1. Kudzu- It’s a powerful business listing website that allows you to place your business info and link to your web property. The major benefit is that Kudzu ranks very high in search engines. This means that if your website doesn’t rank for a particular keyword, maybe you can still benefit because the Kudzu article may rank!

2. Merchant Circle- A simple, free listing site that acts pretty much the same as Kudzu.

3. Insider Pages- Another very powerful small business marketing site. This online property serves pretty much the same benefit as Kudzu and Merchant Circle.

4. Jayde- Even easier to submit than the above listed, Jayde serves up a good quality link to your site, and it’s also free!

5. DMOZ- It’s been known as the perfect link by some, and by others its an average link. I submitted my site and can’t really say there is any downside to being on DMOZ. Go ahead and grab the link, it’s waiting for you!

6. Yelp- Remember the last time you looked for a local restaurant or business? Chances are there was a YELP listing that popped up on page 1. That’s the justification for taking the next 2 minutes of your life and submitting your business there! Then, take it 1 step farther and send that link to your friends asking them for a review.

And, now for 2 of the best (arguably) FREE small business online marketing strategies you can possibly employ:

Google Local and Yahoo Local. Be sure to get on their maps, and listed in their “small business directories.” These are great links to have!

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SEO link building is a critical element of building an effective Online Marketing Campaign. Like anything else in life, there are good and bad practices. Here’s 3 great strategies that I’ve personally tested:

1. Install Mozilla Firefox OnlyWire plugin. It allows you to bookmark pages and content in all of your favorite social bookmarking websites. I noticed an increase in traffic to my Infomercial Marketing Consulting page instantly.

2. Write eHow articles. eHow is a very credible PR8 website where you can post “how to” articles about products and/or services you offer. At the end of the article, you can post a few links to landing pages you’ve established “to learn more.” I’ve created an entire website called Make Money Using eHow that takes you through all the steps of writing effective SEO content for eHow.

3. Install SEO SmartLinks. WOW! This plugin has me very impressed to say the least. You place your main keywords into the plugin settings, and it automatically turns those words into hot links! Talk about a major time-saver? This one takes the cake, along with WP Admin Bar.

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Let’s walk through each step of the process so you can understand why certain content NEEDS to be there:

1. Testimonials – Educated internet consumers buy great products from trusted people, that have proven results for others just like them. Simply stated: Get success stories from people that would be of interest to your target market.

The most common mistake I’ve come across when reviewing with author book sites is the lack of targeted testimonials. If you are selling your book to 35yr old females, try to avoid swamping the site with testimonials from your Grandpa Bob and Grandma Jane- both way outside the target market. To learn more about crafting an effective testimonials page, you can view the sample I’ve built for STOP Killing Yourself Testimonials.

2. Chapter Excerpts - I’ve tested this page using my analytics software, and it definitely gets more traffic than I would have ever guessed. Seems people want to learn just a little bit more about what’s inside the book before they actually reach into their wallet and grab their credit card.

For that reason, I would strongly recommend building this kind of page on your next author website. You can read over my Chapter Excerpts Page to get more ideas for crafting your own!

3. BUY NOW – Although it’s a given, I wanted to mention the buy now page in a different light. Is there a way to weave the buy now function into your content?

Consider this: Someone is reading through the content on your author website page, and something in their brain triggers them at that exact instant to BUY! Why make them scroll all the way to the top to find the buy now button? Consider building it into your pages appropriately. Here’s how I leveraged it on STOP Killing Yourself.

4. Video (suggested) – It’s 2010 and time to get up to date with New Media! Promise it’s not too difficult… and with a FLIP camera you can easily shoot video and upload it within minutes!

Let’s actually backup one minute. When you land on a website, do YOU click the video? If you are like most other internet surfers, you are clicking the video whenever you can.

5. Phone Number – Just like there is still snail mail, there has to be the physical contact number for those who will only order from a human being. If the number is hidden, you might lose the internet surfer because the person may think your book is only sold online.

6. FREE Giveaway – Depending on your marketing strategy, you can increase sales by giving away a “sneak peak” of your new masterpiece. For instance, you can give CHAPTER ONE FREE – in exchange for their email address. Or you can just give the chapter away FREE, and have a very strong call to action at the end of the chapter to come back and buy the entire book!

