NetBusinessBlogWork from Home, Business Opportunities, Websites for Sale - Run an Online Business

What is StumbleUpon?

StumbleUpon is very much similar to social bookmarking sites such as Del.ico.us and Digg but it has a slight difference. This is because while other social bookmarking sites tend to send thousands, if not millions, of visitors your way in a span of several days if your story made the front page; StumbleUpon provides a lower amount of traffic in a more consistent rate. Using StumbleUpon is a good way to drive traffic to your site is a great way to build a loyal base of readers.

How to Use StumbleUpon

Basically, StumbleUpon works when a user downloads a toolbar that allows them to rate a particular website as thumbs up or thumbs down. To receive traffic from StumbleUpon, you must first submit one of your webpage. Then, you should browse your own website and select the thumps up symbol to be able to add it in StumbleUpon.

Increasing Traffic

You can increase your traffic using simple techniques in StumbleUpon. Some of the strategies you can try out include:

· Adding more friends. Having more friends will allow your site to be exposed to a greater number of users who will see the newly added pages on your site.

· Submit new pages. When you create new blog posts, for example, you should submit this URL to StumbleUpon using their toolbar. This technique will increase the number of pages you have in the database so the likelihood of users “stumbling” on your webpage is also improved.

· Categorizing pages property and adding multiple tags. These two techniques will allow you to attract relevant traffic to your site.

· Rate websites. Get involved in the community because it can definitely help your site appear to StumbleUpon users who share the same interest as you. This will increase the likelihood that they will rate your site with thumbs up as well.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Popularity: 11% [?]

You could be one the greatest Marketers of all time, have a shrine to the amount of awards and recognition you have been given. You could have written some of the best content available to mankind on your Market, Product or Hobby or pretty much anything you can think off. Designed and Marketed some of the best Adverts seen in the world. The sad fact for You is I can beat all of your hard work, months of research, teams of experts who work with you, using one single Powerful Marketing technique that wins every single time!

This big underused technique (not by the Porn industry) is Boobs, large or small, fake or real and the Good looking Sexy Woman that they’re attached too. In general they command almost 99% of the male consumer level. Men are dumb in general really, especially when it comes to Beautiful Looking Women and I am one, so I know what I’m talking about. I love women, but I have rarely used this technique to its full advantage and maybe I should start. It does leave me feeling that I’m lowering my marketing standards by using these techniques but I know they work time after time.

We all know this, just look at the shelves in newsagents for Mens, Bike, Tattoo and Car magazines. I used to buy Car Performance magazines in my youth. Those were the days when they didn’t have to use these techniques to sell their magazines, they could sell them without the use of sexual influences.

Now, it’s used by all the big names in the Magazine Industry. Not just mens but womens Magazines always have a front cover with a beautiful Celebrity on the front cover.

Why?

Because it sells the Product time after time…

This is such a simple but powerful technique and can be used effectively without being seedy. Look at GoDaddy (I’m not endorsing these guys as I do not like their service) but they do know how to market well. Look how they use women in their advertising and on their site to lure your eyes away and make you forget about how you’re not too sure about their prices. This just works and relaxes the brain by being visually stimulated by a nice looking person staring at you. It will hit the part of your brain that doesn’t think rationally.

This same emotional influence happens to women when looking at clothing and especially Shoes. Put a women in a shoe shop and watch what happens, desire for a beautiful product that will make you look sexy and improve the way you feel. Which effects the part of the brain (like endorphins which make you feel good) that will encourage impulse purchases without much thought about the price and if they really need this product or not.

They are drawn by their feelings (emotional rather than rational), the benefits, how great they’re going to look rather than the outrageous price of those gorgeous Christian Louboutins Shoes.

If you’ve tried everything and failed or maybe not failed but need a simple way to attract customers why not try this technique. Just do it in a non seedy way…

Popularity: 20% [?]

Popularity: 20% [?]

It was the late Napoleon Hill with his ‘Think And Grow Rich’ to introduce this secret that introduced this concept to the masses. Unfortunately for entrepreneurs, still many haven’t read his book or after reading it, applied this secret.

