Ideas for Business

Email marketing has become a dirty word these days, with all the spam that fills our inboxes. However, when used effectively, email marketing can actually help you form a relationship with your readers, making them more open to what you have to say and giving you a willing client base.

Email Marketing Tips to Build a Relationship with Readers

Be friendly. There´s nothing more off-putting than an email newsletter that reads like a Nobel Prize paper. Write like you talk and your subscribers will feel like they are actually getting to know you, rather than an encyclopedia.

Provide useful information. Avoid turning your newsletter into an email marketing gimmick. Sure, you want to make money, we all do, but that doesn´t mean you can´t give something back! Offer your readers great info that they can actually put to use and they´ll keep reading.

Appreciate your subscribers. Remember, these people cared enough to give you their email addresses and open your emails to see what you have to say each week (or however often you send out emails) and you should reward that. Offer them a discount that only subscribers receive, or a free ebook, above and beyond your sign up offer. They´ll like you that much more.

Interact with readers. Ask them questions. When someone emails you with a concern or a question, get permission to share it and the answer with everyone on your list. You´ll be helping people out and showing that you are someone personable and interested in your readers.

Don´t think of your email marketing as just a method to sell. It is a very valuable method of bonding with your readers, something that can be far more valuable in the long run. Word of mouth advertising is one of the best methods to promote your business and if you have a great relationship with your subscribers, guess who will be talking you up?

Caroline Melberg
Small Business Mavericks
Small Business Mavericks Blog

Came across a nice free tool for real estate agents called Postlets. The tool allows users to post properties to several main stream classified networks such as backpage, Google Base, Kijiji, Oodle and more. The site steps you through the process of creating your listing. This is a great tool to propogate your listings across some fo the bigger free classified networks. This application also works for selling cars, but on a more limited distribution.

Came across a nice free tool for real estate agents called Postlets. The tool allows users to post properties to several main stream classified networks such as backpage, Google Base, Kijiji, Oodle and more. The site steps you through the process of creating your listing. This is a great tool to propogate your listings across some fo the bigger free classified networks. This application also works for selling cars, but on a more limited distribution.

[Note from Lee: We tend to get a bit heavy on the industry observations and strategy, so a nice tactics/tools post is in order. ]

There are many different tools out there for SEO’s to use on a website. Each one has different features and benefits depending on how you use them. That’s why TopRank provides SEO Tool Reviews from time to time. We showcase different tools that you may or may not know about. Some free, some paid, all good.

The basis of this SEO tool review is Firefox. “Firefox a SEO tool”, you say? Alone, Firefox is not an SEO tool, but there are many extensions and toolbars that can be added to Firefox to extend it’s possibilities past basic web browsing.

What makes Firefox so great?

• It’s free.
• It’s secure. If a security issue comes up, the Firefox team plugs it in just a few days.
• It works on Windows, Mac and Linux. Each version with the same features and functionality.
• It has a large developer network creating extensions. Most extensions are platform independent too.
• It is what you want it to be. Between extensions and themes, the user can build a browser that does what they want. It is really all about you.

If you don’t already have Firefox installed, go grab it! As for extending Firefox with SEO plugins, here is a list of 11 tools we either use or have tested with descriptions from Lee:

• SEOpen - 23 different metrics from back links on Yahoo and Google to Archived pages, whois and checking robots.txt.
• SEO For Firefox -Aaron Wall’s clever and configurable tool with 13 different signals ranging from domain age and Page Rank to del.icio.us bookmark and .edu inbound links.
• yExplore - Thomas’ handy tool offering easy right click access to Yahoo Site Explorer info.
• Web Developer - Adds a menu and a toolbar to the browser with various web developer tools including the ability to disable JavaScript, images, and CSS to see what a page looks like in a text browser or for robots.
• SeoQuake - Interesting tool for analyzing search results and various parameters that may influence SEO.  Work can be saved for future reference or comparison to subsequent measurements.  Don’t overdo it or you’re in trouble.
• KGen -Keyword generator analyzes a page for keyword frequency and placement. Also offers transfer to clipboard for use when tagging bookmarks.
• Niche Watch Tool - Checks back links, indexed pages, keyword frequency and several other SEO signals.
• MetaTags - Offers a side bar menu showing a web page’s meta data, links, keyword frequency and others.
• Search Status - Highlights nofollow links, back links, indexed pages, Alexa and Compete rankings.
• Prefbar - Toggle JavaScript, Flash and images as well as spoof user agent.

What are your favorite Firefox addons for SEO?

Sponsored By: Start a Career in Search Marketing Announcing the best online SEM courses from SEMPO Institute.

[Note from Lee: We tend to get a bit heavy on the industry observations and strategy, so a nice tactics/tools post is in order. ]

There are many different tools out there for SEO’s to use on a website. Each one has different features and benefits depending on how you use them. That’s why TopRank provides SEO Tool Reviews from time to time. We showcase different tools that you may or may not know about. Some free, some paid, all good.

The basis of this SEO tool review is Firefox. “Firefox a SEO tool”, you say? Alone, Firefox is not an SEO tool, but there are many extensions and toolbars that can be added to Firefox to extend it’s possibilities past basic web browsing.

What makes Firefox so great?

• It’s free.
• It’s secure. If a security issue comes up, the Firefox team plugs it in just a few days.
• It works on Windows, Mac and Linux. Each version with the same features and functionality.
• It has a large developer network creating extensions. Most extensions are platform independent too.
• It is what you want it to be. Between extensions and themes, the user can build a browser that does what they want. It is really all about you.

If you don’t already have Firefox installed, go grab it! As for extending Firefox with SEO plugins, here is a list of 11 tools we either use or have tested with descriptions from Lee:

• SEOpen - 23 different metrics from back links on Yahoo and Google to Archived pages, whois and checking robots.txt.
• SEO For Firefox -Aaron Wall’s clever and configurable tool with 13 different signals ranging from domain age and Page Rank to del.icio.us bookmark and .edu inbound links.
• yExplore - Thomas’ handy tool offering easy right click access to Yahoo Site Explorer info.
• Web Developer - Adds a menu and a toolbar to the browser with various web developer tools including the ability to disable JavaScript, images, and CSS to see what a page looks like in a text browser or for robots.
• SeoQuake - Interesting tool for analyzing search results and various parameters that may influence SEO.  Work can be saved for future reference or comparison to subsequent measurements.  Don’t overdo it or you’re in trouble.
• KGen -Keyword generator analyzes a page for keyword frequency and placement. Also offers transfer to clipboard for use when tagging bookmarks.
• Niche Watch Tool - Checks back links, indexed pages, keyword frequency and several other SEO signals.
• MetaTags - Offers a side bar menu showing a web page’s meta data, links, keyword frequency and others.
• Search Status - Highlights nofollow links, back links, indexed pages, Alexa and Compete rankings.
• Prefbar - Toggle JavaScript, Flash and images as well as spoof user agent.

What are your favorite Firefox addons for SEO?

Sponsored By: Start a Career in Search Marketing Announcing the best online SEM courses from SEMPO Institute.