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Archive for March, 2010

RSS… And The 10 MOST Powerful Reasons WHY You Should Be Using It

RSSReal Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary is widely becoming a VERY powerful marketing tool on the NET and for Internet marketers around the world the question is…

… “Are you using RSS to syndicate your content?

When I first stumbled across RSS syndication while surfing the net it piqued my curiosity to the point where I couldn’t help myself but to look into this new form of site promotion further.

What I found out about this new technology will absolutely change the way you keep in touch with your subscribers and/or readers in many ways for years to come.

Just to keep up with the times I recently built a webpage for my website specifically to promote my RSS feed in order to take on new subscribers and… most important of all to put this new technology to the test.

Here’s what my webpage looks like if you decide to build your own dedicated webpage for your RSS feed. I highly recommend you do but that’s just me.

If you do decide to build one make sure you give your subscribers and/or readers options.

http://www.internetwondersezine.com/rss_feed.html

Now for those of you who aren’t quite up to speed on what RSS is here’s a quick definition for you:

RSS is an acronym for “Really Simple Syndication” or “Rich Site Summary” and the XML extension is the format used for distributing your news headlines via the Web which is known as Syndication.

Syndication is where the TRUE power of RSS is unleashed getting your message across the web in an Instant to your subscribers and/or readers.

That’s the basics of RSSReal Simple Syndication.

Now for the rest of this article I want to focus on the “10 MOST Powerful Reasons WHY You Should Be Using It”.

So with that said let’s go to reason 1.

Reason 1. RSS Streamlines communication.

RSS streamlines communication between the publishers and readers making it easier for the subscriber to receive your content.

Reason 2. Readers can OptIn to feeds.

RSS gives the subscriber the ability to OptIn to the feeds they are interested in and the ability to OptOut if they wish through there RSS reader just like an autoresponder.

Reason 3. You don’t have to maintain an RSS feed.

This is a great time saver for the busy marketer because RSS is a great communication supplement that doesn’t burden the publisher with having to maintain a “List” or having to follow strict privacy rules.

Reason 4. You have the ability to Syndicate your content.

This is where the TRUE power of RSS comes into play because RSS gives you the ability to Syndicate your content to your subscribers and website owners in an INSTANT giving your content the exposure it deserves.

Reason 5. Broadcasts your Sales and Specials.

RSS gives you the ability to broadcast your Sales message and Specials to a wider audience in less time it would take to setup an email broadcast.

Reason 6. No filters to worry about.

This is the next best feature to RSS feeds because you don’t have to worry about your message being passed through some email filter.

By using RSS your message gets delivered to 100 of your subscribers.

This is a very powerful feature.

Reason 7. No more “Spam” complaints.

This is yet another great benefit to RSS because you never have to worry about “Spam” complaints or “Privacy Policies” again because they have to add your feed to there reader not the other way around with email.

Reason 8. You get INSTANT credibility.

By publishing your own RSS feed your establishing yourself as an expert in the eyes of your readers as someone who knows his/her industry which will build “Trust”.

Reason 9. Multiple ways to read your feed.

RSS is very versatile because it allows you to view the feed in many different media platforms.

Some examples are Browser Based readers Software Based readers and the ability to view feeds on different operating systems like windows and mac.

Reason 10. Free and Easy site promotion.

I like to save the best for last because RSS is a great way to get free traffic to your website without the need of spending money on advertising.

This benefit alone will save you hundreds if not thousands in advertising expenses a year in costs to advertise your online business.

Well… are those enough reasons for you to get started with RSS?

I certainly hope so because they sure get me excited everytime I read through them.

Just imagine for a minute your same message you worked so hard on that you were going to send via email getting to 100 of your subscribers INSTANTLY OnDemand via your own RSS feed without ever having to worry about email filters.

Your response rates would Double if not Triple meaning MORE Profits in your pocket with less work.

Internet technology at its Best.

As I mentioned early in my article the best way to take advantage of RSS… Starting TODAY! … is to setup your own dedicated RSS webpage on your website.

If you don’t have time to setup your own webpage I recommend you setup an account with Blogger.com http://www.blogger.com and then head over to FeedBurner.com http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home and setup an account there.

FeedBurner.com will autogenerate you a RSS subscription page with whatever RSS feed URL you choose.

Well… there you have it “RSS… And The 10 MOST Powerful Reasons WHY You Should Be Using It” and more.

In conclusion publishers using RSS as a communication vehicle for their business are able to create keywordrich themed content establishing Trust Credibility and ongoing communication with current and prospective subscribers and/or customers without the worry of email filters getting in the way and GUARANTEE’s 100 delivery.

