Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (and Other Analogies and Cliche's for SEO)

Weve all heard that familiar expression, Good things come to those who wait. Whether youre waiting for your Heinz ketchup to pour out onto your burger (remember those commercials?), waiting for Christmas day to open your gifts, waiting for summer vacation to be let out of school, or waiting in line at the DMV well, maybe not the DMV, good things will come if you simply allow them to come in their own time.

Under normal circumstances that expression is simply not true. Youll still get your ketchup if you shove the butter knife into the bottle, dragging it out onto your plate; open all your gifts on Christmas Eve; skip that last few pointless days of the school year; or get into the express line at the DMV. The real lesson behind the cliche is that patience is a virtue.

One instance where its is true, that good things come to those that wait, is when you are performing search engine optimization. Unlike placing sponsored ads via Google AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing, where results are almost instantaneous, the long-term return on investment for SEO is considerably better than most other forms of on- or off-line advertising. Unfortunately, SEO does not produce instantaneous results. And yes, patience is still a virtue.

Optimizing your site for your targeted key phrases wont get you to #1 over night. You wont find all your keywords to rank in the top 10 on Google in just a few days, nor will you get significant traffic improvement at the snap of the fingers. To use a simple analogy, SEO is like boiling water: you dont get a hard boil the moment you turn on the burner, you have to wait for it.

The process of optimizing a site, or just specific pages in a site can take weeks, and thats just the initial optimization phase. In a previous article I wrote about the making of a perfect SEO firm, highlighting all the different jobs that an SEO firm must perform for the optimization process. That article outlined only the overall human resources needed but didnt go into the specific job functions that are required in the SEO process, when performed correctly. Here is where I let that particular cat out of the bag.

Cant Find Your Way Out of a Paper Bag

On the front end of the optimization process hours and hours of research must be performed for each account. Everything from keyword research, industry research, competition research, marketing research, and more, all needs to be completed before any optimization can begin. We often get asked if research time can be shortened if we have performed optimization work for another site in the same industry recently. The short answer to that is, no.

Every site is constructed different, designed different, laid out different, has a unique history and targets the audience differently. These are all factors that are considered in the multiple levels of research performed. No two sites are the same; therefore no research is the same.

Nothing to Write Home About

A good SEO will actually write or rewrite your page content to properly (and effectively) work in your targeted keyword phrases. A professional writer should be able to take the SEO recommendations for keyword usage and incorporate that into existing content in a way that reads naturally (i.e. does not look as if you just tried to insert keywords here and there for search engine relevance) and maintains the ability to convert your visitors to paying customers. This is no small task and should be done with utmost time and care.

Take It or Leave It

Code bloat removal is probably the most overlooked part of the SEO process. Sure, everybody knows about titles, meta tags, alt tags, etc. and making them all search engine friendly. Thats not necessarily a small task either, but many times, eliminating page code bloat is an incredibly daunting task. Moving styles and javascripts is only part of the puzzle. Many times a page has to be almost completely rebuilt due to the excess amount of junk code that was put in place by whatever design programs were used.

Even a Broken Watch is Correct Twice a Day

On top of the code bloat removal process you also want to get your pages to validate to professional HTML standards set by the W3C. Validation is simply ensuring the correct coding elements are used and used correctly. While most validation issues are relatively small, they tend to come in multitudes thorough the site. Larger validation issues can often take time and substantial finessing of the code in order to correct.

All Things Being Equal

Site maps, custom 404-redirects and robots.txt files are all important to the overall construction of your site, even if they dont necessarily have a direct effect on the actual on-page optimization of your site. Site maps help both search engines and visitors quickly and easily get to the information that is important. A custom 404 redirect eliminates that annoying page not found error and lets you keep visitors on your site if they somehow access a page via a bad link. The robots.txt file is useful to communicate with the search engine spiders about content they should or should not index. This allows the search engines to focus its time on the good stuff and not the irrelevant portions of your site.

Theres More Here than Meets the Eye

There are a lot of details that I left out simply because it cant all be addressed in a single article, but you can get the gist of the amount work that goes into just the initial optimization of a site. Depending on the size of the site or the number of pages being optimized, the processes above can take several weeks to a few months to compete. Going back to our boiling water analogy, you just filled the pot, now its time to put the pot on the stove.

Very rarely is search engine optimization a one-time-only process, but takes a continuous ongoing effort to build site relevance, evaluate performance, analyze effectiveness, and adjust the campaign accordingly to achieve and maintain top rankings against active competitors and substantial algorithm changes.

There are Plenty of Fish in the Sea

Link building and management is an important aspect to the total optimization campaign. Optimizing your site without considering your link campaign is like trying to drive a car without tires. You dont need great tires to make the car move forward, but you have to have some kind of tires in place, unless youre towing your car on a flatbed truck. Same holds true for a web site, it can be a great site but without links you just wont perform in the natural search results. (Just to complete the analogy, we can say that sponsored ads and off line marketing efforts are the flatbed truck.)

Linking has gotten more and more complex as the search engines fight link spam and seek to improve relevance. Whether you seek out one-way or reciprocal links, linked articles or directory submissions, or authority links, link building is a very time consuming process that undergoes constant re-evaluations. A good link today may not be a good link tomorrow, not because it was never a good link but because the linking site might become irrelevant to the search engines or become a search spammer, or whatever reason. A good half to two-thirds of the monthly man-hours assigned to ongoing optimization can easily be focused specifically on the link campaign.

Look at Both Sides of the Coin

Unless you are targeting no more than a single phrase for any given page of your site, inevitably it will take some finesse to achieve top rankings for all phrase being targeted. Good keyword research in the set-up process can greatly improve the ability to archive top rankings for multiple phrases per page, but no matter what there will always be certain elements working against each other. Adjust one phrase here and another one drops. Adjust that phrase and still another phrase drops.

With time, a good SEO will be effective at getting your keywords ranked well against the competition. Thats half the battle. The rest comes as new or existing competitors amp up their optimization efforts in order to take back what was achieved and as search engines adjust their algorithms. Weve all heard of sites losing rankings with algo adjustments, even those that have never spammed. It happens and its the job of the SEO to see these things coming and adjust the site accordingly and should rankings dip, to move in and get them back in place.

Wait with Baited Breath

Again, this is just scratching the surface of what goes into the monthly optimization campaign. But all of these adjustments work over time. Even more so once you consider sandboxing and aging delays that are becoming a staple in the search engine algorithms.

