A Bold Emphasis and Highlighted Copy

The other day I was browsing the Internet doing research, when I came across something that caught my eye - but not in a good way. It was a sales letter, and it was absolutely hideous. So, what made it so hideous?

The letter was written entirely in bold type, which is a crime in itself. But even worse than that, the letter was highlighted in yellow from top to bottom.

Can you imagine that? It looked like a big mustard sandwich with ants.

Unfortunately, I see this all too often with sales copy, as well as other types of copy. You should use bold type and highlight sparingly, and only to emphasize certain words, sentences or paragraphs.

If you overdo it with these tools, you dilute their effectiveness. And then it becomes impossible to effectively "highlight" (no pun intended) the points you were trying to emphasize.

Remember, "when you emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing!"

SEO Scams: Submit Your Website to Thousands of Search Engines!

One of the biggest and longest-running SEO scams out there is the paid search engine submission scam, where unscrupulous companies try to trick you into believing that you need to submit your website's URL to the search engines in order to get indexed. You've seen the ads:

Submit Your Website to Thousands of Search Engines Only $29.95!

Nothing could be further from the truth.

First of all, there aren't thousands of search engines out there. There are really only five top tier search engines worth submitting to that will actually send you any traffic. And you don't need to pay anyone to submit your site to them because those search engines will eventually find your site on their own.

However, if you want to submit your site's URL to those search engines, you can do it yourself.

The five search engines are:

1. Google

2. Yahoo

3. Bing

4. AOL (Powered by Google)

5. Ask (Powered by Teoma)

By the way, your website will get indexed a lot quicker, if you get inbound links from sites that are already indexed by the search engines. You can get those links by writing articles, and submitting them to top article directories like EzineArticles or IdeaMarketers.

Another way to achieve valuable inbound links is to join popular small business forums like StartupNation or American Express' Open Forum.

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By the way, I'll be launching my new website this fall. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It will feature "real" customer reviews of top online copywriting, hosting, ISP, website design, SEO services and more! Follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews for further updates.

Maximize Your Traffic Sources

One of the most popular topics discussed in small business forums is traffic, and how to generate more of it. I've noticed that most marketers jump from technique to technique, looking for new traffic sources.

However, I've always believed in sticking with those techniques that work the best, and maximizing my results from those techniques. Let me explain.

If you're a professional business owner running a professional business, you should be analyzing every aspect of your business, including the amount of traffic you're getting and where that traffic is coming from.

For instance, by analyzing my traffic data, I know that the greatest percentage of my traffic is coming from small business forums and the many articles I write.

So, instead of running around like a "chicken with my head cut off" looking for new traffic sources like most marketers, I instead focus my time and energy on coming up with creative ways of getting even more traffic from my current sources.

For instance, knowing that small business forums are among my most reliable traffic sources, I recently increased my participation on certain forums.

Conversely, knowing how effective article marketing has been for me, I increased the number of articles I write each week. In other words, I'm maximizing the results I'm getting from current traffic sources, by doing more of the same.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that marketers shouldn't be on the lookout for new traffic sources. By all means, seek out new sources of traffic. Just be smart about it. Make sure you're maximizing your results from your current traffic sources as well.

Doing otherwise is simply "robbing Peter to pay Paul."

Do You Approach Your Business Like "The Boy and the Nettles?"

Definition - nettle: "Any of a variety of plants having stinging hairs that cause skin irritation on contact."

Are you familiar with the story The Boy and the Nettles?

It's a classic Aesop fable about a young boy who was stung by a Nettle. He ran home and told his mother, "It hurts really bad, but I only touched it a little." To which his mother replied, "That's exactly why it stung you. The next time you touch a Nettle, grasp it boldly, and it will not hurt you."

The moral of the story is:

Whatever you do, do it with all your might!

That's the problem with a lot of business owners. They approach their businesses like the boy and the nettles. Instead of grabbing their businesses by the horns and giving it everything they've got, they instead approach their businesses gently, half-heartedly - as if they're afraid to fail.

Instead of adapting an aggressive, proactive posture trying to make things happen, they are passive, hoping something happens.

Check out this quote from Mike Mahler's Aggressive Strength Newsletter:

"Successful people analyze information quickly and make moves decisively. With making a decision comes responsibility. This is why many people try to avoid making decisions or bring other people into the decision making process. This way if things go south, there are other people to blame."

