like: 2011

Selasa, 11 Oktober 2011

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Design as a noun informally refers to a plan for the construction of an object (as in architectural blueprints, circuit diagrams and sewing patterns) while “to design” (verb) refers to making this plan.[1] No generally-accepted definition of “design” exists,[2] and the term has different connotations in different fields (see design disciplines below). However, one can also design by directly constructing an object (as in pottery, cowboy coding and graphic design).

More formally, design has been defined as follows.

(noun) a specification of an object, manifested by an agent, intended to accomplish goals, in a particular environment, using a set of primitive components, satisfying a set of requirements, subject to constraints;
(verb, transitive) to create a design, in an environment (where the designer operates)[3]

Here, a "specification" can be manifested as either a plan or a finished product and "primitives" are the elements from which the design object is composed.

With such a broad denotation, there is no universal language or unifying institution for designers of all disciplines. This allows for many differing philosophies and approaches toward the subject (see Philosophies and studies of design, below).

The person designing is called a designer, which is also a term used for people who work professionally in one of the various design areas, usually also specifying which area is being dealt with (such as a fashion designer, concept designer or web designer). A designer’s sequence of activities is called a design process.[4] The scientific study of design is called design science. [5]

Designing often necessitates considering the aesthetic, functional, economic and sociopolitical dimensions of both the design object and design process. It may involve considerable research, thought, modeling, interactive adjustment, and re-design. Meanwhile, diverse kinds of objects may be designed, including clothing, graphical user interfaces, skyscrapers, corporate identities, business processes and even methods of designing.[6]

Jumat, 22 April 2011

“Use Twitter Contests to Find Targeted Followers” plus 1 more

Use Twitter Contests to Find Targeted Followers

Posted: 21 Apr 2011 12:04 PM PDT

Few things will replace SEO, providing great content, posting frequently, or building relationships with your readers and with other leaders in your niche as ways to help bring visitors to your blog.

However, I’d like to introduce you to another way you can find targeted followers who are interested in the content, products, and services you create: Twitter contests.

Anyone can put on a Twitter contest. The actual steps you go through are not difficult. And anyone can find a lot of followers with a Twitter contest. But what I want to share is how you can craft a Twitter contest to find the people who are interested in your niche, and build excitement around them following you on Twitter.

What is a Twitter contest?

Simply, a Twitter contests is a marketing activity designed to cause people to follow you and tweet a predefined message in order to be entered into a drawing for a prize. At the end of the contest period, you randomly draw the winner from those who:

followed you, and
tweeted the predefined message you created for the contest.

The results, if the contest is crafted right, are a lot of new followers who are truly interested in the messages that you tweet. These are the people who will most likely stay connected with you on Twitter and take action on your tweets. These are also the people who will be most likely to visit your blog or website long after the contest is over.

Each Twitter contest I run yields between 20% and 25% new targeted followers over ten days. My contests are big, so I run them about a year apart. That way, they don’t become so commonplace that they lose their novelty and appeal for either the people who enter, or the sponsors who provide the prizes.

Elements of a successful Twitter contest

While I concede that there are a lot of reasons why a person or company may want to conduct a Twitter contest, the reason that I’m discussing focuses on the blogger’s desire to find targeted followers. All other things being equal, we would rather have 2,000 followers who are interested in the information we tweet, than 10,000 followers who follow us but have no desire to read our tweets.

Depending on how you craft your contest, you may spend a lot of time, energy, and money attracting the wrong people. Alternatively, you can take specific steps to attract those in your niche.

There are several essential elements involved in attracting targeted followers in your niche:

Be clear on the purpose of your contest

Before you go through the work of crafting a Twitter contest, make sure you are clear on what you’re looking to get from the exercise. With me, it’s more targeted followers, targeted being the operative word. Once I have them, I have other activities in place to move them to my blog, my books, and my products. If you’re not clear on the contest’s purpose, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment when it’s over.

Choose prizes wisely

This is perhaps one of the biggest mistakes people make when they conduct a Twitter contest. If you are looking for targeted followers, bigger is not always better—bigger can cost you a lot of money without delivering the results you are looking for. For example, $5,000 in cash may not be as good a prize as a $500 camera or a $30 signed photography book if you’re looking to find photographers as targeted followers.

Sure, $5,000 is empirically worth more than the other two prizes, but consider this: $5,000 may attract a lot of people to your contest who want nothing to do with photography. All they want is the prize—then they’re out of your life. And the truth is that not everyone is motivated to enter contests for cash. Don’t believe me? When was the last time you entered the Publisher’s Clearinghouse $10,000,000 sweepstakes?

When you select a prize for your Twitter contest, it needs to do two things:

Encourage people in your niche to enter the contest.
Discourage people who aren’t in your niche from entering.

Generic prizes like cash, electronics, and vacations appeal to a wide range of people without doing anything special to reach out and grab the attention of a photographer. A camera, however, might raise the eyebrows of someone in your niche, as would a signed book from a renowned photographer.

Spending time choosing the right prizes that appeal to your targeted Twitter followers can make or break your chances of contest success. It can also save you a lot of money by helping you focus on the prizes that your targeted followers really value.

Don’t offer only your own prizes

Here is another mistake that people often make when they launch a Twitter contest designed to find targeted followers. Instead of reaching out to others for help in providing cool prizes, they only offer a book they wrote, a product they created, or a service they offer. While your prizes may be worthy of prize status, you will be missing out on a huge opportunity to find new targeted followers if you don’t invite others to contribute prizes.

When you reach out to experts and leaders in your niche to donate prizes to your contest, you are in essence setting up a sure way that the sponsors will send their followers to your blog or website—where they’ll find out how to enter your contest. You’ll also capture a lot of their followers on Twitter when they enter your contest. These are targeted prospects who may never have known about your contest had it not been for the sponsor your recruited.

As an example, I recently launched a Twitter contest for my blog with nearly 20 sponsors. Each of these sponsors will play a huge part in sending traffic my way; and since I chose sponsors and prizes related to my niche, the quality of visitors should be in line with the target audience I’m aiming to attract.

Give away the spotlight

In order to get the best experience from your contest, you need to take a step back from the limelight during the contest, and make your sponsors shine. This will give them all the encouragement they need to enthusiastically promote your contest to their followers and subscribers. Remember—these people are business men and women who are constantly looking for ways to promote their business. If you set them up as experts with a prize worthy to win, then they will help you communicate that message.

