You can have 1000 top Search Engine Results Positions and never make a sale. You can run a $1000 a week advertising campaign in the local newspaper, with no results. This doesn’t mean that the program didn’t work. It may have worked exactly like it was meant to.

MARKETING

For example, I optimize and run Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaigns for 10 different clients. I have one client who runs marketing campaigns. I consistently win 1 – 5 new top Search Engine Position Results (SERPs) for my clients each month. Even though I can successfully get clients to the top of the search engines, they complain because they are not selling.

Asking a marketer to take responsibility for sales is not logical. The same applies to advertising campaigns. Take a look at a company I work with http://www.adaidm.com. They have a website made to ‘sell.’ Their customer service is easy to access. Their message is clear. And, this company is very successful.

ADA intelligent Dental Marketing, http://www.adaidm.com helps local dental offices market their services. However, they are not responsible for the sales.

So, why market? The answer is simple. Without marketing you will not have the exposure needed to sustain business growth and improve profits. Marketing builds an image – a brand – for your business that people recognize. Good marketing creates exposure in the same places where your customers surf the net.

Marketing also helps companies identify their potential clients, untapped markets,

ADVERTISING

Advertising puts your message in-front of buyers.  If it is the right message then the company’s sales will increase. However, the product must be in demand. No one buys SEO, or logos, or web design. All the companies that sell offer something else to their clients – they add value.

The biggest advertising mistake is to promote a product or service. Do not sell yourself or your product. Instead, sell something that the client cannot get elsewhere.

The ad should never ask for a sale. Instead, it should hook the buyer and convince them to keep reading.

REVENUE GENERATING

Making money is a completely new ball game. One of the first ways to separate people from their money is to avoid asking for money. Let them use credit. Many people are more comfortable increasing their debt than they are decreasing their net-worth.

Asking for the money requires a delicate balance of several factors which may have nothing to do with the product or service being sold:

·         Buyer remorse

·         Value

·         Communication styles

·         Behavioral motivation

·         Personality types

·         Market saturation

·         Intrusion value

·         Perceived value

·         Social significance of the product

·         Problem solving benefits

·         Its ability to open up opportunities

·         Emotional/impulse value

When we build revenue generating landing pages for clients we often touch on the emotions of the consumer, and the fundamental needs of the website owner. Consider the following:

http://waystogetnoticed.com/page2b.html

http://www.win247.co.uk/casino/Best-Online-Casino-Gambling.html

These two pages do not focus on the product, but on the benefits. The first landing page uses education give potential buyers a reason to keep clicking links. The second one offers solutions for potential advertisers, highlighting potential problems and reminding potential customers why they need to buy. Notice, that neither page asks for the sale.

Asking for the sale is a common ‘real world’ tactic, but it doesn’t work well on the net. It is impossible to refute excuses not to buy, so eCommerce businesses need to develop new strategies.

Once an eCommerce business owner, freelance professional, or small business entrepreneur understands the purpose of Marketing, Advertising, and Sales, then they are ready to make money.

I’d like to stop writing ‘info’ and start writing people’s stories. Do you make a living working on the internet? Do you make a living working as a writer? Then contact me and tell the world your story. Whether you get paid to write, or hire ghostwriters to promote your business.

I am looking for people who work at home, make money writing, or make more than $2000 a month online. I will post interviews over the next few weeks.

Julie-Ann Amos is a UK based HR and Management consultant, turned UK ghostwriter/Uk copywriter. Her years as a writer, and professionalism, helped her build one of the most successful International Copywriting Services. She is also author of 12 books in print, in over 20 countries.
 
Just being in the freelance world for so many years, and building a successful business, is enough to warrant kudos from those in the industry. However, Julie-Ann has mentored and nurtured other writers, sharing her knowledge and patience. 

I read her book ‘You’re in Charge Now – The First-Time Manager’s Survival Kit.’ The book discusses balancing several aspects of managing. I found the book very fundamental, in both my business and freelance career. It is one book I recommend for every freelance writer, and ironically I must have good taste as the UK’s Institute of management picked it for their recommended book to go out with their membership packs!
 
Managing a freelance writing career requires the same skills as managing an office. The number one mistake I see freelance writers make is the habit of treating their clients like a parent doling out an allowance for completed chores.  Unfortunately, the clients are hiring a service to produce a product. They want results.
 
I think Julie-Ann’s success comes from one statement in her book:
 
      Effective = Doing the right things
      Efficient = Doing something in the right way
 
Most freelance professionals are just concerned with ‘getting it done.’ They try to be ‘everything to everyone’ but do not worry about offering their clients an efficient service. I write only a few niches. I can do an efficient job. There are a vast number of freelancers, and most of them never take the time to learn the topics they are writing for. They can do the job, but they are neither Efficient or Effective.
 
