The Success Center

Branding your business is one of the most important things that you can do to succeed. Your brand, which can essentially be known as your reputation, is the means by which consumers will get to know your business. If your brand is portrayed in a positive light, your business will reap the benefits.

Let’s take a look at some strategies to help you brand your business online!

Online Branding tip #1 – Research your Audience

When it comes to branding your business, one of the most important steps is researching your target audience. Your target audience will affect all of your branding efforts including who you market to, where you market, and how you market.

By doing your research, you can quickly learn what your target audience likes (to create interesting webpage content) and where they surf (to get noticed by them successfully).

Online Branding Tip #2 – Give Yourself A Voice

You have researched your target audience – now you need to put this information to use and find a way to connect with them. Know what it is that your audience wants to hear and find a way to get that message across to them. Once you tell your audience what they want to hear (and uphold your promises), you will attract a much larger interest in your business.

Online Branding Tip #3 – Brand your Business online

In relation to branding, the internet is one of the best ways to get your message across to your audience. In order to do so, however, you have to make yourself available on multiple web channels. There are many different ways that you can advertise your business online including the use of social media, paid advertisements, blogs, forums, email lists, and article directories (to name just a few).

For more tips and advice on building your brand online, check out: How to Use Social Media to Build Your Brand Locally

Online Branding Tip #4 – Integrate Social Media

When it comes to branding your business, social media is the internet hotspot. Determine where your target audience hangs out. Do they use Facebook? Or perhaps they are more likely to use Twitter? A little research should tell you exactly where you can find your target audience and how you can create a marketing campaign that will capture their interests. Once you have attracted a solid base, use social media to generate more personal connections with your audience – this what will keep them committed and loyal to you!

Online Branding Tip #5 – Build Your Reputation

It is not enough to get yourself noticed online, you must also have a good reputation. Once you begin attracting customers, do everything you can to keep them. Conducting follow-ups, providing high quality products, and offering great deals are just a few of the many things that you can do to create a positive reputation for your business.

Your Turn

Now that you know more about how to brand your business online, you can use this information for generating a solid and loyal customer base. What tools do you use in branding your business online? What other ways can you enhance your company’s brand online? Share your thoughts below.

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

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Want to Writer Killer Blog Posts?

Small business blogging isn’t dead, but your blog can become “dead in the water” if your posts don’t deliver for your readers.  If your blog posts are too long, confusing, hard to follow, or not well thought-out, you can lose opportunities to convert readers into buyers.

What is a Killer Blog Post?

A killer blog post is one that gets shared across social networks, leads quality discussions in your comments section, and ultimately generates business leads.

It consists of;

• A Killer Idea which gets people interested in your post, captures the imagination, and solves a problem. Think of your business’s industry and help your customers solve their biggest challenges.
  Note: Need help organizing your blog post ideas? Start an editorial calendar. Here’s a video tutorial to help you get started!
• Killer Content brings the idea to life and holds your reader’s attention. Videos, pod-casts, and other media can be used to enhance your idea. You’ll find a couple of ideas on good content creation in this article.
• and Killer Copy-writing which moves the reader along and keeps them engaged until the very end. Copyblogger has an excellent tutorial on copywriting that I highly recommend if you want to learn how to write great copy like a pro!

If you want to write awesome blog posts that engage your readers, builds community, and generates leads, you’ll have to follow 12 easy steps. Go through each using the info-graphic below and bookmark this page to reference it whenever you need it.

Note: Want my best advice for writing killer blog posts and growing your blog? Sign up for my 2 for 1 Success Coaching special. If you want to get more blog traffic, create deeper connections with your readers, and generate more business sales then this deal is for you!

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Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby

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Rest in Peace Blogging . . .

There’s a lot of debate about whether or not the golden age of blogging is dead. Robert Scoble doesn’t think it’s dead, simply evolving. And Mathew Ingram of Gigaom thinks that traditional “blogging” may be on a decline but personal publishing is healthy because of the many platforms people use to share the world around them [think Facebook, Google+, and Tumblr].

