SiteProNews |
- 8 Reasons Why You Should Submit Your Articles to Authority Sites
- What Is A Security Certification?
- Apple Store Mobile POS Payment Technology Gaining Momentum – A SPN Exclusive Article
- How You Can Make A List Using Facebook
- Social Media Marketing Tools – Putting Your Finger on the Pulse of the Web
Posted: 16 Sep 2011 09:22 AM PDT   If you are an article marketer and write well, instead of wasting your time submitting your articles to article directories, you should give serious consideration to submitting to authority sites.Why? Stay with me, I’m getting to that. Question: So, what exactly is an authority site? Answer: Definitions vary, but my own personal definition of an authority site is “a site that is linked to and respected by thousands of people who often reference its material.” For example, for Internet Marketing news and events, IMNewsWatch would be considered an authority site. In the SEO and Internet Marketing worlds, authority sites would include sites like SearchEngineJournal, SiteProNews, WebProNews, PromotionWorld, CopyBlogger, SearchEngineLand, MarketingProfs and ProBlogger just to name a few. And while some sites enjoy more authority than others, the two common denominators are, the sites are all highly-respected, and they all have a large and loyal following. Following are 8 reasons why should you submit your articles to authority sites: 1. Respect. While you may be proud of having your articles accepted by article directories, it’s really no great accomplishment. Why? Because most article directories will accept articles from just about anyone – regardless of how poorly written they are. On the other hand, getting your articles published by the aforementioned authority sites is something to write home about. Why? Because those sites are highly-respected and have a much higher publishing standard. 2. Article Directory Oblivion. When you submit your article to article directories, chances are, your article will get buried among the thousands of other article submissions. And unless you get lucky and your articles happen to get found among the masses, and published by a popular newsletter or website, they will forever live in article directory oblivion, getting viewed every now and then. 3. The Viral Factor. I stated previously that authority sites enjoy a large and loyal following. So how does that benefit you? If an authority site publishes your articles, it’s probably because your articles have value, meaning they’re interesting, useful and/or entertaining. That is exactly the type of content that readers will pass along to others via tweet, Facebook, e-mail etc. 4. The Power. When you submit your articles to authority sites, you have the power to pick and choose what sites you want to submit to. On the other hand, when you submit your articles to article directories, you surrender that power. Once submitted to an article directory, your articles are available to be published by anyone. That means your articles have the very real potential of being published by low-quality sites, which could effectively damage your site’s reputation with the search engines. 5. Diminished Link Value. One of the great by-products of article marketing is inbound links. If you write quality content, more than likely, you will attract quality inbound links. Unfortunately, many writers who submit to article directories aren’t aware article directories have had diminished link value for years. That’s why mega-popular, monolithic article directories like EzineArticles, Buzzle and Associated Content were so heavily penalized by the Panda update. Over the years, they became notorious for the amount of low-quality content they contained. Because they accepted articles from just about anyone – regardless of how poorly written or shallow the articles were. 6. Greater Exposure. Authority sites not only depend on quality content for their very existence, like the shark in the movie “Jaws”, they also devour content rapidly. As such, they’re constantly in need of quality content infusions. If you submit your articles to authority sites and prove yourself to be a trusted and reliable source of content, they will be much more apt to feature your articles on a regular basis – thereby increasing your exposure. This will not only enhance your reputation, but your bottom line as well. 7. Greater Opportunities. There’s an old saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.” What does that mean? It means people of similar taste, character or background tend to associate with one another, or like the same things. That holds true both online and offline. Online, individuals of discerning taste tend to gravitate to high-quality content and websites (i.e., authority sites). And since I’ve been submitting my articles to authority sites, I’ve lost count of the number of joint venture opportunities I’ve been offered. I generally turn them down because my plate is quite full for the foreseeable future. But that’s not really the point. The point is, the opportunities were offered because of the respect and exposure I received from having my articles published on authority sites. 8. Enhanced Perception. If you consistently write quality articles that are factually accurate and help people, you will be perceived as an expert in your field – provided you really are an expert. But while what you write is important, where your articles are published is even more important. Having your articles published on authority sites will only enhance your reputation as an expert. And with expert status comes increased income. Expert status will give you the ability to charge higher fees for your products and services. And if you are really good at what you do and provide good value, your clients will refer you to other clients – further increasing your income. So are there any negatives to submitting your articles to authority sites? If there are, I certainly haven’t found them yet. David Jackson is a marketing consultant, and the owner of Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com – Powerful, free marketing tips to help grow your business! http://free-marketing-tips-blog.com/ Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources 8 Reasons Why You Should Submit Your Articles to Authority Sites |