Another way you provide value to your sponsors during the contest is by highlighting their prize, linking to it, and linking to their website. By doing this, you’re increasing the chance that someone who’s looking at your prize list will see something they like, and decide to buy it instead of waiting for the contest to end.

Make the contest period the right length

This is where some finesse comes in. If you make the contest period too short, it will be over just about the time that its exposure is ramping up, causing you to miss out on a lot of potential traffic. Conversely, if you make it too long, people will not get the sense of urgency to enter it now.

We all know that if we don’t get a prospect to take action when we have them on our page, the chances that they will come back to do so later are dismally low.

With my contests, I’ve found that ten days seems to be a good running period. I run them over two weekends and the week between, starting on a Friday and going through the second Sunday. However, the length and the days you choose may be different for your niche. Don’t be afraid to test the contest length to find the optimal one for you.

Plan your tracking system

You need a plan for tracking all the people who enter your contest. The worst thing you can do is run a contest and then realize that you forgot to track it. Or worse—find that the tracking system you planned to rely on doesn’t give you accurate results.

For example, if you rely solely on Twitter search to find your entrants, you may find that the results don’t go back far enough to capture all the entries.

I like to use redundancy by choosing two tracking methods and cross-referencing the results. There are a number of great services that can send you alerts whenever someone enters the retweet phrase you create for your contest. When your contest starts, you need to immediately confirm that your alerts are capturing data accurately.

Communicate who the winner is and measure your results

When the contest is over, you need to contact the winner and announce on your official contest page that the contest has been won.

I wait until I receive confirmation from the winner before I publish his or her name. I also give the winner seven days to respond to my contact before I choose another winner. The last thing you want to do is choose a winner who doesn’t accept the prize, or one who comes back a month later and wants to collect the prize package then. Be clear in your rules and you can avoid issues like this.

If you’re like me, the real fun begins when the contest is over. This is when you get to crunch all the numbers to see how well you did. The data you get can help your next contest become more effective.

Creating a great retweet message

As I said earlier, for a follower to have a valid entry in your contest, they need to:

follow you on Twitter
retweet a specific message that you create.

A great retweet message will look like this one, which I created for my last contest. This retweet message is not for my current contest, so please don’t retweet it! I’m using it for illustrative purposes only:

RT @tonyeldridge Win a $1300 book marketing prize package from top book marketing experts in the business: http://tinyurl.com/ljn7y6

A great retweet message has these elements:

It’s 140 characters long, or less. Don’t forget to make room for the URL when crafting your message. Some blog platforms won’t provide you with the post’s URL until after the post goes live. In those cases, you’ll have to grab the URL, shorten it, and edit your post with the complete RT message once you publish the post.
It begins with “RT @YourTwitterID.” If you don’t place something before your Twitter ID, then Twitter will treat the tweet as a reply, rather than a mention. This can limit your contest retweet message’s exposure.
It makes mention that this is a contest, and summarizes the prize. It’s harder than you think to craft a small message that packs a big call-to-action, but it can be done. Your goal is to craft a message that makes people want to visit your page to read more about this great contest you’re having.

Twitter contest launch tips

Based on my experience, here are some parting tips to help make sure your Twitter contest takes off smoothly:

Don’t roll out a contest on the fly. Until you get experience with running these contests, there are too many places for things to go wrong. A little planning goes a long way for a smooth contest launch.
Give sponsors plenty of time to respond. If you don’t have enough planning time, you will not give potential sponsors enough time to digest the benefits of donating a prize to your contest. Chances are, you will be the first person who has approached them about being a sponsor. If you give enough time for this process, you can truly win them over to this marketing activity.
Test all links to your sponsors’ pages. You will be reaching for the antacid tablets if you get a bunch of calls from sponsors saying that their links are broken. Broken links are a rough way to start a contest.
Make sure you understand exactly what your sponsors are offering as prizes. Here’s where you grab the rest of the antacids in the bottle. You post that your sponsor will donate a 60-minute, free consultation; they come back after the contest is live and say, “No, I said I’d donate a signed copy of my book.” You really don’t want to have to change your prizes after the contest starts, nor create hard feelings between you and your sponsor.
Don’t change the rules mid-contest. People expect rules, but they don’t like to see them change. It tends to make them feel like they’re not being treated fairly, or that they’re being taken advantage of. You don’t want to create ill-will by changing rules after the contest launches unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Tweet around the clock. Twitter is global, so make sure you are tweeting about your contest around the clock. Even in your own country, you may have target audience members working all hours of the day. Someone is always around to read about your contest.
Don’t charge for an entry into your contest, or require someone to purchase something to enter. In many places, it’s illegal to require someone to purchase something to enter a contest. The laws of gambling take effect then. To be safe, make a “No purchase necessary” contest.
Don’t trust your sponsors to promote the contest. Prompt them. I often create special tweets that highlight an individual sponsor’s prize and tweet it three or four times during the contest run. This almost always catches their attention and causes them to retweet the message, thus increasing their followers’ exposure to the contest.
Follow Twitter’s contest rules. Twitter contests are popular, so Twitter has weighed in on rules they impose for contests. Their rules are simple and very practical, so make sure you follow them. Here’s a summary:
- Discourage the creation of multiple accounts. If your contest encourages people to create multiple accounts to better their chances of winning, you are in violation of Twitter’s Terms Of Service.
- Discourage posting the same tweet repeatedly. While it’s okay to have one tweet that everyone needs to use, you cannot encourage users to tweet it multiple times to increase their chances of winning.
- Ask users to include an @reply to you in their update so you can see all the entries. You can see this in my Retweet example earlier.
- Encourage the use of topics relevant to the contest. If I have a Twitter contest about photography and I say, “Cool new Apple phone out now” just to get people to click on the contest link in the tweet, I’m breaking the rules. You can use specific hashtags in the tweets, but even the hashtags need to be relevant to your contest.
Have fun. You may find a contest stressful when you launch it, but take a breath and relax. I’m betting this will be one of the most memorable marketing experiences you’ll engage in!

