Websites are taking over the role of many industries. Old methods of marketing no longer applies. You need to work with a web development company who understand marketing and who to implement this on your website. You need a strategy. We are seeing a major shift where trade shows and interaction between people are utilised more on websites than in huge halls. More people get their news on websites oppose to newspapers. Sure, some newspapers are still doing well, but a major shift is happening and people who want to benefit from it need to get involved now.

Click here to have a look at “how marketing is changing” video on Wobble’s home page for more information.

To learn more about web content and who to contact, please visit this link on our website.

General guidelines

1. Be dedicated. Post on a regular basis.
2. Make sure to organize articles in Categories that make the most sense.
3. Keep Post length consistent as part of your blog theme. Or, or make sure to break up larger Post’s into “bite size” pieces, like a Part 1, and Part 2.
4. Allow your readers to Contact you or visit the website you are referring to.
5. Write a short bio so your readers know who wrote the article.
6. Put a picture of the author on the blog (somewhere) so readers can identify with them.
7. Write on news, information, and tips in your subject domain.
8. Have a subject theme (Politics, Advertising, seld help, etc), and stick to it.

Quick Tips

1. Know your audience. Your audience will be mostly comprised of people that are interested in what you do, so try to remember to write with them in mind.  This may sound obvious, but too many companies fall victim to trying to be all things to all people to increase their scope.  This is what CNN is for, they have everything covered so that you don’t have to.  Remember to be relevant to your readers and your mission.
2. Be consistent. As corporate bloggers, I recommend having a minimum of 1 new post published per week.  I would not exceed 3 posts per week.  This will provide an acceptable amount of information to your audience without overwhelming them. Write from your heart and from your experience. Think of each unique perspective as an ingredient in your corporate blogging recipe.  If everybody sounds the same, it will be rather bland.
3. Keep it short. It is always a temptation to explain every small detail of what you want to convey.  People are so overwhelmed with information these days that, with very few exceptions, they will not read extremely long posts.  Keep them within 500-600 words.  If you are writing about something that requires great depth due to its complexity or details, consider splitting it into multiple posts, e.g. Part I, Part II, Part III. When in doubt, brevity is usually best.
4. Engage your readers. It will take a while to build an audience, but eventually they will be there, and they will start leaving comments.  I like to reply to the commenter via email (their comment will be sent to your inbox), and I usually copy/paste my response to them into the comments section of the blog as well.  If somebody took the time to publically engage you, no doubt they would appreciate the public reciprocity.  On this note, I do not recommend moderating comments (it’s quite easy to pull them down if inappropriate).
5. Be professional. You are representing your company, so you need to remember to write accordingly.
6. Have fun. This doesn’t contradict the edict “be professional”, it compliments it.  I have seen a lot of presentations over the years, at conventions or one-on-one in my office by a salesmen. The most compelling are those that are presenting me with the information that I want but aren’t too stuffy about it.  They use their own personality to present the company information.  I like that, and so will your readers.
7. Be nice. Avoid attacking other individuals or companies. This includes colleges, authors, customers, vendors, competitors, or shareholders. You are welcome to disagree with the Company’s leaders, provided your tone is respectful.

These are guidelines, not rules.  Make your blog unique, but do remember that it is likely to be a popular touch point for the people you want to reach, probably more so than other areas of your website.  Use it to inform, educate, inspire and engage.
What we will do –

1. We will ensure that services like Technorati picks up on your Blog and distrubutes the content
2. Place a Blogroll, or links to categories section on the sidebar.
3. Use Social Bookmarking buttons to make it easy for readers to submit your post.

We’ve made quite a few significant changes to our website and will continue updating it during the next few weeks. Please let us know if anything is unclear or if you would like to see more information on specific topics.

Best wishes,

The Wobble Team

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Have a look at their new website:

http://www.zabwinoafricantravel.com

So be careful when using Facebook and do your online marketing activities under the radar, or you might miss out on a powerful tool to boost your business.

In this article, I’ll give you some vital pointers to maximize the power of Facebook.

1) Just like any other social site, be careful what you put in your profile.

You don’t want to be seen as a link spammer. And you don’t want to give away too much personal information either (unless you don’t care that thousands of people may see your profile).

Just be careful with any personal details you put out there for others to see, such as where you live and pictures of your children. You do not want to pick up a stalker, especially when you are networking with strangers.

2) Don’t make the mistake of using your business name as your profile name, as this is against Facebook’s terms of service.

You are allowed to create other Facebook pages to brand your company, products or websites.

3) Respond to any friend requests and carefully send your own invitations. Make them personal and interesting.

Developing a great network is your long-term goal to generate a slow, but steady traffic stream to your websites. Use this tool to your advantage without being pushy or overbearing. Facebooks members hate spamming (who doesn’t?) and will carefully watch out for anything that violates their Terms of Service (TOS).