And this quote from the article, Attitudes That Tend To Be Held By Successful American Business People:

"Business people who are marked for success are almost always mildly aggressive...but not pushy. These people make things happen...not watch them happen."

Or this quote from Karen Schmidt's fine article, Are You a Spider Or a Lion?

"Do you sit back like the spider, and wait for things to come to you or do you go out and hunt for your opportunities like the lion? We need to have the attitude of the Lion. If we sit back and wait to see what happens, we will usually be disappointed."

There's nothing wrong with being afraid. It's a natural human instinct. We've all been afraid at some point in our lives. The key is to not let fear paralyze you into inactivity, or make you passive.

Always be aggressive, and go for it. If you do that, you'll never have to wonder what might have happened, if only you had been more aggressive.

SEO Scams: 15 Ways to Avoid Them

What qualifies companies to be SEO experts is competence. And the way you find out if a company is competent as well as legitimate is to check their credentials thoroughly, by exercising good old common sense and following these steps:

1. Verify their contact information.

2. Talk to previous customers.

3. Visit top SEO forums like Jill Whalen's High Rankings Forum to find out what other legitimate SEO experts have to say about them.

4. Check their Better Business Bureau record.

5. Check them out with the Attorney General's office.

6. Check them out with local police agencies.

7. Check them out with various online scam watch sites like Scam.com

8. Avoid companies that send you unsolicited e-mail (Spam). Legitimate companies don't send spam.

9. Avoid companies that aren't ranked among the top 100 SEO sites in the search engines, (although there are exceptions to this rule).

10. Avoid companies that try to pressure you into making a quick decision.

11. Avoid companies that aren't willing to stand behind their work. (Money back guarantee, etc.)
12. Avoid companies that promise top 10 rankings. Legitimate SEO companies don't make those kinds of outlandish promises.

13. Monitor their willingness to answer your questions. If they seem evasive, walk away.

14. Monitor how quickly they respond to your communications, or if they respond at all.

15. Listen to your gut. If it doesn't feel right don't do it.
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By the way, I'll be launching my new website this summer. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It will feature "real" customer reviews of top online copywriting, hosting, website design, printing, SEO services and more! Follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews for further updates.

The 4 Best Article Directories

Whenever anyone compiles a list of this type, it's always subjective. After all, your experience with article directories may be entirely different than mine.

That being said, the following four article directories provide me with the greatest amount of traffic and search engine visibility:

1. EzineArticles.com is one of the oldest article directories around (since 1999), and is considered by many to be the web's "premier" article directory. Partly because of its age, EZA gets a considerable amount of respect from Google. And a decent percentage of articles submitted to EZA occupy the first page of Google's search results.

Getting your articles approved will often take a week or longer, unless you elect to pay for premium service. If you submit articles regularly, EZA will send you a decent amount of traffic.

2. ArticlesBase.com has only been around since 2005, but has made its presence felt in a hurry. AB is a large directory, and the editors approve your submissions quickly - usually within 48-72 hours.

Like EzineArticles, articles submitted to AB often end up on the first page of Google's search results. AB will send you a fair amount of traffic as well.

3. IdeaMarketers.com is one of the web's oldest article directories, having been around since 1998. Partly because of its age, like EzineArticles, it gets a great deal of respect from Google. As a result, many articles submitted to IM end up on the first page of Google's search results.

What I like the most about IM is that as soon as you submit an article it's automatically approved and posted - no waiting. IM will send you a decent amount of traffic.

4. HubPages.com is one of the newer article directories (since 2005). However, it doesn't call itself an article directory. It bills itself as the "leading online publishing ecosystem -" whatever that means. Articles submitted to HP are approved and posted immediately. I've noticed that the articles I submit to HP do well on both Google and Yahoo, but especially Yahoo.

In addition, HP gives you the option of making money with your articles through monetization tools such as Google Adsense. HP will send you a fair amount of traffic.

In closing, while the aforementioned article directories work very well for me, it's important to keep in mind that your mileage may vary.
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By the way, check out my new website. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It's a free business directory that features reliable online services, such as copywriting, hosting, website design, logo design, printing, SEO services and more! Also, follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews.

Startup Nation: A Super Traffic Generator!

