Master Site Manager Review

Looking for domain management and SEO Tracking Software? Look NO further.  My friend Don Schnure has done it again! If you are like me, you don’t just own 1 or 2 domains. In fact, my husband’s best friend says that I buy domains like some women buy SHOES. (Don’t tell that to zappos!)

Master Site Manager is the SOLUTION. You can easily keep track of where your domains are hosted and where they are registered.  No more manually keeping track of entries in an excel file!

The absolute BEST feature of Master Site Manager is Keyword tracking.  For each of your sites you can input a keyword and Master Site Manager will keep track of your rankings! Find out where you are ranking for each of your keywords at a glance and focus your efforts on the keywords you need to rank for.

Have SEO clients?  Then Master Site Manager is FOR YOU. Easily manage the SEO campaigns of your SEO clients.  Keep track of where they currently rank for keywords as well as where you have helped them improve!

Want to find out if your competition is catching up with you? Use Master Site Manager to see if your competition is targeting and improving in rankings in YOUR keywords.  Don’t delay!  Get your copy NOW!

More Than Meets The Eye

Bookmarking your favorite web pages has been something your web browser could do for some time now. Virtually every toolbar has a handy bookmark link that will easily store a user’s favorite pages right there on their computer. Typically, bookmarks are created for pages that a user visits often and doesn’t want to forget.

The problem with bookmarking on your personal computer was soon found, and thankfully solved. What was this nasty little problem? Simply put, when you bookmark a favorite page using the bookmark tool on your personal computer, and then you find yourself away from said computer in need of one of those pages, you cannot get to it. Using this method, bookmarks are stored only on a users personal computer. This is limiting, and nobody likes to be limited!

Alas, social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us and digg were born in an effort to bring the public just what it wanted and needed: an easy and convenient way to organize, store and share bookmarked sites, videos and articles. In the process, a new business building tool was also born.

Here’s what bookmarking can do for your business: It can increase traffic to your website, help your search engine rankings, and also create an image of your company on the social media scene. On social bookmarking sites, postings are ranked by users, not editors. As I’ve said before, user created content and reviews are perceived as a sort of recommendation on the part of another average consumer, not a sales pitch from a large company.

Many businesses have blogs, which make great bookmarked pages. The key here is to make sure your blog has interesting and informative articles that keep readers wanting more. Because you are posting blogs to social bookmarking sites, you will want to keep in mind that people can share your bookmarks (this IS the whole idea!). The more your bookmarks are shared, the higher they will rank on the bookmarking site you are using. And judging from the buzz, if you rank high on these social media sites, your web traffic will increase significantly.

The only thing you need to do in order to make your bookmarks rank in search engines is to be sure to add the right tags and/or keywords to bookmarked pages. This is something that needs to be done consistently in order for your efforts to pay off. But this is most likely a practice you should be used to by now, as it’s the same in any SEO marketing effort.

The best thing about bookmarking is that all it requires from you is a little time. You’re most likely already writing articles and posting them to directories. You may even have some hubpages out there; or better yet, some videos. So what are you waiting for? Take those marketing efforts that you have already done and put them to the best use possible by posting them to an easy to use bookmarking site. Some consistent effort in this arena can steer you in the direction you want to go.

How Traffic Geyser Can Help Your Business

Business owners are always heading towards one goal – growing their business! So anytime a tool comes along that can help with that, ears begin to perk up. That does not mean, however, that everyone rushes out to get started with a new business building technique. Many times we business owners take our time tip-toeing around a new concept before jumping in. It’s like putting your toes in the water instead of jumping right in.

We are experiencing a time when videos are streaming onto the internet at a steady pace. Making a basic video is relatively simple and very quick. Oftentimes videos are made just using a webcam and then posted onto YouTube or Facebook accounts. With the birth of Twitter, videos are being seen all over the world through that site as well. While this is all good, because video gets you visibility, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will increase your search engine ranking, and that is what you really want in order to increase conversions.