Posted: 16 Sep 2011 09:06 AM PDT   Sometimes it seems like everything in our lives today rotates around the internet. It does not matter if you are talking about your home life or work life. It does not matter if you are talking about paying your bills online, shopping or working with colleagues who are not located within the same facility. Everything revolves around the internet. The natural result from the internet explosion is that the fields of security certification and security training have also exploded.People sometimes get very confused about the certification process as it relates to computers and the online world. That is because people do not know a lot about the details; they just hear stories about how the internet is a bad place. As the internet has become more popular, it also means hackers have spent more time and money on trying to find easy ways to cause problems. Every time you turn on the television, you hear another story about a major company who had their computer system hacked into. This type of activity gives the hackers access to critical personal data that can cost each person thousands of dollars. Another big scandal that has been in the news a great deal is the recent “wiki leaks” issue. There is no question about it, both individuals and businesses all over the world are more concerned than ever about computer security. This concern is what makes the world of certifications for security a growing trend. There are actually two different meanings for this term, and that is what makes it so difficult for people to understand the difference. Both meanings are about protecting the uses on the website or system. One of the meanings is for a seal of some kind that can be put on a website to show that it is protected from hackers. It shows anyone who is using your system or your website that you have taken all of the required steps to protect everything about them. If you are on a site, you should check that it has this type of certification. If it does, you can be confident that any personal information that you input into the system is as protected as possible from hackers who may try to break in. It also shows that the system is protected from spreading viruses of some kind to your own computer. If you have your own website, it is important that you get this kind of a certificate so that you can display it on your site. If you do not have it, your visitors will lose confidence and will be much less likely to do business with you. This certification should be considered mandatory. The other type of certification is given to people. These are the people who do the work to allow your site to be certified. There are many different types of certifications and many different levels. In order to get your personal certification, you must obtain and pass different classes. The higher level certifications will require you to take multiple classes. Stewart Wrighter recently studied new security certification sites online while conducting research for an article. For more information about security certification go to http://www.hispi.org/ . Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources What Is A Security Certification? |
Posted: 16 Sep 2011 08:00 AM PDT   Businesses Large and Small Clamoring for New TechnologyThe advent of mobile technology and the iPad in particular, along with other tablets, have ushered in an era of innovative solutions in the retail space that is revolutionizing how people shop, buy, sell and even communicate. Innovative mobile solution developers such as ABC Mobile Pay are helping to blaze the trail by providing a robust mobile POS payment solution that enables merchants of any size from large national chain stores to small ‘mom-and-pop’ stores to capture payments on iPads, iPods, iPhones, Windows devices (Android devices by summer’s end) and almost any other mobile device. What is exciting to both large Level 1 national merchants, with yearly transaction volumes of over the 20 million mark, and to small ‘mom-and-pop’ stores that process under a million transactions a year, is that they can utilize this technology to increase sales and profits by employing POS features traditionally found only in large national chain stores, the cost of such systems being so high that most smaller merchants can’t even consider their use. Although large national merchants such as Apple, have already begun using the technology in their national retail stores, others like Sketchers are rumored to be rolling out an in-store mobile POS payment solution by the end of the year. Yet others such as Best Buy are stirring up the rumor pot even more, by shopping for payment devices that are only used in the mobile market, according to a source in the payments industry that shall remain anonymous, per their request. The technology brings merchants POS features such as inventory control and product barcode scanning, customer-relationship-management (CRM) software, email and text message marketing, and signature & photo