I was just checking my blog traffic stats for the month, and I noticed something extraordinary. 39.7 percent of my traffic is coming from the Startup Nation forums.

That's right, nearly forty percent of my traffic is coming from one website - Startup Nation.

The next closest traffic generator pulls in just under ten percent.

That means that Startup Nation pulls in 4 times more traffic than any other source.

I have to admit, those numbers surprised me.

Why? Because I'm a member of several top forums. And for SuN to outperform those other forums by such a wide margin is truly impressive. It becomes even more impressive when you consider the fact that one of the forums that SuN is outperforming gets 10 times the traffic SuN gets, according to Alexa.

In addition, I regularly submit articles to mega article directories like EzineArticles, and ArticlesBase, that are known for their traffic-generating prowess. And SuN is blowing them away them as well.

And here's the best news of all. SuN traffic converts into sales at a very high ratio. And isn't that what it's all about?

After all, what good is traffic that doesn't convert into sales?

For those of you reading this article looking for ways to generate free traffic to your site, the Startup Nation forums are definitely worth investigating.

However, there is one huge caveat: In order to reap the rewards of all that extra traffic, you have to be an active member and participate in forum discussions. You have to give something.

After all, you don't get all that extra traffic for doing nothing!

About the author:

David Jackson is a writer and the owner of the Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com - providing free marketing tips for your website or blog!

http://free-marketing-tips-blog.com/

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the authors bylines are included.

Forget Traffic! Get Your Copy Right!

Having an extensive sales and marketing background, I notice marketing mistakes that most people don't see or are unaware of.

For example, I can spot poor copy a mile away and I see a lot of it, both on and off the Internet.

What's copy? Copy is the words on your website and in your ads - the words used to sell your products and/or services.

Unfortunately, the first thing most marketers do when they get a website is worry about getting traffic to their site. And while traffic is important, in my opinion, they're putting the cart before the horse.

Why? Because you can have all the traffic in the world, but if your copy isn't up to par that traffic is going to go to waste. It's not going to convert into sales.

It's been my experience that successful sites generally have good to adequate copy, while sites that are struggling generally have poor copy, among other problems.

So, if you're getting traffic to your site, but it's not converting into sales, you should consider hiring a professional copywriter to evaluate and re-work your copy.

It might make all the difference in the world to your bottom line!

About the author:

David Jackson is a writer and the owner of the Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com - providing free marketing tips for your website or blog!

http://free-marketing-tips-blog.com/

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the authors bylines are included.

How to Write an Effective Forum Signature File

Everyday thousands of people join online forums. Some join to mingle with other like-minded individuals. Others join seeking help for a particular problem they're having or to help others.

So on forums all over the internet, millions of posts are generated each year. And at the end of those posts is something called a "sig file."

The definition of a signature (sig) file is as follows:

a little advertisement you write about your business that is automatically attached to every forum post you make.

In essence, a sig file is classified advertisement about your business. In fact, on most forums your sig file is the only place that you're allowed to promote your business.

And I can tell you from personal experience that sig files work extraordinarily well, if they're written correctly. Unfortunately, many people treat sig files as an afterthought and most are not written correctly. As a result, they end up being wasted real-estate and get very few click-thru's.

You'll get far more click-thru's from your sig file, if you provide a benefit to the reader, as opposed to just listing what product or service you sell.

So you design websites...so what?

Tell people how they will benefit, if they visit your website. For example, instead of just saying Visit David Jackson`s Website Design, which is weak and ineffective. Say Visit David Jackson`s Website Design - Award Winning Website Design At Small Budget Prices!

Here's another example: Instead of just saying Visit Jackson's Homemade Pretzels. Say Visit Jackson's Homemade Pretzels and receive a coupon for a free pretzel!

In each of the above examples, I didn't just tell you what I did...I gave you a reason to click on my link.

After all, isn't that the reason for a sig file in the first place?

Joint-Venture for Profits

The nice thing about having a blog is the visibility you can achieve for yourself and your business.

If your blog is good and interesting, people are going to subscribe to it and tell others about it.

That's exactly what happened to me recently. Someone found out about my Free Marketing Tips blog from an e-mail she received from a friend.

She checked out my blog, liked what she saw and offered me a business proposition that was so good I jumped on it with both feet.

Fortunately, my instincts were correct and I'm happy to say, we both made a nice tidy sum of money with very little effort.