This secret is a mastermind group.

Unlike you hear from so-called internet marketers who form joint ventures and a close group of friends, a mastermind is pure business and not meant to be ‘fun’. It’s aimed at producing results for the participants and that’s the only reason people should come together at such a meeting.

After applying the secret of masterminding I’ve found great successes, hidden money in my business and utilized strategies unheard of in my industry to instantly crash the competition.

The true power lays in how the group is build and how meetings are done. Building a group isn’t like bringing a group of internet marketers together and have them talk about marketing on the internet. It’s about bringing successful entrepreneurs, consultants and advisors together that all work in a different industry, on a different type of work or job.

The moment you fill your group with those kind of people you have many different minds to tap into. Many entrepreneurs or marketers think the same, so you need to find the people who think differently from you.

Next to that it’s all about what you do during a meeting…

Here’s my personal success formula for Mastermind meetings: first open the meeting with a small motivational speech. Try to include some results from participants in it, and give thanks to everyone that contributes. Then present the main case. One participant who’s business is in desperate need for improvements. Work this out as a case study and take at least an hour to give advice to this person. Afterwards open the table and give everyone five minutes to discuss one problem with the whole group.

By keeping control of the meetings you also control the outcome. Every meeting you should help one participant, and in turn they will feel obliged to contribute. Never forget the principle of ‘you can only reap what you’ve sow’.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Popularity: 12% [?]

Today I want to reveal my best conversion tactic, to immediately boost your sales from articles and blog postings. Actually I really want to share it, since it also helps your readers and the overall online community. This is a tactic based on honesty and helpful information.

The moment I started using this tactic I’ve seen my sales raise from 3 or 4 to up to 20 sales per blogpost. That’s an average, from a blog that receives just 2,000 visitors per month. It has also grown my reputation amongst readers, which immediately resulted in more activity on the forum and blog commenting.

The Good, Bad And Ugly Model

Every product I review, and even my own use this model. I try to highlight the positive and negative points of my own and other people’s products, giving the reader a good overview of what the product can and can’t do. By being honest about this they rarely request a refund and buyers are more responsive to future offers.

Start by showing the positive sides of the product, in terms of both features and benefits. Then continue with the negative sides. It’s best if you’ve used the product yourself, so that you know the limitations. You may also list other products that can solve the problems that arise.

Giving Examples And a Motivation To Use The Product

If you really want to boost sales, don’t just give promises to the reader. Instead help him use the product by telling him about your own marketing strategies, detailing how you use the product to execute this strategy. Then make sure that you also give alternatives, for readers that don’t want or can’t afford to purchase the product.

By doing this you setup a Win-Win-Win situation. The vendor wins by gaining honest feedback, the reader wins by gaining advanced strategies and good recommendations. And eventually you’ll also win thru the increase of sales, reputation and you can even gain a lot more readers

Popularity: 11% [?]

Popularity: 11% [?]

People always want to see what they expect to see. The moment they don’t see what they expect, some are turned off, others can even become angry at you. All the while it’s so easy to give people what they expect to see and get from you.

Here are some examples that I’ve successfully implemented on my website, to give the people what they’d like to see. And it immediately boosted conversions too.

1. Authorization by Creditcard Processors

These small buttons from VeriSign, PayPal and many others show the visitor that their credit card details are in safe hands. Not only is their data protected, but they also know that they can easily get their money back if there’s a problem or if the items aren’t to their satisfaction.

2. Secure Transactions And Data Submission

Signs like that of ‘Hacker Safe’ let the visitor know that you’re protecting his information from hackers, thieves and other third parties. A privacy statement or button from a privacy protection company also helps. That way visitors are easier to convince to give you their contact details.

3. Website Popularity

This is the so-called Social Proof factor. You can say that you’re popular, but if you’re never seen with lots of people around you - others won’t believe you. The same principle holds true online. By showcasing the number of visitors, ranking on Alexa or even having comments on your website or blog you show that you’re not alone.

