Have you ever modeled something that worked for someone else, but then it didn’t work AT ALL for you? You were given a swipe file, promised results, got so excited and then it flopped?

Well, I did…and I ‘effed up big time.

It was the end of the year. I wanted to give my peeps a deal for the holidays, for my Living Wellness Kickstart program, and a bonus to my ICM private library. It was a great deal stuffed with value.

“Okay… so how did you eff up?”

Picture this: a friend had told me about a shiny, new info marketing promotion. 1-2-3-4 emails, say this, do that, tell them this and bingo! You help them out and get your cash.

You know the ones I am talking about. You worked so hard, and did everything they told you… Turns out, it’s just starting to look like another over-promising and under-performing gimmick. Lesson learned.

My followers aren’t so ‘techy’, and they feel totally grossed out if my voice is anything but authentic. They’ll hit that ‘unsubscribe’ button like it’s going out of style. And, in my haste, I ignored it. (First mistake.)

This is where I eff’d up. You’ve been there too, I know you have, and I want you to know that there’s no shame in failure — entrepreneurship has a massive learning curve. Knowing your business, who you’re talking to and how you’re talking to them is golden.

Yes, thank you. May I have another shiny new thing?

We loaded the emails and made the site changes… I was excited. My list had just increased after a couple of teleseminars, so I felt like I was on the right track.

Then the first email blast went. People jumped off my mailing list like it had burst into flames. There were only four sales…and to make it even better, I got a few hate emails.

Time to get radically honest.

Whoa! I had to step back and ask: “What would I have done if I’d gotten those emails from someone else?” I had most definitely brought the wrong vibe to my peeps… but I would find a way to fix it.

You know what I’m talking about here: that moment where you have to pick yourself up from a puddle of disappointment and stop beating yourself up.

Are you guilty of any of this? Can you relate? I see you nodding your head.

How you can save your list and not eff’ up:

1. Don’t just copy stuff to use for your list. Sit with it. Put yourself in their shoes. What are they expecting from you? Is this message in alignment with your brand, message and type of business? Be honest.

2. Own your missteps and be real about it with your peeps. Let them know what happened. Learn your lessons, experiment, and be willing to succeed by not losing yourself. Be honest with them. Get vulnerable. Fail fast, and let it be a failure instead of a mistake (as the brilliant Seth Godin says).

3. Let your contractors, VA’s and anyone who works with you have permission to tell you what they feel. Invite them in to share. Don’t assume they will just tell you. If they feel comfortable speaking up, this will help them stay 100% focused on your biz success.

Last tip and most important. Be willing to laugh it up, and be cynical about that next shiny new thing. By communicating with your list in your own voice, you’ll get loving fans that will feel closer to you when you bare your soul.

When I sent out my post ‘eff up email I went deep… I got a slew of emails in my inbox with such sweet notes and then I got some others who wanted to speak their truth. Best part is, I found a new commitment to my list, not wavering or comprising my soul. You can take a peek here into what your soul wants you to know, so you don’t get snagged by the shiny new things outside yourself.

Curious about the email I sent to my list after the debacle? You can read it right here:

Hey,

Today is a pretty emotional day for me. It’s the 20th
anniversary of my mother’s passing and we’re headed
to New Orleans for the weekend to get pampered.

Before I go, I REALized I need to get radically honest and
real with you or over the weekend I would not feel 100%.

From time to time I like to experiment and sometimes
I Eff’ Up and need you to call me on my Sh*t.

Deal?

Because I care what you think + feel if you EVER feel
that that an email, blog post or something I do it gross,
icky or makes you feel like WTF then let me know immediately.

Just hit reply, email me and pour your heart out!

Always know I am dedicated to give you the best I can that is
why I share my bare ass truth and ask you to do the same.

xxoo,

Hillary

Hillary Rubin, spiritual lifestyle design coach, entrepreneur, and wellness pioneer who coaches women around the world to shed fear and become undeniable in their life and business. Check out her newest program, Your Souls University, HERE. She has been featured on Fit TV, in The Los Angeles Times, The Independent, Yoga Journal and contributes to the Huffington Post and Origin magazine. Hillary is also writing her first book with the forward by Agape Founder Michael Bernard Beckwith.

