Pop-ups, pop-overs and pop-unders are all seen as obtrusive advertising that interferes with the user experience of your blog. The last thing someone needs is a flashy ad message popping up everywhere when they are trying to read your blog’s content.
Enter Stripe Ad for WordPress, a new, non-obtrusive way of displaying a single line of advertising, a special note or other information right at the top of your blog. The ad itself is simple, easy to use, and you can have multiple ads rotating according to your needs.
Test. Test again. Then test some more. In fact, you should never stop testing your sales and marketing processes. It’s only by testing your processes and comparing them to previous efforts that you can improve your results and increase your bottom line.
Opt-in pages are part of one such process. How many subscribers does page A get compared to page B? What if you change just one headline? Or leave out the requirement for a last name? Testing all of the variables can be time-consuming, though; that’s where a tool like Opt-in Revolver comes in handy for automating the split-testing of your opt-in pages.
Since I got my iPod touch this last Christmas, I’ve been prowling the App Store, looking for cool new applications to load onto it. My first two were were applications for Twitter and Facebook, so I can update my status anywhere I have a wireless connection.
I was extremely excited when Joel Comm introduced me to his new app for the iPhone and iPod touch, which allows users to stay up-to-date with Joel’s goings-on. (Joel, a very well-known Internet marketer, also created what is currently the iPhone’s most popular app: iFart.) The Joel Comm iPhone app gives you access to Joel’s blog, Twitter feed, calendar, and more from this handy free application.
I began teaching a new clarinet student this week, someone who has been playing for a while and wants the discipline of private lessons. I told him, however, that we were going to start with the basics—embouchure, breathing, posture—and ensure he had those down before we moved on to technique.
In Internet marketing of any type, it helps to take a periodic look to make sure you have the basics down… even if you’ve been doing it for a while. If you’re doing affiliate marketing, you’ll be interested in Keys to Affiliate Profits, an information-packed (129 pages) e-book that will give you a solid foundation for your marketing efforts. Unrestricted Private Label Rights are included with the package, so you can make it your own, and resell it or give it away as you wish.
When I went looking for an image to put in the header at IMWeeklyRoundup.com, it was a “no-brainer” to head on over to iStockPhoto.com—I’ve been using them for years for images both for website and for offline publications. Their artists are superb and the prices are very reasonable, so I go back to them time and again.
What many members of the site don’t know, however, is that it offers a “Free Image of the Week,” “Free Vector [Drawing] of the Month,” and “Free Video of the Month,” yes, all free for download. Sign up now and you can begin downloading free, high-quality media for use on your website and blog.
Bonus: Free stock sound effects
I am just amazed that this piece of software is free. WebCEO combines niche/keyword research with website promotion, analysis, and maintenance, offering more in its free version than you get in many paid SEO packages. Not only that, but you get free Search Engine Optimization training when you register your copy.
The site monitor (is your site up and running?) and advanced ranking checker are just two of the powerful features you’ll find when you download this Windows software. Frankly, there’s just not enough space here to tell you all about it, so read about it on their site.
Not to be outdone, Doug Hudiburg has released his top ideas of 2008, in a baker’s dozen of marketing tips he’s published in Daily Marketing Ace. Each tip is 200 characters or less, so it won’t take you long to read this report, but the value will stay with you forever.
There’s no charge, not even an opt-in form, but I recommend you keep up with his 2009 tips by signing up to DMA when you download this PDF.
My subscriptions to IM newsletters come and go, but I’ve been a subscriber of Marlon Sanders for years. His insightful articles have given me a kick in the rear on more than one occasion, and several of them have found a place on my website.
Marlon has just wrapped up 20 of his top articles in The Best of Marlon Sanders—125 pages of pure content showing you how to stop trading time for dollars and start trading products for dollars. You can get your copy by signing up for his weekly newsletter, something I’d recommend even if he wasn’t giving away his best ideas.
Say that five times fast! Everyone with a website has a need for forms, yet building them to both work and look nice is often more difficult than batting a thousand. (Why did I choose that comparison? Heck if I know.)
I went looking for a form builder that one of my clients could use and JotForm showed up at the intersection of Cool and Free. For users with modest forms submission requirements, this service is a great way to put contact, survey, and other forms on a web page. (You can even create a nice-looking form, then modify it to use with your autoresponder.)
You’ve probably noticed that the last several issues of IMWR have had a common thread running through them: Twitter. That’s not been by design, but as social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube grow in popularity, tools to make better use of them begin to proliferate.
If you’re not regularly using social media — well, why not? It’s not just for “kids” and it doesn’t have to be a time waster. Perry Belcher and Ryan Deiss recently sat down to talk about Winning at Social Media and why and how you should be involved.