I agree with both points of view when it comes to personal publishing, but as it pertains to professional publishing, blogging is alive, doing well, and still relevant.

Just like speaking at a major conference, publishing a book, or landing a major Television interview is a great career launching platform – so is blogging!

As a business owner, launching a blog can;

• Enable you to build a strong web presence,
• Help you to build a community of people who are interested in your business,
• Generate sales leads,
• Open doors of opportunity,
• Expand your network,
• and more!

We live in a socially connected internet age where people look for you on Facebook, Twitter, or your website before they inquire about your products or services.

So, is blogging dead?

No, but, like Robert Scoble said, it is evolving – especially for entrepreneurs.

If you have a blog or want to start one for your business you have to think beyond simple or self-serving blog posts. In order for your blog to become a marketing platform you have to think of it as a media property. Consider your blog as your own TV station, radio station, or magazine with content readers want the most.

Your blog’s content should include a mixture of the following types;

• News articles that inform readers of happenings in your niche on a consistent and timely basis,
• How-to articles that show readers [step-by-step] how to be successful using your product, service, or in their everyday lives,
• Editorial articles that educates, informs, inspires, or provides them new perspective on related topics,
• Info-graphic styled posts that break down typically complex information into easy to understand terms using graphics & pictures,
• Videos that reveal day-to-day activities around the office, interviews with interesting subjects in your industry, lessons on best practices when handling your products, or useful tips & advice,
• Audio pod-casts that include round-table discussions with multiple guests on related topics in your industry, interviews with satisfied customers, news, and more.

Tip: Learn how to Write Killer Blog Posts with this Infographic!

The traditional business blog where you “talk up” your products & services, try to entice readers to sign-up to your email newsletter without giving them valuable information, share a few pictures of that company trip to Mexico, or bore people to death with industry lingo, facts, and figures . . . is dead.

You have to think beyond yourself and a traditional blog in order to successfully build an online platform for your business. Your content should be original, fresh, and “sucka-free”. That means devoid of pushy sales pitches, crappy content, and updated consistently.

If you blog for business is your blog “sucka-free?” What kind of content are you creating to build your platform? If you’re not blogging for business, why not? Do you think blogging for business is dead and Facebook is where it’s at? I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments below.

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby

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What can you do now to position your business for success in 2012? Invest the time in upgrading your copy-writing skills! The best color scheme and graphics won’t help you convert browsers into buyers if the content on your website is poorly written.

Sure, good branding and an amazing design will be attractive to your prospects, but what will keep them glued to your site is your content – your offers, articles, and invitations.

Hiring a good professional copywriter can cost thousands of dollars. If you are just starting your business and building your client roster, you may not have that kind of investment in your budget.

Of course there are special projects, like product launches or high – ticket events that you may want to outsource to a professional. But for regular content for your blog, online sales letters, or newsletters, it may be wise (and budget-friendly) to learn the art of copy-writing for yourself.

Note: Even if you don’t plan on doing it once you generate enough capital from your business to cover the expense, knowing the difference between good and bad copy can save you a ton of money (and embarrassment).

With a bit of hard work and determination, even newbies at writing can craft sales letters and website content that converts rather well in a short period of time.

Listed here are a few ideas to help you learn the art of good copy-writing easily.

Read Through Sales Pages for Fun

Make it an obsession. Allow yourself to get absorbed in the copy. Read almost everything that you can about great copy. Read record-breaking ads for fun. Much like an art collector admires art, so a great copywriter admires copy. Read good copy over and over and absorb all of the nuances of what really made it convert. Ask:

• Why did the author select this word instead of that one?
• Why did the headline work?
• What kind of feelings did the piece of copy invoke?
• How did the copywriter structure the call to action?