If Youre Not Part of the Solution, Youre Part of the Problem

Dont expect instant results with your optimization campaign. Many SEOs require a six or twelve month contract, simply because they know it can often take that much time to show solid results for all of your keywords. Expecting great results any sooner is simply wishful thinking.

We all heard the saying, A watch pot never boils. Well, in reality, itll take the same amount of time to boil as an unwatched pot, but it just seems longer because youre there looking at it. Once you hire your SEO company, let them do their job and walk away. Dont completely forget about them and check in from time to time just so you know whats going on (and your SEO knows that you expect results), but just give it time for the process to work.

Go work on your site, your business and other marketing efforts. While your SEO is working to make your site successful in the search engines, look for other ways to bring success to you and, to use another cliche; dont put all your eggs in one basket. Search engine optimization should not be your only hope for success.

If you have done your research and chosen the right SEO company success will come, but only with time. Be willing to let the process work its course and good things will come by the boatload.

Stoney deGeyter is president of Pole Position Marketing, a professional search engine optimization and marketing firm providing SEO services since 1998. Stoney is also a part-time instructor at the community College in Reno, Nevada where he resides as well as a moderator in the Small Business Ideas Forum. You can read his SEM blog at (EMP) E-Marketing Performance. You can email him with any questions at stoney@polepositionmarketing.com

Article Marketing Tips 101 - Using Articles to Generate Free Traffic

Whether you run a website or a blog, traffic generation will be one of your primary goals. How do you go about increasing traffic to your site? If you search online, you will find countless gurus that have the magical solution and promise to bring 10,000 hits to your site. I say "hog wash".

It's clear that these gurus are not interested in you and only want to sell their ebook or software using as much hype as they can. Traffic building is done by preparing a marketing plan and putting it into action.

If you want instant mass traffic, then look into pay-per-click advertising. If you want to create a residual (and sometimes viral) network of backlinks that will generate free traffic for as long as you want, then you should seriously consider: Article Marketing.

Why is article marketing a great solution? Because it works and it's free traffic

Every article that you create can be submitted to many different article directories. Each submission results in a backlink to your site which will bring in free traffic immediately. This means that, not only will you benefit in other ways from submitting your article, but you will receive incoming traffic quickly. I personally use automated submission to submit my articles to hundreds of sites to maximize on this effect. Remember that not all automatic submitters are created equally and some are much better than others. To find out which ones are better, click on the link in the bio box below.

Another benefit of doing article marketing is better search engine positioning. Google uses a form of internet democracy to determine how relevant your site is. Each link that points to you site counts as one vote towards your site. The votes are not equal though and are based on the origin of the link. A link coming from a higher PR website will be worth more than one coming from a lower one. Also consider that a unique backlink is worth more than a reciprocal link. For a list of the best sites to submit to, check out the resource box below.

Article marketing also has a viral aspect to it. When you submit your article to directories, they become available to other publishers. If a publisher chooses to use your article, they must keep all backlinks intact. This results in many more backlinks, all from a single article. If a major publisher picks your article to run, then your in luck and your site will benefit from a huge increase in traffic that will trickle down.

Best of all, once you submit your article to a directory, it is there forever. You don't need to repost it like you would a classified ad, you just publish it and forget it.

You don't even need to be a great writer to use article marketing successfully to generate free traffic. If you can write at a 9th grade level, you can use article marketing effectively. If you really don't want to write, you can hire someone else to do it for you and it's not very expensive.

Article marketing can even be used for offline business and will help build your business' brand and credibility. It actually works very well for offline businesses since so few business owners use this type of marketing.

Learn more about effective use of article marketing, discover the right tools to use and find out which sites give the best ROI by visiting us today: Article Marketing Tips 101: Free Traffic

SEO The Old School Way

There's been a lot of changes in search engine optimization at least over the past 9 years that I've been doing it. Back in 1999 keyword stuffing was considered, if not white hat, then a reasonably grayish-white way to get a web page to the top of the rankings. Back then, you would come across many websites where the tops of the pages (above the fold as they say) were for the visitors of the site and keywords stuffed at the bottom of the page were for the search engines.

But, over time a consensus among webmasters, SEOs and the search engines emerged that this method was not preferable. What developed as preferable over time was writing complete sentences for the visitors of the website without any regard to the search engines. But, for a while the search engines lagged in rewarding this behavior ahead of the keyword stuffing behavior.

It was only after this reward system took hold, and the ranking algorithms became savvy to this trick and delivered a consistent reward-punishment system to shall we say, good pages versus bad pages, that webmasters and SEOs had a playbook in which to follow. Of course, many years ago, much of this was unspoken.

There was no Matt Cutts from Google or Google Guy giving SEOs hints here and there of what behaviors were considered white hat, black hat, gray hat or snow cone hat. Before the days of Matt Cutts, SEOs had to guess and talk to each other on message boards to compare, confabulate and surmise what was going on with the latest algorithm change or anomaly (of course this still goes on today).

But, just as the search engine algorithms evolved so have the black hat SEOs who have kept one step ahead of the search engines (or tried to) and have become even more sophisticated at gaming the system. Cloaking, sophisticated redirects for siphoning Page Rank (PR) or cheating link partners have abounded.

An entire industry has evolved around buying and selling text links for the purposes of passing PR from one site to the next. The buyers want to buy enough PR to get their websites up in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and those doing the selling are happy to make a profit doing just that.

But, even throughout all the efforts to game the search engines, old school SEO hasn't changed that much over time. The basics of keyword research, on-page optimization, link-building and tracking results, which is the core of SEO has stayed the core.

Sure, there are new wrinkles as to exactly how to do this core of white hat search engine optimization. Within the past couple of years, blogs and social media have both come on strong and evolved. Old school SEOs have had to be flexible and adapt to new market conditions and even embrace the new online media.

But, when one gets lost in the new and shiny techniques (which is easy to do) it is important to pull back a while, gain some perspective and realize that old school SEO will still get a website where it needs to be. And, as trust is important in any business relationship, clients can rest assured that their white hat won't get their website dumped at the drop of a hat for using black hat techniques that the search engines have caught wind of and penalized.

Old school SEO still rocks and there is no reason to believe that this will change anytime soon.

Copyright SEO Services

Tom Stevens writes about and practices search engine optimization, Internet marketing and advanced SEO services for many clients who prefer going old school.

Ways To Use Articles To Expand Your Online Business

So you created or have hired someone to create some articles. Did you know there are several ways you can benefit from these articles not just one or two ways?

