Internet Marketing Tools | Solo Mompreneur

Stressed Out Trying To Find Essential Biz-Building Tools You Need Online?

Sometimes I’d like to wipe my first three years of working online completely from my memory bank.

At best, those years were stressful and frustrating.

If I had a nickel for every time I wanted to call it quits, I could be driving a Porsche by now!

I’m sure you’ll agree when you start a small business on the internet, there’s not a doggone “instruction manual” anyone hands you that lists all the essential tools you’re going to need.

No — that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?

Instead, it’s all about wading through mounds and mountains of information and enduring that ever lovin’ “trial and error” period (a.k.a. learning curve).

The problem with trial and error (in math class, we used to call it “guess and check”) is that it can be very costly and a big waste of your precious business-building time.

Traci Hayner Vanover of Propa.branda (I love her blog!) is tired of seeing entrepreneurs fumble with their start-ups online through wasting time searching for the resources they need.

With over 20 years of marketing experience and over a dozen years of running her own consulting practice, Traci has written a brand new guide jam-packed with 158 links to resources designed to save you time and money, boost your business, and eliminate the frustration factor!

No lie, no lip service, and no exaggeration …

I only wish I could have had this mega-rolodex in my hands when I first started out. I’m certain I would be looking back on those years with fond memories — instead of wanting to wipe them from my memory bank.

“Tug of War” For Entrepreneurs

By Melanie Kissell 30 Comments

Website or Web Presence.

Which one is tugging harder?

You can have a website that resembles designer fashionwear — with all the latest trendy tools and trimmings.

Peachy.

I mean, after all, who doesn’t want to LOOK good, right? And not only is form important, so is function. You’ve got to have a website that’s working for you — easy to navigate, captivating content, and one that won’t have people clicking away in seconds.

Your work is cut out for you.

It’s not an onvernight accomplishment to design a website that educates, enriches, entertains, and engages your target audience.

Website is pulling pretty hard on that rope!

But what about web presence?

I’m sure you know this by now. To have success on the internet, you’ve got to be seen everywhere. You can’t hang around on your website all day and expect to create a presence online. Ain’t gonna happen.

But being seen everywhere takes mounds of time.

Joining conversations on Twitter, answering questions on Quora and LinkedIn, participating in forum discussions, submitting articles to article directories, interacting on Facebook, recording audios, doing interviews, hosting teleseminars, publishing blog posts — WHEW! And this is only a partial list.

Looks like web presence is pulling pretty hard on that rope, too!

So which one is going to win the entrepreneurial game of “Tug of War”?

Website?

Or Web Presence?

You tell me.

Filed Under: Blogging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Internet Marketing Tools, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: Facebook, LinkedIn, Online Communities, Online Visibility, Quora, Social Networking, Tug of war, Twitter, website design

Adam Urbanski Asked, Denise Wakeman Asked, and You Should Ask, Too!

By Melanie Kissell 8 Comments

If you haven’t been spending much time on your Facebook home page, I’d get over there – Pronto!

Some of the foremost experts in online marketing, visibility, and social media are hanging out on Facebook. The benefits of connecting and interacting with these folks are too numerous to count and they can teach you a lot about how to “engage” your community.

So what are the quintessential business-building professionals up to these days?

In addition to generously giving you the opportunity to strut your stuff, they’re looking for ideas and asking questions.

Adam Urbanski had yet another spark of genius this week and started “Marketing Monday” on Facebook. Every Monday he’s giving you the opportunity to post a link (okay, a shameless plug) to one of your offers.

And on Tuesdays, he’s calling his Facebook thread, “Cool Tool Tuesday” where people can post their favorite free or low-cost biz tool.

Ya can’t beat that deal!

Adam also comes up with some awesome (and thought-provoking) questions like the one he asked today: “What excites you the most about your business?”

If you want to engage your social media community, your group members, your fans, your blog readers, and your target audience, start asking questions.

Interaction is the key. We humans LOVE to answer questions and LOVE to share our knowledge and expertise.

Denise Wakeman posed a great question on Facebook today asking people how they’ve been using their Facebook business page to engage their fans. Denise is one savvy and smart cookie.

What happened next? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Building relationships online, Buzz, Creativity, Internet Marketing Tools, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: Adam Urbanski, Blog, Business, Denise Wakeman, Facebook, Internet marketing, Social Media

How to Fail Faster than a Speeding Bullet in Social Media Marketing

By Melanie Kissell 7 Comments

The goal of business is to sell information, products, or services and make money.

In order to accomplish that goal, you need to alert your target audience of your existence.

Potential customers can’t buy a product or service if they don’t know about it!

Social networking sites not only allow potential customers and clients to meet you, get to know you, and most importantly, trust you – they help you attract people who have an interest in the information, products, or services you have to offer.

Have you been spending a lot of time on social media venues and not seeing a return on your investment of that time?

Is “clueless” how you feel when you work so hard and the sales barely trickle in?

Here’s how to Waste Your Time and FAIL FAST in social media: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Building relationships online, Internet Marketing Tools, Making money on the internet, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: Blogging, Facebook, Social Media, Twitter

It’s Almost Like Being Human – Phlogging on ipadio

By Melanie Kissell 5 Comments

Are you new to “phlogging” and wondering what this strange word means?

Simple! It’s blogging by phone.