Develop Your Power Words Vocabulary

Start paying more attention to phrases and phrases that paint images and invoke feelings. These words and phrases are the bread and butter of any good copywriter. Anytime you come across a word, phrase or strategy which you could possibly use in your own writing, write it down. Keep a file of these words and ideas. As the list grows over weeks and months, you’ll soon have a powerful library of words and techniques at your disposal.

Start Writing and Ask for Reviews

As much as you can uncover by reading other people’s writing, the only way you are going to really learn to write copy is to just get started writing. Go ahead and write your first piece of copy. If you’re working for a small business or website, try to split test your piece. If you’re a freelancer, see if you can find a pro-bono client or two to begin with.

Ask for Feedback from other Copywriters

Sign up to several copywriting and marketing forums to connect with other copywriters to compare notes. Finally, observe your actual results from live sales letters and pages. Were they what you would have anticipated? Why or why not?

Learning to be a good copywriter isn’t easy, but it will go a long way in helping you win more clients and grow your business. Start studying past successful campaigns, letters and pages, build your vocabulary and get writing. You’ll have both successes and failures; pay attention to both. Figure out what’s working and what’s not in your writing and move forward from there.

Can you share an example? What are some of the best written sales pages or web pages you’ve seen? We’d love to hear from you, leave your comments below.

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

Tai Goodwin

About the Author Tai Goodwin is a career and business coach who helps service-based entrepreneurs launch theirbusiness while working full-time. The founder of the Brilliant Network Mastermind, Tai is the co-hostof Small Biz Chat on Twitter and Your Brilliant Success on BlogTalk Radio. She offers business start-upplanning at www.careermakeovercoach.com.

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Do You Know Your Way on the Road to Success? Flickr Image by Patxi Izkue

It’s time to rev up your business and your life in 2012.

The beauty of our relationship with God is that He has entrusted us with talents and abilities.

He wants us to use those talents and abilities to bless others and to reflect His glory.  In order to use our talents and abilities to their fullest, we will need to have a good plan which will allow us to execute our vision with hard work.  And that’s where a marketing plan comes in.

Here are a few questions to guide you as you formulate your marketing plan for 2012:

#1  What Is Your Reason For Being in Business?

In other words, why does your business exist?

Here’s an example of my newly formulated purpose for my blog’s existence:

Here’s Rod Kirby’s purpose, which I quote from his “Start Here” page on this site:

If you’d like some help in defining the mission statement for your business, I encourage you to read Michael Holmes’ article, The Importance of ‘Purpose’ for the Christian Entrepeneur .

You will also find Rod Kiby’s article, Vision – Fuel For The Future, to be helpful on this topic.

#2  What Sets Your Business Apart from the Rest?

Is it your focus on God and how you bring that focus into your writing?

Is it your focus on exceptional service to your customers and readers?

What unique skills and talents do you bring to your business?

You may want to consider entering keywords from your business into the search engines to see what your competition is doing.  Now think about how you can do what they’re doing, only differently, and better.

#3  Who Is Your Ideal Customer?

One way you can find out about your ideal customer is to go to Alexa.Com and look up your blog.  Alexa provides many helpful demographics, including age, gender, level of education, and where readers come from.

Once you’ve found out about your readers, you may want to ask yourself whether you want to continue writing for them, or whether there are other groups you want to market and sell to.

Think about who you would most like to help:

What is this customer’s problem(s)?

What does she/he want or need?

Here are some suggestions for finding out what your potential customers want

• Survey Your Readers.  You can use WordPress plugins or you can e-mail your subscribers from your newsletter list.
• Read Your Comments: You can learn a lot from your readers, if you take the time to listen to them!
• Read Other Top Blogs in Your Niche: when you go to Google, type in a keyword for your niche.  Look on the left hand side under “search” and click on “more”.  You will see Blogs in the dropdown menu.
• Use Twitter search to read about your ideal customer.
• This is a tip I learned from Pat Flynn at the Smart Passive Income Blog: Look up books in Amazon under keywords for your topic: what are the key problems and solutions offered in the table of contents in the preview?  These topics can give you ideas of what your ideal customer is looking for.