First of all you can submit each article to article directories to get one way links. Even if you are not doing search engine optimization, you will still get benefit by doing article submission. You receive traffic as well.

Second you can put these articles on your website or blog. Create a new page for each article. Content is king on the Internet.

You can contact webmasters which have websites or blogs in your niche and tell them you wish to swap articles or contribute your articles to their blog. Both blogger and wordpress platforms allow you to add authors on your blog. So these webmasters can add you as an author and you can post your articles to their blogs whenever you wish.

Swapping articles means you post the webmasters articles on your blog or website and they put your articles on theirs. This has two benefits. Content and backlinks. Both help search engine rankings. Article exchanges are better than link exchanges, even though they are more difficult to do.

You can visit internet business related forums. See if they have a section where you can trade, swap or exchange links and private message users to ask them for an article exchange. You can also use this technique and contact webmasters asking them to become an author for their blog.

When you become an author of another blog, you can link to your own website from within the article, or by creating a bio. A bio is simple few lines of text that either promotes your websites or talks about you. In bio you put a link to your own website. So it is a win win situation. You can backlinks and the webmasters gets free content.

There are other places you can submit your articles like social bookmarking websites. Simple post your articles on your blog, then bookmark these blog posts.

There are several sites that accept stories, but usually approve also articles, not just stories. There are blog carnivals. These are websites that display top blog posts about a particular subject. There are thousands of blog carnivals on any topic, and you simple submit your blog posts that contain articles to these websites.

You can transform your articles into an ebook. You can put several chapters in the ebook, putting each article as a new chapter. You may want to edit it a bit and you have a ready made ebook. It might not be good idea to try and sell it, since the information is also on your blog for free.

But you can give it away for free and build a list. So people have to optin to your list in order to get a free copy of your ebook. You build your list, and they get free ebook. You can then promote products to your list once you build a relationship with them. But if you do not put the articles on your blog you can sell the ebook.

So do not just submit your articles to article directories like everyone else is doing. Be creative and you get more benefits.

Karl Sultanas allows you to get all the backlinks your little hearth desires. That's how to improve SE rankings.

Advanced Article Marketing Secrets - Learn How To Turn A Reader Into A Paying Customer

Article marketing is a really good way to promote your business. Unfortunately, I see very few people who make the most of it and get it to work for them.

The main problem is that very few people will actually get it right. Those who do will earn an insane amount of money online. In this article I would like to go over the steps that you need to take to monetize your article traffic.

When you create your website I suggest that you develop a high converting squeeze page. You will include a link to this page in your resource when you submit your articles to directories. Let us examine in detail why you would want to do this. If you send your visitor a sales page it will be very unlikely that they will buy from you the very first time. The best way to do this is to first capture the name and email address.

This allows you to send an ecourse and first warm your prospect up. This will significantly improve your conversion. It allows you to first develop a relationship with your prospect before you sell to them. Now the really important part is that you will build a database of leads that you can market to over and over again. Which would you prefer a one time sale or repeat sales from loyal customers.

Unfortunately, very few article marketers do this. Many market an affiliate product directly by including their own domain name which redirects to an affiliate product. Consequently they are leaving big money on the table.

Are you really interested in driving massive traffic to your website?

Here's the answer:

Secrets Of Article Marketing - Download your free ebook now.

Mark Abrahams is a full time internet marketer who has helped others to earn a living online.

Powerful Article Marketing - Revealed - 4 Effective Secrets to Jumpstart Your Article Marketing

Are you thinking of using article marketing as your advertising tool in promoting your business and marketing your products in the World Wide Web. Well, I'd say you have made a wise decision as it is the most efficient and cost-effective marketing tool in the internet today.

Here are the 4 effective secrets to jumpstart your article marketing:

1. Use striking titles. Your headlines are one of the elements that can either make or break your marketing efforts. These can be your greatest tool in getting online users to open and read your articles. Thus, it is very important that your titles are attention-grabbing, interesting, direct to the point, and communicate the readers' benefits.

2. Content. This is what will be the deciding factor of online users if they will read, pick up, and republish your articles. If your content is well-written, useful, interesting, fact-based, and direct to the point, you can be assured that your articles will be widely distributed.

3. Target market. You also need to make sure that your articles are targeted and relevant to your potential readers' needs. After all, they will be the one who will read your articles so you might as well make your content beneficial for them. If you can consistently do this, your readers will not only support your other articles but also, they will most likely to consider doing business with you.

4. Article submission sites. In writing your articles, you need to consider the rules and terms of service set forth by publishing sites to increase the chances of your articles being posted online. Some of their requirements are the following: your articles must run 300-500 words, they must be free from blatant advertisements and sales pitch, they must not have hyperlinks on the article body, they must not contain inappropriate content, etc.

To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online"

Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.

AIDA - The Secret Formula To Article Marketing Riches!

First, let me tell you that you don't need to be a professional article writer to churn out killer articles that make your bank account happy. It's really easy to write a good article when you follow these simple steps.

All you need to do is understanding these four letters: AIDA

What does it mean?

A = attention
I = Interest
D = Desire
A = Action

Now let me explain each of the point above.

1. Attention

You need to write a killer title that stops your visitors and tells him: "read this article right now". For example, if you are trying to sell an ebook that help athletes to run faster, your title could be:

"4 Simple Tricks To Effortlessly And Naturally Always Be In Your State Of Peak Performance."

Do you think that a title like this one will work?

The truth is that you won't know until you split test this headline with a second one a finally find the winner.

2. Interest

Now that you got your visitor's attention, be sure to write an interesting article on the topic. If you are not an expert in your niche market, you have two solutions.

a. You can make a quick search about your topic on Google, and read whatever comes on the first and second page of results.

b. Hire a ghostwriter to carry out the research for you and write the article on your behalf.

3. Desire

Now you want to speak to the readers emotions. You want to put him into the emotional state that will make him click the link in your resource box.

It's not easy. This is an art called copywriting. If you have good copywriting skills, you have what it takes to make full living online.

4. Action

Naturally, this is where you want to lead the reader. You want him to click on the link in the bio box and finally visit your website.

Now that you know the meaning of these four letters, and literally force those who take the time to read your article to your site, you need to understand the marketing and website conversion basics to close the sale.

To learn more, download my Free Guide: "How To Earn $100K Per Year With Article Marketing".

Franck Silvestre makes thousands of dollars a year from affiliate and article marketing. Wonder what the secret to his success is? Discover how he does it at: http://www.mynetmarketingland.com/article-marketing/

Passport to Wealth - Is it Just Another Scam?