Those simple things will also spark more interactivity. People don’t want to be alone, so the moment they feel they’re with a whole group they will be more open and responsive to your messages.

4. Credibility Indicators

Most likely you’ve seen sites that have images telling you they’ve been featured on Oprah, in newspapers and other media. You can claim to have been featured the moment your name (referring to you, in case you have a common name), your product name or your company name have been mentioned somewhere.

Simply by blogging and posting at forums you’ll see that some journalists will pick up some of your comments. That’s the easiest way to get ‘featured’ in the newspaper, on the radio, television and in magazines. Show that to your visitors and you have instant credibility.

Those are my top 4 ways to boost my conversions. They can be implemented in just a few minutes and can have dramatic effects on sales, leads and even participation on your website.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Popularity: 10% [?]

What’s your business model?

This post was guest blogged by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.

So you’re ready to spend a fortune on advertising your website? Can you just picture those profits rolling in? But wait a second, is the foundation upon which you plan on building solid to begin with?

A lot of webmasters make the mistake of concentrating on all sorts of aspects related to their future website promotion or monetization efforts and end up neglecting the most important part of any project:the business model. No matter how hard you try, a structure built on a shaky foundation has no chances of lasting.

Without a sound business model, every online entrepreneur will be in for a serious reality check. Let’s take blogging as an example andanalyze things for a moment. What is your business model as a blogger?

What exactly makes you stand out compared to the millions of similar resources out there? Why would a person want to visit your website in the first place? What would he or she have to gain and, most importantly, why would they want to return?

Most people underestimate the importance of these questions and, instead, devote their entire attention to planning their marketing campaign and/or monetizing their website. They don’t realize that they are actually trying to figure out how to market and make money with a
poor product, and that the chances at long-term success are, sadly, slim to none. Wouldn’t working on developing a product which is actually worth promoting be a wiser approach?

When asked why people should visit their website, most bloggers come up with answers such as so that I make money?. But in order to makemoney, your blog needs to provide value to the Web, that’s just the way things stand. Making money as a blogger is definitely possible, but that doesn’t mean that you can succeed without offering anything in return. Why not dedicate a part of the time you spend promoting the blog to creating quality content actually worth linking to and spreading the word about?

If your article is bad, you have to literally beg other people to mention it, you would have to spend hours and hours trying to generate exposure for that article. Couldn’t that time be put to better use?

Wouldn’t investing time in order to create better articles, resources which actually provide value to readers, articles people will gladly link to be a better decision?

You need to take things one step at a time. Don’t fall into the trap of seeing everything in figures, always understand that people, not numbers will be visiting and judging your website. In the end, your ability to provide value to each visitor will make or break you as a webmaster. Think about it this way: what do you do when you come across a useless website?

That’s right, you leave and never look back. Well, guess what, that?s exactly what others will do after visiting your website if the content you provide isn?t worth it. Are you willing to take that chance?

Popularity: 16% [?]

Popularity: 16% [?]

Amongst all kinds of traffic generation methods, blog commenting is still one of the very best. It not only drives immediate traffic that’s already interested in your blog, but can also help you network with others in your market. That is of course if you do it right. In this article I’ll reveal my formula for getting the most out of your blog commenting efforts.

First let me tell you that I use a daily routine. At the beginning of each day, to get my writing juices flowing, I comment on at least ten different blogs. This helps me get in the mood of writing and gets my creativity going, since I’m commenting on articles of various subjects.

At the end of the day I do the same. Just like running, you have a warm-up and cool-down. The latter is essential to mentally put an end to the day, so that your mind is empty the moment you leave your computer. Plus it can bring you some ideas to write about on your blog the next day.

Now I’ve found that there are good blogs to comment on for different purposes. Those with high readership can bring you a bunch of traffic. Those with a high Pagerank will increase yours and thus your rankings in the search engines. But to build a relationship with another blogger, which will later bring you a lot of traffic and maybe even a joint venture - is to comment on a blog that rarely gets any comments.

That last type of blog is my favorite to comment on. It gives me direct access to the person I’d like to become friends or do business with. The blogger will notice my comment and actually have the time to personally respond to it.