Twitter contests, conducted correctly, can be a fun, viral way to uncover targeted Twitter followers and ultimately send them to your blog or website. If you conduct quality contests on a regular basis, you will find sponsors lining up to be part of your next contest, and you’ll build an eager niche anticipating your upcoming contests. Once you have these followers, it’s up to you to keep them, with valuable tweets that relate to their interests.

Have you had experience with Twitter competitions? How have they worked for your blog? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Tony Eldridge is the creator of the Marketing Tips For Authors blog and the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests, and the action/adventure novel, The Samson Effect, that New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler calls a “first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure.”

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

Use Twitter Contests to Find Targeted Followers

Why Your Self-Hosted Blog is More Valuable than Your Facebook Page

Posted: 21 Apr 2011 06:07 AM PDT

This guest post is by Marcie Hill of The Write Design Company .

Facebook has taken the Web by storm in a very short period. In addition to being the highest ranking social networking site, it is the second most visited site in the world according to Alexa, the popular blog measuring tool. Facebook's popularity is so great that it unseated Google as the king of the Web one day in 2010.

Even though Facebook offer relationships, fun, and exposure, following are five reasons why I think your self-hosted blog is more valuable than your Facebook Page.

1. You can control your own media and space

You have limited control on Facebook. You have access to the profiles and pages you create, but having access isn't the same as ownership. And your design options are minimal. Your blog, on the other hand, is your space to do what you want, when you want, how you want. From design to set up to content.

I recall a time when Facebook sent a message to their millions of members information them of content ownership. Apparently, anything shared on Facebook belonged to them. After loads of protests and opposition, the social networking giant backed down. I am not convinced. Generally speaking, if you do not own something, you cannot control it. If Facebook shuts down or suspends your account, you will not have access to the content you entered. Thus, your self-hosted site is definitely a better option for media creation.

2. You can reach a very targeted group

People who sign up to receive your blog updates tend to be most interested in the content you provide. It is more likely that this group will convert to loyal followers. You can have all the fans you want on Facebook, but if those people are not taking interest in what you share on your blog, all you have is a big remote fan base on someone else's site.

3. You have the chance to get paid for advertisements

On Facebook, you have to pay to get your message to your targeted group. On your blog, people have to pay you to get their message across to your audience. Because you control the site, you determine the type of ads you want, how long you are going to let them run and how much they should cost.

4. You can rank high on Google

If someone conducts a Google search on your name or company, your Facebook pages may appear within the top five search results. That's impressive. However, if you blog quality content consistently, your site will also rank within the top five—or at least on the first page. Even if your self-hosted site appears below your Facebook page in the search results, at least you own the site.

5. Everybody is not on Facebook

Some people may never join Facebook; others are leaving. Even with these transitions, people will always have access to your blog. You don't want to alienate people who are likely to support you just because they’re not on Facebook.

Above are five reasons why I think your self-hosted blog is better than your Facebook Page. Use Facebook as a means to an end—not as an end in itself. Use it to make contacts and drive traffic back to the site you own and control. Remember, if you don't own it, you can't control. And you will never own Facebook.

Marcie Hill is the Founder & President of The Write Design Company help clients develop creative conversations that will lead to long-term online and offline relationships. She also shares information on culture, education, employment, health and youth programs and activities on her community site, Shorty: Your Chicago South Side Resource.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

Why Your Self-Hosted Blog is More Valuable than Your Facebook Page

Kamis, 21 April 2011

ProBlogger: Have You Outgrown Your Blog?

Have You Outgrown Your Blog?

Posted: 20 Apr 2011 06:07 AM PDT

This guest post is by Brian Milne, a longtime sports blogger and founder of the BallHyped Sports Blogging Community.

We've all been there.

You've been blogging for months, even years, and your blog is going nowhere fast. Traffic is stagnant. Your subscriber count has dropped off. AdSense is paying just that: cents per day.

So what's a blogger to do when they hit "the wall?" The most important thing to remember is that every blogger hits it. The key is to break through that wall or scale over it.

To overcome the wall, you have to look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself the question: Have you outgrown your blog, or have you failed to grow with your blog?

Like our blogging platforms (WordPress, for example, has two or three major updates each year), individual bloggers have to evolve as well.

If your blog has plateaued because of a lack of promotion (are you spending as much time marketing your blog as you do writing for it?), content development (have you tried complementing your writing with images, podcasts, video?), SEO improvements (are you using keyword phrases in titles, opening paragraphs, subtitles, captions, and attachment file names?), then it's on you to grow.

But if your blog has plateaued because your niche is too niche, it's time your blog's subject matter evolved.

How niche is too niche?

In today's saturated blogosphere, all the talk is about niche sites, and niche is a great way to make a quick buck impact: getting your site to rank quickly for super specific keyword phrases, and making a name for yourself in a small industry or at a local level.

But is that micro-level impact your long-term goal for your blog? Or are you looking for something more?

Don't limit yourself. If your existing blog is going to be a major part of your life, your business, and your brand long term, you need to think long term.

Can you crush through "the wall" with better, or more content? Can you add topics or categories to your blog without it feeling bloated or misplaced?

If so, it's time to write about something different, which is the easiest way to hurdle the blogging barrier. Write about new topics, with a fresh set of keyword phrases, and it's only a matter of time before Google starts sending you fresh visitors based on those search terms.

But if, deep down inside, you feel your blog has a shelf life, and you're unable to expand your content with additional categories under the existing title or URL, it's time to move on … and redirect/roll up your existing content into a category or tag on a new blog with a broader range of topics. That, in some cases, might be the only way you'll ever smash through the wall and set yourself up for long-term success.

A smashing success

Suggesting a friend, colleague or family member ditch an existing blog for something bigger isn't an easy thing to do. And I'd never encourage it unless that blogger knew in their gut they had outgrown it.

I underwent that gut check a few years back when I ditched a somewhat popular regional fishing blog and forum in favor of a statewide fishing site. While that site attracted a much larger audience, and gave me hundreds of new fishing destinations to write about, I quickly realized I was still limiting myself keeping the blog within California's borders.

But I still had room to grow as a blogger, and instead of rushing out to start a national fishing blog—and redirecting all of my content, again—I focused on developing the content I had. I went from writing a couple posts a week, to writing multiple posts per day. I brought on user-generated content and even created my first ebook.