Traffic Geyser has been around since 2006, and is still gaining users as many businesses are learning that video marketing is a powerful tool. The idea behind Traffic Geyser is quite simple; to automate the process of submitting videos to free video hosting sites such as YouTube. By now people are really getting the idea of just how much video marketing can increase credibility (and thus traffic!).

Now, this may sound very simple, like something you could really do all on your own. But the difference between doing it on your own and signing of for Traffic Geyser to do it is substantial. Their service optimizes your video and text content for SEO, then syndicates your videos to several dozen video sites as well as to Podcast sites, RSS feeds and blogs. Once your video has been syndicated, Traffic Geyser then social bookmarks the videos that draw attention to a specific landing page. Think about it: in the time it would take you to load your video onto YouTube, for instance, you could just as quickly load it to the Traffic Geyser software and get more bang for your buck as far as submissions go.

The name of the game in internet marketing is search engine rankings. Traffic Geyser’s aim is to increase those rankings for keywords you have chosen. Ranking high is one thing, ranking high with a VIDEO gives you a huge leap forward towards success in business. The more places your video is seen, the higher your rankings will be. So far, tests have shown incredible results in ranking increases for sites that use Traffic Geyser. If you are ready to move forward with building your business big, this could be the way to go to make it happen!

Don’t Forget Why You Do What you Do!

As a business owner who is striving to grow an online store, a corner store, or a large service oriented company, you have probably felt the minutes slip right through your hands as time wears on. Time; it’s your most valuable asset; and yet it is the one thing that can be the hardest to gain control over.

In all of the hustle and bustle of building a website and then creating quality content that will rank your landing page or pages, it is common to lose sight of the big picture. At the center of the big picture of your business is your why. Without that motivating factor, there will come a time when you can no longer push through obstacles like ever changes SEO practices and marketing techniques.

When you started your business, hopefully you chose something you love. At the very least something you can maintain an interest in! Beginning in this way allows you to stay motivated throughout the process of outsourcing work or building your website and then marketing it. This inspiration that you feel when planning for the future of your business is critical in maintaining the energy it will take to build it up.

The main way that business owners stay on track is through goal setting. Writing down your business plan, mission statement and goals is highly important. Mission statements are personal and should include that dream that you wish to achieve and why. I think of a mission statement as somewhat of a personal dream statement. Next comes the business plan, for without that, you may easily lose direction.

If you have a business plan but it’s stuffed in the back of your desk drawer, I suggest you pull it out and put in somewhere you can see it regularly. The same goes for your mission statement. Frame them and display them on your desk if that’s what it takes to really pay attention to them. In your business plan, you should include what work you can handle on your own, and what work would be better handled through outsourcing.

Outsourcing work to skilled SEO writers and web designers can seem a task that may be costly; but in the long run, there are some tasks that would just take you too long to complete. Therefore, outsourcing will save you money and add the bonus of growing your business faster!

Staying motivated in your business can also be facilitated through time off. You heard right; taking time away from the desk, the office, the phone and the email can rejuvenate you and remind you why you started your own business to begin with. When growing a business, there are many important aspects to tend to; marketing is important, SEO is important, web design is important, this is true. But above all, your dream is important! It was the dream that ignited the spark that got you going, and it is the dream that will see you through. Do what it takes to keep it alive.

Work More Efficiently With Basecamp

Those who work on multiple projects with several clients and team members know how difficult it can be to keep communication streamlined and stay on track throughout the duration of the project. In the past, there would be phone calls flying back and forth with notes scribbled on a notepad or transcribed into a word document. Then came email, and files upon files would be filled with emails that had been printed out or those emails sat in files on computers that were quickly overloaded.

Now you can ease the stress of project management by implementing the tool that is Basecamp. Using this collaboration tool, you will be amazed at how easy it is to facilitate smooth transitions between several projects at one time, even when there are several team members involved in each project!