My formula for these kind of comments is actually pretty simply:

1. Comment on the article, providing additional information or discussion without promoting my own sites.

2. Putting in something personal, obtained by reading the About page or simply doing a few minutes of research on his blog or on Google.

3. Responding back whenever he replies on my comment.

4. Giving him a hand, by offering a guest post, some resources of even my time to have a friendly chat with him.

By following the formula outlined you above you actually nail the requirements for forming an initial relationship with the person. You show understanding and appreciation. Then you show that you’re intelligent and want to contribute to the blogger’s success, instead of only being there for your own win.

You can easily find these blogs by going thru the so-called Blogroll. Try to find those blogs that have great and thoughtful content, but haven’t been noticed by a big crowd yet. Generally these bloggers post several times a week, participate a lot in blog carnival’s and their only comments are from those trackbacks.

In my next article I’ll introduce you to my Blog Scorecard, a trick I use to motivate myself and keep on track with my goals. So stay tuned!

Popularity: 12% [?]

Popularity: 12% [?]

Sun Tzu’s book ‘The Art Of War’ has often been referred to in business and marketing, since business is actually war. You’re in business because you have a competitive edge over your competition, and you want to do everything to keep it.

For that reason, many blogs have a clear strategy in place. This strategy is all about what the blog Is about and what it’s going to be and look like over time. To support the use of the strategy, many people set goals and milestones to track their efforts. That way you can easily see if you’re still working on your strategy and getting closer to your goals.

To keep myself on track with my strategy I’ve setup a timeline for my business. A sort of agenda with To Do lists to grow my blog in terms of traffic, readership and content. This brings me closer to the goal of reaching more readers, breaking into the Technorati Top 1000 and making more money from the blog.

Here’s how you can create a Growth Agenda for your blog:

First write down where you want your blog to be at the end of the year. Use specific numbers to set goals for the number of visitors, readers, subscribers and links back to your site. The more detailed and specific you are, the better your results will be. It also helps to envision the benefits of getting there, like more money and respect from the marketplace.

Second you should break down these goals into monthly goals. Normally you can do this by dividing them by twelve. This are your monthly goals. For example your monthly goal for traffic might look like: January 1,000 unique visitors, February 2,000 visitors…

Then the third step is putting them on paper and finding the ways to get there. In other words, you should translate the goals to a To Do list. Write down the exact steps you’re going to take to reach your goals. Some examples are: participating in blog carnivals, networking with bloggers that are on the level you want to be, offering guest posts at other blogs.

Last but not least you should put them in your agenda and go over them everyday. Start the day with answering emails, checking your statistics and reviewing the actions of the previous day. Then go over your list of items for today and start working on them.

It’s also good to have moments planned for reviewing yourself and getting back on track. The first is important to see if you’re still heading in the right direction and if your action is actually brining you closer to your goals. If they’re not working, throw them out! The latter is handy if you’re really busy. You’ll often notice that you can’t complete everything in one week. Therefore you should schedule time to do these things later.

Tomorrow I’ll reveal my simple system to keep myself motivated and grow my blog a bit every single day, without fail.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Popularity: 10% [?]

I was doing my daily Analytics check this morning when I noticed something that reminded me of this post from about a month back. It analyzes the differences between getting Digg frontpaged and getting noticed by an A-list blogger. I decided to take a closer look at this idea using my own site as a reference for a sort of case study.

Amit makes a lot of good points in this article. Some of which are links from A-list bloggers generate more active and friendly users (check). Digg generates more overall traffic but results in a ton of Dig and leave visitors (check). Digg users click less ads (check, although they still click, just less).

Taking a Closer Look - Page Views by Source

I think one of the best ways to compare the quality of Digg traffic vs A-list blogging links (as well as other sources) would be to compare the Page Views per Visitor of each of my top 10 referrals.

