If you have…

1. Scrolling, blinking text, butterflies and other animated images whirling around your homepage. Including falling snow, stars, puppies, or kittens…
2. An outdated copyright in the footer that says 2008 and you haven’t changed a single thing since…
3. Still have Flash on your website… or even worse, a Flash entry page…
4. Half a dozen different sizes and colors of text in the body of your website… and CLIPART!
5. MUSIC.  For the love of God – stop the highly annoying classical music that plays on your homepage. (Kill me now)
6. Outdated pics.  Your professional pics are >10 years old.
7. “FREE REPORT” – this term is so outdated and ignored by everyone.  Free report feels like useless information you got from someone else that you’re regurgitating and trying to dump on me.  No Thank you.
8. You don’t provide some of the services you have listed.  ”Sorry, I don’t do that anymore”
9. No interactivity or opportunity to engage. No blog, RSS feed, newsletter, social media.
10. You don’t even mention you HAVE a website because you’re too embarrassed for anyone to see it.
11. Bonus: Your site is all about you – WRONG.  ”I am looking for information, and I want it fast.  I do NOT care about you.  All I want to know is – What you can do for ME!”

If this is you, there is no need to be ashamed.  Put away your MembersOnly jacket, or for the ladies, your Reebok Pumps and Leg Warmers. I can get you updated very quietly and discreetly.  Click here to schedule an appointment.  No one will ever know!

Ever land on a web site and jump back because you were startled by sheer horror of what you were seeing?  I have. Here are 6 examples off the top of my head - continue with caution! :)

1. Flimsy, Limp Handshake - this person has no confidence. They are so worried about "what if" they miss opportunities.   #FAIL.
2. Obnoxious Salesman - Pop-ups, flashing text, lots of bold graphics. #FAIL
3. The Programmer/Techno Snob - usually has mystery meat navigation, information is hard to find and scarce. #FAIL
4. Ultra ADHD - Too many choices, and so much junk that you get a headache trying to find what you want. #FAIL
5. Simple and Shy - extremely plain.  No call to action, or visually appealing anything to get you revved up about what they have to offer. #FAIL
6. The Wannabe - copies what other marketers are doing without understanding WHY they do it. They just want to make a fast buck.  #FAIL

Anyone can create a blog/website.  Over 20k are created every day.  Doesn't mean they should though.

Let me ask you... what are all 6 flawed marketers missing?

ENGAGING with their prospects.  Be where your customers are.

To be engaging means...

Always being LIKE-ABLE.
Do you know someone that everybody likes? Pleasant with an attractive personality. Is that person humble? A servant to others with a joyful attitude of giving?   Is this you?

Always be TRUSTWORTHY.
Do what you say you're going to do.  Be in integrity.  Think of businesses that are trustworthy... Amazon, Zappos, Apple.  Companies that have the distinct reputation for extraordinary customer service and satisfaction.  Have you done what you say you're going to do?

Always be ANSWERING.
Answering questions, responding to inquiries, offering solutions.  Be fast and frequent.  Typically 24 hours is a respectable turn around time.  How can you set up a system to always be prompt?

Always be THANKING...
...people for their RT's (re-tweets), comments, or sharing your material.  Stay in a state of Gratitude.

Always be LINKING.
Linking your content to your social media accounts, like twitter.  Twitter makes it easy for your peeps to RT or re-tweet your link to expand your reach.  And, think of others! When they RT, their @twitterhandle is tweeted too, so don't use all 140 characters.  Save at least 20 characters for the re-tweeter's handle to show up on your tweet too.

Always take PHOTOGRAPHS.
Facebook is the worlds largest website and what do most people spend time doing? Looking at pictures! So always take photos of events and opportunities - a cell phone camera is fine.

This is totally up to you! You can engage your prospects, build relationships and create evangelists for your business or not.  Or, you can continue to do the 6 Flaws and "interruption marketing" to piss your prospect off.  Whatever you do, just make sure you're in alignment with your visitors GOALS.  Help them solve their problem quickly and painlessly as possible. Your website isn't about you, it's about THEM

Now It's YOUR Turn! What are your thoughts? Post below, I'd love to know what you think!

by Steve Shaw
Content makes the web go round. Think about it: emails, videos, articles, audio, ezines, newsletters, blog posts, tweets, web pages, and more. Every one of them led by content.