Next thing I know, I'm signing on with No-Nonsense Fishing Guides to write a second edition of that book for print. That led to another book deal with Wilderness Press, and later, a paid blogging position to cover national and international fly fishing topics for About.com.

I took the same route with my sports blogs, starting off with a Blogger site focused on a small local college, before moving on to create a popular West Coast sports blog, and then the national sports blogging community, BallHyped.com.

So there's something to be said for building up your expertise on your niche blog, and expanding on those experiences for a larger audience. Just make sure you're not leaving behind a blog and a niche that has huge growth potential in itself.

Make the move

What's your gut telling you as you read this?

Is there still room to grow on your current blog? If so, use this opportunity to develop your content and take your blog to the next level.

Or have you outgrown your blog, and feel a need to expand your blogging horizons? If this is the case, you've probably been thinking about it for quite some time.

Now the only question that remains is: What are you waiting for? The best thing you can do if you've seriously considered expanding your blog is to just do it. Instead of writing another post for a lame duck blog, channel that energy into your new site, because it's going to take some time to get it set up, alert your existing community, and redirect all of your awesome niche content.

But if you do it the right way, that wall will come crashing down in no time at all.

Have you outgrown a blog? I'd be interested in hearing how you overcame the wall in the comments below.

A former McClatchy senior writer and web editor, Brian Milne has taken his own advice today and is launching the BLOGhyped.com blog promotion network, where bloggers of all genres can share their blogs, get followed links and additional blogging resources. For consultation and content development services, contact Milne via Twitter @BMilneSLO.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

Have You Outgrown Your Blog?

Rabu, 20 April 2011

“10 Things TV Shopping Networks Can Teach You About Making Money Blogging” plus 1 more

10 Things TV Shopping Networks Can Teach You About Making Money Blogging

Posted: 19 Apr 2011 12:02 PM PDT

This guest post is by Jill Chivers of www.shopyourwardrobe.com.

I found myself entranced recently by a "presentation" on a TV shopping network. I usually flip straight past these networks, as I was of the opinion that they were cheesy shows, presented by couldn't-quite-make-it TV presenters, and that they pushed sub-par products onto poor, lonely, hapless, housebound consumers who didn't know better. Not that I was judgmental about them in any way…

But this time I found myself stopping for a moment, just to see what they were about.

As the "presentation" (which is what they called it—at this stage, I was still thinking of it as a cheesy, garbage-pushing intrusion) unfolded, I found myself becoming fascinated by the sheer audacity of it.

These shows face an enormous sales challenge, the scale of which could appropriately be linked to climbing to Base Camp, possibly without an oxygen mask. While no-one could call their techniques sophisticated, they are effective. The home shopping industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and sales actually increased during the global financial crisis, when all other retailing was going down the toilet.

What can we learn from how the TV shopping networks sell their wares? Without becoming cheesy and surrendering all integrity, of course. Well, the short answer is: a great deal! Here are the top 10 tips that we can take away from those who sell from, and to, the couch.

1. Repetition

The messages the TV shopping networks provide are repeated, over and over and over and over. They know that telling us once isn't going to do it. Telling us twice is not enough either. We need to be told repeatedly about the product, the offer, the deal, the limited stock. They tell us—and they keep on telling us.

Ask yourself: How often are you sharing your message with your readers? We get bored with our own message long before our readers do. Don't tell 'em once, don't even tell ‘em just twice. Tell ‘em over and over.

2. Funnel the info

Not only is the information repeated on these shows, but it's funneled. They start off by overviewing the entire list of products and packages that are being presented. Then they go through each one in turn, detailing each product—what the product’s about, what's in the deal, and what's in it for us.

Ask yourself: Have you structured your information so it's easy to digest? Have you overviewed your offering (helicopter view) first, and then dropped into the detail? Don't expect us, your readers, to organize your information—lay it out for us.

3. Features and benefits

Aren't you utterly tired of marketing gurus telling us not to share the features of our products and focus exclusively on benefits? I am!

The TV shopping networks prove how false a technique that really is. Features tell us the what, while benefits tell us the so what. Without the what the so what seems contrived, or made up. Features provide us with evidence—they're the proof so many of us need. If all we hear is that the product is made from "all-natural products that smooths and brightens the skin with no harmful ingredients" we can find ourselves responding with, "Meh … aren't they all saying that?" But when we hear the list of ingredients, or hear what's not in the product, or hear any of the other details about the product, it provides us with proof.

Ask yourself: Are you explaining the what and the so what of what's in your product or service? Are you making it easy for us to believe in your benefits by sharing at least something about the features?

4. Demonstration

The TV shopping network presentations show us the products in action. We see the Mink, marble-pressed mineral foundation with hydrating beads being dusted onto the model’s face—see how quick and easy it is to apply? We see the weight loss powder being mixed up with fresh fruit in the blender—see how "pantry friendly" the pack size is?

Ask yourself: Are you showing us how easy, quick, simple, effective, or whatever else your product or service is to use? What else can you do to put your product or service into action so your prospects get to see it in use before they buy?

5. Results

The TV shopping networks not only demo their products so we can see them in real-time action. They also show us people who have been using the products for a long period of time (often years), and get them to tell us what a difference their products have made to their lives. This is different to the demo, which is in real time and could possibly be faked. Results from real people aren't quite so easy to simulate.

Ask yourself: Are you showing us the results that people who use your product and service get? Your testimonials page is one of the best ways of doing this—but are you keeping the testimonials fresh and updated? Build your "mountain of testimonials" over time, and keep adding to them.

6. Updates

Throughout the presentation, the presenters gave us updates about how the product was selling. When a certain level of stock had been sold, we were updated that "this product has just gone limited,” signalling that only a few were left. This happened from minute one: the presenters signaled that the product was already selling. Combined with point 9 below, this creates a compelling case to pick up the phone.

Ask yourself: How fresh is your information about your products and services? Have you updated your product or service in some way, and forgotten to tell your readers and prospects about it? Have you sold a milestone number, such as 100, or 1000 products? Has your list reached a milestone number of subscribers? Share what's newsy and make your prospects and readers feel part of the action!