Use Swipe Files At Your Own Risk: How you can save your list and not ‘eff up is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

If you’re like me, you would prefer your blog readers to visit your site each day and read your newest posts!  The challenge is that there are thousands (if not millions) of other bloggers that would love to earn your readers’ loyalty, too!  How can you compete for their attention?

By building reader loyalty!

Below are some best practices I personally employ on my site to help my readers know that I value them and to encourage returning to my site over and over again.

1.  Go to other blogs where your readers hang out!  Think about it – if you want loyal readers, why not go to them!  If you’re not sure what other blogs your readers follow, ask!  Whenever someone comments on a post or you receive an email, write back and say, “Do you have any other blogs that you recommend I check out?”  Then, start reading those blogs!  Make friends with those bloggers and begin commenting on posts.  Their readers will see your site in the comment and visit!  Also, that blogger may ask you to write a guest post which will also draw in new traffic!

2.  Make it a policy to write everyone back who posts a comment.  Now, obviously you can’t do this if your blog starts exploding with traffic, but until then, write a comment back to each reader thanking them for writing in their thoughts!  An even better strategy is to keep the conversation going by playing off their comment.

3.  Do a video thank-you.  These days webcams are cheap and easy to use.  Make a short video thanking your readers for their loyalty and ask them to tell a friend.  There is no shame in honesty and saying, “I’d really like to find more readers just like you, so please tell your friends about this site!”  Since they are already your fans, they will go and advocate for you!

If you employ just these three simple strategies, I promise your audience will feel more connected and will return over and over again to your blog.

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Want a good laugh? Delfin Joaquin Paris III is a humor blogger and currently has the #1 spot on Google for “funny blogs”.
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Best Practices for Building Reader Loyalty is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

It’s exciting to see your product on the glossy pages of a magazine, and provides great brand exposure to new customers. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs don’t know how to get featured. I used to be one of them, but I’ve learned how to get my products the press they deserve and you can too. Here’s my story:

When I started my inspirational t-shirt company, Tees For Change, I spent nearly $500 on an online service to write and distribute a press release. They said I’d reach “tens of thousands of journalists,” but no one called.

I thought my timing was off, so I tried again the next month. This time, I hired someone to write the release, and distributed it via a very popular PR service. It cost me another $500, I received only one response, from a journalist who wanted a free sample. I sent her a shirt that day – and never heard from her again, despite my follow-up calls and emails.

This probably sounds all too familiar to you. The problem isn’t your product – it’s that press releases just don’t work!

What I learned from my experience is that I was competing with thousands of other businesses for space in the inboxes of those tens of thousands of journalists. To earn their attention and interest, I tried something new.

I purchased a media list, and created my own list of journalists and editors who were working on holiday gift guides for their publications. By reading past issues of the magazines, I learned that each one approached their gift guides with an angle:

• gifts for teens
• green gifts
• gifts under $50
• gifts for moms
• last-minute gifts

To earn the attention of the editors and journalists on my list, I wrote a pitch about my t-shirts being “gifts that give back.” My pitch told a story about my shirts that stood out from the crowd and hooked the journalists I sent it to. Over 20 editors wrote back asking for photos, samples and more information on my shirts! While not all of them ended up featuring my shirts, I made over $20,000 in sales from mentions in holiday gift guides that year. Some of the magazines that didn’t use my shirts for their gift guides contacted me later to feature them in another issue and I received even more press.

The next year I did it again, and received even more buzz. Unlike my attempts at press releases, this time journalists were calling me. I realized this was a PR strategy I could employ all year round.