About the writer:  Want to get MORE ‘Insider’ marketing Secrets on HowTo drive HUGE amounts of Laser Targeted Traffic to your website? Then you need to subscribe to Cory Threlfall’s ezine called… The Internet Wonders eZine at internet marketing

Creating Brand Instrumentality Beyond The Product

The main reason for the general fascination with brands is their ability to provide the consumers an extra value in addition to what the product/service company themselves can provide. A value which becomes the major motivation for consumers to desire the product. Everybody agrees about that but from here on it becomes foggy. First of all what is this value exactly? Also how precisely is this value being added and incorporated into the brand? In this short article I attempt to provide a clear answer to both of these key questions and to suggest a workable approach to creating value added brands.

By way of introduction let me say that strong brands are perceived instruments means to achieve goals or benefits in the consumer’s mind. They arouse emotions because they are perceived as a source of something beneficial. The positive emotions are direct outcomes of these anticipations. Their various symbolizations name logo font emblem etc’ have little impact of their own. Their importance is mainly as identifiers of sources of already attributed and anticipated benefits.

The act of branding has ten different meanings which are ten different ways to create instrumentality or usefulness beyond the tangible benefits which the product/ service/ company themselves can provide.

Creating a conceived linkage to a tangible benefit

The most basic level of branding is creating a conceived linkage between the brand name and other identifiers and a tangible benefit. Huge brands like Pantene shampoo which promise to amend the six symptoms of unhealthy hair look work in this level.

Forming a mental context

A “mental context” is a concept or an organizing principle which allows the consumer to conceive originally unrelated facts such as: the various marketing activities of a company as connected by a guiding intent or by some other common factor. For example: should you stumbled into a hotel like the “Hudson” or the “Royalton” in the heart of Manhattan you are promised pleasure on different levels but if you know you’re in a “Boutique Hotel” your stay becomes a very different experience altogether.

Directing an experience

This is essentially a hypnotic effect in some cases related to Placebo. The branding here is the creation of an expectation which alters the sensed experience and enables the consumer a richer experience than what the product alone can provide him with. For instance the expectation that an energy drink like “Red Bull” will energize makes the consumers feel a wave of energy beyond the physical effect of the drink.

Creating a means of self presentation

Here the branding creates a symbol with a meaning that is well known to everybody in a relevant group which enables the consumer to characterize himself. The brand “ABSOLUT vodka” became a way for yuppies to signal their yuppieness to other yuppies and so became a huge success.

Creating a means to deliver a message

The branding role in this approach is to create a symbol of another kind its meaning known for everybody as well. The diamonds giant “De Beers” made the diamond a means of expressing commitment making the physical fact that a diamond is indestructible a metaphor for the lastingness of a relationship.

Building a socialcultural authority

The next branding approach is the creation of an authority which the consumers can use as a guide to help them understand what’s happening around them and to inform them which behavioral ways are normative what will make them happier etc’. The brand “Apple” depicted the personal computer not only as a working tool but also as a device for self expression and creativity.

Creating “a long hand”

In this approach the branding is creating means for the consumer and empowering her to act for noble objectives and high purposes which are important to her but which she can’t achieve by herself. The “Body Shop” network made buying a way for contributing to the preservation of the environment and helping people in need all around the globe.

Creating an Alter Ego

Here the brand is a way for the consumer to behave at least on a fantasy level in a manner he would like to but doesn’t dare or isn’t willing to pay the price for. The provocation of the fashion brand “Diesel” is made as if “in the name of” the brand customers. They can feel like they are provocative themselves every time the brand advertises one of its outrageous campaigns.

Building an “Emotional Gym”

Opting for our civilized and protected life style we compromise not once happily a lot of our possibilities as humans. We go to the gym to prevent the degeneration of our body which in our life style doesn’t get to face the challenges it was designed for. Similarly we watch movies and TV series’ in order to “exercise” emotional skills which aren’t legitimate in our life style. Brands like “Sicily” from “Dolce Gabbana” allows us too to experience such emotional possibilities.

Facilitating fantasies

With only a fine difference from the previous approach this branding approach helps the consumer to fantasize an alternative reality. The brand “Timberland” was designed as a way for consumers to fantasize about courageous adventures against the forces of nature.

The understanding of the different kinds of added value the ways by which these values are instrumental to the consumer and the methods by which brands can be destined to be means for the consumer for achieving his goals makes the difference between masterful creations of brands and amateur imitation which produces mere lookalikes.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Dr. Dan Herman a globally renowned strategy consultant an author and a lecturer is the author of “Outsmart the MBA Clones: The Alternative Guide to Competitive Strategy Marketing and Branding” http://www.outsmartmbaclones.com .