When the bills start to pile up and you just do not have the time to find a second job we turn to the internet for some help. Soon you are looking at a sales page for Passport to Wealth and with so many horror stories about scams on the internet, you just have to ask yourself ; Is Passport to Wealth just another scam?

Passport to Wealth is part of the emerging "direct sales" industry that means you get paid directly from all your new prospects. That is to say that the money goes directly into your account, but that is after you pass up your first two sales of $997.00 (pretty steep huh).

Here are some very important facts to consider before deciding to join Passport to Wealth:

2 Up Marketing Plan

Over time this plan will create more competition than sales for you. Once someone has handed up their first two sales they are now in direct competition with you and everyone else in the Passport to Wealth program.

The Pay Plan

This plan sounds very simple until you realize you have to make three sales of $997.00 before you break even and start moving towards some profit. This means you have to generate $997.00 x 3 = $2991.00 in sales just to break even.

The Product

After visiting the Passport to Wealth website I learned that the product consists of the usual array of e-books on internet marketing. The products are nothing out of the ordinary so all that leaves is the compensation plan to attract new prospects, which they will soon realize isn't as simple as it sounds and may not be the easiest sale to make.

After looking over this program, Passport to Wealth I think it can be profitable if you are willing to work hard and spend a good amount of money on marketing. I know these days that not many people have a lot of cash lying around to invest, but I have an idea that will help you to cover your Passport to Wealth costs.

If you are interested in a fast (24 hours or less), fun and easy way to generate some money with no out of pocket cost and NO Selling, please visit my Blog.

Scott Strickland is a working single dad who makes money from home and wants to help you do the same. After many years and thousands of dollars he has learned how to make money safely from the comfort of his home and you can too. You can learn more about him and what programs he is involved with by visiting his blog: http://how-to-make-money-without-selling.blogspot.com

Article Marketing For Profit - Some Places Where You Can Sell Your Writings

Today, there are dozens of places where you can sell your articles. Typically these resources will fit into one of three categories. Depending on your writing style, how quickly you want to make money, and how much you want to make, one venue may work better than another. Without fail, as you develop better writing skills, you will be able to command higher rates no matter what market you choose.

First, you can purchase a market directory, such as Writer's Digest. This is ideal for writers that want to follow a traditional path to paper based publication. Unfortunately, if you have not sold articles before, or are new to the business of writing, it may be very difficult to break in. On the other hand, once you do make a sale, you can expect upwards of $30.00 per article. You may also want to try ezine publications. While they may not pay as much, they will give you some much needed name recognition.

Second, you may want to try offering your services at various freelance work sites. Typically, the articles you write will be designed based on customer specifications. You will also be working as a ghost writer, meaning that your name will never appear in conjunction with the article. Typically, you will be lucky if you get paid $2.00 to $5.00 per article at the beginning.

Irregardless of which method you choose, you should be able to make a decent living. Depending on sales volume, you may even want to work with both markets, and see if you can duplicate success in both places. One thing is for certain, you will always be learning something new, and enjoying the benefit of working on your own.

Fabian Tan is the author of the free 51-Page Report:

"Murder Your Job: How To Build Cash Sucking Autopilot Businesses In 30 Days Or Less!"

Head over to http://www.MurderYourJob.com to get your free copy now before it's gone!

List Buidling Secrets - The Secrets To Having A High Converting Squeeze Page!

What is a squeeze page? It is something that can be extremely profitable for your online business. It is a web page for which it's only purpose is to entice visitors to opt in to your mailing list.

For this technique to work, you need to provide to your visitor with a unique option. Don't add a bunch of links to this page, because he may leave and never come back.

So what are the secrets to having a good converting squeeze page?

1. You need to have a great headline that will grab your visitor's attention. A sloppy, boring headline will just cause your visitors to click away from your site without even reading any further so make sure you have a fantastic headline.

Your headline can make all the difference between whether your visitors will opt in or not. If they are impressed with your headline they are likely to keep on reading and as a result there is a good chance that they will then opt in.

2. Have a few bullet points on your squeeze page. Bullet points are a great way of listing what your free gift is going to give them.

3. You must have an opt in box on your squeeze page, I think that goes without saying. Your autoresponder company should give you the html code to create your opt in box.

Some people will use videos and graphics on their squeeze pages but often these will just distract your visitors from what they are actually there for. You will find that a simple squeeze page will convert very well as long as it includes the three points listed above.

To learn more, download my Free Guide: "How To Earn $100K Per Year With Article Marketing".

Franck Silvestre makes thousands of dollars a year from affiliate and article marketing. Wonder what the secret to his success is? Discover how he does it at: http://www.mynetmarketingland.com/article-marketing/

Get Listed on Page One Using The Best Article Submission Sites

Article directories have recently become very popular. There are over 600 directories on the Internet and more are appearing every day. Unfortunately, the average life of a new directory site is about three months. Within six months, over 80% of them will close their doors. I suppose it is because they were not making as much money as they hoped. Or perhaps it is because these sites are fairly time intensive, requiring an editor to review each article before it is published. It is probably a combination of these two factors.

For that reason, it is important to submit your articles to the best article submission sites. These are the biggest directories that have been around the longest and have the highest Page Ranks. I have submitted a number of articles on this subject in the past. In this article, I want to talk about backlinks and getting your website listed on page one of the search engines.

Backlinks are very important if you want to improve your website's Page Rank. The Page Rank of your website is one factor that determines popularity of your site. The more popular your site, the higher it appears in search results. The most popular site will appear as the first listing on page one of a search. The second most popular site will get the second listing, and so on. Ideally, you want your website to appear on the first page of search results. This can bring you tons more traffic than if your site shows up on page 150 of search results. If your site appears on page 150, you will see little if any traffic from the search engines.

One way to improve your Page Rank is by getting links from larger Page Ranked sites that point back to your website. An easy way to accomplish this is by submitting articles. Each time you submit an article, the article directory will post your links on their site.

But, it does you little or no good to list your articles with directories that have low Page Rank numbers. That is why it is important to submit to only the best article submission sites. I classify the best submission sites as directories with a Page Rank of 4 or higher. (The Page Rank of the article directory must be higher than the Page Rank of your own site.)

By consistently submitting articles to The Best Article Submission Sites, you will see the Page Rank numbers of your site slowly improve. And, as your Page Rank improves, your site will creep up in search results and you will develop more search engine traffic.

Do you want to know how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide on submitting articles to promote your site and make money.