Press releases can be useful, but usually only after the media is interested in your story. Busy journalists are looking for stories to tell every day, and you can help them by offering specific story ideas. Launching your Spring clothing line doesn’t make for very interesting copy, but the story of how your product gives back to your community does. I planted a tree for each tee I sold, and the story of how many trees I planted was one the media loved to tell.

If you’re ready to stop wasting money on press releases and invest time in telling your product’s story, here’s how to get started today:

1. Make a list of 10-15 magazines/blogs/TV shows you want to see your product on this year.
2. Flip through each magazine (you can do this for free at Barnes and Noble), read each blog and watch each TV show and make a list of the topics they cover so you can target your pitch to their audience.
3. Find and download each magazine’s editorial calendar, which is usually found in the advertising section of the magazine’s website. Or Google search the magazine’s name + Editorial Calendar. Find upcoming issue themes that fit your product.
4. Make a list of the contact information for each editor you want to reach. You can often find their email addresses in the masthead of the magazine, on the website’s contact us page, in the editorial calendar, or by calling the magazine directly.
5. Write a story idea for each individual magazine. For example: Your sports product for women could be great in a women’s health magazine, or for the fitness issue of a magazine for moms, but each will need their own approach.
6. Email each of your contacts with your story idea, and don’t forget to follow up one week later, and again 2 weeks later if you haven’t heard back.

Remember that magazines work 4 – 6 months in advance of the issue release date, so you should pitch products for December gift guides in the summer. And don’t forget that the winter holidays aren’t the only time for gift guides! Many magazines feature guides for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, grad gifts, Valentine’s Day and Earth Day.

By following the steps above you’ll be on your way to getting more press and better buzz than any press release can provide.

Andreea Ayers works with product-based entrepreneurs to help them grow their product line. She provides game-changing tips and strategies for wholesale, retail, publicity and marketing at www.AndreeaAyers.com and www.ProductMarketingBreakthrough.com.

Press releases don’t work, so try an approach that does is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

Guest post By Matt Smith

A marketing schedule is crucial for long-term success and consistent results. Put your optimal schedule down on paper then stick to it. A schedule makes you accountable and ensures you are getting enough content and exposure out there. I’m currently leveraging this exact schedule to promote my company BusinessPirate.com

Here are the core activities needed in the weekly marketing schedule:

1-2 emails per week

Email is the #1 medium for ALL online marketers. Use MailChimp or Aweber. The key here is to deliver real value to your email subscribers. Give them free stuff like ebooks or actionable videos. Then give your subscribers a discount off your app or service. Only after you have given your subscribers free and discounted stuff can you ask them to pay full price for your solution.

2 YouTube videos per week

Keep these videos less than 3 minutes. Use Google Keyword Tool to find topics that have potential to rank you on the first page of Goolge. Laura Roeder and others have indicated that traffic coming from YouTube converts 10 times better than random cold traffic. Make sure to create these videos on your YouTube Channel. The more likes, views, and video responses you can get the higher this video will rank on Google. For more info on YouTube videos scope out this video from Laura Roeder here.

One Guest Post or Interview per week

Guests blog posts help with exposure, credibility, and SEO. Write a great piece of content (like this) and pitch it to sites that utilize guest posters. You need to sell yourself and the content in order to get published. Including a short action video along with your guest post will increase the chances that you get published. A video interview is just as good as a guest blog post. Sites like Mixergy.com, TheRiseToTheTop , or IdeaMensch are money video interview candidates.

One give-away per week

Reach out to relevant blogs in your space and see if they would like to do a give-away contest with your app. If you are doing a SaaS product offer to give the blogger 5 One Year subscriptions. Make sure the contest includes both comments and tweets. An example of a contest I did from AppSumo can be seen here. Just copy this format.

2 Blog Posts on your site per week

Use the Google Keyword Tool research to determine blog topics to go after and attempt to rank for. Think about re-purposing content. Write about one of the topics you spoke about in your YouTube videos then include that video in your post. This way you enhance your blog post and don’t have to re-create the wheel. Use basic SEO principles in every blog post.