That's the power of joint-ventures - also known as jv's.

JV's can work as long as you trust and respect the other person involved, and the arrangement is equally beneficial to both sides.

But approach joint-ventures with caution. All jv's are not created equal.

I actually turn down most jv requests, because quite frankly, they're ridiculous and just not worth my time.

Anticipatory Marketing: Smart Business

Definition: anticipatory

anticipating; of or expressing anticipation.

To deal with beforehand; act so as to mitigate, nullify, or prevent: the business owner anticipated the importance of inbound links by writing lots of quality content.

If you aren't practicing anticipatory marketing, you're working with a head-in-the-sand mentality that sharp competition will definitely exploit.

Thinking about and preparing for your next move in advance is smart business. For example, advertising is a very important aspect of business. After all, people can't buy your products or services, if they don't know about them.

But what if you have little to no money to buy advertising? What do you do then?

What's your next move?

If you're like most marketers, you don't have a clue. Unfortunately, this scenario plays out all too often in the business world, and it can be fatal. In fact, it often is.

Successful marketers not only have a plan "A," they also have a plan B, C and D. That's what makes them successful. They have a plan for every scenario.

They think about and anticipate potential problems before they occur. That's the essence of anticipatory marketing.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about using a true story:

In 2006, a client of mine started a virtual assistant (VA) business. Like most small business owners she had very little money to do any advertising, so she asked me what to do.

I told her to contact the local newspapers and tv stations, tell them about her new business and request an interview.

I also told her to join her local Chamber of Commerce, and start networking. I told her that if those two ideas didn't pan out I had a few more ideas she could try.

In other words, I gave her a plan and was ready with a back up plan.

Anyway, to make a long story short, my client followed my advice and was indeed interviewed by one of the local newspapers, which immediately resulted in a flood of new clients.

And she also gets a steady stream of new business from her local Chamber of Commerce.

Eventually, because of the quality of her work, word of mouth advertising took over and she hasn't had to spend a dime on conventional advertising.

In fact, she's doing so well she's having a hard time keeping up with all the work she's getting and is considering hiring someone to handle the overflow.

That's the power of anticipating problems beforehand, and formulating a plan to deal with those problems.

Anticipatory Marketing: Smart Business!

What's Your Favorite Blog Software?

What blog software offers you the greatest amount of functionality, flexibility and is easiest to use?

That's the question I asked myself not too long ago when I was researching blog software. I intentionally didn't include price in the equation, because I didn't want it to be a deciding factor in my final decision.

While doing my research, I decided I was only going to consider the most popular blog software, because there was already plenty of research data available in the form of reviews, complaints, customer satisfaction and customer service.

And that data would be a deciding factor in my final decision.

The software I tested were, Wordpress, Blogger, Typepad, Moveable Type and LiveJournal.

I started my research at the beginning of November, 2008 and made my final decision approximately one month later.

For me, it wasn't even a close. I fell in love with the simplicity of Blogger. It was just so easy to use. And it had a gazillion features that made customizing my blog a snap.

Also, it didn't hurt that like millions of other people, I already had a built-in comfort level with Google.

One of the things that clinched it for me was Blogger's custom domain option, where you can select a domain name of your choosing, for example, Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com, and Blogger will still host your blog for free, which means you still have access to all of Blogger's great features.

That was a biggie for me, because I didn't want Blogspot in my URL.

I should mention that while doing my research, I kept reading that Blogger was prone to frequent outages. But I honestly haven't noticed any problems.

Perhaps it was an issue in the past that's been resolved, but it certainly hasn't been an issue for me.

Anyway, so far, I'm happy with the decision I made.

My question to you is what's your favorite blog software, and why?

Google's Blog Search: Is Your Blog Listed?

What is Google's Blog Search?


Blog Search is a special Google search engine that indexes nothing but blogs. Whether you're looking for book reviews, entertainment, sports talk, recipes or anything else, Blog Search enables you to find information on literally any subject you can think of.

And the results you get back are fresh. The blog index is continually updated, which means you'll always get the most accurate and up-to-date search results.

And here's a handy feature. Not only can you search for blogs written in English, but also Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, French, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, Swedish, Malay, Polish, Thai, Indonesian, Tagalog, Turkish, Vietnamese and many other languages.

A really cool feature I like are the stories that are featured on the Blog Search home page. Blog Search uses a computer program to determine the most popular stories in the blogosphere.