#4  What Do You Want to Accomplish This Year?

Write down all your ideas!

Maybe, like me, you need to completely re-assess your blog, your business plan, or your methods of carrying out your business plan.

In that case, take advantage of Rod Kirby’s two for one coaching special!  I am personally working with Rod to look at my blog through entrepreneur lenses, and he’s already made a big difference in just one hour of coaching.

Maybe you want to double your subscriber or email count.

Or, do you want to enhance your blog design?

I know I’m mentioning Rod Kirby a lot in this article, but I happen to know that he’s got graphic art and web design skills.  You may also want to consider Fiverr (less expensive, lower quality) and 99 Designs (more expensive, higher quality)

Maybe you want to become more professional in your email marketing

Or you may want to add podcasting or YouTube to your methods of getting your marketing message out to a completely new audience.

Once you’ve written everything down, you will want to select the top 3 goals that will get you to where you want to be.

For example, I have 3 goals in re-working my own blog, Personal Success Factors.

I will

A) Talk to top bloggers I respect regarding their designs, who designed them, and decide who I will hire based on my budget and design needs,
B) Continue my coaching process with Rod Kirby to enhance my blog and sharpen my marketing focus,
C) And, I will learn how to podcast and make videos in order to get my marketing message out to different/new audiences.

#5  How Much Will Each of Your Action Steps Contribute to Your Revenue/Profitability?

Think in terms of percentages.

For example,

• 25% of your revenues might come from your new podcast, along with any affiliate links you soft sell during your podcast.
• Another 25% might come from producing quality video clips that you post on YouTube.
• Another 25% might come from coaching.
• And another 25% might come from an e-book you design.

Once you have your 3 goals, write each goal on a sheet of paper.

Make that goal SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-limited)

Then write a list of 10 ‘next actions’ you will take to reach those goals.

It could be helpful to concentrate the first 3 months of the year to just working on your first goal.  Then take the next goal and work on it for the next 3 months.  And spend the final 3 months on the last goal.  I think you get the idea.

#6 How Much Money Will You Need to Get Your Goals Done?

Make a list of all the materials you will need to get each item done. Then look at your current savings level. It’s a good idea NOT to go into debt in order to finance your goals.

You may want to review Rod’s article, 5 Ways to Start A Business without Going into Debt, as a way to review this subject.

Be creative!

Is there a joint venture you can embark on, where you provide sweat equity in exchange for another entrepreneur putting up some capital.

Or are there sub-goals you can take toward your main goal prior to laying out all the money needed?

I hope you’ve found these six questions helpful to you as you create your marketing plan for 2012.  God wants you to succeed!  So get to work!

Is it time to re-vamp YOUR marketing plan? Did you accomplish everything you set out to do this year? What are YOUR goals for 2012 and what are you doing now to achieve them? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

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Facebook Groups

By now it’s clear that Facebook can be a profitable platform for business networking online. Your personal page is a great way to expand your professional network. And business pages (fan pages) are a great way for you to promote your business, blog, or website.

But there’s another, less obvious, way to use Facebook to boost your business that I’ve been using over the last 6 months: Facebook Groups.

Chances are if you have been on Facebook for any time, you have been added to a group. In some cases it may feel like you have been hijacked into a group. When Facebook first rolled this feature out, people could add you to a group without notifying you, and then suddenly you would see a ton of postings in your stream from the Cupcake of the month club or some other group that had no relevance or value to you.

Finding your stream clogged with spam like posts from groups you never joined is an annoyance if you are strategically using Facebook to build relationships and promote your business. But when done right Facebook Groups can be a powerful way to create community and build long lasting relationships that expand beyond Facebook.

