marketing

Irrespective whether 2012 was a fruitful year that brought you more clients and increased your sales, or was modest and did not have anything exciting for your online business, it is time to move on and start planning for 2013. Since it is very likely that you have already reviewed your online marketing efforts, the beginning of the year is the ideal time to start considering the additions or subtractions you will be performing from now on and the rest of the year. Following is a list of internet marketing areas that are worth exploring in 2013.

Pinterest

Pinterest was all the rage last year and because it will continue to have a key role in 2013 as well, you should consider creating an account there. If you are curious why you would need an account on a photo sharing site, then you should know that this is the easiest way to obtain high quality and valuable backlinks. Simply put, every picture you pin on this website is always accompanied by the link to your blog or guest post.

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#SocialCafe Freelancing and Keeping It Positive

This Twitter Chat and Party is for freelancers, with cool prizes! We are going to help you with ideas that you could use to generate income for yourself. Let's talk profits and successful case studies.

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How To Promote Your Business Locally

Remember when consumers were told to "let your fingers do the walking" through the YellowPages to find local businesses? Those days have long since passed as local marketing trends have shifted to the internet. Unfortunately, many small businesses have not established a strong enough online presence to draw in new customers and build strong relationships with their current client base. If you have not yet taken advantages of the many local marketing opportunities that the internet affords you, it is time to reevaluate your strategy. Here are four simple ways to boost the reaches of your local marketing by utilizing the internet.

1. Maintain a Professional Website

If your small business is not already represented by a website - start one. If your current website has been collecting cyber "dust" and has remained unchanged and unused for years - update it. Consumers are far more likely to give their business to a company that regularly updates a clean, concise, and professional looking webpage. Your page should be used to explain your services, introduce your customers to who you are and what you stand for, and provide links for current and potential clients to connect with you on other online mediums or to reach out to you for further information.

2. Manage a Blog

Blogs are best used for local marketing when they provide insightful, helpful information to consumers. In doing so, you are establishing a need - that is to say, your customers will be able to understand why they need you to provide them with services and helpful advice. This gives you credibility in your field, and enables you to build lasting relationships with your clients. By using keywords (generally these are words that you would expect consumers to type into a search engine to find companies like your own), you will become the top search result and draw in more new customers.

3. Be a Social Butterfly

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Why Did Twitter Break Up with LinkedIn and Tumblr?

Social Web Cafe:  LinkedIn

A lot of people have been talking about the split between Twitter and LinkedIn, but nobody seems to have a very good understanding of what caused the split in the first place. This may not bode well for SEO Positive, a UK SEO Agency who uploads relevant Tweets to independent marketing agents’ websites. What we do know is that the divorce became official on June 29th, 2012, under semi-mutual conditions. Well, not really.

The reality is it’s more of a one-way street than anything else. Users of LinkedIn can still post updates from LinkedIn to Twitter but Tweets won’t appear on the LinkedIn newsfeeds. SEO Positive, the UK SEO Agency who manages Twitter, will likely see a huge drop in Tweets as a result of the split.

Logic 

Admittedly it turned a few heads when news of the divorce tore across the web, with most people questioning the logic behind it. It was actually, according to Twitter, just another rung on the business ladder. "Expandable tweets," which allow the viewer to see the entire conversation preceding a tweet, didn’t show up on LinkedIn. The interface didn’t support it. Michael Sippey, the Product Team Director at Twitter, addressed the issue in a blog post, indicating that it was essential for viewers to be able to view these expandable tweets, and that it just wasn't happening.

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The Advantages of Outsourcing Your SEM

If you want to succeed online, you need to implement search engine marketing (SEM) tactics. SEM refers to marketing through the search engines and includes search engine optimization as well as pay-per-click advertising.

If you’re well versed in SEM, then you can implement the strategies yourself. If you still have no idea what SEM actually is, then you’ll probably want to outsource this tactic to an experienced company.

Outsourcing your SEM is a great way to ensure that the tactic is implemented properly. If you’re interested in outsourcing your SEM, the following are a few of the benefits you’ll receive by doing so.

It’s more cost effective.

If you don’t know what SEM is or how to implement it, hiring an SEM company to do it for you will be more cost effective than taking the time to try and figure out what it is and implement it yourself. Plus, most SEM companies have worked with a variety of businesses in a variety of fields, so they can create the best possible strategy to fit within your budget.

Always make sure that the SEM company knows what your budget is ahead of time before signing a contract. Make sure to get the agreement of the deal in writing so that both parties know exactly what is to be expected.

You’ll be getting experience.

SEM companies have been implementing tactics for years, so they have a good understanding of the marketing strategy and know what works and what doesn’t. Plus, with their experience, most SEM companies can tell you if certain SEM strategies work better than others for your type of business, which can help you be more successful.

They’ll be dedicated.

SEM companies want to deliver results. This is how they continue to earn your business and get you to refer their company to others. For this reason, SEM companies are truly dedicated to working with your business to give you the best possible strategy to earn you results. This is more dedication than you’d get from your own in-house team.

It will save you time.

Because SEM companies know what they’re doing, you can put your entire SEM strategy in their hands and get back to tending to your own responsibilities. This allows you to focus on your job, and you will be receiving expert-level SEM strategies without having to think about it.

You can’t be cheated.

The best thing about outsourcing your SEM is that you don’t have to rely solely on the word from your company. You can use tools like Google Analytics to track the success of your campaigns on your own to ensure that the SEM company is doing the job they promised. IF they’re telling you that their tactics have been successful, but your Google Analytics report is showing otherwise, you can use this as leverage to get them to perform better or, if necessary, kick them to the curb.

SEM is a great marketing strategy that every business should implement to give them the best possible online presence. If you don’t know how to implement SEM on your own, it’s a good idea to outsource your efforts to an experienced team.

Garrett Payne writes in tandem with SEOMap with the goal of helping web professionals create a successful marketing campaign.  He often gives advice to others on how to properly analyze keywords and competition.

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16 Sites To Outsource The Writing Of Your E-commerce Product Descriptions

The many different things you have to keep in mind to continue marketing a successful website, or starting one up, can take a toll on your administrative efforts if you don’t take advantage of the wonders of specialization.

With that said, outsourcing your e-commerce product descriptions to companies that engage in that, solely, can be cost-effective, while still securing professional content. Here are 16 sites that are well-known for writing e-commerce product descriptions:

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