Tweet and Facebook everyday

Tweet and Facebook early and often. Use Hootsuite and Timely.is to automate your social network marketing. Mention and reach out to customers, friends, and experts on Twitter/Facebook. Twitter is awesome for customer service. Tweets shot out earlier in the day will have better performance and reach. At least 3 tweets and one Facebook update per day.

This schedule will help you in every aspect of your online marketing strategy but it is not perfect. Unbounce did an EPIC Free ebook focused on a 6-month Online Marketing schedule. You get it in exchange for a tweet here.

What did I miss? Please comment below and let me know!

Matt Smith is the co-founder of BusinesPirate.com. He was previously one of the BizDev guys at AppSumo and is currently getting his MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management. His current venture, Business Pirate, helps educate sales and marketing pros through online video courses. When he is not playing on the computer, he likes to exercise and eat raw fish in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona.

Weekly Marketing Schedule for Warriors is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

These changes are CRUCIAL to successful facebook marketing and we don’t want you to get left in the dark. That’s why we decided to hold a special webinar to get you up to date.

In this completely FREE one hour video, you’ll learn:

• All about the new “timeline” and how will it affect your business
• How to completely separate your business life from your personal life on Facebook (finally!)
• Why the new changes could actually have zero impact on your Facebook marketing
• The groundbreaking “off-page” way to market on Facebook
• The bottom line on pages versus profiles versus groups and where to send your prospects

You’ll also learn more about our in-depth program Zero to Facebook.

The Facebook Divide: How To Untangle Your Business from Your Personal Life Once And For All is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

As an entrepreneur myself, I know what it takes to build a business from the ground up. It’s often a challenge that takes on new meaning the moment you set foot down that path—stretching you to grow, learn, and do things that you never would have imagined that you would or even could do.

Being an entrepreneur takes a level of commitment and focus that is hard to understand until you have actually experienced it for yourself. And once you get into that groove of laser focus on achieving your vision, it’s easy to let areas such as health and fitness go a bit to the wayside.

You may feel like there’s no way you could possible fit one more thing into your day.

You may feel a bit guilty for taking any of your precious attention away from your business, because you are afraid that any brainpower spent on frivolous things like planning and making healthy meals or exercise would be a distraction from achieving your big goals.

You may feel that, in all honesty, the value just isn’t there. Your health is okay, and yeah maybe you aren’t feeling your best physically, but all in all, you feel good enough to keep pressing forward.

Am I ringing any bells yet?

I’m here to tell you that creating a lifestyle of health and fitness is far more important to the ultimate success of your business and the quality of your life than you might think. In fact, it’s detrimental.

What’s the point of having a successful business if you’ve paid the price of your long-term health in order to achieve it?

And I’m not just talking about physical health here either, your mental health is also extremely important to the future of your business.

Creativity, clarity, focus, stamina—these are all very necessary for a CEO to have and I’m going to show you exactly how you can not only bring physical health into your life, but mental health too, just by making 3 fairly simple (once I explain them) adjustments to your routine.

Here are my top 3 tips for the learning how to shift yourself from the “overwhelmed and overworked entrepreneur” to the “living well in every way, enjoying her business and life in general, and oh by the way, very successful entrepreneur”.

1) Schedule your workouts like an appointment with a VIP

And then KEEP that appointment! Because that’s what you are, ya know… very important.

In order to make fitness a priority, you have to treat it like one and, like any other really important appointment, you have to be willing to make space for it in your schedule.

Most people that say they don’t have time for exercise, actually could find time… they just dislike the idea of working out and/or don’t see the immediate value, so they choose not to make it a priority.

Exercise doesn’t have to be grueling, it can actually be something that you look forward to doing. My motto is that fitness should be something that you “get” to do, rather than something that you “have” to do. Thank goodness that you have this amazing body, right? This body that allows you to workout… these lungs, this strong heart, these arms and legs… this body that is so easy to take for granted!