Three Signs You’ve Found a Good Facebook Group

While there are some groups that prove to be absolutely worthless, there are other groups that get it right: they provide valuable content, connections and opportunities. How can you tell whether or not a Facebook group is worth our time?

Here are three tell-tale signs:

• People are connecting: This can be tricky since it takes time to build a community, but even in a growing group you should see some exchange between participants where they are asking and responding to each other.
• Valuable content, not just offers are shared: The best groups that I am a part of provide lots of resource links and content links that are relevant to the group. These are communities where members are actively seeking, sharing and learning.
• The admin is an active facilitator: When you have a Group admin who is actively moderating the conversations (setting rules, starting conversations, welcoming new members, etc…) the group is usually successful.

How to Make Networking in Facebook Groups Profitable

Whether or not your participation in Facebook Groups is profitable is totally up to you. Here’s how you can ensure that you will not be wasting your time and energy:

• Choose the right group: This means you have to know what you want from the group. Are you looking to build your network? Looking for a Joint Venture partner? Is your goal to position you and your business as main resource?
• Participate: It’s okay to lurk in the beginning. But after you observe how the group interacts and identify who the influencers are, it’s time to roll up your sleeve and get involved. Share content (yours and others), respond to people’s comments and questions, ask questions, and “like” posts and responses that have value for you.
• Invite other people: Sometimes you find a group that is so good, you want to keep it all to yourself. But remember the goal of most groups is to create a community.
  It’s almost like church – when you find a great place you invite your friends or anyone you think may be helped by what the community has to offer. Take the same approach with Facebook Groups you are connected to.
• Extend: Once you start connecting with people in the group, hopefully you will find a few relationships where it makes sense to move beyond the group.
  Maybe it’s connecting via Facebook messages, maybe it’s a follow up phone call, or maybe it’s an invitation to a live event. If your group isn’t providing valuable connections or generating leads, it may be time to move on.

Recommendations: My Favorite Facebook Groups

I spend a good amount of my social networking/marketing time connecting via Facebook Groups. Here’s a brief list of the ones I find most valuable on a weekly basis:

• Social Media Swag – Group of people who are using social media and not just talking about it
• Christian Women Entrepreneurs – Great support system and sharing here
• Social Media Managers – One of the most helpful communities for anyone interested in developing their Social Media Marketing business
• Share Your Events Here – A group just for events, stated up front so everyone knows what to expect.
• WordPress for Business – Extremely active group that shares lots of resources
• Christian Women Bloggers Network – Good place to find like minded bloggers to connect with
• Fix My Site – Members share resources and links for generating revenue through their websites
• Launch While Working -The EmployedPreneur Network – (Shameless plug alert) Facebook community for people who are launching their business while working full-time or part-time.

Your turn

Are you a member of a thriving group on Facebook? Or maybe you’ve started a group and are looking for new members? Post the name, a brief description, and a link in the comments section.

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

Tai Goodwin

About the Author Tai Goodwin is a career and business coach who helps service-based entrepreneurs launch theirbusiness while working full-time. The founder of the Brilliant Network Mastermind, Tai is the co-hostof Small Biz Chat on Twitter and Your Brilliant Success on BlogTalk Radio. She offers business start-upplanning at www.careermakeovercoach.com.

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Facebook Subscribe Button

This guest post is by Richard Byrd of Church Brand Architects.

Over the last few weeks Facebook has been introducing a bunch of new features. My favorite feature to date has been the new Subscribe Button.

What is it?

The subscribe button has 2 specific functions;

1. It allows you to control the streams of people you have friended and vice versa – your friends can control what they see from you.

2. It allows people you have not friended the opportunity to see your “public status updates”. Think of this as the Follow button on Twitter or circles on Google +.

The purpose of the Facebook Subscribe button, is that now anyone on the Facebook platform, all 800 million people, can subscribe to your public updates. Although that sounds scary it is nothing new. As anyone could always see your public updates, the subscribe button now allows then a steady access to those updates. Almost like a personal RSS Feed or subscribing to one’s blog posts.