What kind of blogs are included in Blog Search?

Blog Search lists every blog that publishes a site feed (either RSS or Atom).

How do I get my blog listed?

If your blog publishes a site feed in any format and automatically pings an updating service (such as Ping-O-Matic or Google Blog Search Pinging Service), Google should be able to find your blog and list it.

To ensure your blog gets found, you should definitely set up automatic pinging. You can also submit your blog manually for inclusion here:

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping?hl=en

How can I find out if my blog is listed?

If your blog publishes a site feed in any format, chances are it's listed. But if you want to know for sure, visit Blog Search and search for your blog at:

http://blogsearch.google.com/

Is Your Website Readable?

I'm absolutely amazed at how many websites I've visited that are written in reverse text.

What's reverse test?

Reverse text is light colored or white text on a dark or black background.

If used correctly, reverse text can produce an impressive visual impact.

However, a little reverse text goes a long way. And if you have a whole webpage of reverse text, it's very difficult on the eyes.

Why? Because according to readability studies, reverse text is not suitable for reading because of its poor legibility even in normal lighting conditions. It's just not user-friendly.

When designing your website, it's best to use black text on a white or light-colored background.

But if you decide to use reverse text, use it sparingly.

Internet Scams and the Realm of Gullibility

I am absolutely amazed at how the same old Internet scams continue to work year after year after year. The question is why do they continue to work?

Why, with a communication medium like the Internet, where news both good and bad travels instantly do people keep getting ripped-off by same old scams?

There can only be one answer. Too many gullible individuals functioning with their eyes wide shut. And while Barack Obama proved that America is still the land of opportunity where anything is possible, the Internet has proven itself to be the ultimate realm of gullibility.

People, you have to open your eyes and start exercising a little common sense. Don't believe everything you see and hear. Be skeptical. Check things out with the authorities. Ask Questions.

And above all remember:

"If something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true!"

Unfortunately, there's not much I can do to help those of you who've already been victimized. However, I can try to save others from the same fate. So what I'm going to do is list the five most common Internet scams that people keep falling for. Watch out for these, and when you see them run in the opposite direction.

1. (Scam) "We'll Submit Your Site to 2500 Search Engines for $39.95!"

First of all, there aren't 2500 search engines out there. Second, there are really only five top tier search engines worth submitting to and you don't need to pay anyone to submit your site because those search engines will find your site on their own.

However, if you want to submit to them you can do it yourself. The five search engines are:

Google

Yahoo

Bing (Formerly MSN Live)

AOL (Powered by Google)

Ask (Powered by Teoma)

2. (Scam) "Achieve Top 10 Search Engine Rankings Guaranteed!"

No legitimate SEO company will guarantee you a top 10 search engine ranking. Why? Because they can't. SEO companies don't control the search engines. And since SEO companies don't control the search engines, it only stands to reason that they can't legitimately guarantee you a top 10 ranking.

Again, exercise common sense.

Now it is possible for you to get a top 10 ranking for certain keyword phrases that are less popular - keywords that aren't heavily searched? Yes, but again, no one can guarantee you a top 10 ranking.

And even if you do manage to get in the top 10 for certain keywords, there's no guarantee you'll be able to stay there, because the search engines are constantly changing their algorithms to thwart cheaters.

For example, you can be on page one today and just as easily be on page ten tomorrow. It can happen just that quickly, and often does.

3. (Scam) "Generate 10,000 to 1,000,000 Visitors to your Site Guaranteed!"

Don't waste your time with guaranteed traffic programs. Yes, you'll receive plenty of traffic, but they won't buy anything. Why? Because the traffic is poor quality. It isn't targeted. The people visiting your site through these programs aren't interested in what you're selling. In fact, I'm not so sure that humans actually visit your site through these programs.

I've heard from numerous reliable sources that it's actually bots clicking through to your site, and then immediately clicking out. There's proof of this fact in your raw data logs. All of those thousands of visitors who only stayed on your site for about five seconds are bots. Don't waste your time with guaranteed traffic programs.

4. (Scam) "Blast Your E-mail Ads to Millions of Targeted Prospects and Watch Your Sales Explode!"

I'm going to make this short and sweet. E-mail blasts are spam, plain and simple. And spam is illegal. If your company is associated with sending out spam, your ISP will drop you like a bad habit, and your company will be blacklisted.! Believe me, that's one headache you can do without.

