WordPress for Marketing Udemy Courses, Kindle Books, Online Services and more! Join me and learn how to use the power of affordable WordPress to market your business, book, Udemy course and more! Have questions about WordPress? I will answer them live or you can join me in the Blab hot seat and join the discussion! Subscribe here: https://blab.im/dennis-j-smith-wordpress-for-marke… I will be broadcasting live from Boise, Idaho USA on Wednesday 10/21 at 6:35 PM Mountain Time. Please use the link below to find out your local time so you can attend live. I will be sharing a list of some great WordPress Resources that will help you grow your business. Time Zone Converter I used WordPress to sell over 1,000 copies of my first book and I have used it to grow my mailing list to over 2,500 subscribers.
E-Mail Newsletter Marketing 101–[INFOGRAPHIC]
Here is some good information I came across on Visual.ly regarding the topic of E-mail Marketing. Did you know that sending e-mail on weekends gets you a better CTR (click-thru rate)? Are you marketing with e-mail? Which service do you use? I personally love MailChimp because it is easy to use and the offer a free service for those just starting out. If you would like to follow my newsletter you can sign-up here. I won’t flood your e-mail box with useless junk! Check out the other great information on the infographic below. Browse more infographics. [divider] [hcshort id=”13″]
How to Get 5 Million People to Read Your Website by Matthew Inman
I wanted to share a YouTube video that I came across today. Not only is it funny but it has a point to it. Matthew shares some creative ways he used to drive traffic to his websites. This video is from the Ignite Seattle event. Do you use creative means to drive traffic to your sites? More on Matthew Inman
More Offline Marketing Ideas–Vinyl Banners
Besides marketing my book online using social media I also find ways to market offline. Business cards, postcards and bookmarks have been a few of my offline marketing tools. Starting this fall I’ll be attending book signing events here in Southern Idaho. Right now I’m working with the editor for the 2nd Edition of Promote Your Business or Cause Using Social Media ““ A Beginners Handbook. This gives me some time to plan my marketing strategy for upcoming events. Business Card Below is a vinyl banner I created using the Vistaprint.com website. The vinyl banner below will be 2.5′ wide and 8′ tall when done. What do you use for offline marketing? Vinyl Banner Vistaprint ““ Impressions for offline marketing
5 Must Have Social Media Plugins for WordPress Blogs
With the explosion of Social Media many bloggers are discovering the power of sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz and LinkedIn to name a few. With WordPress plugins you or your readers can share your blog postings with others just with a click of the mouse. Here are 5 plugins for Social Media that I think are the must haves if you are serious about promoting your business or cause. Update: Some of these plugins have been discontinued or have not been updated by their developers. WP FB Like With the exploding popularity of Facebook this is a must have plugin because it post to the king of social media. WP FB Like is easy to setup and will add the Facebook “Like” Button at the top and bottom of all your post or pages. When your reader clicks on the button a link to your blog post is added to their Facebook wall. If their friends click on the link they are sent to your blog and directly to the post. Update: This plugin hasn’t been updated in over 2 years. It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when used with more recent versions of WordPress. Sexy Bookmarks Here is a WordPress plugin that does it all when it comes to sharing out your blog post. Sexy Bookmarks lets you pick and choice the social media networks you’d like your readers to share to. Plus you can drag and drop them into the position you’d like them to display on your page. You can display the social media networks at the top or bottom of your post. There over 80 social networks to choose from but I would suggest that you keep it under 20 so as not to overwhelm your readers. WP Google-Buzz With all the buzz about Google Buzz and Google’s jump into the social media arena you’ll want this plugin for sure. If you prefer to keep a minimalist look to your blog you might want to consider going with just a few buttons. Facebook, Twitter, Digg and maybe even MySpace depending on the demographics of your readers. WP Google-Buzz is easy to configure and has several customization choices to fit any bloggers needs. Update: This plugin has been discontinued Disqus Comment System This plugin replaces the default WordPress commenting system by adding elements that will drive more traffic to your blog. Both new and repeat traffic can be generated from the use of this popular plugin. Most major newspapers and news organizations use Disqus on their websites. Readers can check a like button just like the FB like button and can post their comments to Facebook and Twitter. Readers can also subscribe by email or RSS and get notified when someone replies to their comment. What’s not to like about this plugin? PostRank PostRank shows off the top post on your blog and is updated automatically as the rankings change. The look and feel of the widget can be set to match the color of your WordPress theme. Monitor your PostRank scores and social media analytic metrics right from the WordPress dashboard. The PostRank plugin is easy to install and setup is a breeze. Keep in mind that it might take a few hours for the top post to start displaying. Wibya The ultimate social media plugin for your WordPress blog is the Wibya Toolbar. Integrate both your Twitter and Facebook Fan Page feeds into your blog along with a host of other choices. Show off your YouTube videos or pick what videos you’d like displayed. Customize the look and feel of the toolbar to match your WordPress theme. Do you use any of the above plugins with your WordPress blog? Have something else that’s a favorite? Please feel free to leave a comment below and add to this list by letting others know your recommendations. Interested in other WordPress Plugins? Check out this post from the blog ““ How To Make My Blog Best WordPress plugins ““ 18 most downloaded WordPress plugins ever If you know someone who could benefit from the information above please feel free to share with others. I appreciate it and hope you’ll return again. Thanks!