What are your thoughts?

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Want to make money blogging? You’re in the right place!

Like everything in life, it’s easy to get started blogging. Once started, it’s up to you how far you would like to go with it. Some people do it for fun….others for a living! And you can blog any where in between the two.

First and foremost, a blog needs to have readers. Without readers, nobody reads your message. Thus, making your blog a waste of time!

Here’s a checklist of questions you should answer to increase your chances of success:

1. Can the content be found elsewhere on the Internet? (if yes, you can still start your blog… but you MUST be an established expert or have some impacting way to distinguish yourself and STAND OUT!)

2. What separates ME from the other million bloggers in my category? Before you say “I’m the only one blogging about my topic, do thorough research. You can search for blogs using Blog Catalog, one of the most thorough databases of blogs on the Internet. (TIP: if you own a blog, make sure you list it here as well!)

3. What is the goal of my blog? Here’s just a few possibilities:

*To teach a specific audience (I launched Make Money Using eHow specifically to teach people how use eHow, thus generating Internet Marketing Consulting leads from the blog, and selling eHow Coaching Packages)
*To make money – you can accomplish this by selling ads on your blog, using programs like Google AdSense, and even running Text Ads from companies such as Kontera.
*To build a massive marketing list – once you have a huge list, you can continue marketing to them. Always remember that when blogging. If you want a list, ask for their email and give something in return!
*To sell product – are you an author selling a book? Are you an affiliate marketing selling other people’s products? Either way, you will need to let your designer know so they can setup your blog to accommodate your needs.

4. What functions do I want on my blog? These can include email sign-up boxes, social media buttons, shopping cart for selling product, video capabilities, and many others. The best thing to do is study websites and compile a list of functions you like. To get started looking at different functions, you can check out the Jeff Hopeck Corporate Website & My Book Website.

Of course, there can be many other questions. And, I’m here to help you answer them! Just comment below and let’s start talkin’ – we’re all ears here at JeffHopeck, inc.

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Here’s a list of 4 Self Publishing tips I’ve learned during the process of creating my own manuscripts, printing them, and going on to market them all over the world!

1. Don’t fall for the “we will build you a website inside of our website” tactic. There is very little value to this. Rather, soon as you finalize your book title, head right over to GoDaddy Domains and buy that domain. Why? You want to build the value into YOUR domain, not THE PUBLISHER’S!

2. If you are a marketer, Self Publishing is a MUST for you. Why give 60% or more of the profits away to a big name publisher? When you can self publish and hold onto 100%?

3. Unless you are Zig Ziglar, Jack Welch, or the President of the United States, please don’t think your book is going to sit up nice and pretty in the book store! See the books very low near the floor? That’s where you’re headed. For proof, open the cover up and contact those authors! They will confirm.

4. When you talk to traditional publishers, be sure to ask them for numbers. They will throw a huge number at you to publish your book. You will then think “well this makes sense because they are going to get me lots of exposure!” Let me help you with the math:

They might help you sell 5,000 books in the first year (MAYBE). Your percentage as a first time author will be around 12%. Let’s assume your book squeaks by and retails for $9.99. That equals $5,994. Congratulations!

Had you self published, you could have just made $49,500.00! Again, you would be in charge of marketing the book, but you know yourself it’s your PASSION. That book is your “baby” and you are going to go out and sell it all day long!

If you would like to discuss the pros and cons of self publishing, let’s talk! Call today to speak with a representative – 404 323 6140.

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As a small business owner, you spend so much time figuring out how to market to people who know nothing about your business. When, in fact, you should spend a lot of your time marketing to the people who you DO KNOW!

Example: When was the last time you launched a marketing campaign aimed at INCREASING FREQUENCY to your business? If someone visits you once per week, why not offer them an opportunity to visit you twice or even more?

Take a look at this campaign launched to Increase Frequency of visits to Los Bravos Mexican Restaurant.

Imagine implementing a marketing strategy aimed at your current patrons, the ones who ALREADY believe in your business.

If you see the value in “Increasing Frequency” Marketing, contact us today! We would love to help you build a campaign aimed at growing your business…..from the inside out!

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That’s a great question, and hopefully I can answer it with this true-life testimonial of a small business owner in Marietta, Georgia. It may seem far-fetched to you, but I can assure you…. this all happened, and so can Sabina – the owner of this Authentic African Restaurant!