Don't ever send anyone you don't know an e-mail solicitation without their permission. Don't do it!

5. Don't Get Hooked By Phishing Scams

You know all of those e-mails that flood your inbox on a daily basis? They come from e-mail blasting software, and they're scams. Legitimate companies don't send out e-mail solicitations without permission, for the reasons I just mentioned.

Unless you signed up to receive e-mail solicitations from a particular company, delete all spam. Don't open it, and don't send scam artists your hard-earned money. And don't ever respond to any e-mail that asks you to login to your account to confirm your personal information. Legitimate companies would never ask you to confirm your personal information via an e-mail.

Anyway, that's it. Those are the five most common Internet scams that people continue to fall for over and over again. Like I said earlier, there's not much I can do to help those of you who've already been victimized by these programs. Hopefully, you'll be more careful in the future.

And I sincerely hope that those reading this article won't be as gullible and will see these scam programs for what they really are, and avoid them like the plague.

One last thing: If you decide to ignore my advice and end up getting burned, you can't say that you weren't warned!

Are You Tracking Your Advertising?

In order to ensure that you're not throwing your money down the drain, when it comes to your marketing campaigns, it's important to track your advertising.

Always make sure to carefully track the results of your direct mail, pay-per-click, ezine, banner ads, etc.

These are measurable by the amount of responses you get per dollar spent, and you can quickly analyze results to determine whether or not to continue advertising - or if you need to make adjustments to your ads.

It may be necessary to tweak your copywriting during a split-test of different ads to make sure you're achieving the desired response.

You are split-testing your ads aren't you?

If you're not, you're leaving a ton of money on the table.

In case you don't know what split-testing is, it's basically creating multiple versions of your ads to see what version converts more visitors into sales.

Google Analytics allows you to accurately track your advertising for free.

Are You Taking Your Customers For Granted?

When was the last time you communicated with your customers without asking them to buy something? If you have to search your memory banks for the answer, then "Houston we have a problem!"

You see, as human beings, we all like to feel wanted and appreciated. It's in our DNA, and when we don't feel wanted and appreciated it upsets us.

Think about it. Doesn't it upset you when you don't feel appreciated?

Of course it does. Well, your customers feel the same way. And here's something very important you need to keep in mind:

The only reason your business exists is because of your customers. Without them, you have no business. So take them for granted and risk losing them to your competition, at your own peril.

Remember, you're not the only game in town. And if your customers feel unloved by you and decide to run away from home, there will always be another company waiting with open arms to take them in.

That's why, instead of always sending your customers a sales pitch, every once in a while, you should send your customers a note telling them how much you appreciate them, and thanking them for their business.

Some companies understand the importance of appreciating their customers, and include a thank you note with every order, but many don't.

So why is thanking your customers so important?

Four reasons:

1. Common courtesy. It's the right thing to do.

2. Your customers save you money on advertising with repeat business.

3. Your customers help grow your business with word-of-mouth-advertising (referrals) to friends and family, as well as complete strangers.

4. Your customers help with market research by giving you valuable feedback.

Thanking your customers is a powerful marketing technique. It will not only generate more business for you in the long term, it will also go a long way toward establishing and maintaining goodwill with your customers.

And that's something you just can't put a price on!

Can You Get Rich Quick?

Are you familiar with the story "The Tortoise and the Hare?"

It's a classic Aesop fable about a hare who one day ridiculed a slow-moving tortoise. In response, the prideful tortoise challenged his much faster mocker to a race.

Not unexpectedly, the hare soon left the tortoise in the dust. In fact, the hare was so far ahead and confident of winning, he decided to take a nap halfway to the finish line.

Alas, when he awoke, however, he found that the competitor he had mocked, crawling slowly but steadily, had already won the race.

The moral of the story is:

"Slow and steady wins the race."

Six simple words, profound in their simplicity.

So what does any of this have to do with marketing?

I was getting to that. I remember when I first got involved with marketing many years ago. I wanted to be successful immediately. I didn't know how to get there, but I knew I wanted to get there fast. And I didn't want to have to work at it.

Well, eventually I did become successful. But it didn't happen overnight. I had to learn the ropes - pay my dues so to speak. And part of paying my dues included learning how to be successful through trial and error.