When you shift the way you choose to look at exercise, it can become a really special, life-giving part of your day. It’s that much needed time to stretch, blow off steam, and regroup.

Taking 30 minutes to an hour away from work to go move your body and get the endorphins going can allow you to return to your to-do list with renewed clarity, energy, and focus.

2) Plan, batch, and no-big-deal-atize your healthy eating

Healthy eating really doesn’t have to be difficult. I can throw together a bright colorful salad in 5 minutes or less… which is a lot less time than it takes to go get carry-out or heat up a frozen dinner.

The trick is to multitask food prep into your routine. For example, on Sundays and Wednesdays, when you are making dinner, make 3-4 times as much protein so that you will have enough cooked for the next few days—protein meaning chicken breasts, turkey burgers or meatballs, legumes, sirloin burgers, etc.

While your protein is cooking, chop veggies for salads not only for dinner that night, but for the next few days as well.

Then, when it’s time for lunch during the week, all you have to do is pull your prepped ingredients out of the frig, throw them in a bowl and eat. This works for on the go meals as well.

If you tend to travel and eat at restaurants often, you’ll typically be able to find some sort of grilled fish or chicken and salad or steamed veggies on most menus (if you don’t see it, just ask).

Eating healthy is really no big deal… if you can convince yourself that it’s no big deal. It’s a baby step process, changing one small thing at a time, until suddenly those small changes add up to a lifestyle of long-term, sustainable healthy eating.

There’s no magic switch-flipping secret that’s going to make you a healthy eater overnight, so do be patient with yourself and know that every healthier-than-before choice is moving you in the right direction.

3) Never underestimate the power of “me-time”

Me-time is the key to unlocking the door of creativity. Many entrepreneurs don’t realize the power of me-time, or time away from your business where you do something that you love to do… unrelated to business. This can be a hobby, exercise, or both or it can be an appointment to do something special to treat yourself, like a massage, girls night, or family day.

Taking time to fill your cup up, so to speak, is so crucial to being healthy and to having a successful business because you need that time to recharge.

Have you ever noticed that you get your best ideas in the shower, on a long run, or when you are doing something where you are not taking in information? Sometimes it’s tough to tap into the creative part of yourself when you are in action/getting things done mode.

Gary Vaynerchuk would tell you that in the first few years of business you have to work so hard you bleed through your eyeballs, and while he makes a good point that dedication and will to succeed are important and obviously he has succeeded through these sorts of efforts, I’d like to add that a little less action for the sake of a little more self-care can prove not only the same or better results, but also a better quality of life.

A really great question to stop and ask yourself often is, “Why am I doing this?”

Yes, it’s because you have a vision and want to be successful, to make your mark on the world, or maybe even to change the world, but at the bottom of all that, there’s an underlying truth to your desire for success.

You’re doing this because you think that the achievement of this goal or a certain level of success will make you happy (feel free to insert other similar words here like validated, worthy, important, fulfilled, etc).

And sometimes entrepreneurs and people in general think that they need to put off present happiness for long-term gain. I say, you can have both.

You can choose to be happy right now, while building your business, and the simplest way that you can do that is to give yourself the time to recharge your batteries. The important thing is that whatever you choose for your me-time, it should be time spend doing something for you. Many people look at taking time for themselves as being selfish when really it’s not. You have nothing to give to others and your business if your tank is empty.

Me-time is the comfort food of all comfort foods, and oh by the way, when you give yourself the gift of a little me-time, you’ll actually find yourself looking to food for comfort a lot less because you’ll already be full of comfort!

Don’t get me wrong, you wouldn’t be an entrepreneur if you didn’t love the thrill of molding the clay of your business. The growth that you experience in this time of building is certainly fulfilling, exciting, and awesome, but it’s important to make sure that the growth and focus in one area of your life isn’t to the determent of other equally important areas.

So, which of these 3 tips resonates most for you and how are you going to bring it into your routine so you can fully live well in every way starting today?