capture embedded on receipts. It also delivers audio and video entertainment and promotional messaging through the POS and streams to anywhere on site. Perhaps most exciting to Level 1 and Level 4 merchants alike is the fact that the solution will work flawlessly with any legacy software system and it will seamlessly connect to any back-end bookkeeping or accounting system such as QuickBooks, Sage, SAP, Oracle, Peachtree and many more. The solution is customizable for niches such as the restaurant space for pay-at-the-table, where the menu can also be displayed on a mobile device such as an iPad. When the bill comes, the device can be handed over to the patron, who then swipes the card, signs right on the device and emails or prints them a receipt. All of it is done very safely, easily and as quickly as a handshake. Rick Berry is President/CEO of ABC Mobile Pay, a merchant services provider and a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo, N.A. Over the last decade Rick has earned the title of ‘Expert’ in the payments space and the mobile technology arena while developing customized products and services for the mobile payments sector. ABC Mobile Pay brings a robust mobile POS payment solution to retailers and wholesalers of all types and sizes around the world like the one in use at retail Apple stores. http://www.abcmobilepay.com/ | 877-258-5223 | rick@abcmobilepay.com | http://www.abcmobilepay.com/demos.html Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources Apple Store Mobile POS Payment Technology Gaining Momentum – A SPN Exclusive Article |
Posted: 16 Sep 2011 07:41 AM PDT   Nearly every one of you have heard the saying, “the money is in the list”. That is very true today and will be for the foreseeable future. Having a great subscriber list is a fantastic way to let people know as soon as you have updated your website or your blog and as you you have new products or services which they may very well be interested in. Maybe you have a new product and need to get the word out fast. Facebook is a good means to do that. If using Facebook is a great method of getting your message out and building your subscriber list is the ideal way to make money, how can you combine the two? How can you use Facebook to create a great subscriber list?The conventional way that a business person gets people to subscribe is by placing a sign up form on their website. This usually is a fantastic way to get subscribers, but there’s a different way that’s even better. This is a strategy for anyone who wish to use Facebook in conjunction with building your list. First, Create your Facebook Page Of course, this is the first thing that you need to do. If you do not have a Facebook page yet, you should head over to Facebook pages to start creating your page. In case you are unsure what you want your page to look like, browse different business Facebook pages to generate some ideas. This way you will see precisely how the page is structured as well as what you would like to include on it. Don’t forget to include links to your website from this page. When people visit your Facebook page, you would like to have them sign up to be a subscriber. It’s alright to request that they ‘like’ your page, however it is much more effective to have them sign up. Having them sign up gives you their email address. So, how should you get people to register when they are on your Facebook page? Create a Facebook Subscriber List It is possible to build a subscriber list that is only associated with your Facebook page. This way, when you send something out to your subscriber list, you are also able to put the notification on your Facebook page. Then, those people who have ‘liked’ your page will receive the notice in their feeds. If they happen to be interested by your articles, that will bring them back to your Facebook page. You can also send visitors to your website from your Facebook page by giving a free report or free ebook. It is possible to put the notification on your page and then direct people to your website to subscribe on your subscriber form to then get your free report. This method is absolutely better than just having people ‘like’ your page because they’re registering on your subscriber form so you then have their email address. However, sometimes it is a bit more difficult to get others to leave your Facebook page and then actually sign up for your free report on your website. The easiest way could be for you to combine the two approaches. Use your traffic campaigns to get people to your Facebook page and after that occasionally put an invitation on your page to tell people about your freebie if they head over to your website and register. Again, you need to test to see what will give you the results you want as well as what will work for your business. So, how will you use Facebook to build your list? Offer your visitors both opportunities. Offer your visitors who like to hear what is happening with your business the opportunity to ‘like’ your page and after that use their feeds for updates and also offer your visitors the opportunity to go to your website to sign up as a subscriber and receive a free ebook or report. Just test what is best for your target market. If you want to learn more about using Facebook for your business, download my free Social Media Guide here: http://workonlinesuccess.com/Free-Reports/Socialmarketing.html Get more information on my website http://workonlinesuccess.com/ Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources How You Can Make A List Using Facebook |