And yes, heartbreak and pain.

Because the best thing that can happen to you on the road to success is profound failure. Failure can shake you up - shock you to the core. Humble you.

But failure is okay as long as you learn from your mistakes.

I remember an old adage from my childhood, and I never forgot it:

"Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"

Truer words have never been spoken. You see, I was like so many young people who had come before me. I had the ignorance and impatience of youth. I wanted instant gratification. I wanted the gold, and I wanted it now!

But I had to learn the hard way that "all that glitters is not gold!"

You see marketing isn't a sprint. It's a marathon. It's not about who can explode quickest out the gate. It's about who can last the longest over time.

But you'd never know that by reading some of the outrageous "get rich quick" advertising that is so prevalent these days. You know the ads that I'm talking about:

"Make $30,000 in 30 Days With My Secret Program!"

"Make a Million Dollars in 12 Months Guaranteed!"

"Double, Triple, Quadruple Your Income Overnight!"

Let me tell you something about those ads. 99.9 percent of them are pure, unadulterated garbage - a pack of lies designed to steal your hard-earned money!

Brilliant copywriting designed to sell you a bogus dream that you didn't even know you had.

But is it possible to get rich quick?

Sure it's possible. Anything's possible. Winning the lottery is possible. But it's like catching lightning in a bottle. The odds aren't in your favor.

The truth of the matter is success takes time, and it requires hard work. Always has, always will. There are no shortcuts, and if someone tells you otherwise...

They're probably trying to sell you something!
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By the way, I'll be launching my new website this summer. It's called Reviews-by-Customers.com. It will feature "real" customer reviews of top online copywriting, hosting, website design, ISP, printing, SEO services and more! Follow me on Twitter @CustomerReviews for further updates.

The "Real" Secret to Making Money Online

Some Internet Marketing experts and so-called "gurus" make a lot of money selling you their "secret" money-making programs. It seems like every other week they're launching another new program.

Why? Because people keep buying.

Are these programs bad? Not all of them. But they're not real secrets either.

Well, I'm going to tell you the real secret to making money online - something the gurus will never tell you. And it's not going to cost you a dime - not one red cent!

Ready? Here it is:

If you want to make money online, you have to learn the art of self-promotion.

That's it. That's the real secret to making money online or offline.

If you master the art of self-promotion, it doesn't matter what you're selling. You will make money with it - period.

So how do you learn the art of self-promotion?

Go right to the source. Ilise Benum has written an excellent book titled, The Art of Self-Promotion. I have the book, and it's worth every penny of the $14.95 I paid for it.

No, it's not another e-book. It's a real book - the kind you can hold in your hands.

Anyway, if you're serious about making money online, do yourself a favor and buy the book.

By the way, I don't make a dime for recommending this book. This is just another free marketing tip!

What's a Sitemap, and Do You Need One?

A sitemap is a collection of hyperlinks that outlines a website's structure. These links allow visitors to quickly navigate to any section of a website listed in the sitemap.

What are the advantages to having a sitemap?

Well, in addition to making it easier for your visitors to navigate their way around your site, sitemaps also make it easier for search engine spiders to crawl your site. This can can improve your site's search engine optimization by making sure that all the pages can be found. This will increase your search engine visibility, as well as your traffic.

And since most search engines will only follow a finite number of links from a page, having a sitemap ensures that search engines and visitors alike can access all the content on your site.

Do you need a sitemap?

Well, it depends on your site. If your site only has only a few pages and hardly any content, then no. You don't need a sitemap.

However, if your site has multiple pages and lots of content, it definitely won't hurt to install a sitemap on your site. Here's a good rule of thumb: Once you get to the point where you are no longer able to include all the links to your pages on your home page, then you need a sitemap.

After all, anything that will help your visitors as well as the search engines navigate your site is a good thing, right?

So where can you get a sitemap?

First of all, you should check to see if your site already has a sitemap. For example, I created my blog with Google's Blogger, and my blog has a built-in sitemap.

If after checking you find that you don't have a sitemap, the easiest way to create one is with XML Sitemaps Generator.

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

This website will allow you to quickly and easily create your own sitemap right online.

About the author:

David Jackson is a marketing consultant and the owner of the Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com - Powerful, free marketing tips to help grow your business.

http://free-marketing-tips-blog.com/

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the authors bylines are included.