Without the ongoing delivery and production of content, it is difficult to exist in any meaningful way online. And without content, it’s certainly difficult to market yourself. You attract traffic with it. You build relationships with it. Essentially, you build your whole online presence with it.

Despite all the benefits, what stumps most business owners is the ‘A’ word – ‘About’. What do I write about? What do I create a video about? What do I tweet about? Sure, they may have the odd moment of inspiration. They may create some content … on occasion. But then they’re back at the A word again. The blank page staring at them. The pressure of being out of ideas. The knowledge that, without the content, they’re losing online visibility they would otherwise have.

But fear not, it doesn’t have to be like that. There is a never-ending source of inspiration. The best bit is, it’s right under your nose!

Where? Your customers, your prospects, your visitors — they contact you and ask for help, for information, for knowledge. They tell you exactly what they want you to produce content about: the information they are looking for you to provide. Sometimes, the incoming questions and dialog create the spark of an idea. Sometimes, several ideas. You just need to be aware and ready to record them. And sometimes, in providing an answer, you will have produced an almost complete piece of content. You can then use it in a myriad of different ways. Use it as the basis of a blog post or an article in next month’s newsletter. You can distribute it to article directories, communicate it to your list, develop a video or tweet it to your followers. And there’s an interesting side benefit: the more content you produce, the more ideas it tends to generate for further content.

Blogs are a great example of this. Here is how it works:

• You publish a great piece of content as a blog post and attract comments.
• You start getting questions you can then answer with further content.
• You get comments that spark further ideas for content production.
• And so the cycle continues.

In effect, a blog can provide you with an idea generation machine!

The starting point is using a simple ‘Idea Collection System’. And ensuring you get into the habit of using it.

For example, create a folder in your filing system where you can quickly drop ideas in. Here are some ideas on how it might be used in practice:

• You are speaking with a customer over the phone, and you get a content idea from your conversation. Scribble it down and drop it in the folder.
• A few paragraphs sent in reply to an email enquiry could be used as the basis of future content. Print it out and drop it in the folder.
• What if you’re asked a great question at a networking event? Phone your own voicemail before you forget. Then when you’re back in the office, pick the message up, note it down and drop it in.
• If you have people taking care of your customer support, train them to forward you questions that could form the basis of great content as they come up.
• If you notice a suitable comment on your blog that triggers a content idea, again print it out and drop it in.

It doesn’t have to be a physical folder, although I find that works best for me.

You could use a folder on your computer. You could email ideas to yourself and set up a filter so they’re easily retrievable in future. Or set up a separate email account. Even a pen and notepad can work well if that suits you and they’re always close at hand.

Get into the habit of using your Idea Collection System as soon as you think of an idea.

Otherwise, two things happen.

• Firstly, you’ll likely forget completely, and a great idea will be lost forever.
• Secondly, your subconscious mind will stop scanning for ideas. It will stop alerting your conscious mind when great content ideas arise.

When adding ideas to your Idea Collection System, make as many notes as you can at that time. When you go back to it in future, you will then know exactly what you were thinking at the time. It will also be easier and quicker to start creating the content right away. Otherwise, when you return to the idea later, you may find it obscure and discard what could have formed the basis of a great piece of content.

Once you are in the habit of collecting ideas like this, you will eradicate the ‘A’ word. You will start seeing ideas everywhere. The trickle of ideas at the beginning turns into a torrent. The ‘About’ question will never arise again!

So here is what you should do now:

• Decide what your Idea Collection System will be. A physical folder? A separate email account?
• Set it up, right now. Yes, right now.
• In the next hour, make sure you drop at least one idea in. This starts to get you into the habit. It’s the start of the trickle that will turn into a torrent. If necessary, review customer communications over the past week or so. Find something you can use.
• Train your subconscious to bring you content ideas by adding a new idea every day. It will soon become part of your normal routine.
• Finally start using these ideas to create some content. Set up a regular schedule of content production by blocking out time on your calendar on a regular basis. Ensure there are no distractions, and focus 100% on content production. (If you are not comfortable with producing content yourself, forward your ideas to a writer or someone else in your business to produce the content for you).