Make Money And Promote Your Site!

Make Money Every Day - It's easier than you think!

Explode Traffic with Article Marketing Campaigns that Compel Click Through

Are you searching for quick, effective, marketing strategies for your article marketing campaign? These five tips set you hard on the path to success with specific ideas and concepts created to promote your business effectively.

1. Articles on Marketing Strategies

When your articles are a direct reflection of your marketing objections, relevant content and business follows. Targeted traffic results from well written information that promotes your business. Marketing strategies promote and develop marketing position.

2. Competitive Strategies Advantage

Competitive marketing regulates your business for sales advantage by incorporating consumer strategies that promote consistent business development. Competitive marketing over a long time frame increases overall business with consistent marketing techniques.

3. Targeted marketing concepts

Seek to target your specific market with brand marketing that identifies your particular product to the consumer. This instant recognition will motivate the buyer to purchase your product above others, because it becomes their friend, giving you a constant competitive edge. This type of brand targeting is readily identifiable in many products currently available: Coca Cola, Nike, and McDonalds come to mind.

4. Public Relations Marketing

Communications strategies bring your product to the market with a diversity and recognition that out performs branding strategies lacking a public presence. Inserting a public relations campaign into your marketing strategy will maximize the consistent performance and income of your product.

5. Executive Marketing Concepts

Occasionally a business will concentrate all efforts on the products and leave the business lagging behind in recognition. If you recognize all Nike shirts as being sports shirts, but didnt realize Nike also made running shoes, you might not seek your favorite brand. But when your efforts promote Business inclusive marketing all your products become visible in the marketplace and your Business is recognized.

Heavy duty trend strategies in sales and marketing often incorporate Products into Business marketing, but ALWAYS pull the business to the product in a well targeted marketing campaign.

Are you ready to brand your business, promote your products, and bring targeted traffic to your website?

Article Marketing Strategies is available at http://secret2prosperity.com Claim your copy today in our special offer!

2007 - Jan Verhoeff

Critical Steps To Online Success-Do You Need Help Building Your List?

Have you been trying to build your list, but it's just not happening?

Have you tried article writing but that didn't work either?

Are your articles getting opened, but you're not getting click thrus to your squeeze page?

There could be a number of reasons for this.

If your articles are getting opened then your title must be OK.

The next critical step is to have 2 or 3 short strong opening sentences or paragraphsI've covered how to do this in an earlier articleyou can probably find it if you search my name in the index.

If you've done both those things and you're still not getting many click thrus then you are losing them in the bodythe "information segment" of your article.

After the promise of the title and the opening paragraph you must continue to hold your readers' attention. You must now fulfill their expectations. Your information must be concise, informative and to the point. Give your reader information that will be useful to them; information that can be immediately put into action. Your purpose is wherever possible to provide information that will make a positive change in your reader's life.

But, whatever you writemake it count!

This is a performance you are stagingyour reader is your audience!

Have you ever been to a comedy show where the comic started to lose the audience? Often good manners will keep them in their seats for awhile but eventually if it gets bad enough they will leave.

You don't have the saving grace of good manners to keep your audience reading your article. If you're not delivering the goods in an interesting, informative and professional manner they will click away and look elsewhere.

If you think this might be an issue for you then perhaps you need to take some writing lessons?

Meantime, here are a few ideas that might help:

Create a plan for your article: opening, body, closing. A length of 300 to 500 words is a good size article.

Then set out 3 or 4 main points that you wish to cover in the body of your article, organize them into an order that lets the ideas flow, and devote a segment or paragraph to each.

Use numbered points if appropriate.

Break up your paragraphs-keep them short.

People don't like reading text in big blocks; it's hard to keep your place. So make sure there's lots of white space. I like to use semi-colons, dashes and 3 dots to allow me to make a series of short strong statements rather than a long run-on sentence.

Vary your sentence lengthsshort, medium and long.

Make statements and let them stand out as a single line.

Don't repeat words in close proximity to each other. And finally: "write in haste and correct at leisure". If the ideas are flowing just get them down fast. You can easily come back and clean it up later.

Would you like to learn the secrets to start and run a Successful Online Business?

I have just completed a new book called "How to use the Secret Magic of Article Writing to Start and run A Successful Online Business".

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Jim Keayes is an expert Internet Marketer. He teaches people to be successful online.

Increasing Link Popularity WITHOUT Exchanging Links

Yes, it can be done. Here are 7 ways that a site can acheive
increased link popularity without having to exchange links:

Directory Submissions - Submit to the Open Directory and other
sites like JoeAnt and Gimpsy. These are all human reviewed
directories, therefore search engines will consider that your
site must be of pretty good quality to be listed in them. Submission
to these sites is free, but there can be quite a wait to get
reviewed, since editors are unpaid volunteers. In addition to
a link popularity boost, a listing in Open Directory will get
your site listed in the other Open Directory powered sites
like Google's web Directory, AOL's web directory and many others.

Tips For Directory Submissions:

Editor Check - Is there an editor for your desired category?
If not, consider applying. For Open Directory, this can
give you the power to add your site much more quickly.

Link Title - Don't try any tricks to get keywords in your title
if they are not in your company name. This will get your listing
edited if the listing is approved or rejected outright. The
title must be your official website or company name.

Description - Again, don't try to insert extra keywords here,
it could backfire and your description will be edited or your
listing rejected. The description should be short and concise.
Just tell what your website offers and give some product or
service examples if appropriate. Again, keep it short!

Be patient! - It may take weeks or months to be reviewed. If
you've submitted before and are still not listed, try writing
a polite note to the editor of the category to see if there
was a problem.

Paid Submissions - Paid submissions to quality directories
and portals is also a good idea. It is well known that a
listing in the Yahoo directory area will give you a good
Google PageRank boost. Listing in the Yahoo directory area
is $299, so skip this option if your budget is limited.

Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Submissions - Google lists the
results of many smaller pay-per-click search engines. This
can help link popularity if your site is listed in these
results for your important keywords and phrases. There are
hundreds of these smaller PPC engines that offer a free
advertising credit just for signing up. Take a jaunt on
over to PayPerClickSearchEngines.com for a good list of them.
Submit listings under all your important keywords and phrases
and include keywords in your title.

