Archive for Online Marketing – Page 15

Why Use a WP Sales Page Template?

Have you tried to create a landing page using WordPress? I have. And I know others have too. You can waste a lot of time and still not get a professional looking page that works to get people to buy or sign up.

Last Thursday, I interviewed Suzanne Bird-Harris, a programmer who developed the WP Sales Page template.

Now Suzanne is pretty tech-savvy and she’s also an expert in WordPress. So when she says this is next to impossible to create a good-looking sales page in WordPress without using a sales page template, I believe her. In fact, I tried to do this once myself, so I know.

I ended up paying someone to create a web page for me, in html. But since WP is so easy to use, I knew there must be a better way.

There is. If you’d like to know how to use a landing page template within your WP blogging platform, I suggest you read this page here, describing how the WP Sales Page template works: WP Sales Page… and yes, it’s an affiliate link because I love this product. It saves me time and energy.

Here are a few notes we discussed during the interview webcast… Read More→

Sales & Landing Pages Using WordPress: Learn How

If  you want to learn about formatting sales and landing pages using WordPress, please register for the free Webinar I’m hosting Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 4 p.m. ET.

I’m interviewing Suzanne Bird-Harris, developer of the WP Sales Page wizard. We’ll show you how to easily publish pages using your WordPress platform. The class is on the phone and on the Internet, your choice.

Can’t make the call? I’ll send you the audio file, plus any notes, but you’ll need to register:

Name
Email

Want to learn more about this great $37 product that makes landing pages easy to format and publish? Here’s Suzanne’s product page (affiliate link): WordPress Sales Page information.

There are a few drawbacks to using WP, if you are using it for product pages, affiliate product landing pages or email squeeze pages: Read More→

8 Ways to Use a WordPress Sales Page

Do you know how many ways a sales page can be used? I woke up thinking about this… because maybe you don’t think a “sales page” is something you need except once in a while for a product launch, when you’re trying to sell something.

Some people call them landing pages, or squeeze pages. I think the term was meant to squeeze your email address out of you, how weird is that? So let’s be clear about what kind of circus animal we’re going to be training to sit up and do tricks on our free teleseminar this Thursday.

Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 4 p.m. ET I’m interviewing Suzanne Bird-Harris on how to use a WordPress platform to create great sales pages. We’ll talk about format styles, different ways to use a page, and key elements that work to build trust. If you can’t attend, you will be sent the audio file and access to our power point presentation, if you register. You can register here:

Name
Email

Here’s my definition of the sales page beast: an attractive, compelling page published on the Internet that is optimized for search engines and designed to persuade a defined group of readers to take one specific action. Read More→

Rant: The Problem with Formatting Sales Pages..

Even when you’re giving something away, for FREE, you’ve got to write good “sales” copy that spurs people into action. In today’s info-crammed world, that means you’ve got to grab busy peoples’ attention, and get them to click, and get them so excited that they take the time to type in their email address in exchange for your offer.

Unless you’re Naomi Dunsford of IttzBiz and know how to skillfully weave obscenities into headlines or emails, what cha gonna do? There are Internet gurus who’ve made millions teaching us lowly common folk with Ph.D.s how to sell socks to centipedes.

Entire Web fortunes have been made. Bare with me, I’m just getting started with this rant…

You think you’ve written a fairly decent sales letter, you’ve got all your benefits, your “AIDA“… (you’ve remembered to grab Attention, gain their Interest, spark Desires, address objections and ask for Action – with a sense of urgency, of course  – but you’re far from done.

The fun is just beginning. Now you’ve got to format your sales letter landing page, with a dynamite headline, cool graphics, arrows, ORDER NOW! buttons, subheadings, testimonials, bonuses…

Ay, ay, Chihuahua! (as we say down here in my home town of Ajijic, Mexico.)

Creating Great Sales Pages Read More→

Blog or Website: Do You Use WordPress as a Website?

Do you use WordPress for your business website? Many people do.  And I’d like to know if you do, how long you have used it as a website, and what your opinion of it is. Leave a comment if you’d like, since the poll only gives you a yes/no choice.

My content business, ContentforCoachesandConsultants.com, is built on a blog platform, although I don’t use it as a blog. I use it as a traditional website for my business, with product pages, etc.

I see a trend here. Many independent professionals want to be in control of their sites, without having to go through a webmaster, and without learning coding or programming.

WordPress makes it easy for anyone to update their own site. You can create pages, just like a website. It can be customized to look like a traditional website for any business, or you can get something customized specifically for your needs.

There are a multitude of talented web people available for customizing it for your needs. Once set up, you can easily publish fresh content, write sales copy, add product pages, and benefit from the facility with which WordPress works with the search engines. Smooth.

I stopped using Dreamweaver software for my websites over two years ago, and started afresh using a custom-designed WordPress platform. Together with my merchant cart, KickStartCart, it gives me everything I need to run an online business, build my marketing database, provide digital products and attract clients with content that’s optimized for search engines.