Quality stands out in every industry, especially the freelance writing world. Exposure is the second element to success. Julie-Ann does not need to ‘prove’ she can do the job; the proof is already on the net to read.
 
Freelance is not about sales. It is about delivering what is promised, exactly as the client requested.  It is very difficult for one writer to provide - even when writing in a niche.
 
There are two methods of building a freelance writing career. An independent bids on their own jobs, and manages their own clients. The second is joining a team, such as Julie-Ann Amos’ team - http://www.exquisitewriting.com/. 

Every winter I think about traveling. It might be due to the long, dark, snow covered winters in Canada. It might also be that winter seems to be the time when most of the work needs to be done. One thing I’ve thought about in the last few years is traveling for work. Think about it. Freelance writers have the ability to work anywhere in the world. I worked in a Hotel in Niagara Falls over the Christmas Holiday, and also last summer.

A freelance writer can stay in almost any Hotel. It is possible to work as long as there is some access to the internet. Today, it is possible to travel anywhere in the world. Wifi and satalite hook ups have made it harder to find a place where you cannot get internet access.

Choices were limited when I first thought about travelling for work. My first choice was Scotland or England. Today, I can go to Tibet. Not only that - traveling in some places in the world is extremely cheap. Staying for under $10 a night is possible. Of course, you need to check the online booking sites, read reviews, and check the place on Google maps.

I am not sure when I’ll spread my wings and work around the world. I have tried a few times. I’ve traveled within a few hours from home. I spent a weekend in a Hotel in Niagara Falls. I’ve also travelled across the northern areas.

QUESTION: Is there any freelance writers out there who travels while working?

I did research on several sites. One was www.marshable.com a site with 1.7 million inbound links…of which Google only recognized 609. This is a drastic problem when people are trying to build inbound links and increase their page rank and put their web pages on the tops of search engines (called Search Engine Placement)

One thing that many people do not know about link building is that older links are dropped, meaning that a website should try to add about 100 new links every month, if they want to stay at the top of the searches. Yes, this can be time consuming (100 links x about 3min per link if doing it like an SEM pro, no breaks = 5 hours. In reality, I find that IF I just worked on one URL at a time, it would take closer to 20 hours)

List of Bookmarking Sites That Generate Inbound Links

I created a list of some sites that generate inbound links. This doesn’t mean they always will. A good example is Propeller (use to be Netscape). It once gave a website the value of Digg. Within the last few weeks posts are appearing on the seo sites that suggest that propeller has dropped to Zero value. This will dreag down a lot of websites.

At one time submitting to directories works. Now, It is very difficult to find a directory that offers any value these days. That doesn’t mean that there is no value. Marshable has PR7 with only 600 recognized links. Mirella Patzer has PR4 (in less than 8 weeks) with only 171 links.

The following is a list of sites that do pass value through their links. This doesn’t mean they always will. It doesn’t mean they are the only sites. Remember - this list is based on link building and search engine placement. The list is not ranked, as ranks change so often. The list is not ordered.

almost any blogspot blog

bebo

bizsugar

blinklist

blogcatalogue

blogsvine

blogtoplist

clipmarks

diigo

ezinearticles

facebook

furl

http://www.google.com/dirhp (The directory NOT the search engine

hubpages

ibibo

Jumptags

killerstartups

linkedin

mag.nolia

minxx

mybloglog

myspace

newsdots

quantcast

repptide

rollyo

simpy

snapshot

social.com

Sphinn

sproose

squidoo

startaid

Stumbleupon

Tehcnorati

twitter

webloghits

xing

yearblook

youtube

ziapp

zimbio

There may be others. If you find more sites then please add them in a comment. If you want to see a list of 200 bookmarking sites that offer Page Rank Building Value then click this link.

How to test:  If you type in your URL without the ends Not - www.mywebsite.com - just type in mywebsite. This will give you a good idea of all your inbound links. Now, type in links: http://www.mywebsite.com You’ll notice a lower number. (and if you use Google’s web analytics you’ll find even less.)

 Yahoo does recognize more links, and it is possible to rank high in yahoo. Most websites never do because web owners do not authenticate for Yahoo.

View a Complete List of 200 link building/Bookmarking sites.

A blogmaster needs at least 3000 different websites to link to their blog – in the last six months- to reach the top 100 on the Technorati list. Of course, the number one way is to get people to link to your blog – but this is not easy. Telling people that they may put an excerpt of your blog on their site will work – but this will not build 3000 links.

There is a good reason why you need to build your Technorati rank. First – it brings up your Alexa rank because many people who use Technorati have the Alexa toolbar. One of the most popular methods of increasing Google rank is to build 50 – 100 blogs and create your own network. Within weeks you have 500 legal links, and PR3. This will also increase your Technorati rank and using ‘duplicate content’ will also keep the relevance. (remember to only promote one blog so it earns high PR… creating a link farm will not work)

Claim your blogs on Technorati.