7. Packaging and bonuses

These home shopping shows rarely showcase single products for sale. Even big-ticket items are bundled up with bonus products to sweeten the deal. Instead of a single bronzer being sold, they sell us the Forever Flawless package with 3in1 skin perfector and auto lip-liner in a choice of three colours with the Diamonds Are Forever dusting powder—all packaged in a lined satin make-up bag for touch-ups on the go!

Ask yourself: How can you add bonuses to what you already offer? Or how can you make clearer to your prospects the bonuses you already offer? Tell us how much we're saving or the value of our bonuses, so the final sale price makes us feel fortunate to have been so smart.

8. Pricing

These shows offer discounted pricing (although verifying that is problematic, giving the urgent timeframes they place on the offers); they sweeten the deal by offering some form of discount off ordinary pricing, however small. They also step out what we're getting (the value of our whole package, with bonuses), and tell us what we're saving.

Ask yourself: How have you explained your pricing? Is it a flat-footed statement of plain fact, or have you made an effort to show us what a great deal we're getting? Even if you do not have a limited pricing offer, how can you make it easy for us to see how fabulous your pricing really is? Do you throw in postage and handling? Is your pricing less than some other poorer-quality, higher-priced competitor? What's special about your pricing? How else can you position your pricing so that we feel oh-so-smart for buying what you're offering?

9. Urgency

Through the use of updates, limited availability, and discounted pricing, a sense of great urgency is created on these shows. Viewers of the TV shopping networks are lead down a carefully constructed path that leads inexorably to action. Namely: picking up the phone and ordering at least one, if not more, products. Sure, they educate. Yes, they demonstrate. But ultimately, they're here for one thing—to sell their product. They aren't embarrassed about it, either. There is no coyness in their communications, no hesitation in their message.

Ask yourself: Why would a prospect buy your product today? What have you done to make it easy for them to feel good about making a Right Now purchase, rather than making it easy for them to delay the buy? If you can only create a false sense of urgency (and that makes you feel sleazy), what else can you do encourage action now?

10. Recaps and the late up-sell

It's never really finished with the TV shopping networks. The sell, that is. After the presentation ends, there are other messages (commercials on a home shopping network seem like the ultimate act of a snake eating its own tail, and yet they have them!). But they always come back for one more up-sell. Often it's positioned as a Buyers’ Choice segment—a short segment that highlights one of the packaged up bumper-bonus deals that we'd be mad to miss!

Ask yourself: Where is there an opportunity for you to do a late up-sell in the education and sales process you offer? Where can you offer a "wait—there's more!" opportunity that truly adds value and book-ends the sales message you are delivering?

TV tactics on your blog?

You may not wish, or even need, to use all of these strategies. The TV and home shopping networks are a particular breed that not all of us wish to emulate in full—their sales approaches are more sledgehammer than fine scalpel, for one thing. But they can teach us a lot about selling: how to position our products, how to present them, how to craft our communications, and how to make the sale. After all, that's what they're in business to do—make the sale.

Perhaps you aren't using the right-kind-for-you aspects of these techniques as conscious convincers for your prospects. Perhaps all you need to offer is one more thing in one more way—a tweak rather than an overhaul—to increase your conversion rates.

Ask yourself: What more can I be doing to make this sale easy for my prospects? That's what the TV shopping networks do.

Jill Chivers used to love shopping. After completing her own "year without clothes shopping challenge" in 2010, she created an award-winning website and international business that helps other women create a healthier relationship to shopping. Check it out here: www.shopyourwardrobe.com.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

10 Things TV Shopping Networks Can Teach You About Making Money Blogging

How I’m Eliminating … Okay, Minimizing Distractions and Getting More Done

Posted: 19 Apr 2011 06:09 AM PDT

Today I asked my followers on Twitter what their biggest challenge as a blogger was. There were hundreds of responses but the word that stood out to me time and time again was “time.”

Finding time to blog is something most of us struggle with at one point or another, if not every day. So today I thought I’d share a strategy that I used this week to keep me on track (one that actually worked!).

Get off Farmville!

Okay, so Farmville isn’t a problem for everyone, but I suspect that we all have an equivalent distraction (or two). I have a few: Twitter can be my Farmville, so can Instagram, so can any kind of Tower Defence game on my iPhone. A stroll down to the lounge room to wrestle with my kids could be another… the list could go on.

None of these things are evil. Some, in fact, could be useful and a part of your business (which blurs the line and makes it hard, because you can start out being productive and end up wasting your time). However they all can take us away from what we really know we should be focusing upon.

Ultimately, it comes down to knowing what distracts you and eliminating it (or at least putting boundaries around it).

That’s easier said than done, of course, so today I want to let you in on something I did recently in a week where I needed to be super-extra productive and eliminate distraction.

Here’s What I’ve Been Doing to Eliminate Minimize Distractions

I wrote this on the whiteboard that sits in front of me:

Okay, it’s not the sexiest productivity tip I could give. It’s not an app to keep you on track, and it certainly hasn’t emerged from any kind of research I’ve done into productivity.

It’s just two questions that I decided to ask myself constantly this week in an attempt to keep me on track and away from those time-sucking distractions that pull me away from those things that I know I need to achieve.

Why did I do it?

My reason for asking these questions was simply that I realized that I needed to challenge myself to question my decisions about the way I spend my time. You see, I find that if I don’t do it, my day simply evolves form one thing to another—and many of the activities aren’t that productive.

For example, let’s look at Twitter. Twitter can be a great way to spend your time if you’re a blogger. It can help you research articles to write about, it can be great for networking with others in your niche, and it can be great for driving traffic for your blog (amidst other great stuff). But it can also be a time-suck—it can be responsible for your day completely disappearing.

Asking “Why are you doing that?” as I look up from TweetDeck forces me to think about what I’m doing on Twitter at that moment and whether it’ll take me closer to or further away from my objectives as a blogger.

Answering it leaves me with a few options:

I realize that I’m wasting my time and I do something else that’s more productive.
I realize that I’m not using it effectively and refocus upon using Twitter to move towards my goals.
I realize that yes, I’m using Twitter well and keep going.

The problem with this approach is that I tend to lie to myself at times. I suspect we all do…

“Of course I’m using Twitter productively right now. I’m … errr … building relationships with people … and … um … networking … and getting better at communicating in short sentences … and honing my … social media skills…”

We’re pretty good at justifying anything we want to do, aren’t we? Or am I the only one?