And, trust me, I’m not someone with a lot of tech skills. I didn’t grow up in the computer age. Demographically, I’m probably in the cohort of  “techno-old-farts.”

Please vote, either yes or no. The results will be shared as we gather more opinions. And if you’ve got a WordPress story to share with us, tell us in the comments how you’re using it for your business, please share your url so we can come check it out!

Twitter: the little bird that grew up strong

Why Twitter Is Such a Powerful Social Media Platform, this week’s guest post by Phyllis Zimbler Miller,

When I first heard Twitter mentioned two years ago – in a teleseminar with the BlogSquad! – I checked it out because I valued Patsi’s advice.

At the time the Twitter home page question was something such as: “Let your family and friends know what you are doing now.”  I thought to myself: Why should they care about this and why should I join the site?  Thus I didn’t join.

But because I trusted Patsi, I went back to the site a few days later and signed up, getting the username @ZimblerMiller.  Another few days later I got my business partner Yael K. Miller to get the username @MillerMosaicLLC to tweet under our company name.

And then something happened!  I began reading about how to use Twitter and observing what was going on – and I got it!  I saw the power of Twitter and embraced it wholeheartedly.   Read More→

WordPress Beats Out Typepad 4 to 1 in Poll

Two-thirds of readers of this blog use WordPress as a blogging platform,  according to results of the poll set up 6 days ago. If you haven’t voted yet, please do so here.

Typepad users make up 14.5% of my blog readers, and the other platforms are in the single digits. Of WordPress users, 25.3% use a platform hosted by WordPress.com, 44% use a self-hosted WordPress blog.

Because of the overwhelming majority who use WordPress, my next teleseminar will be designed for WP users. Specifically, I’m going to interview an expert about how to create a sales page using WordPress. Stay tuned for a date, and… of course, a WP sales page where you can sign up for the free class and learn more WordPress tips.

As you probably know, I switched from a Typepad hosted blog a couple of months ago to self-hosted WordPress, with a Headway theme. So far, I’m very pleased with both the ease of posting, the design and widget features, and the SEO results. Read More→

Click, Read, Learn: B2B Marketing Zone Is
Fast Food for the Brain

B2B MarketingAre you staying informed with the latest marketing tips and trends? If you’re in any kind of business trying to use the Internet to get found, get known and get clients, you know you can easily get overwhelmed with information.

Why? Marketers are particularly vociferous and the Web is a perfect platform to gather and write, speak, and film. The problem is, it’s too much. Too much information, too many tips, too many fads, and it’s hard to sort out what’s important.

Where can you go to get the best, most important marketing tips written by easy-to-read experts? Let me introduce you to B2BMarketingZone.com. This is a topic hub, aggregating blogs posts from a group of 48 best business-to-business marketing blogs.

I’m happy to have been added as a contributor. When you go to B2BMarketingZone, you’ll be able to quickly scan what other marketing experts are blogging about. You pick which posts are relevant to you and your business.

Click, read, learn. I like that. It’s like a snack for your mind. Fast food for the brain. Would you like fries with that?

I recently had a conversation with creator Dr. Tony Karrer, CEO of TechEmpower. First, let me share how this blog aggregator site works, and why it’s important for you to subscribe and bookmark it… then I’ll tell you some ideas Tony and I discussed.

Read More→

4 Time-Saving Tips for Social Media Marketing

What’s the least you should be doing to extend the reach of your online content marketing through social media sites?

This is a good question because many of my readers are busy professionals running a business who don’t have a lot of time. The big danger of sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn is that they can suck you in and spit you out hours later. … and time is money.

Even when you’re connecting and having a good time, you can spend time that isn’t productive. …Sometimes it’s hard to know if it’s time well spent or just a good time.

So for those of you who want the bare minimum effort and time, and still get results, here are a few tips I suggest. I’ll remind you I’m not a social media marketing expert, so please feel free to join in and add other tips in the comments section.

I will tell you I’ve gotten clients directly from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, so I must be doing something right. Read More→

Why Use Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn for
Content Marketing?

True confession time: I am not even close to being smart about using social media for online marketing. No big surprise for those of you who know what an introvert I am. But still, I am using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and I think you should too. Here’s why…

I am a psychologist who helps others get found online, get known in their niche, and get clients. If you’ve read my story, you know how I started using the Web ten years ago, as a complete techno-klutz. All that changed in 2004 and 2005 with the popularization of blogging platforms like Typepad and WordPress.

This ushered in new business success for me and my former partner as The Blog Squad. If you’ve been online for a few years now, marketing your business using the Internet, you probably experienced the same phenomena… all of a sudden you don’t need to be a computer geek to get a site up and start making money.

Around 2004, sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter came along, but they didn’t really pick up steam until 2006 and later. What happened is beyond comprehension on some levels… and totally natural.

Now Facebook boasts one of the highest web traffic numbers and Twitter has become a news source re-broadcast on network TV news stations. Read More→