Websites, Web Gadgets, Green Tools, Blogs and Gmail

Friday, October 24th, 2008

20 Websites You Never Realized You Needed

The internet has changed the world, mostly through big sites like , , and . But other smaller sites can, if anything, be even more useful, if only you can find the right ones.

Google Helps Get Out The Vote With New Web Gadgets

is here, but not everyone knows where to vote just yet. hopes to make finding that information a little easier, and has launched a site and an embeddable web gadget that allows US voters to get all the voting information they need before November 4.

Google Fosters Earth-Saving Green Tools For Users

’s new tool focuses on the little things, such as saving $6 per year by swapping an for an energy-efficient bulb. Hot Hardware takes a look at the vampires and how much you can save by following the advice.

Why It’s A Bad Time To Buy A Blog But A Great Time To Sell

Without doubt have been the flavour of the month for quite some time now (should it be called flavour of the year?) and I have paid close attention to the . However, I’ve yet to see a which was worth buying. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some great for sale but they have all in my opinion, been greatly overpriced.

40 Brilliant Gmail Hints, Hacks And Secrets

goes from strength to strength as rolls out new features every few months. We’ve dug deep to bring you 40 top tips that’ll make you a super-user, with total control over every aspect of the service.

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Almost Free Ways to Market Your Business Online

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

Jay Gaulard writes for a wide selection of on various topics. He is a veteran of the internet and has come to be respected in his many areas of expertise. This article was written on behalf of BizLeeg, a popular business directory .

Almost Free Ways to Market Your Online

If you have a , chances are pretty high that you spend a lot of time looking for ways to market your online. Paying for can be quite expensive, and today’s is so desensitized to online that in this manner can be highly ineffective. However, there are many ways that you can advertise your online without paying much or without paying anything at all! You just need to know where to look.

Develop an

Do you have an online mailing that you send to your customers? If not, you need to develop one. When your customers make a purchase online, have them sign up to receive “future offers” or an . You can also leave a form on your for them to sign up to receive your newsletter. You may want to offer something free for this, such as a discount code, , or a .

Once you have your customer’s , put it to good use. Make your newsletter as good as it can possibly be. If you already have an online mailing in place, make it better. No one likes spam, so make the newsletter informative, helpful, and interesting. Throw in a coupon or two from time to time to keep the customer interested in reading the newsletter. Avoid using too many graphics, as this can keep some users from receiving the letter depending on their settings.

Become an Expert in Your Industry

Chances are you already are an expert in your industry. Use this to your advantage as you market online. Join forums that relate to your industry. Then, post useful comments. Do this often. Soon you will have a small online “following” that comes to you for advice. You can then point them towards your for more information.

As you post in forums, make sure you follow the posting guidelines. Some forums will allow you to link to your in your signature line. Others will allow you to link in actual discussions. Others do not allow any links at all, but may allow you to put a link in your profile. Since your time is valuable, choose forums that allow links, at least in your signature.

No matter what the forum rules may be, make sure that your posts do not sound like an ad. Give genuine, helpful advice to the people on the forum. Become a part of the community. You will be surprised at how much your bottom line increases with this strategy.

You can use this same rule to market using . Comment on discussions relating to your industry whenever you can, and make the link take the reader back to your site. You can insert a link in your name field, but do not say, “you can find out more at my site.” That will be a turn off to most readers, but if they like what you have to say they will be willing to click on your name and visit your link.

Create Your Own

As you are working towards making yourself an expert in the field, you might want to set up your own . You can discuss newsworthy items that relate to your industry, and you can include a link on the toolbar to your ecommerce site. You can link to your in your forum posts and comments as well. If you do not have time to write posts on a regular basis, you can hire someone else to do it for you.

As you work to create your , make sure it is interesting. People who read are looking for entertainment as much as they are looking for information. Do not be afraid to discuss something a little controversial. The more people that link to your from theirs, even if they are saying how crazy your idea is, the more traffic you will eventually generate for your ecommerce or site.

Use YouTube

Believe it or not, the popular video site YouTube is a great way to market a , and posting a video is completely free. Now, like your forum and posts, you do not want to post a blatant advertisement on YouTube. However, you can create an informative “how to” that relates to your industry, and then link to your at the end of the video.

The key to successful marketing with YouTube is not creating a fancy video full of special effects. It is making a video that is appealing to people. You want people to want to watch your video, it to their friends, and post it on their . Do not be afraid to do something a little crazy and fun, but make sure that it does not detract from your .

Use Online

Online are another way to market your online. Keep in mind that there is a wide range of prices for these . Some charge high fees for listings, while others have free or low-cost listings available. Choose a directory that gets plenty of traffic but does not charge too much for your link. Make sure you can have some control over what is said in your listing. Also, make sure the directory is well laid out with an easy to understand organizational structure. Remember, your potential customers are not going to stay on a directory site that is confusing or difficult to navigate.

That being said, list your in as many free as possible. After all, if the listing is free, it cannot hurt your , and it will probably draw some traffic to your site. Some of these make money off of other types of ads, such as pay per click ads, so they allow businesses to create listings for free.

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Sign Up To Receive Our Posts By Email

Sunday, September 21st, 2008

This is just a quick note to let you know you can now sign up (right upper corner of ) to receive our posts by .

Tired of coming by our to read our posts every day? Well, if so, just put your in the “Sign Up” box and hit “Subscribe.” Then, simply confirm your in the you receive. After that, you can count on receiving an once a day, as long as we write a post.

We are using this service by Feedburner on some of our other with reliable success. So, if you are interested, go for it.

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