How Do You Get It?

First you have to enable the feature on your profile. After you have enabled this function your friends will have the option of clicking your subscribe button to receive your public updates.

What Does it Mean to YOU?

If you are a Business or brand then FaceBook has specifically told you to open a Page. But if you are the brand, then, now you have some options. Especially with the use of smart lists and the upgraded list features, which we will cover in a subsequent post.

The subscribe button is a hybrid of the business page and the personal profile. It is designed for “celebrity/personalities” persons, or more specifically those people who are “the brand”, i.e. Real Estate Agents, Consultants, Pastors, etc.

Subscribe gives you the ability to lock down personal information, while allowing you to share information with a broader group of people, all from the same profile. In essence you can now mix your “business” and “personal” personas on the same page.

What’s the Difference Between Facebook’s Subscribe Button and Business Pages?

According to Facebook:

Pages have advanced marketing features for managing your brand or business on Facebook. Pages can be maintained by multiple people on your team, have insights to understand who your fans are, and can target posts by language and location (e.g., tell only fans in New York about your show there). Pages can also be promoted with Facebook Ads and Sponsored Stories.

Profiles with subscribe are ideal if you want to personally connect with friends, family and other people who are interested in you. It’s fun to receive updates from friends and others that you want to subscribe to, and it’s easy to publish to your subscribers on the go. Anyone who subscribes to your profile can receive your public posts in their News Feed.

Here’s a brief breakdown to illustrate the differences.

In a nutshell

If you are a brand or you consult people who are brand personalities the profile with subscribers will definitely benefit you. We have several clients that have maxed the 5000 limit and we have been pushing people into the Fan Page. The subscribe button gives us the option of not opening another Fan Page and still continuing to build brand awareness through the personal profile.

There will however be some of your clients, where having analytics is important. In those a cases, you will have to go with the Facebook Page. Also another consideration, is whether you are using a team for social marketing management. You will have to use a Page, as the profile does not allow for separate login and multiple administrators.

Here is a quick video review of the subscribe button.

What do you think of Facebook’s changes as of late? Are they good for business or just confusing things a bit more? Let us know in the comments how you plan on using the Subscribe button in your marketing efforts.

About the Author

Richard Byrd is the Managing Partner of The RSM Agency – specializing in urban church marketing. He can be reached on his blog – Church Brand Architects.

 

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

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Add Social Media to Your Marketing Mix

A year or two after I dropped out of college I started a business designing logos, fliers, and developing website templates for small business owners. I can remember walking around my neighborhood, from business to business, trying to sell my services. I passed out fliers, business cards, and made cold-calls from old business cards I collected. However, I generated  very few leads from my efforts and only scored sales from close friends and family.

Since then, I still pass out business cards and the occasional flier, but I also add social media to my traditional marketing efforts. As a matter of fact, I would happily say that 85% of my sales leads are generated online and the other 15% are referrals from friends and family.

It doesn’t matter how big or small your marketing budget is, social media is a great medium for building your marketing platform and generating sales. If you’re running television, print, or other traditional marketing campaigns, adding social media into your traditional marketing mix can grow your profits exponentially.

Here are 3 huge tips for incorporating social media into your current marketing plan;

Do Market Research

Every year I issue a general marketing survey to my blog readers, Twitter, and Facebook networks. And every year I’m amazed at the amount of feedback I get and the ideas I receive on how best to serve my target market.

In your survey ask for information such as;

• Annual house-hold income,
• Education level,
• Profession,
• What social sites they frequently visit,
• What problems do they currently face,
• Which of your products or services helps them solve those problems, and
• Ask for an email address for future marketing campaigns.

Start a Facebook Ad Campaign

With a network of over 800 million people, Facebook is positioning itself to be a lucrative marketing platform just like print and television ads. With their recent news of giving away $10 million dollars in free advertising, it shouldn’t be any surprise that they just might succeed with that notion.