You can purchase links (legally) through forums: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=58 Just be careful. The problem is that you can’t please everyone. You cannot increase your Google and Technorati ranks. You need to chose which is most important to you. As for me? I get very little of my 4m hits a year from Google, so it doesn’t bother me whether Google likes my links or not.

The concept was first introduced in Japan with Womansword. Japanese women had their own dialect and vocabulary that contained dual meanings, and could be used to influence or motivate men. This notion made business managers and sales people reconsider the theory of an ‘innocent comment.’
Here are a few aspects of toxic communication that can sabotage sales, destroy a productive work environment, or undermine the best customer service strategy.

Toxic Communication Styles

We’ve all met them, the business manager who consistently, rudely, and loudly chastises people’s stupidity. This not only costs the company talented employees, but has far reaching repercussions.
This person will inadvertently treat a business associate, and not even recognize a problem. No one is good enough that they can be one person in private, and another in public, another in business - it is impossible.

Every time a business person walks into public they are putting on a performance. Communication is not about feelings. The objective is not to win, to be right, to overpower another person. The objective is to reach a certain goal or conclusion.

Threats

A threat can be as simple as a lifted eyebrow, ignoring a suggestion, swearing, crossing arms, or looking bored. Any behavior that demeans, embarrasses, humiliates, annoys, alarms, or can be deemed verbal abuse

These can be as simple as a raised eyebrow, and ignoring a person’s suggestion, to swearing, any behavior that demeans, embarrasses, humiliates, annoys, alarms or is intrusive is a threat whether it is a word, gesture, or body language.

Professional negotiators and public speakers practice communicating in front of a mirror. Just put a mirror by the phone and watch yourself talk to people. You’ll be surprised at the subliminal messages you convey.

Silence is Not Golden

Listening is the solution to 50% of all problems. An open, safe environment invites people to air a grievance, alert managers to problems, and keep managers on-top of their subordinates personal problems and office conflicts.

Listen to your clients. Analyze what they say. Try to assess their wants and needs. No one wants to argue. In fact, as soon as someone starts to argue it indicates that they lack the communication skills needed to win an argument. That argument may be a customer service conflict. It may be the simple ‘sales process.’ Or, it could be something as simple as asking someone if they are ready to buy.

Practice
Practice these rules. They will increase sales, increase the
number of times people agree with your ideas, and pave the way for your business success.

Write for webmasters. If you write content for webmasters and exchange reviews with bloggers who use sites like SocialSpark where they most likely have the Alexa toolbar ( you can insist that you only exchange posts with sites that have the Alexa widget on the blog).

Write to an international audience. I have a large audience of women from India. Alexa toolbar is big in India, so these ordinary bloggers can increase my Alexa rank without trying.

Create an Alexa category on your blog. Even if the blog is a general ‘how to attract traffic’ or ‘how to improve your page rank’ then you can still call it Alexa News.  This is a purely marketing move. Visitors from Google will not help your rank. Google doesn’t care how many people visit your site, how many RSS subscribers you have, or whether 10 people digg your blog posts a day. In fact, even building links to please Google doesn’t guarantee that you’ll build a good page rank – so don’t cater to Google fans.

Participate in Foreign Alex sites

http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_500?&qterm=&p=DestTopSites

Asia uses Alexa. Getting on those sites, and reaching the top, will increase your rank even higher.

This tool will give you Google, Alex, and Complete rank. It offers a far more accurate image than Google does.

For example. www.healthafter40.blogpsot.com has dropped from PR4 to PR0 in the last 3 months. However, it has increased 75% on the Alexa rank an increase of more than 1 million. It is currently around 2 million in ranking, getting about 5000 hits in 3 months. This is not good traffic, but it does show that (unlike Google) the website has increased in popularity, hits, and repeat traffic.

After downloading the toolbar, go to the bottom right of the browser. Click the Alexandria bar. Now you can see all the stats on page rank and information that you could possibly want to see. For example, I found that 33% of my readers are from the UK, and I have a large percentage of visitors 15% from India.   This will have a dramatic effect on how I write to my customers.

I clicked incoming link and it opened up the tabs to show my incoming links from different browsers. For example, I have 1098 that Google recognizes, and 1973 that Yahoo recognizes.  I also know that my rank is 1 398 600 . I don’t have far before I start ranking high enough to make better money as a blogger.

Just owning the Alexa toolbar will increase the Alexa rank of the websites you visit. It might be a good idea to post that you have the Alexa toolbar. If you visit a site and increase their rank, they ‘may’ return the favor. At least, if you are working with a group of professionals who want to increase their page rank then they must all have the alexa toolbar.

Adding the Alexa widget to your website is vital for attracting new members to your website.

The last benefit is that you can see a webpage’s Google PageRank, and Alexa’s Page rank.