Thoughts on Audience Building

I'm bummed that I couldn't attend the BlogHer Conference, but Shannon of Phat Mommy has decided to host a BlogHer in Spirit...and the topic I want to discuss is "Audience Building". Here are the questions and my answers: What service/software do you use to track your site’s traffic? What’s good (or bad) about it? I use Sitemeter to keep track of the traffic to all my blogs and websites. I've found it to be very useful in: 1) determining exactly what websites or links are bringing me traffic 2) getting a glimpse of what marketing efforts are or are not working and 3) I also can view my traffic by day, month, and year to measure the progress of my blog Sitemeter is the first and only service I've used... If anybody out there knows of something better, please let me know! What’s been your most successful tool in generating more traffic to your blog? I don't know if this is actually a "tool", but what I do is visit and comment on other people's blogs. I also love to share link love and mention other people's blogs on my blogs. When you include others in your post, it creates a sense of community. People like that I include them in my discussion and they return the favor! What do you know about syndication and subscriptions? Share! I don't know a whole lot about syndication, but I do know that it's important to offer some way for your readers to subscribe to your blog whether it be through a site feed or email subscription....that way they can be alerted of new posts and won't forget about you! Speaking of which, if you'd like to subscribe to this blog, click on the little blue button (Feedburner) or enter your email address in the right column under the little blue button!

Personal Update and Thoughts on Google Video Ads

What I love about the internet is that you can still make money even though you're on vacation! That is, making money through affiliate programs and ad revenue. If you sell a physical product online, of course you'll need someone to ship items for you while you're away. (Again, things to think about before launching an online business). In fact, despite my two weeks of traveling, looking for a new place to live, and all other personal events happening in my life, this month I reached an all-time high in Google Adsense revenue. Speaking of Google Adsense, I found out that Google is launching these video ads (I know, I'm a little late) which isn't getting very favorable feedback from the internet community. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch provides his thoughts including my most compelling reason: "People don’t want to click on video ads" Imagine going to a website to read an article, but this video is blaring an ad - trying to get your attention. I'm sure there's a way to turn off the audio, but still... The other night I was in the kitchen washing the dishes and my boyfriend was reading his email when I hear this annoying sound coming from the computer. It's some side banner ad with a fly buzzing...and no way to stop it! Unfortunately, he can't avoid his email website, but if that happened at a website I just visited, I would definitely not visit that site anymore!

A Short Vacation

A blogger needs a vacation sometimes ;) Will be back on Tuesday!

Things I Stumbled Upon At Digg.com

It's been almost a week since I've posted here and I apologize for the lack of attention! As we all know "life happens". It's been a hectic week personally for me and I haven't been able to keep up much with what's going on in the online world... However I have been browsing Digg lately since I just joined the community a couple days ago. For those of you who don't know, Digg is a great place to find stories that are popular around the web. What I found at Digg was an article that offers tips on getting your website indexed by the search engines before you even launch the website. Some very helpful tips... Read here... Also, if you don't know by now, Google has come out with a new payment system that rivals Paypal. For a review of the system, check out this article... Well, I've been consumed by all my blogs as of late. If you don't catch me here, you can catch me in other parts of the blogosphere! In the meantime, I'll be on the search for more great resources to share with you...

The Keys To Building Relationships Online

It's amazing all the great people you meet online once you start to blog and engage in conversation with other bloggers and entrepreneurs. I've learned so much from other people in the past six months about maintaining an online business, however, the one characteristic I can say that is prevalent with good business leaders is their ability to interact and build relationships with people. How do you build these relationships, you ask? 1) If there's one thing you should always keep in mind regarding your business, it's that you inspire people with your story and experiences. Become transparent in your thoughts and actions and facilitate conversations on the internet whether it be via forums, a blog, or email. Let people know that yes, there is a human behind this website that has a life and aspirations just like everybody else. When you open yourself up to people, you build a level of trust and that, my friend, is your key to sales. 2) People want to know that you will deliver as promised. And after you deliver, follow up with them to make sure that your product met their expectation. 3) Keep in contact with your customers via an online newsletter or email. 4) If any of your customers have blogs, visit them and leave comments. The more they get to know you and like you, the more likely they will buy from you. Building relationships with your customers online takes time and is like any relationship in life, but the investment is worth it. Who knows, those customers can turn into customers for life! For more information on building customer relationships, visit:http://www.customersarealways.com/building_customer_relationships/

Rich Schefren Releases "Internet Business Manifesto"

I just finished reading Rich Schefren's Internet Business Manifesto, and what I thought was going to be a long sales letter actually turned into a huge learning experience for me. I learned: 1) the difference between "opportunists" (which I used to be) and true "entrepreneurs" 2) what it means to create a team of people to help you with your online business 3) to create a vision for my online business This is definitely a must read for those who are serious about building an online business! It will change your way of thinking ;) It's been awhile since I've been inspired - this report truly inspired me... To download the free report, visit: http://www.strategicprofits.com/manifesto/