Link Building Course – Part Two Factors To Consider

Linkbuilding can be done in many different ways. Some are more effective than others. The different types of backlinks a linkbuilder can get can be good and bad. I will explain later how to identify a good link from a bad link. As I will also lay out tips and tricks for efficient link building.

Backlink Factors to Consider:

There are many factors to look at when attaining links pointing to a site. Truth be told not all links are created equally.

RelevancyProbably one of the most important factors is site relevancy. A link from a site that is related to the site you are promoting is better then a site that is unrelated. Also a link from a site with a similar theme is also better then a completely unrelated site. So if you want to prioritize link building try to get links on sites with themes related to the site you are promoting. So for instance if your site is on “air purifiers” a link from another air purifier site would be much better then a link from a site on “car parts”.

Authority SitesEvery site on the internet has what I call an “authority score”. This is simply the amount of weight the site has within the search engines. An authority score is based on the number of links pointing to a particular site and the weight of each of those links. There is no real way to determine an authority score and only Google provides something of the sort. You may be familiar with Googles Pagerank at least I hope so if not no worries. Pagerank is a number derived by Googles algorithms which represents there opinion on how much “authority” that particular site has. Generally the higher the PR pagerank is the higher the “authority score” and the better rankings the site will achieve. However PR or an “authority score” is only used as one factor when considering where to rank a web page in the SERPS search engine result pages. There are 100′s of factors that search engines to take in place so the PR or authority score is not a direct measure of a sites importance or rankings.

Some sites are also considered “authority sites” by the search engines. These are generally monsterous sites like Amazon.com Dmoz.org About.com CNN.com etc. Most big newspapers are also considered “authority sites”. All this means is that content and links within these sites are given more importance then usual. So getting a link on one or more “authority sites” is benifical to you as it is generally worth the most link points. Sites that end in .edu are also generally given more importance in the search engines.

To get an idea of how much “authority” a site has in the search engines you can check their backlinks. If the site has thousands upon thousands of backlinks from related sites that have accrued over time it will probably have a high “authority score”. On the other hand if a site has only a few backlinks it may be new and not have much weight at all in the search engines. With that said even sites with little authority can be beneficial.

Link FarmsIt is a good idea to avoid sites with hundreds of outbound links. These sites may be seen as link farms by the search engines and your site could be penalized or the link just not considered. Either way it is a waste of time. Generally the rule of thumb is you don’t want more then 50 outbound links on one page though some say even lower around 25.

Banned SitesYou should try to avoid sites that have been banned or are unindexed in one or more of the search engines. To check use a site saturation checker. If there are 0 pages indexed in one or more of the search engines the site is unlikely to be beneficial to you.

Link PlacementLinks placed within content are generally given more importance then links in menu’s or at the bottom of the page. For instance it is more natural to the search engines to see a phrase within a paragraph that is linked to a related site then a link that appears after all the content at the bottom of a page. Linking within the content of a page is called “linking within context” and is considered the most natural form of linking.

Anchor TextThe anchor text of your link pointing to your site is an important factor search engines use when determining the rank of a site. An anchor text is simply the text that is highlighted in the link to your site. For example My Site in this case “My Site” is the anchor text for the link. The anchor text’s you use when linking to your site should contain terms directly related to your site. If your site is based on “air purifiers” you might use “air purifiers” “quality air purifiers” “air purification” “clean air”"air filters” etc. as anchor texts when linking to it. It is a good idea to vary your anchor text while still focusing on the main theme of the site you are promoting. If a search engine encounters hundreds of links pointing to your site all with the same anchor text it is likely to raise a red flag.

Not only is it important to vary your anchor texts it’s also important to vary the pages you are linking too. Afterall you have more then one page on the site you are promoting so why shouldn’t you link to more then one page. The basic idea is to mix up your links between the homepage sitemap if there is one and the actual content pages. Linking to pages other then the index page is known as deep linking. By varying the pages you link to you also avoid “red flags” by the search engines which could result in being penalized. Therefore remember vary your anchors and vary the pages you link in order to be efficient.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Drew Gerber is Cocreator of Press Kit 24/7 www.PressKit247.com an online press kit technology. In addition to helping nonprofits and small businesses manage their own media relations through technology Gerber is CoOwner of Wasabi Publicity Inc. a PR firm representing causes nonprofits and businesses that make a difference. An expert in the art of listening and in building relationships Gerber can be reached at Drewpublicityresults.com.