This list is sorted from top to bottom by the number of overall referrals. Digg is my main referrer with over 60,000 unique referrals, yet it has almost the lowest Page Views per Visitor. That’s to be expected since most Diggers visit for one article and leave. Next on the list is direct (people who go straight to NBB from their browser) which has a slightly better PV/V, but not great. This can also be explained: many direct visitors are repeat visitors who have already seen much of the previous content. So most of them come just for the new updates which I show the full text of on my frontpage.

Another interesting thing is that visitors who found my site via Google really stuck around. The average Google visitor browsed at least 2 pages. But this isn’t really a surprise because we all know that organic traffic is the best kind of traffic - that’s webmastering 101. What is actually important to notice, however, is that the only other top 10 referrer that generated over 2 PV/V was John Chow. Most of my active referrals from John come from commenting on his blog, but I also did a guest appearance there yesterday which accounts for some of the traffic. I’m not sure if John is exactly “A-list” but he’s certainly well-known, and I’m sure he’s on someone’s list. We’ll call him an A minus blogger.

One last thing to point out is that StumbleUpon (another social bookmarkingish site) visitors averaged 1.8 PV/V. I was a little surprised at this especially since most of my SU traffic comes in 2-300 bursts over an hour or two at a time and then sputters out for a couple of days.

Conclusion

If you absolutely have to prioritize where you want your traffic to come from I’d have to say: 1) search engines, 2) A-listers, 3) social networking/media. But why be so cut and dry anyway? If you don’t learn anything from me, take this with you - all traffic is usually good traffic. Why settle for just a link on an A-list blog when you can get one on Digg too? Diversify your marketing plans and you will succeed. If you focus in and settle on one strategy, you’ll fail more often than not.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Popularity: 24% [?]

Brian Clark has an excellent post about relying too much on Google for traffic.

Believe it or not, my strategy since the beginning of Copyblogger has been to pretty much forget search engines exist. Don’t get me wrong… I’m not doing anything to annoy them, and I certainly don’t turn away visitors from search engines. I just don’t depend on them for traffic.

This is a timely post because of the Google has been dropping the PageRank on some sites that sell links. Danny Sullivan, a premier search journalist, contacted Google about this and this is what they said:

[Google] confirmed that PageRank scores are being lowered for some sites that sell links.

In addition, Google said that some sites that are selling links may indeed end up being dropped from its search engine or have penalties attached to prevent them from ranking well.

Maybe Google even targeted this site because we’ve gone down from PR5 to PR4.

How to Stop Relying on Google Traffic

Brian’s post gives three practical ways to stop relying on Google. First, he talks about focusing on getting repeat visitors through subscriptions. Bloggers should always be encouraging their readers to subscribe to their RSS feed. If you have a readership that is not very tech-savvy, you should also promote a RSS subscription through email. If you have a static site, build a list. I recommend Aweber for this.

Second, Brian tells us to get traffic from social media sites. The social media audience is among the fastest growing audiences on the web. The key to social media marketing is producing content the social media audience will like and building friendships with the users so they will vote on your content. Don’t just rely on the big sites like Digg, Propeller, and StumbleUpon. There are niche sites too that can send more targeted traffic. Also, Brian considers blogs social media sites. I’ve never thought about blogs that way, but blogs do have a big social element.

Third, Brian says we should start selling. As you begin to build your subscriber base and get traffic from social media sites, you’ll build trust and a reputation that allows you to sell effectively. Whether it’s advertising, reviews, links, ebooks, or other products, don’t be afraid to sell to your existing audience. People like to buy quality products from people they trust.

Totally Ignore Google?

If you have SEO skills, this doesn’t mean you should stop doing keyword research and trying to hit the top 10 of Google. However, you should also focus on the above three tactics. If you focus too much on Google, Google could wreck you and you would lose most of your traffic. Build a defensible site that survives even if Google bans it.

Further Reading

• Build Websites Like Search Engine Traffic Did Not Exist
• Content Without Subscribers Will Become Worthless
• Robots Don’t Spend Money Online, People Do (This relates to Brian’s third point about selling more.)

Conclusion

Are you depending on Google too much?

For more marketing tips, subscribe to Net Business Blog.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Popularity: 18% [?]