So I ask myself the same question, but a little differently: “Do you need to?”

I know I’m sounding like my mother, but perhaps she was onto something. Again, the question makes me consider how I’m using my time, and I either change what I’m doing, or keep going accordingly.

Lastly is the “Really?” question, which again is a little parental. But it’s often at this point, having challenged myself three times, that I realize I’m fooling nobody—I really need to snap out of it and get back on track.

I’m not saying that I’ve not been distracted this week at all (you’d only need to check my Instagram and Twitter streams to know that’s not the case) but what I have found is that by simply asking myself through the day about how I’m spending my time, I’ve been more focused and more intentional about how I do spend my time.

That’s what’s working for me. How about you? How do you keep on track and stay focused upon what you need to get done?

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

How I’m Eliminating … Okay, Minimizing Distractions and Getting More Done

Selasa, 19 April 2011

ProBlogger: How to Write Amazing Product Reviews

How to Write Amazing Product Reviews

Posted: 18 Apr 2011 06:09 AM PDT

This guest post is by Ray Maker of DCRainmaker.com.

Product review posts are in many ways the core of what blogging is about—the ability for all of us regular folks to express an opinion about a product, be it good or bad. Every day, tens of thousands of product reviews are written on blogs across the world, and often, on just one product alone, hundreds of new opinion/review posts are written each week.

The goal of most folks when they write a review post is to share their opinion with the world about the product. But how do you differentiate writing a review post that only sees a handful of eyeballs, from ones that see thousands of readers every day—and in some cases ranks even higher than the manufacturer's own product page?

Know the product like nobody else

The single biggest difference between writing a product review that's just so-so, and writing one that kicks butt is demonstrating an in-depth knowledge of the product. A product review that is written by someone who understands the product inside-out will organically attract more attention than one written by someone who's just stumbling around.

If you understand the product inside and out, show off that knowledge. If you don't, then learn it quick! When people search the Internet for a review of a specific product, they're looking for detail and coverage of the product. What they aren't looking for is a short blurb with a few "Four out of Five Stars!" icons tossed in. If they were looking for that, they'd just check the ratings on their favorite online retailer’s site instead.

No, when they look for a product review, they're looking for unbiased feedback from knowledgeable experts in that field. The most popular product review sites for any niche are written by folks that understand the product and every little detail about it. While short “I just opened up the box”-type reviews have their place, one has to realistically understand that place won't be at the top of search engine results.

Speak from the perspective of someone new to the product…

If you review products often, you can easily get into the rut of thinking “my readers already know what I'm talking about.” And while this may actually be true, you have to step back and look at what your end-state target audience is.

In many cases, it's not only your regular readers, but also everyday people searching the wild blue yonder trying to find information about that specific product. And in many cases, they know nothing about that product or its genre. If I were to go out and buy a new camcorder today, I'd likely be starting from scratch to find out what’s a normal feature, and what's a totally cool unique feature.

In thinking about it from that angle, you should always introduce functionality within a product as if the person never knew it existed. The benefit to doing this is that you not only explain that piece of functionality, but also teach your reader something new. This is critical. Users who find blogs educational will almost always stay around for more. If they don't learn anything new, they'll simply wander elsewhere and not come back.

…And from the perspective of a longtime user

In addition to approaching a product from the newbies’ standpoint, it's also important to delve into subjects that long-time users of the product or product series will find useful or educational. You can do this in a number of ways, but I find the easiest way is to simply talk about the evolution of a given feature from product to product. By doing so you illustrate not only your understanding of the product, but also your understanding of past products within the same line/genre/niche.

Longtime users often come to product reviews looking for a fix for “their issue.” This is generally an issue that's caused them deep annoyance for a period of time. It tends to be the one and only thing they're hoping to hear has been fixed or solved. By covering these key desires of previous generations of products or competitor products, you’re no longer just another reviewer, but someone who truly understands the product they’re reviewing.

In short: know the product pains, and address them.

Don't use PR marketing material

There is no quicker way to turn off readers than regurgitating canned PR pieces from a manufacturer. Not only can the average human detect it, but search engines do as well. People immediately gloss over anything that looks like either PR text, or PR images. I always shoot all of my own images. While my photographic skill varies between barely functional and decent, readers know they're real images that show off how the product works in the real world—not carefully crafted pictures photo-shopped in the best light.

Speaking of PR, be careful with what you keep of products. In my case, I have a pretty clear policy that anything I test goes back to the company. I generally poke at it for about 30-45 days, and then once I publish my review, I send it back. Often I'll end up purchasing another copy of the product to be able to answer questions about it over the long-term. Just remember, most readers can quickly see whether or not you're praising a product simply because you got it for free. Using those PR snippets never helps that case, either.

Research the living daylights out of it, and don't make mistakes

If there's one thing that folks know about my reviews, it’s that they're both complete and accurate.

I spend inordinate amounts of time ensuring that every detail is correct. When I proof my reviews, I often sit back and read them from the perspective of a nit-picker. As such, I ponder every little detail. Is that 100% accurate? Should there be a caveat noted? Are there fringe cases where someone might disagree? If so, address those issues. By addressing edge cases and tiny details up front, you address concern within the reader's mind about review accuracy. It also helps to drive the key tenant of product reviews that I touched on earlier: showing in-depth knowledge of the product.

And while I try to avoid making mistakes, it's certainly possible that in my 60-80 page reviews, they occur. I always include a little snippet that simply says "If I've written something that doesn't quite jive, just let me know and I'll research it and get it fixed". We're all human, and reminding readers of that puts everyone at ease.

Show off what the product can do with examples from your other posts

I'm told one of the biggest draws of my blog is that when folks find a given product review, they're given information not only about that product, but about how to use that product to its fullest potential. I do this of course within the product review itself, but also by providing comprehensive links to relevant content throughout my site.

I have numerous other articles and posts that explain what a given feature does, even if it's not product specific. If I'm talking about how to use that feature, I'll give a brief introduction within the review, but then I'll direct folks to another post for an equally in-depth post on that specific feature. This has the added benefit of increasing page views and reducing bounce rates. And remember one of the other key pillars of a good review—educating? Well, by introduce readers to other educational content, and they'll find your blog even more beneficial.