Start using the ideas in this article, stick to a regular schedule of content production, and you will start to get all the benefits content can bring you. For example:

• Regular communication with your list: this allows you to start building better relationships and become more ‘front of mind’ in the minds of your prospects and customers
• Regular content syndication: this starts attracting targeted traffic to your site from other sites as well as from the search engines
• Regular publication of new posts on your blog: you will improve the position of your site in the search engines, attract new traffic, and allow your visitors to feel more connected with you
• Regular tweeting of updates: build up your followers and enjoy the benefits of Twitter through having something useful to tweet about
• A regular offline customer newsletter: improve your relationship with your customer base, your most important asset, through improved communication with them

And of course there are many other ways you can start putting your content to work. Give content production the priority it deserves, and feed the benefits back into your business.

Steve Shaw

Steve Shaw is the founder of SubmitYOURArticle.com, the web’s leading article marketing service, used by thousands of small business owners worldwide to build traffic, leads and sales for their websites. You can grab a free report on how to attract sustainable, dirt-cheap, long-term, targeted traffic to your website at www.submityourarticle.com

Now It’s YOUR Turn! What are your thoughts? Post below, I’d love to know what you think!

**Editors Note**  Cathy Goodwin is an exceptional copywriter that establishes a connection to your visitors, communicates your value and motivates prospects to buy. I HIGHLY recommend her!

Business owners who promote themselves with online marketing often neglect the “about us” page. If you own a service business or work as an independent professional, your “About” page will be especially critical to your success. Prospective clients want to get to know you before they make a hiring decision, so they may turn to this page right after they come to your website.

Many business owners make these 3 mistakes when they write their “About” page. They list facts in obituary style; they include irrelevant information; or they omit to add a personal flavor that prospects will want to find.

First, begin by identifying why you are the single best resource to solve your niche’s most urgent problem. You might list facts but it’s important to relate the facts to your expertise. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the relationship between your hobby or college major and your current business. That’s where an objective viewpoint can help. Ask your clients, friends, and mentors. Often they will make these connections readily.

Second, limit your “About” page to information that is directly relevant to your business. You need to be scrupulously honest but you don’t need to share every aspect of your life.

The decision on what’s relevant will be related to your field. If you got into trouble as a teen, your experience may be relevant if you work as a life coach or child psychologist. If you are a business coach this information will be less relevant and may actually backfire. It’s always a judgment call.

Finally, be sure to add a personal flavor to your “About” page. Include elements of your life that present you as a friendly, competent three-dimensional person. Your clients want to relate to you as a human being, not a one-dimensional robot, but they don’t want to know the most intimate details of your life.

One business consultant includes information about community activities because he wants to show that he gives back. He realizes his contribution to nonprofit organizations will show that he is a caring person with integrity.

Another consultant writes extensively about her family. She finds clients often relate to her experience as a wife and mom. She also finds she gets more comments about her cats than just about anything on the About page.

Remember to review your “About” page at least once a year. Your facts change. Your kids grow up and you may get a new dog. You also may need to change your content as your own business changes and new facts become more or less relevant.

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an online copywriter who helps business owners get more clients and sell more products online. Download The Case Of The Missing Website Profits and discover 3 clues to why your website isn’t working (and 3 red herrings that lead you down the wrong trail). http://www.CopywritingDetective.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cathy_Goodwin

Going Dark? This is an old phrase from my phone company days.

In Las Vegas, there are a mind boggling amount of circuits going to casinos, hotels, businesses, government agencies and so on.  All are priority #1, and many have a redundant fiber optic network backup that is “dark” meaning there is no data running on it, it is just sitting there dark “just in case.”

Often, in our everyday lives we are called to more pressing matters and we go ‘dark’.  We don’t have a redundant network to back us up, and our online colleagues, friends, and clients wonder if we fell off the earth.

Here is a recap of GigaOm.com’s post 6 Ways to Revive a Dead Social Media Channel

1. Address your absence.
2. Begin again as if starting all over.
3. Reach out to fans and followers who have engaged you lately.
4. Begin re-posting consistently.
5. Reply, comment and acknowledge your followers quickly.
6. And last but not least: Map out a social media calendar.