Phone + Blog = Phlog

My friend (and brilliant blogger), Fiona Bosticky, of Abnormal Marketing, introduced me to ipadio. I’m really fortunate to have Fiona in my circle of friends for many reasons. But I’m especially lucky because she’s a researcher extraordinaire when it comes to uncovering new tools and technologies to help small business owners market their products and services online.

If you haven’t had the joy of connecting with Fiona yet, look her up. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at all the wonders in her blog posts and all the ways she can help you to market your business. Follow her on Twitter at @abnormalmarket

Here’s an overview of the cool ways you can apply ipadio to your small business strategies: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Internet Marketing Tools, Podcasting Tagged With: Abnormal Marketing, Fiona Bosticky, ipadio, phlogging

Cobweb-covered, Unknown, Unread, Unvisited Blogs

By Melanie Kissell 11 Comments

Blog marketing gives your business a voice.

If you are creative with that voice, you will also enjoy the undivided attention of a captive target audience (which, as you know, can lead to long term relationships and sales).

Using your voice to introduce and promote your products or services is a cost effective manner of advertising and building your business brand. Blogging is one of the best, most widely-used, and simplest shoestring marketing platforms you can use to grow your business.

However, a cobweb-covered, unknown, unvisited blog is as good as NO blog at all.

Is your blog hiding in the shadows? Gathering moss instead of gathering steam? Looking more like a ghost town than a landmark destination? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Internet Marketing Tools, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimization Tagged With: Blog marketing, Blogging, Kathryn Griffiths, Marketing your services online, Online marketing and promotion basics, SEO

Email Marketing: Unhappy With Your Open Rate?

By Melanie Kissell 16 Comments

Have you felt the disappointment (sting) of sending out a broadcast to your list and having only a handful of subscribers … or maybe even no one … open your email?

Ouch.

If you’re anything like me, you go back to your contact management system and re-read your message about a hundred times, hoping to figure out what went wrong.

You may have sent out a very special announcement, a super duper freebie offer, a biz tips video, an invitation to a teleclass, a survey, or an inspirational story – or something else you felt your list would find valuable.

And yet they’re not responsive.

Hardly anyone opens your emails and you’re left, puzzled, as to what you should do to improve your open rate. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Building relationships online, Email Marketing, Email Marketing Campaign, Internet Marketing Tools, Online Marketing Tagged With: Autoresponders, Email Marketing, Email messages, Email open rate

20 Blog Post Titles For You

By Melanie Kissell 27 Comments

Need a blog post idea or two … or twenty?

Whether you participate in blogging challenges or not, you need to be posting fresh content consistently on your blog. You have that strategy written down in your online marketing plan, right?

If you’re currently stumped for ideas and you’re feeling like your well has run dry, look over these twenty titles and see if something resonates with you.

Maybe these ideas will help get your creative juices flowing again and your blogging engine revved up!

1. My Mother is On Facebook

2. Books I Want to Write

3. Social Media Marketing vs Traditional Marketing

4. My Community and How You Can Engage It

5. Just Jump into Podcasting- Here’s How

6. Technology That Empowers Me

7. Should My Town Use Social Media?

8. Ways to Save a Bad Time at a Conference

9. My Children Will Do it Differently

10. If I Were a Television Producer

11. What I Spend Money On

12. Ten Guilty Pleasures

13. The Internet Application I Haven’t Seen

14. When I Feel Frustrated

15. Friends I Can’t Wait to Meet

16. When to Cut Back on Web Habits

17. WordPress Plugins I Use And Why

18. How I Drive Traffic to My Site

19. Downtime – What I Do Offline to Recharge

20. How I Went From Very Shy to Less Shy

You may be thinking, “Melanie, don’t you want to hang on to these titles for your own blog posts? You need ideas, too, right?”

Yes! I need ideas, too, but I never seem to run out. I find ideas at the turn of every corner in everyday life – online and offline.

Help yourself!

And will you come back and let me know if you use any of these ideas?

Filed Under: Blogging, Internet Marketing Tools, Social Media Marketing, Writing effective headlines Tagged With: Blog post ideas, Blog titles, Blogging, Marketing strategies, Online marketing plan

Your Blog is Your Best Attraction Tool

By Melanie Kissell 4 Comments

Every success-minded online marketing entrepreneur, business coach, consultant, self-employed professional, and freelancer needs a blog.

Here’s an equation I learned from Lexi Rodrigo that demonstrates the foundational components of online marketing success:

BLOG + EMAIL MARKETING = PROFITABLE ONLINE BIZ

Your business blog is your most powerful tool for attracting prospects, clients, customers, and even joint venture partners because:

1) It’s a platform for showcasing your talents, skills, and specialized knowledge. It puts you center stage in the spotlight!

2) It encourages interaction and builds community with people who share common interests, objectives, and goals. It’s the perfect place for your target audience to hang out, enjoy the view, and gather some helpful tips, resources, and expert information from you.

3) It’s a place to share the need for and demonstrate the results others have experienced from using your products and/or services. Case studies and product reviews are two of the most popular and most attractive types of blog posts.

4) It’s easy to use and provides you a central location for your online marketing and networking efforts. From all other locations on the internet, always strive to send people back to your blog to gather more information on a topic, subscribe to your list, or learn more about you and what you have to offer.

Your blog is the hub of all your business-building activities. What are some ways you are making your blog a strong magnet?