Archive for November, 2009
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Only three days left until kids will hit the streets in crazy costumes, looking for candy. We predict you’ll see the usual ghosts, vampires, ballerinas, princesses and tinfoil-covered robots running around, along with a few Batmen, a couple of Harry Potters, and maybe a Transformer or two.
But what if you’re not exactly a kid anymore — except at heart, of course — and you’re looking for the ultimate outfit for a friend’s party? What if you’re taking your kids door to door and want to get into the spirit of the night with a costume of your own?
Maybe you’re looking for something a bit more creative than what you’ll find marked down for quick sale at the drugstore (an hour before you’re supposed to wear it!)
Well, if you’re the least bit Internet or tech-geeky, the Internet had plenty of creative ideas to help you be a Halloween standout.
Check out some of our favorites below:
And don’t forget to carve a geeky pumpkin for your front porch (via WalYou).
Even the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser gets a tribute:
Take that, Firefox!
(And though it’s not Halloween-related, we loved this iPhone wedding cake over at Mashable.)
As you can see, there’s definitely no shortage of great geeky Halloween ideas!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Posted in Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Jeff Wise answered a question on our blog about how he spends his time online — and ended up winning the draw for a year’s subscription to our new online magazine, StartUp!
Check out Jeff’s answer below:
“While working a 9-5 and trying to spend quality time with my family I manage to squeeze in at least 5 hours per day online.
Most of that time is spent working on my online business. Keyword research, PPC, SEO, Twitter, YouTube, article and writing. I spend most of my time marketing and maintaining the site. I wish I had more time to just market and not had to worry about the site as much.”
Sounds like he had all the qualities of a successful online entrepreneur!
We contacted Jeff to get to know him a bit better…
How long had you had your site?
I’ve had my site BerkeyCleanWater.com since May 2009.
How did you learn how to start and run an online business?
I learned how to start and run an online business from lots of reading, listening, learning. However, I really acquired the meat of my education from IMC. In 2008 I ordered “The Insider Secrets” and worked with Geoff D. in the Internet Entrepreneur Club forums.
What Internet marketing strategies are working best for you?
Believe it or not, good old SEO is working best for me right now. Content, content, content. Writing relevant articles and producing videos related to my niche is serving me well. I’m running PPC but just started two weeks ago and things are slow. I’m also trying to leave my link on relevant websites and using social sites such as Twitter to get the message out.
And, finally, how did you find our blog?
I found your blog by becoming a Twitter follower of “The_IMC_Team“.
Congratulations, Jeff! You’ll be receiving StartUp every month for a year. And thanks for being a part of the conversation at our blog!
If you’d like to check out Jeff’s prize — our brand new online magazine, filled with news you can use to build your own online business — we’ll give you 10 days free access.
Click here to get started!
Posted in Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Monday, November 30th, 2009
If you want to see some great examples of eBay salescopy… and enjoy a good read while you’re at it… check out Something Missing by first-time author Matthew Dicks.
It’s about an uber-organized career thief who fences his loot on eBay using the persona of a middle-aged shopaholic named Barbara.
“Barbara’s” listings are highly descriptive, full of benefits, and loaded with personality – just the style we teach in The Insider Secrets to Selling on eBay…
… “Nice MESSENGER bag from IL BISONTE. BLACK LEATHER bag in very excellent condition. Another bag that I just had to had, much to my husband Gerry’s chagrin — and I did use it for a while — but not for very long and the bag is in very excellent condition. I hadn’t used it for a long time and it is time for it to move on to someone who will use it and enjoy it. A bag like this will never go out of style and IL BISONTE just continues to make beautiful and practical handbags, as I’m sure you already know. It opens with a zipper across the top of the bag and there is a nice zipper compartment inside… “
Who could resist?
Matthew Dicks says the character’s eBay alter-ego is an homage to his mother-in-law: ”My mother-in-law… is an eBay PowerSeller and the techniques and listings described in the book all come straight from her.”
Well, she’s got the salescopy down cold, so it’s no wonder she’s a PowerSeller!
Something Missing is a funny character study of a good guy who does bad stuff… but very, very well.
(By the way, even though we like the book, that doesn’t mean we encourage anybody to unload stolen goods on eBay. Just so we’re straight… 
Got any other examples of fictional characters who illustrate smart marketing concepts (eBay or otherwise)? Tell us!
Posted in Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Monday, November 30th, 2009
When was the last time you had a really good look at your website to make sure it your search engine optimization in top shape? It’s probably been a while… That’s why it’s a good idea to set some time aside every few months to make sure your site is still optimized for the search engine spiders.
When you’re readdressing your on-page SEO there are a few things you need to remember:
- The spiders determine what your site is about by looking for keywords in your text and in the HTML code behind your site.
- Your keywords need to relate to the content on the page.
- Spiders automatically follow links between pages, which is why it’s important to get links pointing to your website from other relevant sites. The links from page to page within your site can also help the spiders.
- Spiders are attracted by new content. Once your site had been indexed, they will return whenever you update or add something new.
To make it easy for you to quickly check your on-page SEO, here’s a handy list you can work through. Tick off what you’ve done and make a note of what needs to be addressed so you can start bringing those spiders back to feast on your content!
- My website is peppered with keywords and synonyms.
- My top-performing keywords are in key positions on my web pages, including all of the following:
- My domain name
- My title tag HTML code
- My headlines and subheads, complete with proper <h> tags in their HTML code
- My web page content — where they’re often bolded or italicized
- The source code behind my images — both image tags and alt text
- The anchor text on links to my other pages
- My description and keyword meta tags
- I had a well-organized XML sitemap (If you don’t know where to start to build an XML sitemap, try the free generator at: http://www.xml-sitemaps.com.)
Remember, the more traffic you get, the more sales you can make — so taking a little time to update your on-page SEO can mean more than just better search engine rankings 
Posted in Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Want a chance to win a free subscription to our new online magazine, StartUp?
Well, give us an inside peek at your day-to-day online existence as you build or run your online business.
We’re wondering about what the average e-commerce pro is up to on the Web each day. What chores take up the bulk of your time? Are you spending more hours running your business, or promoting it?
Please take a moment to share your answers to these five quick questions in our not-terribly-scientific survey:
1. How many hours do you spend online each day?
2. What are the tasks that occupy most of your time online each day (emailing, researching, working on your website, news reading, talking to customers, eBay selling, blogging, Twittering, instant messaging, etc.)? About how many hours a day or week do you spend on each task?
3. Are you active on social media websites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.)? Which ones take up most of your “social” time?
4. Are you spending more time online simply running your business, or marketing it?
5. Do you wish you were using your time online differently? What tasks would you like to spend less time on — and what do you wish you were doing more often?
Just leave your responses in the comments section below — and feel free to add any other thoughts along with your answers. All the commenters who answer our questions will be eligible to win a FREE year-long subscription to our new StartUp online magazine. We’ll announce the winner in a week.
StartUp is designed to give busy online business owners — and folks ramping up to start online businesses — a quality dose of the information and inspiration they need every month. Every issue includes:
- must-know Internet marketing how-tos
- up-to-the-minute e-commerce news and strategies
- a case study from a successful online business
- guidance from some of the top entrepreneurial minds on the Web
- potential niche markets that we’ve discovered… and that you might want to investigate further
Click here to get 10 days’ free access to this month’s StartUp, featuring an in-depth audio interview with a time management expert!
… and don’t forget to share your answers below. Thanks!
Posted in Internet Marketing | No Comments »