My partner Kym and I offer Twitter Management for a few select clientele, and their social media calendar looks something like this:

What’s happening this month? Monthly promotions, testimonials, local activities, people, business or organizations you want to promote.

Weekly/Daily topic schedule.  Myth Monday, Technology Tuesday, What? Wednesday, Thank-you Thursday, Fun Friday.

RT (re-tweet) sources: StumbleUpon, Digg, industry leaders, vendors, and related current events to piggyback.

We all want to appear sharp and on the cutting-edge of whatever our gig is, and by creating a calendar, no matter how hokey it feels, is the best way to keep ourselves on track.

Now it’s YOUR turn.  Go on now… get busy!

• cformsII – go to deliciousdays.com to download zip file to your computer, then upload into plugins via upload link. (see “install plugins” pic –>)  cformsII can be intimidating at first, but it’s all very logical if you think your steps through.  Some clients use this for their “Coaching Request” questionnaire, others for their client “Work Out Log.”
• WP Greet Box – I like this because it gives a greeting to the visitor, and reminds them to subscribe to my RSS feed.
• Do Follow - The plugin lets you remove the evil no-follow attribute from your comments.  And we like to share the love, so… do follow!
• Disqus Comment System http://disqus.com/ – Way cool commenting, and importing of mentions of your post from other sites, ie. Twitter, Facebook, etc.  You’ll need to set up an account at Disqus first – then check your settings in WordPress.
• Google XML Sitemaps – Because Google likes sites/blogs that are neat and pretty with sitemaps.  Don’t be caught without one.
• Raw HTML capability – sometimes you need to put code in a post and wordpress tries to strip your code – highly annoying – with this plugin, you just tick the box and wordpress will leave it alone.
• ShareThis http://sharethis.com/ – neat and tidy way of sharing your content with the world.  I like ShareThis because of it’s uncluttered look.
• Similar Posts – will add 3, 5, or however many similar posts with the same tags to the bottom of your post.
• TweetMeme – this is that cute little “retweet” box by your posts that enables the reader to only click once to retweet.
• WordPress.com Stats – You will become addicted to this feature! Stats gives you real-time data regarding your site/blog… how many visitors, where they came from, what search terms they used to find you…etc.
• Yoast Breadcrumbs - if your site is “deep”, meaning you have multiple levels of navigation, you’ll definitely want breadcrumbs to show your readers where they are.

The other day I stopped by the Allergy Doc to pay my balance, opened the door, and ran smack into him… I asked “Why do you make it so hard for me to do business with you?” – THAT question got his attention.

You see… my doc doesn’t take credit or debit cards.  I can’t remember the last time I used a stamp – (the census doesn’t count) So when I said, “make it easy to do business” I meant – make it easy for me to pay you!

Someone else is listening too – NETFLIX.

My Bonus Son told me about getting NetFlix movies on his Xbox – kewl! But I have a Wii – and NetFlix isn’t ready for a Wii – yet…

But, Dang! I can get NetFlix movies on my Ipod Touch and Ipone too – isn’t that impressive – how much easier could they make it to do business with them? Telepathically perhaps? LOL!

Check out the deets at Mashable.com

Now it’s YOUR turn.

• How easy is it for people to do business with YOU?
• What processes need updating?
• What steps can be eliminated or modified?

P.S. – Once you’re done, hit that “retweet” button below & spread the word so others will be inspired to make it easier to do business as well.

1. Thou shalt use WordPress for your website/blog.

2. Post to your blog often.

3. Use social media - Facebook, Twitter.

4. Use lots of videos.

5. Be real and personable.

6. Make sharing easy.

7. Create a kick @ss  freebie that over delivers.

8. Always respond to comments.

9. Sharpen your saw.

10. Create evangelists.

BONUS: Learn to sell.

• "The Irresistible Offer: How to Sell Your Product or Service in 3 Seconds or Less" by Mark Joyner
• "Integrity Selling for the 21st Century: How to Sell the Way People Want to Buy" by Ron Willingham
• "Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness" by Jeffrey Gitomer

1. Don’t waste your web site’s real estate with a lot of high-tech clutter. With social media today that can happen easily – add a widget here, another widget there… pretty soon, it’s cluttered like the television show “Hoarders”. Your visitors will miss your whole sales message and bail.