Posted: 15 Sep 2011 10:00 PM PDT   Time makes a mockery of most predictions. Once derided as the tools and hobbies of hopeless shut-ins and intellectual ivory tower sorts, social media sites such as PayPal, Facebook and LinkedIn have become the home of an entirely new, powerhouse economy. Where hundreds of years of war and diplomacy have failed, social media marketing has succeeded in bringing people around the globe together in the pursuit of common interests and open markets. Social media marketing is the home of successful brand promotion and finding the right mix of tools to take advantage of it has become the defining issue of the modern brand.When people refer to SMM tools, they are discussing a host of applications and programs that allow real-time and long-term feedback on the performance of their social networks. This kind of information goes beyond the purely mechanistic approach of SEO and website performance, moving into the realm of genuine social engineering. Social media tools can track the number of times a brand is being mentioned across each network, compare traffic between networks, determine where the buzz is starting and which path it took to get from, say, Digg to Facebook. Knowing the focus of each of these tools and the best way to use them is the key to bringing all this power under control and using it to help promote a brand to its full potential. TweetDeck TweetDeck is an excellent platform for brands to manage social networks. A simple, efficient, all-in-one approach makes TweetDeck very useful for getting updates out quickly to a number of locations. TweetDeck supports Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, GoogleBuzz, LinkedIn and Foursquare, giving a user easy access to all of the major networks. Users can send out status updates to any or all of these at once, allowing unified messages to be spread in a single step, without the potential to forget one. However, it does have its limitations. Very heavy traffic to multiple accounts can slow down its efficiency, making it more of a startup and middleweight tool than a long-term solution. HootSuite Similar to TweetDeck in that it is targeted toward smaller businesses, HootSuite is an alternative tool that allows for several levels of customization. For starters, the basic package is completely free, and will support five networks of the user’s choosing. Currently available platforms include Twitter, WordPress, LinkedIn, MySpace, FourSquare, Facebook and PingFm. Upgrading to paid subscriptions allows additional networks to be included. HootSuite really shines because it offers steady “streams” of information about each of the user’s networks, allowing the aforementioned real-time monitoring of web traffic. If a particular network is flagging or performing particularly well, it will be brought to the manager’s attention. Further, HootSuite provides user bios and links to various users’ social networking profiles, allowing a brand to tailor its content to the needs of the market more efficiently. The information is a bit limited in the default package, but even upgrading to the $5.99 a month subscription brings a great deal more detail to hand. Engage121 For larger businesses looking to make their mark in the social networking world, Engage121 offers a number of more powerful options. This is a program for professional social networking managers, because it is entirely customizable to the exact needs of a business. One of its touted features, for example, is the ability of a local office to examine, modify and approve messages from the central branch. In this vein, a generic message can be sent out about company directives, while allowing each branch to add or delete content based on the relevance it has to their own particular mission. Thus a large clothing chain won’t waste time sending out messages about their new swimwear line to their regional users in Alaska. However, it has to be stressed once again that Engage 121 is not a tool for beginners. The sheer number of options can be daunting to put in the hands of an inexperienced manager. It’s best to offer it to someone with a great deal of skill under his or her hat who can offer a specific plan of attack for using this tool. General Thoughts As a broader consideration, there’s no reason to limit oneself to any one of these applications, or indeed any of their competitors. A sound SMM strategy might, in fact, use several programs at once, either to get multiple sources of information or to test out which works best for a given company’s needs. Then as the brand grows and needs increase, the manager can move up to more robust software and applications that better service the needs of the company. Above all, remember the axiom that these tools are based on the need to promote communication between brand and audience. They are not meant to reduce the users of the network to data that can be analyzed and directed – these are people with their own minds and agendas, who will respond in kind if they feel slighted or taken advantage of. Instead, they should be used as a way to get information about what people want to talk about, and to build a brand’s reputation. Enzo F. Cesario is an online branding specialist and co-founder of Brandsplat, a digital content agency. Brandsplat creates blogs, articles, videos and social media in the “voice” of our client’s brand. It makes sites more findable and brands more recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to www.BrandSplat.com/ or visit our blog at www.iBrandCasting.com/ Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources Social Media Marketing Tools – Putting Your Finger on the Pulse of the Web |
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