Sheila Viers is the author of The Eat Well 360 (for the Rest of Your Life) Diet and Co-founder of Live Well 360, whose mission is to inspire you to see health and fitness as something you get to do, rather than something you have to do.

Best known for her uplifting perspective on healthy living, Sheila and many of her articles have been featured on health and fitness publications including Yahoo! Shine, Glo MSN, FITNESS Magazine, LiveStrong, FitSugar, Under30CEO, and FigureAthlete.

To learn more about how Sheila transformed her life and her relationship with food, visit eatwell360.com.

To check out the Live Well 360 line of premium fitness and yoga bags, go to livewell360.com.
You can also say hello to Sheila on Twitter at @sheilaviers.

How To Live Well 360: 3 Powerful Tips for the Overworked Entrepreneur is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

I believe it is safe to assume that if you are reading this blog, you are an entrepreneur (or an aspiring entrepreneur) who is using the website to sell products and services, promote relationship with your customers and establish your expertise.

But whatever your business is  - personal chef, acupuncturist or  digital marketer  - you know good design alone won’t keep you in business. You also need well-written content to attract your target readers to your site and convert them into clients.

So unless you’re prepared to hire a copy writer who will charge at least 1,000 U.S. dollars to produce a sales page (and that’s just a one time fee), you’ll be ahead of the game if you have strong writing skills. To develop and polish this valuable skill, look into finding a writing coach.

Here are some pointers to help you in looking for a writing coach:

1. Determine what kind of writing project you want to complete.

List just one writing project that you wanted to finish for the longest time but for some reason have not done it. It could be an e-book, a script for a video tutorial, a press release or a series of pillar posts for your blog.

You have to stick to one project as writing coaches have different specialization. A writing coach who usually coaches memoirist and novelist may not be the coach that you want to hire if your priority project is to write a high-converting sales page.

2. Read first, decide later

I’m not talking about testimonials here or even their profile page.  But instead, read the creative products of that prospective writing coach. Does he or she have a blog or have they published a novel? Perhaps they have articles in print publications that you can find online. Read them and see if you like his or her writing style.

3. Find out if you and the writing coach share the same “vibe”

Choosing a coach is deeply personal. You won’t like being mentored by someone who you neither respect nor admire.

You and your writing coach will work together to finish an important project. So it’s better to know beforehand if the prospective coach is the right fit for you. Invite the coach for coffee and see if  the two of you share the same vibe.

Take note: if you both live in the same place and the coach refused to meet you, drop her from your list of prospects.  If she can’t spare an hour to meet a client then it’s doubtful he or she will give you the time and attention you need to critique your work or motivate you to complete your project.

If it’s not possible to meet the coach in person due to proximity, then you can talk over Skype, read and comment on his/her blogs or follow his or her tweets. Bottomline: in today’s work environment, you need not live close to your writing coach. With skype, email, blogs, even Twitter, you can check out their vibe and find a connection.

4. Set parameters and writing goals

Once you chose “the one”, both of you need to set the rules on how the two of you will work. What are the goals that you want to accomplish and how will the coach help you in attaining that goal?

Are you looking for a detailed critique or do you need someone to motivate you because you are insecure about your skills?

You also need to work on a schedule that suits both of you. Do you have to contact her every day or is a monthly update enough? Does she have to be in every step of the project (highly recommended for people who tend to procrastinate)?  If you’re quite disciplined, you can just contact her if you need to attain a certain milestone.

You also have to determine the mode of communication. Do you meet up in a café once a week, chat over the webcam, or send e-mails with each other? Choose what is the most convenient for both of you.  My coach and I chose to communicate with each other via e-mail because of the huge difference in our time zones (she is in Europe and I live in Asia so skyping isn’t feasible ).

5. Be accountable

Learning something is useless if you don’t act on it.  Your coach is there so you can be accountable to someone, gently pushing you to apply what you learned. So let’s say you are writing an e-book with ten chapters, you need to write and finish each chapter, and have each chapter critiqued. After getting a critique, be sure to apply what you learned in rewriting that chapter and writing a new chapter. Then let the coach look at both the revised and new chapters. You will then see if you improved as a writer.