Do communicate with the company

This is one step many folks overlook, which is puzzling to me. I usually make a point of circling back to the company that made the product, and having a brief conference call or email exchange to discuss both the pros and cons that I found while reviewing the product. Why would I do this? A whole bunch of reasons!

First, doing this creates a bridge between my readers and the company—a great way to funnel future feedback to them … or from them.

Second, in some cases issues I found aren't really issues, but things that can be solved a different way. This is information I can then pass onto readers, helping them out should they encounter the same problem, and increasing your value as an educator.

Third, people just want answers. While complaining and making a racket about a problem is fun for a while, it's not what makes for a good long-term readership draw to your site. By talking to the company you can often understand the “Why” of an issue, and get realistic answers on how that decision was made. Even if the issue can't be fixed, at least folks can understand the reasoning—and then independently decide for themselves the validity of it.

Reply to post comments with answers

I spend a fair bit of time not only immediately after I post an in-depth product review—but also for months and years—answering peoples questions about the product. This shows that I'm still involved with the post and niche, and that I care about helping them out.

Do this, and readers are far more likely stick around with you and see what else you have to say. In addition, this back-and-forth discussion tends to answer questions that others are searching for, once again helping to drive up PageRank on your product review posts.

Search out forums with questions

As you've read countless times on ProBlogger, the easiest way to build support for your blog is to invest in your niche’s community. But “investing” doesn't mean that you partake in seagull-style forum link dropping. It means that you look for questions on forums that you spend time in and answer the question there. Once you've fully answered the question there, then include a link to relevant off-site content if and only if it’s relevant.

Folks can easily see through link-dropping, but by answering the question fully and then mentioning that additional reading is just a click away, you truly contribute to the community, instead of just bettering your own blog.

Communicate to relevant media outlets

Last but not least, if you're reviewing a product that's new on the scene, sending a quick note to relevant media outlets and popular sources of information in that niche can be a great way to spread the word. I generally send a quick note letting them know I've published something new and that it may be of use to their readers. And then I leave it at that.

In the same way that you on your own blog have a vision for what would be published, they do as well. So respect the fact that every review you post may not be exactly what they're looking for, and don't pester them continually—that's not good for you long term.

Wrap up

Last but not least, with any product review it's important to write a summary or wrap-up. That's what readers skim for. While I write 60-80 pages of stuff on most of my in-depth reviews, I understand that at the end of the day people skim to the end of the post. Be sure to outline the pro's and con's there. Summaries also help to gel together longer reviews into concise opinions—after all, that's why the reader came to your site in the first place.

Do you write product reviews on your blog? What tips can you add to this list?

Ray Maker is the author of DCRainmaker.com—a blog dedicated to extremely in depth product reviews of sports technology products (have you ever seen a 61-page product review?). In addition, he writes about his running/triathlon training as well any other interesting things that float his way. You can also follow him on Twitter at @dcrainmakerblog.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

How to Write Amazing Product Reviews

Senin, 18 April 2011

ProBlogger: Why You Should Charge Money to Review Guest Post Submissions

Why You Should Charge Money to Review Guest Post Submissions

Posted: 17 Apr 2011 06:00 AM PDT

This guest post is by Darya Pino, Ph.D of Summer Tomato.

Three months ago I started charging $10 to consider guest blog post submissions, and it changed my life. Not only did it clear out many of the most annoying emails in my inbox, it elevated the quality of posts I receive and reduced the time I spend editing them to levels I would never have dreamed possible.

When your blog reaches a certain size and level of popularity, you can expect to receive regular pitches from other bloggers, product people, book writers, and all sorts of random folks looking to contribute to your site in exchange for links back to theirs. Guest posts are a wonderful way for up-and-coming writers (or products) to get exposure, and for experienced bloggers to publish more diverse content.

The problem

But the problem is that everyone is playing the same game, and there are many more small blogs than there are successful ones. Another problem is that successful blogs get popular because they put out consistent, high-quality content, so anything contributed by a guest writer needs to meet those standards—otherwise, you’ll lose you audience. That puts pressure on the blog owner to be a fierce editor, which often results in more negative conversations than positive ones.

Tired of spending hours every week explaining to mediocre writers why my site isn’t a platform for selling lame calorie counting apps, or that "7 Vegetables You Should Know About" isn’t an interesting headline, I knew I needed to change my workflow.

I considered hiring an editor/assistant, but not being a big media blog, I couldn’t fit it in my budget. I also considered paying for higher quality writing—I write for several blogs that pay me for my work—but I didn’t want to encourage people to send even more pitches. I just wanted the pitches I do get to be better. So I nixed these options.

The solution

Finally I settled on requiring a $10 minimum donation to my Charity Water campaign to even consider a guest post. The donation does not guarantee the post will be published—it only guarantees I will read and consider it. I chose a charitable donation rather than a for-profit charge because I didn’t want to make it seem like I was charging for links or taking advantage of writers. The only purpose of the donation is to save me time and make sure that anyone who sends a pitch is a serious writer willing to put their money where their mouth is.

Charity Water has a fantastic online system that makes donations easy to track. I added my donation requirement to the top of my Guest Posting Guidelines (the most likely landing page for someone wanting to submit a guest post). I also created a canned response in Gmail explaining my policy, which I can easily send to anyone inquiring about guest posts.

The results

The results were staggering. Email pitches instantly dropped in number dramatically. The amount of pitches I receive from self-promotional link seekers (the ones I always reject) fell from about 90% of pitches to about 20%, and none have opted to donate and have their post considered. Most importantly, the few who have taken me up on my offer have written fantastic posts that I was happy to edit for clarity and publish at Summer Tomato.

Even more amazing has been the responses to my new system. The self-promoters almost never respond to my canned response (win). The less experienced writers apologize for their inability to donate and leave me to my business (double win: these guys require the most back and forth emails and editing). And most remarkable of all, the ones who have stepped up and contributed have been overwhelmingly positive about my guidelines, saying things like "it looks like a great charity, I would have happily donated anyway" or "all sites should require this" (Charlie Sheen-style #winning).

The reality is good writers know when they have something valuable to contribute and have no problem stepping up to the plate. Weaker writers (the ones who send you drafts with ten exclamation points peppered throughout) know when they’re reaching out of their league, and risk-aversion prevents them from moving ahead with the submission.

