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Brand You: The Top Five Ways To Build Your Brand Online

29/1/2021

Your brand is you. It's everything that your business is, encapsulated in a name, and sometimes in a slogan. But naming your business and creating a slogan isn't enough. You've got to build your brand by showing what your brand stands for.

Here are the top five ways to build your brand online:

1. Create a Website
Your website can be anything from a tiny billboard site to a huge ten-thousand page extravaganza. Either way, your website builds your brand. Of course, the more pages your site has, the more you can showcase your products and your expertise.

Tip: You're never done building your brand, and you're never done building your website either.

Aim to add something to your website every day, even if it's only one blog post (see below). Building your website is the easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to build your brand, online or offline.

2. Develop a blog
A blog lets you broadcast your branding messages far and wide via the magic of Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Within minutes after you've written a blog post and published it, your post is visible on in blog search engines. Make sure you tag categories and include an SEO post title and description.

The general business community is now wide awake to the power of blogs.

Your blog can help you to build your brand as nothing else can. Spend a few minutes today checking out the websites of others in your industry. You may be surprised, and even shocked, to discover how many of your competitors are blogging.

3. Write articles to showcase your expertise
What do you know? What do you do? How do you do it? Why do you do it? When do you do it?

Your customers have many questions that they want answered before and after they do business with you. One of the easiest ways you can answer their questions is to write articles, white papers, and reports. If you do enough of this, your website will become a trusted portal for news about your industry.

This has huge benefits for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) activities. Can you imagine what this could do to build your brand? Once you've written the articles, post them to your website, and to article directories, of which there are hundreds online. When you post these documents to article directories, people are made aware of your brand, and your brand's message spreads virally, as other people promote your material on their Web sites.

microphone and computer screen in studio

4. Write news releases
Up to 80 per cent of all news on news sites is taken directly from press releases sent out by companies and organizations.

Whenever a story appears about you in the press, whether online or offline, the resulting free publicity is branding that you can't buy, no matter how much money you spend on ad campaigns. You can leverage your brand with just one story in a daily paper.

Tip: your local media, newspapers, radio and TV, are always desperate for stories -- send your releases to your local media, as well as posting them online.

5. Teach your expertise to others
When you teach others, you learn too. In fact, you may only become fully aware of what your brand is when you start to sell franchises, or when you teach others your processes.

Take advantage of video platforms like google meets and zoom to offer your expertise or build a restricted area on your website with pre-recorded material. What's best is that your students can be anywhere in the world and watch.

Integrate it with a payment gateway and they'll be able to purchase your content online.

Branding is a function of marketing, and whether your business is brand new or well-established, branding your business makes your business memorable, so it's essential. These top five activities will create a strong brand for you, much sooner than you think possible.

Target Practice Pro is your go-to digital marketing solution for planting marketing seeds and boosting your business. Call us now for a free quote.

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Article Marketing and Content Cheapskates

22/1/2021

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I see this everywhere and still cannot believe that people do not get it. Content is still king on the web. The most important thing you will ever do for your website is to put in good content. Great content will get you links and your position in the search engine results will be because of the content you put into your website.

Hundreds of backlinks will not get you ranked well with poor content. Great content will get you good keyword positioning with or without backlinks,

therefore, content is still the most important aspect of your website. Great design, flash, graphics, and a cool banner will not get you ranked well for your keywords and phrases. Great content will!

Let's first look at the content in your website. Images are great with alt tags. That helps. But it is the text on the pages that, when done correctly, will help your search engine results. This text is also what will convert your customers into sales.

This text is what your customers will read or not read based on its quality. This same text is what the search engines will analyze when they decide how relevant your WebPages are to the search phrase you wish them to send you visitors from.

Now, let us talk about article marketing. If you know about article marketing at all, you know you will be submitting articles all over the web. The links in the author bio at the bottom return visitors

to your website if they read and like the articles you write or have written for you.

Just having your articles in thousands of article directories is not the goal of article marketing, although there are article-marketing gurus out there who think it is. The goal is for webmasters to find those articles and place them in their blogs and websites. If they use your article, their website or blog is likely related to the same topic as your website.

You are looking for these quality links. The links for just being in the article directories do not hurt you, but they do not help nearly as much as those from related websites do.

Your other hope is that thousands of people read your articles. Do you really want people to read poorly written articles and associate that poor quality with your website? Well-written articles get people to read them all the way to the bottom where your links are located. Well-written articles reflect well on your website.

If the articles are of great quality then likely your products and services will be great as well.

two men discussing what to post in a blog

The reverse is also true in the reader's mind. If the articles are written poorly, then likely your products and services are of little or no value as well. It is not only about the number of keywords and phrases placed into the article folks.