Affiliate Program - Having an affiliate program can boost your
overall sales by letting other sites do the advertising for you,
but did you know that this can also help link popularity? For
some affiliate program services like Commission Junction or
LinkShare, they use a special link to track clicks and sales,
so these may not be effective since they do not contain your
actual domain name. The kind of affiliate program I am talking
about is the type that uses your domain name in the tracking URL
you give affiliates to use. Something like:
http://www.yourcompanyname.com/aff?64340
As long as your affiliate program uses this type of link, then
your site should see an increase in link popularity. Just make
sure you offer a good incentive for affiliates so that they will
add your link to their site. Even better, you can approve only
related sites or sites with a good Google PageRank or Alexa
traffic ranking into your program!

Specialized Submissions - What type of site do you have? What do you
sell? Chances are there is a directory that specializes in just
sites like yours. Have a casino or gambling site? There are many
gambling portals and search engines. Submit to all of them.
Have a site that sells antique fishing tackle? Yep, there are
directories relating to fishing, but you can also submit to the
many antique and collectible directories as well! Sell wedding
dresses in New York? Submit to the many wedding and bridal directories
and the New York search engines too. Whatever your niche, chances are
that there is a specialized directory or search engine for that area.
Find them and submit! You'll benefit from the targeted traffic they
send but also increased link popularity.

Create Your Own Directory - Set up your own specialized search engine,
directory or portal catering to your target audience. Your site can
be a featured or showcase site on the main page and other pages!
To attract users, add interactive content such as forums, have chats,
offer contests, the possibilities are endless.

Expired Domain Names - Maybe a site in your industry has gone out of
business? You may be able to pick up their domain name and with it
all their incoming links and traffic. Increase your link popularity
by adding your link to the site prominently, then go ahead and
re-direct the user to your site after a few seconds. Don't re-direct
quickly or you may not reap any link popularity benefits.

That's it! 7 ways to increase your website's link popularity without
maintaining a links page and without sending your visitors to competitors!

Kacey Donston - Submit-URL.net has been promoting online businesses since 1998.
Offering search engine optimization, positioning services, pay per
click campaigns, ranking checks, resubmissions, evaluations and more.
We offer comprehensive packages for home business owners, small businesses
and corporate customers. http://www.submit-url.net

Expert Panels, Quality Control Boards and the Future of Online Articles

It has been surmised that a panel may be needed to check into the credentials and expert status of online article authors to see if they pass the proper standards test or can cut the mustard. Many seasoned experts are a little miffed that some online article authors write "thinly veiled" content. A few have floated the idea of setting a panel or quality control board to serve this process.

But is that even feasible? Some of the top online article writers believe that it is not such an easy task and perhaps may not even be feasible. Indeed, I think I agree with this line of thought in that a quality board is way out of the question as some days there are well over 1,000 articles submitted in a single 24-hour period on one top online article submission website and thus it is simply outrageous how much work that might be.

Indeed I also agree that the "human innate characteristics" of small panel group participants is a given, thus a panel in itself would be problematic. For instance who watches the panel and then are their disputes on rulings, thus rules. And once you make "one rule" well you got em' lifetime job security? And even if a panel could decide what an expert is, that would be a definition. Which brings up an interesting question?

Definitions and rules is a similar process, in that if you make one definition, you are forever further redefining it and creating more. This leads to bureaucracy which is indeed leads to less fluidity of motion, and less agility, thus ruins all the good that is. If you have more definitions, rules and panels all you have created is more minutia and less efficiency, to what avail?

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Free Marketing Strategies for your Online Business

Many of us have created an online business after seeing the results that others have had. Tons of internet business owners have built passive income streams that provide $10,000 in monthly income.

However, after creating our businesses, we find out that these successful people are spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars online every month to market their business. Is there anything you can do to market your business in a cost efficient manner? The answer is yes, and this article will explain the four best ways to market your business for free.

1. Press Releases

2. Articles

3. Classified Ads

4. Forums

1. Press Releases

Press Releases are probably the fastest way to expose your website and drive traffic to it as quickly as possible. This is because instead of having to be approved for seven days to a month as with articles, press releases get your address out to the search engines immediately.

Your press release should have a title that is full of keywords that you have researched and that will attract the most visitors. You can research keywords at www.goodkeywords.com, or many other great sites. Your next step is a subhead, which gives a brief overview of the story while using good keywords. Your body should not be a sales pitch, it should be an interesting story that keeps the reader interested. Again, you DO NOT try to sell your business here, just write an interesting and honest story that will inspire respect in the reader for you and your business. In the keywords section, use solid keywords that you have researched on a keyword site. The final part is your contact info, which is where you give the reader a call for action by leaving your website or email address. This, and only this, is where you explicitly sell your business.

2. Articles

Articles are a great way to build respect and prove your knowledge in the industry, which evokes trust in potential sign ups. As with press releases, articles should have sound keywords that have been researched extensively. Keywords are the keys (no pun intended) to driving the most readers to your article. The article body should have good organization, with an introduction, a few key points, and then a conclusion. The body should have information that you think a reader would find valuable so that they will consider you a credible source. The resource box is where you call the reader to action, and is the ONLY place you should sell your business.

3. Classified Ads

Classifieds are yet another great free way to market your business. The nice thing about classifieds is that they target the market you are looking for: people in search of a home business opportunity. There are plenty of free classified sites you can post on to attract sign ups. Try to keep your classified short and sweet, and give just enough information to intrigue them and drive them to your website, but not enough to bore them. Remember to research the keywords and title you include, as this is an important step in any free marketing opportunity.

4. Forums

This is yet another great opportunity to gain respect and credibility, and consequently drive more traffic to your site. Find a few forums you like and that are active, and then spend half an hour every day posting. Medium to long posts have the most search engine power. Research before you post, and never personally attack anyone in a forum. The most important part of posting in a forum is to utilize your signature, where you put your url and a call for action. If forum members read your posts and find you a credible resource, they will be motivated to read your signature and follow it to your site.

Conclusion

There are plenty of other ways to market our online business for free and drive traffic to your website, but these are the strategies I have found most effective. The main theme of marketing is to build respect, credibility, and trust, and this will translate into a successful business.

Sign up for a FREE 7-day Internet Marketing Ecourse and add thousands to your residual income at => http://www.buildpassiveincome.ws/

Knowledge Is Your Most Valuable Marketing Tool

Without a doubt, knowledge is your most valuable marketing tool. It is the essential and necessary element needed to succeed in any marketing venture. This holds especially true for Internet Marketing.

The right marketing knowledge will save you time, money and a whole lot of stress.

But where does one acquire such knowledge? Where does one find the necessary information you need to market successfully online? And just HOW does one go about acquiring such knowledge?