Be careful, though: required donations are not for every blog. If you aren’t currently spending a lot of time responding to pitches or editing guest posts, charging isn’t necessary. Also, new bloggers can benefit from accepting guest posts and going through the experience of editing them. Know your audience before making any big changes to your blog policies.

All that being said, I don’t charge everyone who contributes to my site. If I invite someone to submit a post because I think they have something interesting to share, then the donation isn’t necessary. Likewise, I do not charge people for sharing their success stories or their farmers’ market updates (this is a weekly segment on my blog), because I don’t have the same problems with quality and insincerity that I get from raw pitches.

Required donations are an excellent deterrent to self-promoters seeking links from high-profile sites. They also save you tons of time by raising the quality and reducing the number of the pitches you have to read. Best of all, it feels great knowing all that time you saved helped build a well and give hundreds of people access to clean water.

Would you consider charging a fee for guest posts on your blog? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Darya is a scientist turned food blogger who shares healthy eating tips for food lovers at Summer Tomato. She is also a contributing writer at The Huffington Post, KQED Science, Edible SF and SF Weekly. Follow here on Twitter @summertomato.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

Why You Should Charge Money to Review Guest Post Submissions

Minggu, 17 April 2011

ProBlogger: 5 Techniques to Create Raving Loyal Fans

5 Techniques to Create Raving Loyal Fans

Posted: 16 Apr 2011 06:10 AM PDT

This post is by Brad Branson of Lessons in Lifestyle Development.

Most people walk through life in a living daze. Most people live their lives vicariously through television, sports, or the gossip section. They are afraid to take action, afraid to take a risk. Why? Be average and you don't risk embarrassment.

So, how does this relate to writing compelling blog articles and creating a devoted, enthusiastic fanbase?

You need to be polarizing. You need to set yourself apart from the masses, and be willing to take a risk in your writing. It's not hard to find the vanilla ice cream out there; what people crave are the unique flavors. Be the jalapeño mocha light frappuccino, and they will come in droves. Create something different, dynamic, something unexpected.

What follows are five techniques to step outside of the box, cultivate a unique voice, and create an infectious website that compels readers to become subscribers.

1. Become an authority

One of the main problems of a non-remarkable blog is that the writer is afraid to step up and be a voice of authority.

As Seth Godin writes in his book, Tribes:

"Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead. This scarcity makes leadership valuable."

When you lead, you take a risk. Risk can lead to failure. But because of that risk, people will reward you for taking action.

How do you become a leader? Set yourself apart. Be an expert on your topic. Do extensive research, and become obsessed about your writing. Or create a unique niche, and do it better than anyone else. Then start sharing it with the world.

Remember that leaders talk authoritatively, and make sure your writing follows suit. Here are a few examples:

WEAK: "I think one of the most important aspects of a successful blogger is the writing style they use."
STRONG: "One of the most important aspects of a successful blogger is the writing style they use."

Don’t use mitigating words such as: just, I think, like, might, or should.

WEAK: "You just have to write about topics you should enjoy."
STRONG: "You have to write about topics you enjoy."

Keep your writing forceful and authoritative. People give more credence to decisive leaders.

2. Use emotion in your writing

The demographic I write for is mostly single men looking for dating advice. One question I get often is how to continue the conversation after the initial interaction via text messaging. The problem is that you can't create emotion or dynamics in a digital format.

One technique to combat this is by using emoticons, ALL CAPS, and vernacular to convey some personality and emotion. Haha ;)

It's been said before, but in the blogosphere, the more colloquial you can make your writing, the better. Your readers want to feel like they know the person writing the articles. It's about the relationship you create, not the professionalism of your writing.

Now that doesn't mean punctuation, grammar, and diction aren't important. To the contrary, they’re even more important, when you’re dropping curse words, to make sure people know you take the writing process seriously.

3. Be vulnerable

When I teach my weekend seminars, one of the main things we focus on is taking the client's personality, "placing it on a volume knob, and turning the knob UP TO ELEVEN!"

Most people hear this and think, "Alright, I need to amplify all the cool things that I have going on in my life." But, counter-intuitively, the true power is in amplifying the weird idiosyncrasies.

Do you like studying vocabulary words? Do you have a secret penchant for World of Warcraft? Do you have a fear of heights? Talk about that. Especially if you start cultivating the authoritative tone I mentioned earlier.

When people see both sides, they develop a stronger rapport with you. Vulnerability is a sign of authenticity. Authenticity creates trust. You become more human, not just words on a computer screen.

4. Create consistency in your blog’s message

Your main focus has to be on the content of your site, but every aspect—from font color to picture captions—adds to your "voice.”

Image is author's own

Feel like creating a specific ambiance as someone reads your article? Add a youTube video with a correlative song to set the mood. Pictures are great for breaking up text, and can either reinforce a concept, or offer a little comic relief.

Font formatting, color schemes, picture choice, picture captions, headlines, comments, and widgets all play an integral role in conveying the overall message of your blog.

5. Ostracize people. You can't write for everyone.

Some of the content on my site may be considered "controversial." When I started the blog, there were always persistent thoughts like, "If my family were to view my website, would they approve?" But is my readership my parents? My colleagues? (Well, for me, yeah I guess it is. Heh.)

My niche happens to be early 20-something to late-30-year-old single men, so a decent amount of "locker humor" is what resonates best with them.

As I slowly interacted with my audience, through comments, emails, and looking at their feedback and favorite articles, I realized that the more I took a risk, the more I pushed the boundary of what I thought was acceptable, the more I ostracized certain readers. And yet my subscription levels kept rising.

It's marketing 101: write for everyone and you write for no one. Find your niche and focus your writing style and "voice" to those people. They'll feel more of a connection and relationship, which is what blogging is all about.

Is there something holding you back? A fear that you might not be well received? Do you censor yourself ?

I'm sure I just ostracized a few readers, but for those left, how did you develop your voice, and how has it evolved as your blog matured?

Brad Branson has taught dating advice and personal development in over 30 countries on 4 continents. His site, Lessons in Lifestyle Development, takes you through his journey around the world and the insights gained from the teaching process.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

5 Techniques to Create Raving Loyal Fans