 |
|
|
   |
|
 Issue #72 - August 1st, 2005 Internet Marketing Newsletter for Small Businesses
Brought to you by idesignbusiness.com http://www.idesignbusiness.com Issue # 72 Monday, August 1st, 2005 In this Issue: ARTICLES: FREE RESOURCE: Welcome to Issue # 72 of the Internet Marketing for Small Business Newsletter. We recently re-vamped and re-launched our Marketing and Support Forums at idesignbusiness.com. Our goal is to provide website visitors a true resource of valuable information as well as a place for business owners to promote their products and services. During our research to find the forums for our audience I came across a great article I wanted to share with you. Targeting posting and advertising in Online Forums and communities can jump start your traffic and sales. This issue’s article will help you develop an effective way to promote your business in Forums and message boards. We would love to hear any questions, comments, or ideas for future articles, just email us at newsletters@idesignbusiness.com New & Improved Small Business Forum - I am excited to announce that we have improved the idesignbusiness Small Business Forums to better facilitate communication and answer your questions. Be sure to check out the new format and post a question related to your business or an advertisement promoting your business. Small Business Forums New Feature - The idesignbusiness Newsletter is now available for you to publish on your own website. If you are looking for Internet Marketing content for your website that is updated twice a month you can publish our article headlines, summaries and free resources through an XML feed. For more information on publishing content on your website please visit the link below: http://www.idesignbusiness.com/xmlinfo.asp Did you miss the last issue? You can always visit our idesignbusiness Internet Newsletter Archive and easily view and search all our past issues. Neal St. Clair idesignbusiness Advertisement LinkSource.info > Free Link Exchange Directory Looking for targeted links for your website? Do you want to share your website with other webmasters that want to exchange links? LinkSource.info (www.LinkSource.info) is a free link directory organized by category that lets you quickly and easily connect with other websites that want to exchange targeted links. LinkSource.info will help you improve your Google Page Rank and increase your website traffic through related link exchanges. Visit LinkSource.info Today and add your site for free: www.LinkSource.info ARTICLE Using Forums To Network Successfully By Keith Stieneke According to one of the entries found at dictionary.com the definition of the word network is as follows: Something resembling an openwork fabric or structure in form or concept, especially: An extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support. The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary at http://www.m-w.com gives the following definition for networking: the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions. Successful networking occurs when the exchange of information or services is amongst people with similar interests or concerns. Maintaining the network of connections provides a networking opportunity when one has new information to exchange with others in this group of individuals. Recently I decided to put a theory to the test that one of the best ways to develop networking relationships was through the use of online forums. My target audience of response was forums aimed at people involved in affiliate programs, network marketing, or Internet marketing of some type. I mostly wanted to see who would respond if anyone and see how much of a response I would get. I used a piece of software that has both a browser and a way to watch one’s forum posts for responses. In addition to seeing how many people would answer my questions another goal is to get my self-known among forum communities. No one wants to do business with a stranger. Here is something that I discovered. The small forums that are part of groups such as Delphi Forums and Ezboards have very few posts and when someone does post, the posts are mainly advertising in nature. I would suggest that you are wasting your time if you post to these forums. Is all forum posting a waste of time? Definitely not, as there is much value in it, as you will see by what I write next. I decided to go to some of the forums of well-known websites or well-known Internet marketers and posting there. In creating an account I set up a signature file so that in every post that I made my URL would be shown. I was very careful for the most part to ask questions or give answers. Never once did I post what could be seen as an ad. And guess what the result was. In the settings of the forums where it was allowed I set the choice so that I would be emailed when I had a response. I was very happy to get emails announcing that people had responded to my various posts in not one but several of these professional forums. The forums I posted to all had to do with a subject that I am interested in namely affiliate and network marketing on the Internet. The people who responded were very knowledgeable and helpful and I hope that in situations where I answered someone’s question(s) that my answer(s) were of help to them. What did my experience in the forums prove? By the fact that I shared information with people interested in the same topics as myself and that they shared their information with me it proved that forums are a very important part of networking on the Internet. In researching to write this article I have also discovered an incredible online tool, basically a website that keeps track of posts to e-commerce websites. It is found at http://www.mikes-ecommerce-software.com/ecommerce-forum/ Mike also has a page for watching posts to marketing forums discussing Internet marketing and search engines. The link for this is at http://www.mikes-marketing-tools.com/marketing-forum/ Although this tool doesn’t watch for replies to your post it can keep you aware of what discussions are going on in these forums. Then if you have questions about the particular subject or answers to someone's question you can jump into that forum and network with the people in that forum. Keith P. Stieneke is a network and affiliate marketer with a background in psychology and direct sales. You can view his ever-changing website the Opportunity Assistance Business Resource Center at http://www.opportunityassistance.com and participate in his newly opened forums at http://www.opportunityassistance.com/forums. He has also built the blog resource website Blog Smart Resources at http://www.blogsmart-resources.com for those interested in learning more about blogging. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/ Advertisement Promote Your Products & Services Using Email Marketing Are you using email to market you products and services, communicate with customers, and generate leads? If not, you are missing out on the most affordable and effective marketing tools available to small businesses. The idesignbusiness Mail Manager handles everything required to execute a professional email marketing campaign including email collection, contact list management, email delivery, and reporting. Learn how you can begin sending e-Newsletters, greeting cards, email promotions and more today. FREE RESOURCE: Each issue of the Internet Marketing Newsletter for Small Businesses will include helpful free online resources to promote your websites. Looking for the latest information from the Web’s most active message board? Instead of searching each forum individually you can use the Marketing Forum Watch tool to quickly find topics related to Web Marketing that you are interested in. Forums are a great resource to find answers and this tool will let you search across thousands of topics quickly and easily. Marketing Forum Watch ABOUT idesignbusiness idesignbusiness provides complete Internet services for small businesses including website design, website development, hosting and Internet marketing. Increase website traffic, build your customer base, and drive revenue using our cost-effective and result driven tools and services. Please visit http://www.idesignbusiness.com for more information. SUBSCRIPTION NOTICE This newsletter is only sent to opt-in subscribers. If at anytime you would like to be removed from this list, please send an e-mail to newsletters@idesignbusiness.com with REMOVE in the subject line or click on the remove link below. Spread the word - Please forward to friends and colleagues. Copyright 2002 - 2005 idesignbusiness http://www.idesignbusiness.com |
 |
 |
|
Contact | Home | Site Map © Copyright 2001 - 2005 idesignbusiness |