Internet marketing is a relatively new field. The Internet itself is a relatively new phenomenon, created within the living memory of most of the people reading this article. Most of its now common features... search engines, online stores, email, websites, blogging... are all new inventions for our glorious cyber age.

Take for example, one of the Net's major players Google; it has only been crawling and searching the Net since 1998 -- who would have believed an 8 year-old could wheel so much power and influence?

Other players such as Amazon, Yahoo, Ebay, MSN... are all just new kids on the block when compared to the long history of marketing.

Like any industry, business or field of study, Internet Marketing has produced its own experts. People who have mastered the art of web marketing from first-hand experiences, lessons learnt and drawn from the trenches -- the most trustworthy of all knowledge. Valuable knowledge they can use again and again to market their wares online.

This knowledge has become a valuable marketing tool for those who have mastered the skills of the trade. It can quickly turn any website into a profitable endeavor, producing income 24/7/365.

Nor should this knowledge be seen as anything magical. Knowledge in any field can produce wealth; think of all the fine craftsmen and artists of old who had to learn a skill and knowledge to produce great priceless pieces of art. Think of the cabbies of London who must acquire the Knowledge of the routes around London in order to make a living.

For that matter, think of any modern profession and you will have to acquire the proper knowledge in order to practice your trade or profession. Internet Marketing is no different. You must acquire the skills and knowledge to market successfully online.

But the question still remains, where does one acquire this knowledge, the real marketing tool you need to succeed online?

One source would surely have to be the experts. Who else will know the answers but the present day Top Internet Marketers? But who are these people? What are their names?

If you surf the web, no doubt you have come in contact with these marketers. Directly or indirectly their handiwork is everywhere. Their ideas, methods, and marketing techniques have influenced most of the sites on the web.

Many of better known ones even have mentoring programs to train and teach their protgs. Acquiring the knowledge could just be a matter of hooking up with one of these so-called marketing gurus.

Where are these elusive creatures hiding? Who are they?

If you're new to Internet Marketing, one good place to start is this site: www.gurudaq.com, it lists some of the major marketers on the web. All these Internet Marketers have opt-in lists and ezines which you can join to get first-hand tips and advice.

Make sure these names has some significance to you: Marlon Sanders, Yanik Silver, Neil Shearing, Ken Evoy, John Reese, Rosalind Gardner, Joel Comm, Jim Daniel, David Vallieres, Willie Crawford...

Many of these Marketers have their own info products which you can purchase to gain more knowledge. Many also have free guides, reports and articles you can learn valuable information from. Most have websites choked full of valuable marketing information, yours for the taking.

One of the saving graces of the Net -- it is a vast storehouse of our collective knowledge. We can access that knowledge anytime, anywhere... one large reservoir of marketing knowledge can be found in the online marketing forums. Here are the Top Forums:

Anthony Blake's Entrepreneurial Success Forum - www.ablake.net/forum/

Michael Green's How To Internet Marketing Forum - www.howtocorp.com/forum/

Associate Programs by Allen Gardyne - www.associateprograms.com/discus/index.php

Willie Crawford's Discussion Corner - www.williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

Jim Daniels CyberMarketing InfoBoardOne - www.network54.com/Forum/184615

Lesley Fountain's Friends In Business Board - www.friendsinbusiness.com/board1/

If you need direct, hands-on Internet Marketing training manuals, try the free Masters Courses offered by SiteSell.com: Net Writing, Action Guide, Affiliate Marketing... are all covered in these excellent handy guides. You can find a link to these free manuals at the end of this article.

Don't forget the pioneers of marketing in general, try to get your hands on copywriting and advertising tips/advice/techniques from marketing Masters of the past: Claude Hopkins, John Caples, Robert Collier and Vic Schwab. Many of their methods can be directly applied to online marketing. Many of their marketing methods and theories still cast a ghostly reflection in all of today's Internet Marketers.

Keep in mind, studying any trade takes some time and effort on your part. So do your homework -- study the Masters, past and present! Acquire some of their knowledge, learn some of their skills and yes, model some of their marketing methods and techniques in your own online marketing.

Persevere, examine, harvest and digest the wealth of knowledge that's yours for the taking. Cram if you have too, but acquire as much marketing information as you possibly can. Then apply that knowledge to your own online interests as you would any other marketing tool.

Then the next time you're tempted to buy some expensive piece of marketing software -- go ahead and buy it! But if you have done your homework and studied all your marketing lessons, you will know that knowledge is the one and only marketing tool you will need to succeed online.

...
The author operates numerous websites, his first was a general Internet Marketing site http://www.bizwaremagic.com And his latest is a Marketing Tool Guide where you can find all the latest helpful and effective marketing tools, including the Internet Marketing manuals mentioned above: Internet Marketing Tools Copyright 2006 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

Submitting Articles To Internet Media Portals - Overview

When you plan to launch your respected internet website base business, you should think about establishing good relations with such folks as Google, Yahoo, MSN, Altavista, and other titans on the internet ranking and search market. This is where you need to decide if you would like to outsource this part of the business to internet search optimization subcontractor or face the issue personally. When you decide to deal with this on your own, you need to be aware about linking strategy and modern side of it - articles and press release publication in the free press media portals. In this small publication we are following the restriction of genre are trying to give you highlights and initial directions.

1. Press Release Media sites. Well, if you are new to these folks out there, please do the search on Google: submit press release - you will see who is servicing you if you are PR submitter. The key point to keep your eye on is when this specific media site published PR last time - for example it they are not current for few months - then you can not relay on these people to get you to the top of search engines. Other PR questioning technique is verifying their Google page rank - if they have pagerank of three and below - you should probably be skeptical about them as they are probably in the Google so-called sandbox.

2. Articles Submission Sites. At this time, you should be easily finding a lot of PHP portals, which means that these people didn't pay a lot for establishing their articles publication sites. Real Article portal requires custom programming and software development. We are not saying that PHP doesn't do the job, however PHP direction requires a lot of distinguishing thinking through to make their site to be ranked high on the leading internet search engines.

3. Internet Search spiders overview. Googlebot is probably the most desired spider to be welcomed to visit your web site. Then yahoo slurp and Microsoft msnbot is the next in line or in some cases preferred to yahoo.

4. When you article or PR are submitted, what to expect. Here, all the new technology wade off and you have to deal with pretty ancient scenario of gazette publishers, where all the internet engines have to comply to. Market will be voting for your article or PR to go higher or lower. Whatever you do - like purchasing high end notebook or installing latest service pack for Microsoft Vista will not help in making you higher - market place will be in charge and this is what was happening from ancient times.