If you want to see profiles of those from another network, add them as your friends using the “Add to Friends” button. Follow the steps in the Edit tool to fill out any information you want others in your network, or others you accept as friends, to view.

4) Use various applications of Facebook.

Facebook has many applications which would make your networking experience easier or more enjoyable. Examples are applications for adding footage or photograph albums to your profile for others to see.

I’ll discuss two other powerful Facebook applications in a moment.

5) Use Facebook’s “My Questions” application to find out what people are exactly looking for concerning your niche.

This is where posters answer certain questions about themselves and what they are looking for on Facebook. They will also list their interests. Use this in your networking activities.

Unless they have expressed an interest in your field, do not invite them to join your friends list. Of course, you can still ask them if you genuinely want to be their friend.

But if you are there to network for your website business, then choose your friends wisely. This is how you are building your list and getting traffic to your website. So you have to manage your time well and eliminate non-productive activities.

Again, be very careful about Facebook’s TOS. Do not go against it because breaking the rules will get you banned.

6) Use “Facebook Discuss.”

It is Facebook’s answer to instant messaging. Chatting, or IM’ing, on Facebook is truly quite easy when you use Facebook Discuss .

Just go to your Facebook page and you can start using Facebook Discuss immediately. At the base of each Facebook page, you may see your Facebook Discuss tools.

The first of the 3 Facebook Discuss tools is the online friends tool. This simply tells you which of your Facebook buddies is online at this time. The next Facebook Discuss tool is notifications that may let you know if you have any new Facebook notifications right from the tool. The 3rd tool in Facebook Discuss is the real discuss tool.

7) Create and join Facebook groups.

Just as they have subscribed to your blog, they’re going to join your Facebook group. So people looking on Facebook for related groups would feel welcome to join.

Facebook groups are viral selling mechanisms. Search Facebook for groups on your topic and related ones. In each of these groups, you can post a message on the group Wall or debate board, or you may use the Post a Link feature to inform the group’s members of your group and your blog.

By promoting your Facebook group at first, rather than promoting your blog, you decrease the chance the group director will remove your message. Any Facebook member can make a group and invite users on their pals list to join.

A form prompts you to give the group a name, passing outline and class. At the following stage, you can customize your group’s available applications, upload a profile photograph and set privacy levels.

A secret group is fascinating for work-related activity, but it will not show up in search results. Choosing a closed group might be the best idea for you to protect your privacy. You will be inspired to choose members from your friends list to join the group.

When you start a group on Facebook, you can invite members to join the group and share their thoughts, viewpoints and consultations about your product, idea or start-up. Invitations to join a Facebook group can be through your Facebook buddies, your Yahoo contacts, etc.

Integrate your application into specific areas of the Facebook profile.

A Facebook application can take on a lot of forms; but in order to entirely implement the selection of integration points and deliver a full user experience, it is advised that you integrate your application into specific areas of the Facebook profile.

This permits millions of viewers to see your business everywhere on Facebook and attract potential patrons, who would naturally visit your start-up Internet site.

Remember to follow all Facebooks rules; otherwise, you’ll risk getting banned and your account deleted. This is not what you are looking for. Instead you want to use the group feature to promote your website within Facebooks rules. Do not overstep by thinking you can get around the rules. Use Facebook features to your advantage and you will see an increase in your website traffic.

Article by Jeremy Gislason

The first step of planning is to define your goals in light of the target market you aim to reach. As you classify your target, you should determine the core needs of that group and observe the buying behavior that occurs among your potential purchasers. Characterising their purchasing habits enables you to position your business to appeal to your target market with compelling information before they buy from another resource.

Several online resources can help you place your business in the forefront of your target audience. The process, however, can be complex because a variety of online vehicles, if utilised properly, can help you yield the results you desire. Also, the key to successful marketing online is in developing a diverse marketing plan which takes advantage of several approaches to deliver your message. Components in your marketing plan should include such elements as search engine marketing, pay-per-performance, ad placement, joint ventures, targeted traffic, e-mail marketíng, media marketing, optimisation and copywriting.

Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing has been one of the most highly visible forms of marketing online. With millions of businesses employing search engines to gather information daily, search engine placement for key terms has been a major business generator for companies who properly place themselves in the search engines under the right terms relevant to their market offering. An obstacle to being ranked at or near the top, however, is that thousands can be competing for the same position. And with the search engines changing their algorithms often, achieving placement on the first page for the terms relevant is extremely difficult without a solid working knowledge of and experience in the search engine marketing field. Consequently, one should not solely rely on ranking.