With all of that being said, I still find all over the web, especially at freelance websites, people going in and saying things like; "I need 400 articles written for SEO and I'm willing to pay $1.50 per article." Or they say something like; "I need someone to write content for my website and I'm only willing to pay $10 per page."

I really try to refrain from telling people they are, well... stupid, but I am finding it harder and harder each day when I read this stuff.

purse, smartphone, coffee, notepad and pen on table

They will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have their website designed so it looks really pretty, but the text, the stuff that will get good search engine results and sales, they don't want to spend any money on.

Writers that know how to write text that not only is appealing to the reader, but that is also written with the keywords and phrases in mind, are worth being paid well. The moment you start hiring better

writers and paying for text that converts sales, you will begin to be successful on the web. That cheap content is not going to make you any money.

A website that is beautiful but gets no traffic and sales may as well be an ugly website. An ugly website that ranks well in the search engine and that makes sales gets more beautiful by the dollar.

Target Practice Pro is your go-to digital marketing solution for planting marketing seeds and boosting your business. Call us now for a free quote.

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Content: The Secret to Niche Marketing

15/1/2021

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Article writing has become popular. Search engines have changed the way they rank websites and have begun to place a stronger value on good content. Correction: they have become better at filtering out commercial content, sales pitches, and advertising posing as content.

One incredibly good method of achieving a web presence with good content is that of article writing. Why? It provides the content that the search engines are looking for.

It provides meaningful content for the individual searching the web for good information. And It provides an avenue whereby the article writer can be noticed on the web.

Where does niche marketing come in? First of all, lets define niche marketing as marketing that is designed to meet the needs of a small group of individuals (a niche), rather than the mass needs of individuals. For example, a particular type of pet owner, a particular type of web user, or a particular religious faith might be considered niche markets.

For niche markets like these, traditional forms of mass Internet marketing, such as banner ads,

classifieds, and traffic generation programs are not as effective. The mass advertising forms are much more effective, cost-wise, when promoting a product that has wide market appeal.

So what does a niche marketer do? Assuming he has a web presence, and provides a quality product or other solution to the niche customer’s needs, he can become involved in article writing. These articles would be of particular interest to the niche customer. It will contain valuable information that the niche customer cannot find anywhere else. Insights, secrets and valuable tips offered to the reader so that he or she can use them when making decisions on purchasing goods and services or to acquire knowledge on a subject

Sometimes article writers will write generic articles that really don’t provide any real benefit to the reader, thinking that an article is an article. That is simply not true. Think about yourself. When you read an article, if you do not learn something new when you read the article, are you disposed to learning more about the person, company, or products represented by the article writer?

The key to writing articles for a niche market and effectively gaining web presence by doing it, is to write quality. Fill out the article with useful information. Show the reader that you really are an expert in your niche. Give the reader a burning desire to want to hear more of what you have to say about their needs. The only way you can create that burning desire is to give them quality information in the first place.

Good, well-written, articles are the key to niche marketing in today’s Internet marketing environment. Write articles, submit them to the most-used article databases, and watch your website traffic grow.

Target Practice Pro is your go-to digital marketing solution for planting marketing seeds and boosting your business. Call us now for a free quote.

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A Successful Niche Matches Your Skills and Knowledge

8/1/2021

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When you’re trying to choose the precise niche that your business will fill, the best strategy is to make sure that you know what you’re doing with the product, so that you’ll feel much more comfortable in your niche and you’ll enjoy what you’re doing. The best successes are always achieved by those who like their work. Therefore, the first step that you can take for defining your own niche is to make a list of all the things that you like to do best.

This may have to do with your current job, a job you used to have, a hobby you enjoy, an art form, a sport, or anything else that you happen to enjoy in life.

drawing of lightbulb with crumpled blue paper on it

Begin by writing down your areas of interest, and then look at each part of that list separately so that you can break it down into more focused sections. To help inspire you in building your list, think about the following questions and get your mind moving. Write down everything at first, not really thinking about whether or not it really has potential. The key to this step is simply to get the ideas flowing and see what you come up with, getting it all down on paper.

You never know; the idea you write down right now might not seem like much, but when you read it over later, it might stir much bigger thoughts.

Would you like to be in this field every day as your job?
Do you already have any skills or knowledge in that category?
What type of person would be interested in the type of product that would come from that category?
Would you enjoy working with your niche market target?

Once you’ve come up with your primary list of interests, use the above questions to go over it and narrow it down to those that have the highest chances of bringing you success. Give yourself a bit of time to mull over those topics that remain, and choose one of them that appeals to you the most.

