I haven’t been in a McDonalds in years and the greasy smell hasn’t changed a bit. I tried to log in using my AT&T account and it failed. After numerous attempts I called tech support and they transferred me to customer service to “fix” my account but they didn’t know what to “fix”. Customer service transfered me to DSL support and the tech tested my DSL line back in California. I explained to him that my DSL is working fine and my problem is with my account but he said he couldn’t fix my account. After an hour and talking to many different departments, I called back WIFI support and got a coupon code that allowed me access for the day.

For the next 4 days I had the same problem with my account so I just called WIFI support to get my daily coupon code. The next major obstacle was staying online. Every time someone else came into McDonalds with a laptop it would knock me off the network. Only one person at a time can be on the WIFI network. Finally I gave up and decided I needed a break from the internet anyway so put away my laptop for the rest of the vacation. Boy did that feel good!

Well for some reason (to make more money somehow). Google is now sharing those numbers with us! The always secretive Google has opened their massive vault of data and is willing to put numbers (still approximates but numbers!) on the search results in their keyword tool.  The Google Keyword Tool tells you approximately how many times people searched Google for your keyword terms.

This is huge for a number of reasons. First of all, Google is letting us see behind the curtain and is giving us actual data. Google is infamous for being vague and protective of their data. Maybe they’re trying to maintain their “good guy” reputation which is being challenged as they increase their death grip on the internet. They don’t want to become “the Microsoft” of the internet and have people hating them for being successful.

Allowing us to see actual data will help everyone who relies on keywords to create content for the internet. Instead of basing our keyword research on estimates from search tools like Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery, we can get the real numbers directly from Google for free. Take a look at this snapshot of a search I did this morning.

While most small and medium sized business owners don’t want to get involved in social media, large companies are jumping on the bandwagon. In today’s San Francisco Chronicle there’s an article about how much these large companies are spending on ads on Facebook and other popular social media websites. It’s hard to ignore the possibility of advertising on websites that get millions of new visitors every month.

Check out the article here.

http://tinyurl.com/6kakaw

Now John has updated Traffic Secrets to include Web 2.0 traffic techniques. Take a look at this video that gives you a sneak peak of John’s soon to be released Traffic Secrets 2.0

Think about it. The Smithsonian is doing Web 2.0. As Tim Russert’s Dad, Big Russ, says “Ya gotta love this country”

Check out the Smithsonian images on Flickr at http://flickr.com/photos/smithsonian

Are you doing Web 2.0 to promote your business? What the heck are you waiting for? If the Smithsonian is embracing Web 2.0 then you need to get on the train before it leaves the station.

You’re missing out on a tremendous source of free web traffic and an easy way to build lasting relationships with your clients and prospects.

Click here to see how I’m using Web 2.0 to grow my business.

So what is my secret? It’s the same process that many internet marketers are teaching. It’s a simple process but it takes a fair amount of time to implement and it takes a few months before you’ll see results. That’s probably why most people fail at driving traffic to their website. They’re not willing to spend the time each week to do the work it takes and they give up when they don’t see instant results.

I took the time to implement this system last year, probably because I was learning and experimenting. Over time I boiled the system down to just 6 steps. When I followed my system faithfully, my website traffic steadily increased, my email list grew and my conversion rates skyrocketed. I was amazed with the results I was getting from the system.

Then the holidays came and I slacked off. I stopped following my system for the last 6 weeks of the year and my website traffic declined. My email list is still growing but at a much slower rate. And of course, my conversion rates are slipping. I realized that marketing isn’t a one-time event that will carry my business forever. Marketing must be a habit that I do faithfully. If I don’t market consistently, my business won’t grow.

So what is my magic formula? The six steps to more website traffic and more customers are:

1. Keyword research
2. Write short, keyword-rich articles
3. Submit the articles to article and ezine directories
4. Collect contact information by giving away a free report
5. Send a periodic newsletter or ezine
6. Send promotional emails

First you must research the best keywords for your website and the service or product you’re offering. You can find the most popular search terms from the previous month by going to inventory.overture.com. Simply enter a keyword phrase and you’ll see exactly how many times that term was searched on Yahoo and its partner search engines last month. You’ll also see a list of the top 100 search terms that contained your keywords. This gives you an expanded list of keyword phrases you can use in your articles. Researching the top keywords on Google is more of a challenge since they don’t share that information with the public with a user-friendly tool.

Next you write short articles that focus on your keywords and search terms. The articles need to be between 250 and 300 words and narrowly focused on your keywords. Make sure you use the keyword phrases as much as possible but don’t overdo it or you’ll be considered a keyword spammer. Also use the keyword phrase in the article title if possible.

At the end of your article, include your contact information, a short description of your services, permission for people to distribute your article if it’s left intact and a link to your website. Direct them to a landing page on your website offering a free report that will tell them how to solve a problem. For example use something like this:

For a free report that tells you how to attract clients while you sleep, visit www.valiss.com/freereport.htm

The next step is to submit your articles to article and ezine directories. Once you publish your articles here, other websites will republish your articles on their website which builds your credibility as an expert and provides precious one-way links back to your website. When people search for your keyword phrases in Google and Yahoo, they’ll be directed to your articles. At the bottom of your article, they’ll click on your link and be directed to your website.

Some of the most popular article directories are goarticles.com, about.com, articlecity.com and ezinearticles.com. There are many more that can be found through a simple Google search.

When the visitor arrives at your website, you need to collect their contact information before they get their free report. An example of a landing page that does this is www.netbizexpert.com The user is enticed with brief sales pitch and they have to enter their name and email address to get the answer they’re looking for.