Pay-Per-Performance

Another marketing technique on the rise is pay-per-performance advertising. This is a method for which you pay per click, impression, or visit a site that refers to your site. The application works best if the placements chosen are locations that directly connect with the target market you desire to reach. Advertisement rates are based on an auction format in that the highest bidder obtains the top placement. If your bid is $1.00 for every time someone utilises your link while your competitor bids $1.01, your competitor will gain a better placement than you. If 100 individuals click your link, you should understand that you will owe $100 whether they buy from you are not. Pay-per-performance advertising clearly requires a full understanding of your conversion ratio to determine the budget necessary to commit to such a program.

Ad Placement

Ad placement is similar to pay-per-performance in that you pay for advertisements on sites or newsletters. The difference is that you typically pay for impressions and market reach. Impressions encompass how many unique visitors view the location in which your ad is placed. The market reach refers to the number of individuals accessing that website or newsletter over a period of time. However, you have no guarantee of the number of visitors who will follow your ad to your website. The concept is similar to traditional print ad placement in that advertisers have no guarantee that people exposed to their print ads will visit their places of business.

Joint Ventures

Another method, joint ventures, can be highly effective in helping businesses obtain referral customers. Joint ventures can be as simple exchanging links with another website or as complex as assembling a tiered affiliates program.

Targeted Traffíc Marketing

Targeted traffíc marketing is an additional marketing online tool with two main applications. The first involves the purchase of a demographic defined list which will contain individuals that match a specified demographic to whom you have permission to send information freely either through an e-mail campaign or a sales call. The second form of targeted traffíc entails the purchase a specified number of unique visitors to your site who match a demographic. This is a mass marketing or shotgun approach. Using either approach requires a skilled implementation of marketing content or your conversion ratio will be low, meaning you’ll be wasting money.

E-Mail Marketíng

The most criticised but still effective form of online marketing is e-mail marketíng. Too many marketers utilised this method improperly by imposing upon individuals who had no interest in their products or services. The answer to marketing effectively using e-mails lies in ensuring you have permission before sending to those individuals.

Media Marketing

A more effective method would be to utilise media marketing in which you write articles, white papers and other content relevant to your industry to be published. Sharing valuable insights and information rather than out-and-out selling helps to validate your company’s expertise as you also acquire free brand exposure.

Relevant Content & Copywriting

Finally, marketing effectively online requires the right kind of preparation for your website. Many sites fail in that they generate traffic but they lack the kind of relevant content that retains the visitor, educates the prospect, and/or encourages the prospect to take action. Developing content that relays a clear message to your visitors is critical. Copywriting professional Sallie Boyles states, “Lead with your punch line. Be clear. Be concise. Rather than covering each page top-to-bottom with solid content, use windows and links to provide detailed explanations as needed. When people gather research online for an immediate or future purchase, they want ease and efficiency - or they’ll leave the site and go elsewhere.”

In developing your next marketing online plan, follow these key steps to success: First, define and research your market. Second, prepare your site for action. Third, position yourself in the marketplace utilising several marketing methods. Fourth, be prepared to follow up and close the deal. A world of e-commerce awaits!

Author: Jeff Beale

Am I reaching my target market?

If you went about developing your web site systematically, you probably spent time researching and defining your target market. You then designed your site to reach those specific people. But all your research was still - at its base - a hypothesis. You made assumptions about how to reach your customer base. Tracking your site traffic will verify what is actually happening on your site (who is coming and what they are doing), compared to what you expected to happen.

How are people interacting with my site?

Sure, people are coming to your web site. But what are they doing there? Do they hit the home page and leave? Do they go immediately to your free section and never browse your sale items? Do 90% of the people who click on your online payment form subsequently abandon it? Tracking your site traffic will allow you to see how people proceed through your site, where they spend their time, what they do, and any problems they may be encountering. And that information can help you significantly improve their user experience - and your sales.

Where is my site traffic coming from?

To drive traffic to your site, you are likely engaged in multiple marketing efforts. You may have search engine optimized your content, engaged in article marketing, and developed reciprocal links from key partners. You may be involved in a pay-per-click campaign. Perhaps you also explored email marketing or print advertising.

Web traffic analytics will tell you exactly how successful each and every one of those marketing efforts is. You will then be able to cut the fat from your marketing plan and focus on the most strategic and productive campaigns.

What trends do I see?

The web is a constantly changing place. What worked last year may not work this year. You can’t rely on the mantra “we’ve always done it this way” and expect to see consistently positive results for years on end. By tracking your site traffic, you will be able to see trends as they unfold: trends in who is coming to your site, how they are interacting with it, what they want, how they buy, etc. You will be able to respond proactively to changing patterns, rather than reactively scrambling to fix a situation after it has become a major problem. If you are serious about using your web site as a tool for business, tracking your site traffic is an absolute essential. The questions above just scratch the surface of what web traffic analytics can do for you. But the bottom line is this: tracking your site traffic provides you with quantifiable data to allow you to make wise decisions for your business.

Author: Julie Friedman