Use that topic and begin writing down all of the basic things that you would require to learn or obtain in order to achieve success within that category.

Put all of these things into a logical order, and then break them down into smaller parts which are then arranged in their own logical orders.

line of people with magnifying glass on a small group

Once you’re done, you should have a much clearer idea of what you’ll be able to offer your prospective customers, and if you have the ability and motivation to work toward success in that specific category from your original list. To help determine if your successes are likely, go over your current list and ask yourself the following questions:

Do you have any special knowledge about this topic?
Do you have any skills that are related to this topic?
Are you able to come up with a product that would help or please people in some way within this topic?
Is there anything that you can offer on this topic that is outstanding and not already present in today’s marketplace?

Make sure that you’re always writing your ideas down. With all of the thinking and brainstorming you’ll be doing, you’ll be surprised how fleeting ideas are if you don’t get them down on paper. Even if some of them look rather odd when you write them down, when you delve into them, they might have a lot more potential than you first thought.

Once you have some substantial ideas in front of you, consider showing them to your friends and family. Listen carefully to their thoughts and opinions and let them inspire you for further ideas and details. You might be surprised at what the people around you might think of that may never have crossed your mind.

Another great resource is the internet. Do some research around your topic and prospective product(s), finding websites of general interest and potential competition. This will give you some great ideas about what’s out there and an understanding of what people are really looking for. It will help you to better polish your idea or develop a whole new one that you think is better.

Target Practice Pro is your go-to digital marketing solution for planting marketing seeds and boosting your business. Call us now for a free quote.

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10 Common misconceptions about marketing on the Internet

3/1/2021

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Digital marketing is a dynamic activity. Because of this, it’s important for newbies and business owners to have a bird’s eye view of what does and doesn’t make sense when building marketing strategies. Unfortunately, falling victim to common myths about internet marketing can take you to a dead end. So to help you have a more successful online presence, we’re going to debunk 10 common misconceptions about digital marketing.

1. You will get rich quick
Marketing on the internet takes a lot of work. This is not a get rich quick scheme. It takes much time learning and failing before you will succeed. Your success is entirely up to you. You will reap what you sow.

2. You won't make any money
Again, you will reap what you sow. your key to success is through consistency and persistency. If

you are willing to learn and accept failures from time to time, learn from your mistakes and apply that knowledge - the money will come. Don't give up. There are lots of people who truly do make money this way.

3. Anyone can do this
If you tell yourself there is nothing to this, you will set yourself up for guaranteed failure. A profession such as this takes a lot of discipline and most of all the willingness to learn. It takes a lot of hard work and an open mind. You have to be willing to embrace new ideas as they come and take this seriously.

4. Not everyone can do this
This is also not true.

As long as you free your mind from this kind of skepticism, you have taken your first step. While this profession takes time to figure out, it is not hard to figure out. Remember, the only person stopping you is you!

5. It is too hard
Look within yourself. There is an online business in you. What do you know? What do you like? What do you need that has not been created yet? Answers to these questions and questions like them are the beginnings of you having the ability to set yourself apart from the crowd.

6. It will be easy
It will get easier, but you will have to do loads of studying. Spend many hours brainstorming.

You will spend many hours reading, writing, and learning what works and what doesn't. It will get tedious and hard to stick to. Persevere, your reward is coming.

7. It will only require 2-3 hours a day
At some point you will be able to automate most of your efforts. In the beginning, long hours are not unheard of. I have spent many 18 hour days in front of my computer.

8. This is not a real job
Yeah right! You will come across many skeptics. Or worse than that, people who do not reveal skepticism but merely look at you funny. Believe me, this is a real job.

You will be just as exhausted from working and researching all day as you would sling 50 pound sacks of flour all day. When you are mentally exhausted you will be physically exhausted. You work hard; don't allow the people who minimize your efforts get to you.

9. The only good reason to do this is for the money
That could not be further from the truth. There is a lot to gain; the money is a plus of course. Learning will always make you a better person. If you are happy with yourself, everyone else will be too. You can't beat the hours.

10. It takes years to learn online business
Not true. The best suggestion is to study hard.

Read your newsletters and the articles in them. Listen to those who are already successful. They are already telling you what to do and how to do it. Now you just need to listen and learn.

Target Practice Pro is your go-to digital marketing solution for planting marketing seeds and boosting your business. Call us now for a free quote.

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Brand You: The Top Five Ways To Build Your Brand Online

Article Marketing and Content Cheapskates

Content: The Secret to Niche Marketing

A Successful Niche Matches Your Skills and Knowledge

10 Common misconceptions about marketing on the Internet

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