With your Facebook ad campaign start by;

• Creating a free Facebook page and start an “outstation” for your marketing efforts. This should be a hub where Facebookers get to know your brand, receive valuable discounts, and engage with your company.
• Build “Likes” of your page by promoting it on other social networks, your blog, and company website.
• Use Facebook’s social plugins to generate engagement and sharing of your blog posts.
• Set a budget for Facebook ads and target people by their likes & interests, gender, location, and more. The best part about ads is you only pay for what’s in your budget. So, if you set a budget of $100 and that generates 1000 new likes to your page, that’s all you spend.

Bonus Tips!

• Include your top blog posts, Facebook page link, or an Introductory Youtube video in your email signature
• Add links to your social networks, your e-book download, or a welcome video onto the back of your business card
• Mention how customers can connect with you online on your business voice-mail
• Create a special page on your blog that visitors from your Twitter profile page are sent to – offer them links to your best advice, get them to sign-up for your email list, and more!

The return on investment with social media is tremendous if you play your cards right. The key is to always give more than you ask and you’ll always get more than you dreamed. What ways are you incorporating social media into your traditional marketing plan? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby

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The Darkside of Social Networking

This is a guest post by Tai Goodwin of taigoodwin.com;

Social networking sites have dramatically influenced how we connect with the world. People are connecting and forming virtual friendships that can sometimes be closer and more personal than those we meet face to face. Some use the social networking sites to stay in touch with friends and family, while others use them to network with business contacts.

Successful business partnerships have been created and prospered with partners in separate countries or even continents working together – All done without either party ever meeting face-to-face. The internet and social networking have given new life to home-based businesses by leveling the playing field.

While all this newfound friendship and business alliances is positive and rapidly becoming a social force to reckon with, it does have its dangerous, dark side that can sink many businesses and their owners. What is easy to forget is that your online credibility, both personally and professionally, can be affected by anything you post or publish online. Even foolish pranks have the ability to chase potential customers and joint ventures away from you.

Anything that gets published or posted on a social networking site is publicly available and almost impossible to remove later. Some Internet marketers create two separate accounts on the social sites, thinking that they can keep their business reputation separate from the social hijinks often found on the strictly social sites. That just makes both of your personalities available for public scrutiny.

Potential business partners you might be considering approaching for a joint venture or to get them to promote you and your products will not even think about it if you’ve left a trail of vulgarity or bad errors in judgment behind you. Even if someone else is acting like a jerk, don’t respond. It takes two to keep an argument going. If you just have to respond, keep it polite and drop it.

Blogs have become the internet darlings for product promotion, growing lists and speaking your mind. They also can create a professional, public profile that will hurt you later. Keep your business blogs focused on specifically selected content that will promote your business. If you share links, make sure that the link does not lead to anything negative or pornographic. Check it out before trading links!

Never forget that you are essentially dealing with strangers online, even if you have corresponded on forums or with frequent emails. When you do link to another business or personal blog, check them out frequently to protect your reputation. Blogs change their focus all the time, often at the whim of the blogger.

Once anything gets online about you or is written by you, Google will eventually find it, and all of it will become a matter of public record that will still exist years later. To avoid problems, keep anything you write online, or for publication online, strictly professional, including your screen names. And don’t share photos that could embarrass you professionally – even if you don’t post them yourself – an acquaintance without the same safeguards could inadvertently put you in an awkward situation.

Remember the Golden Rule: Never write anything you wouldn’t write to your grandmother. Rest assured that she will be checking up on you – she probably has her own blog anyway.