Key benefits to Basecamp are file management, features and flexibility. Files can be easily uploaded to the specific project in which they belong with notices being sent to those who need to receive the file. Basecamp offers all the features busy managers need and doesn’t overwhelm you with features you don’t need. Your Basecamp profile can also be customized to your project and company! Using the message boards, communication between team members is facilitated and encouraged through ease of use. These benefits combine to give project management a whole new direction.

Using Basecamp’s Dashboard, you can get an overview of each project you’ve got stewing. On this page, you will be able to track milestones and deadlines as well as see new messages and files.

What busy managers may appreciate the most is their ability to create To-Do lists and milestones that will keep team members on track. Placing such items in Basecamp instead of simply sending a memo or email to team members is a better way to ensure work is monitored daily by all involved in the project.

You can also track time on Basecamp based on the To-Do lists you have created. Tracking time is as easy as clicking on the Time icon in Basecamp and then choosing a date when work was completed, the person who completed the task, and the task that was completed. This information is then saved in Basecamp but can also be exported in comma separated format into excel. Time tracking can be built right into the To-Do list by clicking Edit on the To-Do list and enabling the time tracking function. When you do this, a clock will be displayed next to each task on the To-Do list and time can be entered by clicking on the clock.

In addition to having the ability to send messages and create easy to follow threads in the message board, Basecamp also provides a chat feature. This feature is in real time and is widely used for Q&A with team members and clients at the beginning and end of a project. Even if you do not utilize the Chat feature, the Message board with threads can contain all pertinent information and allow communication to remain consistent throughout the duration of your project.

“Basecamp takes a fresh, novel approach to project collaboration. Projects don’t fail from a lack of charts, graphs, stats, or reports, they fail from a clear lack of communication. Basecamp solves this problem by providing tools tailored to improve the communication between people working together on a project.”

Video Ups Your SEO Game

Within the last six months, a high percentage of web retailers have increased efforts to makeover their sites. At the crux of the changes being implemented is good old SEO. Writers are busy coming up with fresh new content that will bring the site up in the rankings; analysis is being feverishly conducted to see what keywords are working and what needs tweaking. In fact, more than 70% of retailers are focusing their efforts on SEO. What they may not know is that putting time into video on their site can actually help those optimization efforts!

At this point, only just over 40% of online retailers are taking steps to add the advanced feature of video to their websites this year. Just behind that is a push to add product reviews and recommendations. This is all very good, because the web is making a change to become more and more interactive. Seeing the amazing success of sites like Facebook and Twitter shows that without a doubt.

Video marketing is in its infancy, with only about 50% of retailers using it on their sites in 2008. With numbers showing that consumers who first viewed a video averaged a higher ticket amount on a sale, you can see the immense benefit of using this type of media for marketing as well as throughout your site. However, it is important to constantly test your video pages to find the best placement. It is a common misconception that any video is a good video. This is simply not the truth.

Placement of a video on your product or service pages should be in a place where it is easily seen (and therefore easily used). It should also be in a position relative to text and images to get more attention. Customers want information, so give it to them through your videos. Tell them everything they need to know that will help them make their purchasing decision. Better yet, let another customer tell them! The emergence of using interactivity on a website has lead to video platforms where consumers can post their own messages or videos to your website. While this may make many etailers uneasy, it must be understood that your satisfied customers can do a much better job of selling your product or service than you can!

If you haven’t put your foot in the video pool just yet, what are you waiting for? Video can contain keywords that are relevant to your site. Video can be used on social sites such as YouTube and contain backlinks to your site. Video can explain and showcase your most popular product or service. Most of all, video can give your company a face and build a reputation that just isn’t attainable through other forms of media. Sure, articles are informative and easy to get done (and can also link to videos, by the way!) – but video speaks to the consumer tenfold. 2009 has yet to see the growth of video usage on websites, but it is coming. The numbers at the end of the year are predicted to be astounding. Be a part of the boom!

Twitter – The Ultimate Networking Tool

Anyone in business covets the benefit of everyone knowing your name.  Remember the song from Cheers?