Andrew Karasev, Pegas Planet Articles: http://www.pegasplanet.com - help@albaspectrum.com, serving internet publishing since 2004. Special attention to student writers. Please submit your article or press release at http://www.pegasplanet.com/SubmitNews/SubmitNews.aspx

Breakthrough Article Marketing - Discover 3 Key Secrets to Jumpstart Your Article Marketing

Nervous about starting your article marketing campaign? Don't be! Because technically, you have got nothing to lose in this technique. So long as you know how to produce quality articles or you have the resources to pay somebody to do it for you, you will surely rise above the rest. Here are the 3 key secrets to jumpstart your article marketing:

1. Do your research. What are the topics to write about? Well, the best topics for you are those that concern your potential clients and are relevant to the products or services you offer. Some of the best article marketers go to forums and they communicate to their potential buyers. Through this, marketers will get an idea about the pressing issues that their customers are facing. Then, they create articles based on the data they gathered and present their products as solution. This is a foolproof method in making sure that your articles are targeted to your chosen niche.

2. Consider some important elements when writing your articles. This is to make sure that your articles will be accepted by most publishing sites. Make sure that you don't use too many keywords or your articles will be rejected for keyword abuse. Also, make your articles at least 250 words and ensure that all links on your resource box are working. Lastly, never insert hyperlinks on the body of your articles. This is one of the common reasons why articles are rejected by publishing sites.

3. Write articles that are easy to understand. Your success in article marketing will largely depend on how well your readers can understand you. So make it a point that you make it easier for them to digest the information you are presenting. To do this, you can use various formats like questions and answer, how-tos, and numbered list when presenting your ideas.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Article Marketing For Profit - Some Places Where You Can Sell Your Writings

Today, there are dozens of places where you can sell your articles. Typically these resources will fit into one of three categories. Depending on your writing style, how quickly you want to make money, and how much you want to make, one venue may work better than another. Without fail, as you develop better writing skills, you will be able to command higher rates no matter what market you choose.

First, you can purchase a market directory, such as Writer's Digest. This is ideal for writers that want to follow a traditional path to paper based publication. Unfortunately, if you have not sold articles before, or are new to the business of writing, it may be very difficult to break in. On the other hand, once you do make a sale, you can expect upwards of $30.00 per article. You may also want to try ezine publications. While they may not pay as much, they will give you some much needed name recognition.

Second, you may want to try offering your services at various freelance work sites. Typically, the articles you write will be designed based on customer specifications. You will also be working as a ghost writer, meaning that your name will never appear in conjunction with the article. Typically, you will be lucky if you get paid $2.00 to $5.00 per article at the beginning.

Irregardless of which method you choose, you should be able to make a decent living. Depending on sales volume, you may even want to work with both markets, and see if you can duplicate success in both places. One thing is for certain, you will always be learning something new, and enjoying the benefit of working on your own.

Fabian Tan is the author of the free 51-Page Report:

"Murder Your Job: How To Build Cash Sucking Autopilot Businesses In 30 Days Or Less!"

Head over to http://www.MurderYourJob.com to get your free copy now before it's gone!

Change Prospects to Customers with B.I.A.S. Marketing Program

Driving targeted prospects to your website, capturing their contact information and closing a sale can be difficult without four basic elements of marketing: 1) building the relationship, 2) keeping clients informed, 3) aligning your brand and 4) selling (closing the deal). When these segments are implemented properly, you have developed a B.I.A.S. towards your company, resulting in an advantage and influence over prospects that sets you apart from competitors.

What is B.I.A.S. Marketing?

B.I.A.S. Marketing drives prospects to your website, increasing your ability to capture important contact information for future sales. When implemented correctly, you leverag your chances to identify, attract and capture targeted prospects and then turn them into loyal clients.

Elements of an effective B.I.A.S. Marketing campaign include:

Building and maintain relationships. Develop an unfair advantage over competitors. Provide products and services that create two-way communication between potential prospects and your business. To accomplish this, first know who your target customers are. You can identify these individuals by breaking your ideal target audience into the smallest category possible of individuals who specifically want and need your services.

Once you have matched your product or service with the right prospects, focus on the problem that troubles them on a daily basis. Present your workable solution that solves the problem, and viola, you become their go-to person and problem solver. You have created the beginnings of a potentially profitable long-term relationship. Continue solving problems and you will have clients for life.

Inform. Provide general information or resources for your customers. Become passionate about your clients customers and products. Gain their attention by supplying information that demonstrates your interest and commitment to their success.

For example, keep abreast of new technologies that may impact their industry, send informative articles, monitor trends, and introduce them to your network of non-competing clients, which may open doors for joint venture opportunities or affiliations. Take it for granted that clients memories are short. They may not even remember you even when they need your services. Strengthen the relationships by communicating frequently and the doors for profitable business opportunities with remain open.

Align. Stay in tune with your branding or overall business objectives. Never forget your ultimate goals: creating long-term profitable relationships and loyalty between you and your customers.

Ensure that every time you touch your client, i.e. communicate in some manner, the connection advances your objective and can be easily associated with your companys mission and purpose. In other words, stay true to your own business objective and personality and at the same time, become a valuable asset in the clients mind.

Sell. Supply methods to close the deal. Your ultimate goal is to make the sale. To accomplish this, create a clearly defined Value Positioning Statement (VPS), or as it is sometimes called Unique Selling Proposition (USP), and include the following as part of your B.I.A.S. Marketing strategy:

Market your solutions and benefits, not features, and integrate that core marketing message into everything you do. Assume your customers are unaware of everything you do

Communicate your capabilities regularly with a well-defined stay-in-touch program

Maintain an up-to-date customer database, regularly telling prospects what actions you want them to take

Make it as easy as possible for prospects to conduct business by eliminating risk

Make your website assessable and pull them in for the sale. Provide several ways for them to contact you and/or purchase your product.

By implementing this B.I.A.S. Marketing strategy your target prospects will come, purchase and return. You will achieve your ultimate business objective of gaining loyal customers and creating profitable relationships.

Sharon Williams is president and CEO of The 24 Hour Secretary, an administrative, secretarial, marketing and internet-based business support firm open 24 hours a day. Her company helps busy and often overwhelmed executives and entrepreneurs achieve their goals by giving the gift of time. Subscribe to Smart Business = Success, which is stocked with tips for busy professionals and located at The 24 Hour Secretary.