ to and learn from the conversations, and participate when appropriate. If you are connecting with someone directly, be ‘individualized’ in your approach — take the time to understand who you are reaching out to and be respectful of their time and attention.”

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4. Be Authentic
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Recruiters always want to see the ‘real candidate’ and in order to do that, they have to be real as well. Amanda Hite, founder and CEO of Talent Revolution Inc., says when it comes to social media: “Remember it’s NOT about the tools it’s ALL about the relationships.”

So don’t be afraid to be yourself. Hite adds, “Being the authentic, unapologetic you is totally on trend. But more importantly when you embrace your own authenticity and stay committed to ‘being you’ no matter what, you’ll attract the kind of clients and employees that do the same and are the best match for you.”

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5. Share Interesting Stuff
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All work and no play is boring. So sharing news, tidbits, etc. of general interest can create what might be the equivalent of “social media small talk,” which leads to bigger conversations. Sylvia Dahlby works for SmartSearch, a leading talent acquisition system and recruiting business software solution firm. She works from home and lives in Hawaii. “Before social network sites like Twitter() and LinkedIn(), I belonged to dozens of old-style online newsgroups. Now, I leverage the new social networks much in the same way,” Sylvia explains it’s still important to interact with others.

One of the things Sylvia mentioned was her Twitter account because she mixes her recruiting knowledge with Hawaii tidbits. “My Twitter() account is for personal branding and making connections. I mostly tweet about my work, my product and the recruiting industry during business hours, chat with friends and business associates throughout the day, and throw in a mix of my hobbies and certain interests (such as Hawaiiana). I treat Twitter as my office ‘water cooler’ or after-hours ‘cocktail party’ where I can catch the news and buzz from people in various online communities around the world.”

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6. Focus on Substance
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If someone directs a question at you via social media, find a way to respond, even if it’s to take the conversation offline. “The key is substance,” says Steve Browne, executive director of human resources for LaRosa’s Inc., a Cincinnati based regional pizzeria with 63 locations. “I’d recommend people using social media for recruiting [focused] on substance and not just resume information. Look at how the candidate is connected in the social media arena, and are they contributing to their profession, or just lurking. If they’re engaged online, chances are they would be engaged working for your company.”

Many recruiters realize that when it comes to recruiting, social media tools are just that – tools. The real value is in how the tools are used. Havrilla explains, “Social media can give you a great and efficient way to engage with your community – candidates, clients, customers, partners, prospects, etc. – on a very level playing field with the companies you are competing with for talent (or business). The key is to make sure you have the time to invest in to it. At a very basic level this is all about networking. The use of social media tools has greatly enhanced my ability to build, grow, and nurture my network. These tools are not a magic bullet though — to get value from your network, you have to add value to it.”

Affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to make money online. Twitter is a great way to increase your sales. Just be careful so your Twitter experience is a pleasant (and profitable) one.

Here are 7 tips that affiliate marketers should keep in mind:

1. Be personal with your tweets. Don't send out the same tweet over and over or to different people. If people are tweeting about needing holiday presents, don't send, "Hey! Shop at my site www.blahblahblah.com" to everyone! Tweets should be personal, not canned.

2. Be genuine with tweets. Don't try to be something you are not.

3. If you do send a sales link, send it as a natural part of the conversation. If you chat with people, eventually they will ask what you do (or you can drop subtle hints) - then you can mention it.

4. Don't send a direct link to your product. Send a link to your blog or a general informational website. Don't be so blatant about trying to get a sale.

For example, if a Twitter mom complains about not doing well with potty training Junior, don't send her a link to your ebook on potty training; instead, send a link to your blog post that discusses potty training ideas (that can include your affiliate link to the ebook). You will get a much more favorable reception.

5. Be useful and helpful. Not every tweet has to be about "you, you, and you". Take time to tweet about others and be a helpful part of the community.

6. Listen to your followers. Ask questions, and then help them out. You can get great feedback from tweets. (I get lots of ideas for info products and affiliate products from the feedback I receive from my followers.)

7. Use tweets in moderation. Don't tweet about every single thing you do. (Like "going to the store" - do people really care?) Don't send direct affiliate links. Don't toot your own horn all of the time. Let people hear from you, but don't be too chatty.

Used correctly, Twitter is a great way to add to your profits. Just make sure to use it wisely.

Whether you’re running a website, or a blog, you need to know about the most effective advertising methods. Advertising methods can make or break your website. Some methods are extremely expensive, while others are far more cost effective. In general, the cost of the advertisement does not dictate how effective the advertising is.

Pop Up Advertising

Some of the most expensive ads that you can purchase are pop-up ads. Not only are they expensive, but visitors also find them downright annoying. In fact, almost all people today have some form of pop-up blocker which prevents them from seeing these ads in the first place. This expensive marketing method is one you can easily live without. Don’t forget that fly ads are similar to pop-ups can do little more than provide a description and chase visitors to your site away.

Pod Casting

Podcasts are a very slick sophisticated Internet advertising method. However, since more and more people are utilizing them, they can be a very effective if somewhat expensive advertising method. It’s important to remember that podcasts are similar in nature to a television broadcast. In general, they will be worth the money that you spend for them.

Search Engine Advertising

Paid search engine advertising means that you pay the search engine a fixed amount that allows your URL to be included in the first page of top results. If you are considering purchasing these rights through Google or Yahoo search, it may be worth the investment. However, if you using lesser-known search engines or those that are not as heavily utilized as Google and Yahoo, it may not be worth your investment.

Blogging

One of the least expensive advertising methods is blogging. Sign up for a blogging account, which is oftentimes free, post to your blog on a regular basis, and utilize social bookmarking tools to drive traffic. Not only is this method inexpensive, but it almost always will result in additional traffic.

Small search engines

Another inexpensive advertising method is to submit your site to smaller search engines. Because the small search engines smaller, they tend to accept URLs more readily. This means that your site will not get overlooked by the giants that could dwarf your site on Yahoo and Google.



Text Links

Text links can be extremely effective, and in general they are free. You can contact other blog owners and ask for them to list you in their blogroll. You can easily as reciprocate and the end result is you’ve not only gained a back link, you’ve also effectively advertised on another site.

Summary

There are several ways that you can advertise your website inexpensively. Today, there is no reason to spend thousands of dollars marketing your site. Social networking sites such as Twitter or Redgage, other blogs, smaller search engines, and myriad other tools are available to you.