As Laura Roeder teaches, when it comes to getting things done in your business, you have two choices, hire someone or learn how to do them yourself. Finding a writing coach early in your business will help tremendously with your long term growth.

Have you worked with a writing coach? How was your experience?

Prime is a journalist and freelance business blogger. She writes on learning and the craft of writing for online tutorial company  AHEAD Interactive. You can follow her writing tips and tweets at  @prime_sarmiento

How to Work with a Writing Coach to Grow Your Business is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

Check out the video below to learn:

• How to stay at the forefront of your customer’s minds
• How serious commitment leads to serious success
• How systems can help you achieve consistency

Click here to view the embedded video.

Read the Transcript ▼

What systems and consistent marketing do you do to keep your customers engaged? Share in the comments below.

He Who is the Most Consistent Wins is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

More and more small business owners are blogging these days. Which makes sense because it’s such a great tool for your business.

Blogging allows you to do so much more than just sharing news and promoting events. You can use blogging to boost your credibility, create a personal connection with your audience, and answer customer questions and queries more efficiently.

As a small business owner, I love blogging and recommend it for so many reasons.

But, the number one reason I would suggest jumping on the blogging bandwagon is . . . ‘drum roll please’

Search Engine Marketing.

Many small business owners are aware that blogging is good for search engines (and if you didn’t, well, at least you learned something new today). But just publish posts, and go on their merry way, without understanding all the bits and bobs you can use to making your content search friendly.

If you’re not a techie or Internet whiz, no problem. Optimizing your blog isn’t that hard. Keep reading and I’ll teach you all the areas in your blog that you can use to serve juicy bits of content to Google and other search engines.

Categories
Blog categories allow you to organize your posts by topic and let your readers easily find the areas that are the most interesting to them. But category names should not be chosen randomly. Whenever possible use relevant keywords to name your categories.

Keyword Tags
Each blog post can be associated with keywords. Choose keywords that are related to the topic at hand. And, remember to use the same keywords in the content itself.

If you’re using WordPress and your theme does not automatically include an area for keywords and other optimization areas (we’ll be getting in a bit), Laura and I both recommend the free plugin All in One SEO Pack.

Meta Description
This area allows you to include a description of your post. Create the description, using your keywords of course. Are we sensing a theme here, yet?

Title Tag
The title tag area gives you some flexibility to be creative. I often like to create post titles that are fun and interesting. It makes people want to read on, right?

For example, I titled one of my posts – The greedy email collector. What would be the practical, search friendly title for that post? Common email marketing mistakes or something along those lines would do. I can keep my more interesting title on my blog and use the more practical one in the title tag.

For more tips on naming your blog posts and how to blend creativity with practicality, check out this post on writing titles for your blog posts.

Photos
Did you know that search engines can read the file names of your photos? If you’re using a photo or two in a post, use a relevant keyword for the file name when you save it to your computer.

Text Links
Within your each blog post, you have the opportunity to include links to other content in your blog. Whether you’re referencing your product, service, or a topic that you discussed in another blog post, use keyword rich anchor text to create the link. This gives search engines even more information about the content of that page.

Instead of saying: Read more about my services here try a keyword focused text link, such as Read more about my small business accounting services.

Can you see the difference?

Having a blog is an important way to get your business moving up on search rankings. And now you know how to make the most out of search engine optimization.

Martina Iring is an online marketing consultant who works with small business owners and entrepreneurs overwhelmed with all that web stuff. She’s on a mission to help the little guys make sense of Internet marketing, teaching small biz owners how being online is not only profitable, but enjoyable! Her blog, Small Business Bliss, offers up gobs of free marketing info and doses of inspiration just for little biz owners. Get your free website improvement guide here.