Motherland Kitchen & Spices (and catering, too), just like any other small business owner, wondered “how can social media possibly grow my business?” Hmmmmm…… where should I start with answering this question?

Let’s start with their Facebook page. In just 1 week, and YES that isn’t a typo. After 1 week of launching their Facebook page, here’s a summary of what happened as a result of Social Media:

1. This small town African Restaurant received an order for their world famous MommyDoro™ African spices. The order came from Afar! Or that’s what most small business owners would think… because Social Media seems so far-fetched, and so “that’s not for me” to a small business owner. The order actually came from Maryland!

2. On Friday, an order came in for a $150 take out order. Goat Stew!

3. And now for the best one! On Friday, an order came in (yes, from their Social Media presence aka Facebook), a 300 person catering job came in!

I’m not educated from the Harvard School of Business Mathematics Department (as Glenn Beck would say), but to me it sounds like an incredibly wise business decision to launch your Social Media Marketing campaign today!

Would you agree? Let’s get Social starting right now… you and us! Contact us to get started today.

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Going forward, know that Google spiders are educated, very sensitive, and they know more about a web page than the creator of it! Here’s a simple example of how the “oh so complicated, yet so simple” search engine works:

You can’t take shortcuts. You can’t buy links from a bogus “100 links in 20 minutes” type of spamming companies. NO, NO, NO! It’s all about implementing the PROPER (stated by Google) mixture of on and off the page strategies that coincide with search engines. Point blank.

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Remember, at the end of the day the final decision is up to you, the business owner. Now let’s take a quick look at 2 different sides of the dilemma.

1. DO SEO YOURSELF:
Yes, you can figure most of the basic stuff out. But the biggest problem you will run into is doing the research online. My guess? You will probably start believing everything you read online and formulate your own opinions about SEO, opposed to conducting your own trial-and-error methods to see what works and what doesn’t for your business.

For example, the keywords that work for my business may or may not work for smaller businesses with less traffic & lower ranking websites. Or, the link building campaign that works great for your business may or may not work for the guy next door. In fact, certain strategies work well for some of my sites and not others! If you want to do SEO yourself, read this phrase at least 10 times before proceeding:

Just because a website tells you something works, doesn’t mean it works! It only works after you implement the strategy and SEE RESULTS IN FRONT OF YOUR OWN EYES! (remember, most SEO sites are trying to sell you on their thinking, thus selling you on their products and upsells)

Now can you see the dangers of swimming in shark-infested, uncharted waters without knowing much about SEO to start off with!

2. HIRE SOMEONE:
This can be equally dangerous for a first-time do-it-yourself SEO(er)! In order to remain sane throughout the process, follow these simple steps:

1. Ask to see specific url’s of work they’ve done. Not just names, you want to physically lay your eyes on the exact work they’ve done. Most small-shops will deter you from exact url’s because they probably have ZERO case studies!
2. Ask if you can contact references for work they’ve done. If they’ve done great work, any client would be glad to boast about them. If this step doesn’t happen, start looking elsewhere.
3. Research them. Meaning, type in the keywords they are ranking for. Why? If they can’t rank for their own keywords, they SURE AS HELL aren’t gonna be able to help you rank for YOURS!

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this one!

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Link building, link building & link building. Here’s a few great facts about eHow:

With keywords ranging from 5,000 searches/month to 246,000 searches/month, I have eHow articles on page 1 or 2 of Google consistently. Here’s a few examples:

*Type in “Do SEO Yourself”
*Type in “Lower Golf Ball Flight”
*Type in “Bodyguard Jobs”
*Type in “Secret Service Jobs”
*Type in “Air Marshal Jobs”

Of course there are hundreds of other articles, but I wanted to show you how diversified my article marketing campaigns can be….. long as they have the exact keyword phrases in them, the article will for sure be a success! Always linking back to the landing page that offers more information.

If you read through my “make money using ehow” website, you will have a crystal clear undrstanding of what it takes to open an eHow account, implement the right strategies, and have the best user experience during your eHow article marketing campaign.

If you need a hand or have any questions, please reach out. I would love to help! Meantime, feel free to visit my eHow Profile if you need extra guidance.

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