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

Ah, how often song lyrics just seem to get it right!  When it comes to doing business, the biggest obstacle is building up the clientele that will catapult you into the ecosphere of success.  This is at least doubly true for those fortunate souls operating an online business.  Although the internet is a great world in which to work, it is a vast space full of competitors.  When consumers cannot tell your site from any other, they have no real reason to stop on yours…unless they feel they know you.

With the bounce rate from internet sites at such a high rate across the board, bringing a face to your business is a priority for any business owner.  Ok, so you want to increase web traffic and decrease the bounce rate from the site pages you are linking to.  How does Twitter have anything at all to do with those aspects of building a solid web business?  Well, here’s a simple answer:  using the social aspect of Twitter, a business owner or company can learn what makes the consumers tick.  While this does not happen overnight, there really is no better way to get in touch with the heart and soul of the average consumer than through social media.

Not only can you learn what consumers are chatting about on Twitter, but you can determine if they are chatting about YOU!  That’s right!  For instance, just today I learned that Home Depot is opening a store in Valdosta, GA.  I also learned, through a link to a news article, that my weekly indulgence in Pinkberry yogurt is not all that bad for me.  This is getting us to a point, really.  Whatever your business is, you can search Twitter to see what’s being said.  You can even search your actual business name and see if anyone has “Tweeted” about you!  Invaluable information can be obtained through searching posts on this rapidly growing site.

One thing you can do with Twitter is to post video links.  Therefore, as you create new tutorials or product reviews, you can post a “Tweet” with the link to that video for users to see.  It’s important to remember that Twitter, like Facebook, IS indeed a social site.  That means that not all users are there to hear about your business and they certainly are not there to be sold on a product or service.  Using social media marketing is completely different than your typical forms of hard sell marketing techniques.  Using social media, you are actually getting to know the public, and they are getting to know you.

Keeping in mind that Twitter is a social site, you can go a lot farther by posting things that are not solely about you and your business.  You can do this while still maintaining a professional vibe.  Make comments about other posts, post about recent events or what you are learning about.  Instead of posting an update geared towards “What are you doing right now?, post more along the lines of “What’s got your attention right now?”  What are you reading?  What are you learning or teaching?  What did you hear in the media this morning that made you think?  What sale or promotion is your company running at the moment? These are all questions that can get you started posting relevant content to Twitter.

Twitter, with over 3 million posts blasting out each and ever day, is here to stay.  Grab hold of the tools Twitter has to offer and your marketing efforts can be much more effective!  With millions of members worldwide, just think of how many customers could know your name!

Benefit From the Tools of Twitter

Everyone is talking about Twitter. This rapidly growing site is even expanding language: “Tweets”, “Re-tweeting”,”Twittermance”..I’m sure there is much more Twitter slang that I am unaware of at the moment. The real point is, Twitter’s time in the spotlight has finally come. Although to many of us it may feel like Twitter magically appeared just recently, the company behind this social site was actually created back in 2006!

Twitter was created as yet another social site where friends and family could maintain their relationships while living busy lives. However, because of the openness of the site, anyone can find anybody and follow their “tweets”. This aspect of the social site has opened the doors for businesses to head down another social media marketing path. Here, we’re going to look at a few tools that you can use in your Twitter marketing campaigns. Just remember! This IS a social site and therefore if you utilize any tools to create hard sell type information, it is unlikely you will gain followers – or business.

Twiddeo is a powerful but simple service that let’s you do one thing very well: Twitter updates with Video.

To get started using Twiddeo, you must first have a Twitter account, of course! Using your Twitter username and password, you then log in to the Twiddeo site. From here, you can upload video from either your computer, from your cell phone, or from your Webcam. Webcam video posts are for those who are super confident in their abilities to get their message out quickly and eloquently on the first try – there is no editing here!

Uploading videos is a quick and simple way to keep in touch with your Twitter followers. And since so many people prefer to watch videos over reading text of any sort, video is an incredible format in which to get your message – and your face – seen by consumers every single day. Furthermore, there are those who write and those who speak. We all have our own innate talents. If yours is the spoken word, go with it and capitalize on the video marketing techniques you can use on Twitter!