How to Make Google Sing and Dance with Your Blog is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

Tell me if this sounds familiar.

You’re in the shower, lathering up with your fave shampoo, when suddenly, it hits you like a lightning bolt. A brilliant idea. An idea for a business that’s sure to change the world as we know it (or at least your little corner of it), and that you know you must act on NOW, or it will never happen.

Lit up like a Christmas tree, you jump out of the shower with your hair full of suds so you can scrawl down your genius thought before it vanishes into the ether.

As you skid back into the bathroom, your mind goes into overdrive dreaming up your branding for the new pursuit. You can’t remember the last time you were so excited. Fame, fortune, and that splashy trip to Paris are surely just around the corner!

But then you have another thought: “Crap. I’m going to need a website.”

The smile fades from your lips as the water goes cold.

Yep – you’ve got a tall order on your hands. This ain’t your first rodeo, and you know from experience how hard it is to find a talented designer who a) “gets” your vision, b) actually returns your emails, and c) is available sometime before 2014. Oh yeah – and you also need to come up with $2,000 for the project. Stat.

And just like that, the bubble bursts. You can already see the finished site in your mind’s eye (it’s gorgeous! flawless! primed to reel in the clients!), but you’re painfully aware that getting there is going to be a real struggle.

I know you’re trying to outsource the stuff that’s outside your zone of genius. That’s a smart strategy. But if you’re a creative solopreneur (especially one who’s a bit of a design snob), hiring out your website can be a massive mistake.

Let’s get very real here: after months of back-and-forth by email, costs that balloon with every revision you ask for, and a low-level migraine you can’t seem to shake, you could STILL end up with a site you don’t adore.

Does outsourcing still seem like the way to go?

—

So what’s a girl (or guy) to do? Why, DIY, of course!

That’s right – I said it! For visually picky solopreneurs, learning to create your own website – coding and all – is the smartest choice you will make this year.

Here’s why:

• Learning to code is easier than you think. There’s this perception that it’s scary and weird, but this is just what “web people” want you to believe. The end result? You end up paying them money to do something they get a real kick out of. Actually, learning HTML and CSS is no different from leaning any other new skill. I taught myself HTML when I was 13, and I’m not even a supernerd.
• Building your own sites saves you serious cash. You know the old proverb: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. If you have ten ideas for new businesses or online projects over the next few years, you could be forking out as much as $50,000 for web design and web development work. That’s $50,000 you could be using to start a bold new movement, a charity, or an impressive shoe collection.
• Coding is what lets you create amazing, non-template-y  visual effects. Putting up a basic WordPress site has its place, but if you care deeply about your branding, you need to know how to code. Paired with graphics (which you can make yourself online, for free), HTML and CSS knowledge is a must-have for getting a gorgeous, customized look for your site. “Cookie-cutter” won’t know what hit it.
• Knowing this stuff makes you super business-nimble. Came up with a great new opt-in offer? If you know HTML and CSS, you can throw it up on your site within minutes of envisioning it. No matter how you slice it, that’s pretty darn awesome.
• If you’re taught the right way, code and web stuff can be fun. Like, not going out on Friday night because you want to stay in with your computer fun.
• Total empowerment. Imagine the feeling of freedom you’d have if you finally knew how to get the ideas out of your head and onto a computer screen – so that your ideal clients and customers can bask in their beauty.

As an entrepreneur, I can’t tell you how valuable it is for me to be able to get a new site online, exactly the way I want it to look, within hours of it popping into my head. You can have that feeling too!

Amanda Aitken is the incurable entrepreneur and longtime web designer behind The Girl’s Guide to Web Design:  the online course that teaches design-minded women to create gorgeous, totally unique WordPress blogs and sites – coding, graphics, and all – in a fun, whimsical video format. Find out which learning track would fit you best (First Class or Jetsetter) at http://girlsguidetowebdesign.com, or  follow her on Twitter at @amandaaitken.

The problem with your web designer: why hiring out your site could be your biggest biz mistake is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business