Good Morning all,
If you are thinking that this is a blog about finding Mr. or Mrs. Right....leave now. I am not in the dating game or market...thank God. But, if you are looking to look more attractive, appealing, desirable to your customers.....well then; that's a horse of a WHOLE different color.
I have been reading books, reading blogs, clippings, any thing I can get my hands on to try and get noticed by my target market....which I might say isnt as easy as saying it. So in all this reading I found a few simple ideas that might just make things a bit easier for my friends here at the ecrater group. So here goes and I hope if brings success. I have doubled my traffic and sales.
If you are looking for an easy quick fix...then i beg you now to close your shop and get a job....this is by far the hardest endeavor I have ever undertook and I have to devote at least 4 hours a day to just marketing, that's not listing my inventory, answering emails, taking pictures, editing photos or any of the other hundred things you have to do to run an online business. It is not of the faint of heart...and you can't think that skipping just one say wont affect you..it will. Not to add another drab but if 10,000 web-stores open today 25,000 closed.
It takes about 5 years to cultivate and grow a brick and mortar business...you can only imagine how long it will take for an online business. It is not as easy as putting your name on a sign and sticking on the side of the road...there are millions of roads here.
So now with all the scary stuff out of the way. LOL
Here a few ways to win the popularity contest.
1. Back Links
It is as easy as listing your website on any forum, newsletter, email, group, family website, a friends website, or any social network. Back links brings in more traffic than any other type of marketing you can use. Think of all the places you can join and put a link to your site. If you have to pay, skip it, there are thousands of places you can post your link for free. Check out my website to see some I use. Comycgyrl Collectibles
2. Blog
Its as easy as writing your thoughts down..I am doing it now. A very popular blog to use that is easy is BLOGGER. Everyone has opinions, but as a business owner some are better to keep to yourself than to broadcast and alienate clients. Just remember we are here to see the Green of the money, not whether it is our religion, sex, or color. Those things if you have issues with them do not belong in your business. When you have a blog, you have an audience. It's like a fan base. They have certain expectations of you. They want you to churn out hit singles or albums. But they want you to give them more. Even though they started out as mere diaries or daily jottings of a few people, currently they are excellent link building, content management and search engine optimization tools.
3. Partner Links
Partner Links are links we sponsor here, examples. There is this site the one you are on now. I have partnered with My Book Barn on another site just like this. http://www.ecratersellers.multiply.com and http://www.ecrater.ning.com also http://www.freewebs.com/comycgyrl-collectibles they are like this site as it allows link submissions, gives advice, and helps build the ecrater marketplace. We partner for the greater good. If you have not joined please feel free to do so. You can also use your distributors, the local Better Business Bureau, your bank, local Chamber of commerce, Suppliers, Resellers, Affiliates, Sites selling complementary products etc.
4. Reciprocal links:
You provide a link to another peer site, in return for them linking back to you. This is a good way to get your target industry users to come to your site. Also you introduce your users to other sites that they may be interested in visiting. They will be thankful to you for pointing them in the right direction. And they come to trust you more. There are numerous reciprocal link providers, I list several on my website here is a link http://www.freewebs.com/comycgyrl-collectibles.
5. Tracking:
This is where u leave your footprint in places. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, the links I have given you here are all ways to leave a track. You throw out there Hi How is everyone. Now there is a track back to you from everyone who is a friend. I like tracking, it doesnt generate as much traffic or visitors as some of the other ideas listed here but they do attract. I say there is no waste of time doing this because money is money.
6. Free Products
Oh yeah, people love freebies....I am one of them, I love to see what I can get in the mail today. Its fun and FREE. It can be as easy as Free Shipping, Free Gift-wrap, Free estimate, Free advertising, etc. Or you could even go with the old Buy one Get one, or 1 free pair of earrings with any 25 dollar purchase, have a link to the free earrings you are willing to give away and let them pick. Hey there are a million and 1 ways to give something away.
7. Contests:
Oh let us not for get the contests, they bring visitors to the site by the butt load, contests for free things, contests for best of, contests for featured items, etc. Just use you imagination. Plus there are some very nice websites out there who have pre-built contest boxes you can add to your site, visit my website for more information on contest sites. http://www.freewebs.com/comycgyrl-collectibles.
Well that's all I have to say for today... Tune in again to see if I come up with even more creative ideas to boost traffic.
Thanks for your time,
Comycgyrl Collectibles
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