Using Twitterfeed, you can get your blog (or any other RSS or Atom feed) sent directly to the popular micro-blogging platform. In addition to posting your desired feed directly to Twitter, this service also posts to identi.ca, custom laconica installations, and via HelloTxt or Ping.fm simultaneously to the many platforms supported by these services. I don’t claim to know all of the services out there, but luckily this article is mainly focusing on the Twitter platform.

The thing about using Twitterfeed is that you will need to also have an Open ID. This is a free service that basically sets you up with one ID that you can use to login to all of the password protected websites you use on a regular basis. You may be able to just use your blog login on Twitterfeed, but it will take a little figuring out. This just might be a project you want to outsource!

Because Twitter is a social site that seems to be clambering forward full steam ahead, there are certainly many more tools and applications that will emerge as time goes on. For now, find those tools that best suit your marketing needs and run with them!

SEO Scores BIG for You

Over the past few years, research has shown that more than 70% of online consumers set out to find a product or service by hitting the search engines.  With numbers like that, any business owner can see the immense benefit of optimizing their web pages to rank high in those search engines.

Just in case you are just getting started, I’ll quickly recap the basics of this valuable business building tool.  Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a method of getting a website to place higher in search engine listings.  Typically, the higher a site ranks in search engine listings, the more traffic it will receive.  Wikipedia states that “optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords..”

So, that pretty much spells out the What and the Why of SEO.  Optimizing your web pages to contain the most relevant keywords and content helps your site to show up sooner when a consumer enters in what they are searching for.  And showing up within the first page of results increases your chances of site visitors.  Research has shown that consumers rarely search past the first three pages of search results, with most site visitors coming from the first page.

With all the other methods of marketing to choose from, years have gone by with business owners missing out on the FREE advertising they could be getting by just using quality optimized content on their web pages.  Maybe this is because the task of optimizing web pages can be time consuming for those who don’t do it regularly.  If this is the case, such business owners can benefit from working side by side with a professional SEO writing service to get their site noticed.

So why should you invest in content and organic rankings (ranking that isn’t bought through costly pay per click campaigns)?  Here’s one reason that should top all others.  Studies have shown that consumers are much more likely to click on organic listings over sponsored ads.  Even though a sponsored site may have the exact product or service the consumer needs, the subconscious mindset is that they don’t want to be sold on what they need.  Organic rankings come across as more of a recommendation versus a traditional ad.   Not only are these listings more likely to generate traffic, but they also carry a higher likelihood for conversion.

When done correctly, search engine optimization can increase the web traffic your site sees, bringing in people that are actually looking for what you are offering.  Clearly they want what you have to offer because they typed in the keyword or phrase that directly relates to your site.  Because understanding the ins and outs of SEO can take some time, it may be most helpful to have a professional SEO help you target the right keywords and make sure users actually see you.  This can ensure not only that you are visible, but also that those who see you really are looking for what you have to offer.

Working From Home Effectively

For several years, I had hoped to earn the title “Work at Home” anything.  But the field in which I worked simply didn’t allow it.  When my time finally came to take that leap from working in an office to actually running a business from the comfort of my own home, I quickly realized that I had a lot to learn about being organized enough to stay on top of the many tasks I faced every day while still maintaining a home life.  For a long time, I felt as though I could quite get that balance of work and family to a place where I wasn’t teetering from one extreme to the other.

I have realized that I am a workaholic.  Once I was given the freedom from spending 8 hours a day in an office, I found I was working 12+ hours in the home office on most days!  This certainly doesn’t leave much time for any other activities that are necessary for a happy, healthy life.

It’s important for anyone who works remotely to take measures that will keep them from becoming a prisoner of their work.  Remember, you wanted to work from home in order to have freedom, not confinement.  It is actually beneficial for those who work away from the office to schedule breaks throughout their day.  I know that sitting at the desk from dawn until dusk can be a hard habit to break for many dedicated freelancers and entrepreneurs; but if you understand that getting away from work for just a few minutes can actually make you more productive, you may be more open to stepping away from that desk.