2. Don’t forget to demonstrate Social Proof. This means testimonials.  Be careful though – new FTC guidelines require you to secure the permission from the individual to use their testimonial in your copy.  I always do AND, put the full name, and website url of the person giving the testimonial.

3. Don’t use run-on sentences. Sentences should be no longer than 10 words. You only have so much time to get your visitor’s attention and interest; make every word count.

4. Don’t assume that everyone will automatically understand what you have to offer. BE OBVIOUS! Use powerful words and examples to get your point across.

5. Don’t write your strongest point or benefit only once. You should repeat it at least 3 times because some people don’t get it right away. (how many times do you have to tell your kids to clean their room…5-6-7 times?)

6. White space is good! Don’t push all your words together on your web site. People like to skim; use plenty of headings and sub headings. Bold key phrases to make your copy “scan-able.”

7. Don’t write crap your target market isn’t interested in. If people are coming to your site to find info about knitting don’t include soccer content.  Not to be confused with “life-streaming.”  People who are following you on twitter, Facebook, etc. DO want to know what you’re doing.

8. Don’t give me a headache with your 20 different fonts and colors all over your web site. Use the same fonts, text sizes & colors, etc. If a site looks to “complicated” to read, your prospect is sure to bail and never return… worse yet, you could be “stumbled” on stumbleupon.com or submitted to websites that suck for having the worst site ever!

9. Cut out the jargon. Don’t use words your visitors might not understand. People are not going to stop and look in a dictionary, or Google the “word”, they will just go to another site. (If my 15 year old daughter can’t “get” the concept of my copy, I start over.)

10. Make your website POP! Don’t let selling words and phrases go unnoticed. Highlight important words and phrases with color, bolding, italics, underlining, etc.

11. Don’t omit your social media homes. aka. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, Delicious, etc.  If you do people will think you’re behind the times.  Social media has been around long enough that most everyone online has adopted some form of social interaction.

Donna Payne is the Chief Web Coach of The Web Coach.net and is known as the gal to call when you’re feeling overwhelmed by the internet. To spend more time with Donna experiencing Web technology, Small Business Coaching and Marketing in the most SIMPLIFED way possible go to http://thewebcoach.net. Get the Business Breakthrough You Need by scheduling yourself for a free 30-minute Business Breakthru Coaching call.

The smartest move in business I ever made was hiring a business coach.  Why? Because I had an insider expert on my side to give me guidance.  Someone who knew the ropes and what the heck was going on.

Finding a mentor or coach is one of the most important choices you can make because, ultimately, you become friends, and confidants.  Your mentor is invested in you and is there for the long haul.  They’re there to help you set goals and hold you accountable.

You see, I only knew the technical side of building a business – I didn’t fully understand:

• What to do first
• how to create an action plan
• how to manage my time

Then, I wasn’t sure:

• who my ideal clients were?
• what my clients wanted?
• how to even get clients!

Then, I had to think about what tools and resources were available to me?  Then came the FLOOD of questions!

• How do I build my mailing list? Why do I need one?
• What is an ezine?
• Do  people use direct mail?
• What do I sell? How do I create information products?
• How do I take payments?
• Multiple streams of income… what does that mean?

Sheeesh! But if I *really* wanted to be successful, I also needed to learn about:

• Coaching, and how to mentor and teach others.
• Events, how to plan, prep and faciliate seminars and classes.
• Team? Would I need others? How do I get people to help me?
• Leverage, taking everything that I know and using it to my best advantage.
• Relationship marketing. Social Media and new technology yet to be discovered.

All of this can be enough to intimidate anyone into tossing in the towel on their dreams.  You must find a mentor, or an advisor to help you figure out all the details and create a formula that works for you!

How to get the most from your mentor/coach

• Have your notes, and questions ready before hand.  Come to meetings prepared.
• Record the meeting if possible.
• Stay on task.  Try not to stray off topic.

Once I began to work with a coach, I no longer felt alone or isolated.  Someone was actually listening and focusing on ME. He gave me advice, ideas, comments and views on my opportunities.  That alone is priceless.

Is this you? Take charge and move forward by scheduling an appointment.

Now It’s YOUR Turn! What are your thoughts? Post below, I’d love to know what you think!