Once they enter their contact information, it will be saved in your autoresponder database. Now you have a highly targeted prospect! To build your credibility and establish a relationship with this prospect you need to send a periodic newsletter or ezine that provides useful information that solves a problem. Don’t overwhelm them with information, just send them small amounts of useful information that solves their problems or they’ll unsubscribe from our list.

Once you’ve established yourself as an expert that can solve their problems, you can start sending promotional emails to your list. Again, don’t overdo this or they’ll unsubscribe. Send them promotions that offer a product or service that will solve their most pressing problem. They’ll gladly respond if you’re making their life easier.

That’s all there is to it. Simple but it takes time and you must do this consistently. As I learned, it’s the journey that matters, not the destination.

http://clickhereformorecustomers.com/?p=12

It’s hard to call your friends or clients and tell them to check out your latest post using a URL like that and it sure doesn’t help you get traffic to your blog from someone doing a Google search. When was the last time you searched Google for ?p=12?

Don’t fret because there’s an easy way to change the configuration in Wordpress so it uses the title of your blog post as your URL. If my latest blog post is titled “How To Use Wordpress” then the Wordpress URL would be:

http://clickhereformorecustomers.com/How-To-Use-Wordpress instead of http://clickhereformorecustomers.com/?p=12

If someone searches Google for “how to use Wordpress” they have a better chance of finding your blog if those keywords are displayed in your post’s URL. That’s why it’s really important to use good titles for your blog posts using targeted keywords.

First, download and install the Permalink Redirect Plugin at http://scott.yang.id.au/code/permalink-redirect/  You need to install this plugin first or the links to your existing posts will not work after you change the Permalink structure.

To change Wordpress so it displays the title of your blog post in the URL log into your Wordpress Dashboard. Under Settings, choose Permalink. Select Custom Structure and enter /%postname%/

If you want to shorten the URL then change the Post Slug to a shorter name. You can shorten www.clickhereformorecustomers.com/How-To-Use-Wordpress to something like www.clickhereformorecustomers.com/wordpress by changing the Post Slug from How-To-Use-Wordpress to Wordpress.

In Wordpress 2.5x create a new post and then go to Manage All Tags which is located on the right side of the screen under Related. Scroll down the Tags screen to Add Tags and enter the new slug name under Tag Slug.

That’s it! You now have search engine-friendly URL’s for your Wordpress blog.

I’ve been teaching a lot of classes on blogging and the biggest complaint I hear is “I don’t have time to write a blog and to find other blogs to comment on” Here’s a typical conversation in one of my classes:

Ted: You should write at least 3 blog posts a week and comment on other blogs at least 3 times a week
Student: I’m already working 60 hours a week and I don’t have time to write a blog
Ted: Is your practice currently full or do you have more clients than you can handle?
Student: No
Ted: Is your business making a profit or are you just getting by?
Student: Just getting by, barely
Ted: How many hours a week do you spend marketing your business?
Student: I don’t have time to market. I’m too busy running my business.
Ted: So you’re working 60 hours a week, just getting by and you don’t have time to market. Are you working with the right clients and are your charging enough for your services?
Student: I guess not.
Ted: You need to be spending at least 10% of your time marketing your business to your ideal clients. Your ideal clients will understand your value and pay you what your worth. By working with the right clients you will be able to work with fewer clients that will pay you more so you’ll be able to work less than 40 hours a week and make a lot more money. Blogging ss a free way to market your business and reach an unlimited audience. By reading and commenting on blogs that are read by your ideal clients you can build a deep relationship with them and demonstrate your expertise. New clients will find you instead of you chasing the wrong clients. By spending as little as 4 hours a week, you can reach thousands of potential clients via the internet. As your popularity on the internet increases and more people start commenting on your blog posts, you’ll forget that you’re actually marketing your business just by interacting with others.

Russell is the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. He’s not your typical internet marketing jerk with an attitude. Russell’s the real deal. He’s honest, open and will do whatever it takes to make you successful. You can pick up the phone and call Russell at his office and he will talk to you. Most internet marketers hide behind a made up persona and you can never reach them. They live underground.

Russell is the anti-internet marketer. He holds nothing back and teaches you every secret so you can be as successful as he is. He won’t sell you a product that he won’t stake his reputation on. He is the real deal.

Russell taught me that being successful online is more than creating and selling a product. It’s all about creating a business, which I’ve watched him do over the past couple of years. Russell now has a real business making real money, multiple millions every year, much of it on autopilot.

Russell has done it again with his latest product Affiliate Evolution. He’s selling Affiliate Evolution for only $10 and I’m sure I was one of the first purchasers. By the way, I buy all of Russell’s products because they not only teach me how to make money online, they teach me how to build a real business that will grow exponentially. I highly recommend you grab Affiliate Evolution today!

To Your Online Success,

Ted

They said computers would make us a paperless society. I’m sorry but I have more stacks of paper on my desk than ever.

Then there’s the challenge of keeping my computer organized. I purchase a lot of ebooks and internet marketing related products. I file away the downloads into folders that “I’ll never forget the name of”. Of course within a few weeks I have no idea what I purchased and where I filed it.

To top it off, I juggle a lot of projects. I have a list of hot leads I need to follow up with, warm leads, new projects and projects in progress. Once the project is complete I need to file the relevant information for future use.

I’ve tried many tactics to keep this mess organized and I finally found the solution. It’s a very simple solution yet so powerful. I have access to all of my information on one easy to read screen.

http://www.netbizexpert.com/r/immindmap

Check it out here and let me know what you think. I’d like to know if this helps you get organized as much as it’s helped me.