Those who have kids may have built in breaks throughout their day, such as transporting to and from school.  This is ideal because all you need is just a few minutes away from the task at hand in order to rejuvenate.  However, if you don’t have built in breaks, perhaps the following ideas can help you create some for yourself.

• Make sure to start the day off right with a nice breakfast.  If the weather is nice, I like to sit on the porch.
• Taking a mid-morning walk in nice weather can be super refreshing and increase your productivity until lunch.
• Schedule lunch with co-workers or a friend at least once a week.  Taking this break with co-workers can allow you time to discuss updates and roundtable ideas while still getting you out of the house.  On days when you don’t have a lunch date scheduled, still take that 30 minute break and eat something!
• If the weather doesn’t permit you to get outside, take a break in a room away from your work.
• Allow yourself to make a non-work related phone call during the day.
• Set up a work schedule that will keep you on track.  I have to give myself a stop time or I will work until well into the night.
• I actually enjoy doing my household chores.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment.  I also focus much better in a clean environment.  So sometimes I will start a load of laundry before I begin a work task.  Then I take a short break to change the clothes over to the dryer.  May not be the most exciting break, but when I sit back down I find I have renewed clarity and focus towards the task at hand.

Those of us who work from a home office can easily be drawn into disorganization with our time.  We either work too much or too little.  Working too much essentially takes away from not only your productivity, but also your zest for life in general!  Take a break every single day.  Read a book; do something for yourself.  Doing so will benefit both you and your business.

Start Ranking Now - Benefits of Outsourcing Work

I can remember even back in the 90’s companies were turning some of their tasks over to an outside business.  Most of my first paychecks came from a company outside of the one I actually worked for.  Back then, it seemed like outsourcing was limited to payroll, human resources and possibly IT services.  That is not the case anymore.

More and more, companies throughout the world are realizing the true benefits of outsourcing work to professionals outside of their own organization; and they span much farther than just cutting operational costs.  Even with many coming to this realization, there are still plenty of companies out there who have yet to learn that the lowest price doesn’t necessarily equal the best proposal.  While some get lucky in their overseas outsourcing efforts, many more find that their attempt to save a few dollars wound up costing more in the long run after work had to be fixed.  When you take into consideration the fact that you are saving thousands of dollars by outsourcing instead of hiring a full time employee, you can find it in the budget to make sure you hire a professional that is an expert in their field.

So it’s clear that money can be saved through outsourcing work of all sorts.  What other benefits can be gained by hiring someone outside of your company to handle tasks?  The most frequently cited improvements shown from surveys included better ability to plan, higher levels of operational reliability, and more rapid implementation of new strategies and initiatives.  Now, when you are in the process of trying to grow your business (as so many of us are right now), all of these benefits are quite worthwhile.

Through outsourcing, a busy CEO can plan for the future of videos used on his site instead of spending days on end trying to write a video script and set up video equipment.  Through outsourcing to U.S. writers, a business owner can focus on fulfilling orders instead of increasing web traffic through proper SEO practices.  Just these two tasks alone save months of work and thousands of dollars when they are outsourced to a startrankingnow company that specializes in this type of work.

Another way that outsourcing work such as writing and internet marketing benefits a company is in the time it saves a business owner from either both learning all the latest and greatest techniques and requirements and from having to find and train an employee in them.  Even if you were to learn SEO and video marketing, for instance; anytime there is a change, you would have to be on top of it in order for your marketing efforts to pay off the way they can and should.  Better to hire a professional marketing service to handle those tasks because it is their job to stay abreast of all the latest tools of the trade and all avenues they can utilize to help you grow your business.

Think there is risk in outsourcing because an outside company does not have a vested interest in your business?  This is an understandable concern.  However, when you take the time to ensure you are working with a reputable company like Start Ranking Now, you can rest easy that they understand taking care of your business IS their business.