Editor’s Notes; At the end of the day, when it comes to being successful online, all you have is your credibility and the trust others have placed in you. Playing on the dark side of the social networking fence puts both of those assets at risk. Here are a few other tips that should keep you on the straight and narrow;

• It’s ok to use Facebook personally (as long as you keep to Tai’s tips above), but for business use, start a Facebook page.
• If you want to show a different side of your personality than what’s on display (professionally) throughout the net, start a tumblr blog. They’re easy to start, maintain, and you can let it be known that its personal. Here’s mine for an example.
• If you need to send personal messages to people on any social networking site, send a private message instead of public.
• Unless it’s a part of your brand (and you can talk about it intelligently) stay away from discussions about religion, politics, or relationships. It’s an easy way to slip into the dark side…
• For more help, check out my entrepreneur’s guide on awesome social media etiquette.

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

Tai Goodwin

About the Author Tai Goodwin is a career and business coach who helps service-based entrepreneurs launch theirbusiness while working full-time. The founder of the Brilliant Network Mastermind, Tai is the co-hostof Small Biz Chat on Twitter and Your Brilliant Success on BlogTalk Radio. She offers business start-upplanning at www.careermakeovercoach.com.

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This article comes from Tai Goodwin of Taigoodwin.com.

Turn Your Browsers into Buyers!

The quality of the content on your site can mean the difference between generating more sales or driving away prospective clients. Creating something unique and creative enough to grab the attention of the reader is important to attract readers. But relevant content that helps solve prospective clients’ problems is the key to converting your readers to buyers, which will make your website profitable. This is why blogging is a foundational element for anyone marketing their products and services on line.

Here are three often overlooked ways that content can help you attract and convert prospects:

Focus on Keywords

Perhaps the best way to attract traffic to your site and gain new readers is by writing content rich with keywords for greater search engine optimization (SEO). Using keywords that your target audience is searching for will help your website reach the top of the search engines and bring more customers to your site. Knowing which keywords to use requires some research on your part.

There are many sites on the web, which will allow you to plug in a word and display how many people search for it on the web. Use these tools to plug in some of the keywords from your content and then properly place them throughout your content. It needs to be placed organically so the content remains in a natural, flowing manner and not forced.

Tip: Don’t just focus in the solution or benefits when thinking about key words. Many people search by asking a question. For example, people may not search specifically for business coaching, but they will search for “creating a business plan.”

Give It Away

The easiest way to build a list of potential customers is to offer a free give away. How does this help convert readers to buyers?

Here’s how it works:

1) In exchange for the content they give you their email address.
2) You send them an amazing free product that demonstrates your expertise and provides immediate value to them.
3) Since they have opted into your list, you can now send them strategic email messages that strike the balance between solution-focused content.
4) Now that you’ve established trust and credibility, you are in perfect position to make them an offer they can’t refuse.

Don’t sweat it: Your free give away doesn’t have to be a 40 page ebook. It could be as simple as a checklist, a mini report (5-7 pages), a video, or a downloadable audio file. If you’ve got some great content from when your blog just started (and you had fewer readers), consider bundling up old posts on a related topic and creating a digital download.

Talk About Your Products and Services

Promoting your product and services throughout the content of your blogsite is one of the best ways to peak your customers’ interest. This doesn’t mean blatant pitches attached to every post. It does mean finding creative ways to incorporate benefits of what you are offering into your content. You can do this through case studies, question and answer posts, sharing testimonials, and even sharing about future products and services.

Try this: Look for places to include clickable graphics of your product that lead to a special sales page. Once there, give them the option to either make a purchase or receive more information. This allows you to develop an even more targeted mailing list that you can market that particular product to.

Remember, getting people to come to your blog is the first step. Once they are there, you need to proactively keep them coming back for more. Implementing one or all of these content marketing strategies is a practical way to convert online prospects from browsers to buyers.

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

Tai Goodwin

About the Author Tai Goodwin is a career and business coach who helps service-based entrepreneurs launch theirbusiness while working full-time. The founder of the Brilliant Network Mastermind, Tai is the co-hostof Small Biz Chat on Twitter and Your Brilliant Success on BlogTalk Radio. She offers business start-upplanning at www.careermakeovercoach.com.

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