Being Social with Social Media On The Go or In The Air
The beauty of running your own business is that you are no longer tied down to the desk. With social media, a mobile hone and a laptop or even a new tablet PC you can promote your business while on the go. It doesn’t matter where you are at anymore to connect with the world and market your business. I’m at Brewforia Beer Market right now which is a business in Meridian, ID that sells over 500 different beers. Brewforia uses social media to connect with their customers by showcasing new product, what’s on tap and new food products. The relaxing environment and free Wi-Fi makes it possible for someone like myself to enjoy a beer, enjoy a craft bread (pizza) and write a blog post or market my business endeavors. Where do you enjoy hanging out when promoting your business? It’s pretty common to find Wi-Fi in every city around the US and Europe. Plus services such as Clear, Rover and Sprint offer 4G in 50 plus cities across the US. That means you could be sitting on a park bench and connected to the internet at super fast broadband speeds. Think about how relaxing that would be enjoying the warm fall sun while conducting business over the internet. I’ve even been connect to the internet while flying 36,000 ft. above the earth heading to Florida. GoGo Inflight Internet connects you to Wi-Fi while on board your cross country flight. Pricing starts around $4.95 per flight segment depending distance travelled. Visit their website for more information on pricing and how the service works. I’ve given you a few ways you you can promote your business while on the go or even in the air. Suggestions? Ideas? Feel free to comment below and start the discussion.
Promote Your Digital Product and Fatten Your Wallet With ClickBank
Looking for a way to promote your product or promote the product of others? Want to make money while you’re at it? With ClickBank you can promote your own products or promote the products of others and make money. ClickBank is based in Boise, Idaho and started back in 1998. There are thousands of digital product vendors on ClickBank and over 110,000 active affiliate marketers. You only need to create an account to get started and can either sell your own product or promote someone else’s product and get paid. Sell Digital Products Online “I earned about $250,000 during my senior year in college and within a year of graduation had crossed the million dollar mark.” Russell Brunson, Idaho, USA Do you have an e-Book you’ve written? How about computer software or a how-to guide? With ClickBank you can promote your product without a lot of overhead. The company will process orders for you via a secured and fraud proof system. You choose the price you want to sell your product for and pay them a one-time activation fee. All you have to do is create a landing page(web page) promoting your product and create some banner ads for affiliates. Affiliates are other people who are willing to promote your product for you by placing a hop link or banner ad on their website. Affiliates get a cut of your profits in the form of a commission when you make a sell. You can find lots of helpful information on selling basics here: ClickBank Selling Basics Promote Products in the ClickBank Marketplace “For anyone wanting to get started in affiliate marketing, ClickBank is the place to go. There are thousands of products to choose from and commission can be as high as 75%; you just won’t find that anywhere else.” Byron Walker, Colorado, USA If you don’t have product to sell but have a blog or a website you can still make money with ClickBank. Affiliate Marketing has been around for years and a great way to supplement your income. Once you have a ClickBank account you can promote any product in the ClickBank Marketplace. There’s thousands of products to choose from and something for everyone. Just find the product you like and generate a hop link to add to your blog or website. The hop link is coded so ClickBank knows who to pay commission if product is sold. Now you can share product with your Facebook friends using SocialPromote. Just click the “Like” button and ClickBank will create a hop and add it to your Facebook Stream. Make sure you are always signed in to your account when generating links or sharing out to Facebook. You can search the marketplace for products that will complement your blog or website. If you have a WordPress blog there are ClickBank plug-ins available that let you add ClickBank product to your blog with ease. Ready to get your feet wet with affiliate marketing or selling your own digital product? Head over to the ClickBank website and get your account ad get started today. Already using ClickBank? Feel free to comment below and share your thoughts with others. Sign Up for ClickBank CJM Marketing Specialties Content By Dennis J. Smith
Promote Your Business or Cause Offline
Besides promoting your business or cause online using social media, you still have to use some traditional offline marketing. The internet has made it easier to use those traditional ways for marketing and keep the cost down. In promoting a few of my business endeavors I came across VistaPrint.com. I took the advice of a friend and picked up a copy of a local business journal. From that I was able to gather the names of new businesses and their addresses. I then created a database using a contact database template I downloaded for free from Microsoft. I was able to add the information to the database and then use Word to print labels for the postcards I designed. The postcards were easy to create online and keep the look and feel of my book. I slapped on the labels and a $.28 cent postcard stamp. The 100 postcards were free thought VistaPrint (special promotion) and I only paid for shipping plus for a few modifications I had made. Besides postcards there are many ways to catch the eye of a potential customer. You could create a t-shirt with your businesses logo and web address and give it away as a prize. With websites like VistaPrint you can even get your first t-shirt free plus shipping. There are tons of ways you can promote your business or cause offline and bring those new customers to your online endeavors. Since I am promoting a book I used Overnight Prints and created a bookmark that I handout to potential customers. The bookmark is something they can use and is always reminding others on where they can buy my book or join the Facebook fan page. Make sure you add all important information such as Facebook page, Twitter User Name, blog address or website URL. Keep your theme the same for all promotional items to make your brand stand out. Notice how the postcard above has the same look at the bookmark to the left. Both have the same look as the cover of my book. Have fun with your promotion and feel free to post a comment with link to your offline promotional designs.