How To

So after the success of webinars such as “Way Beyond SEO” and the two we just did in June — Redesigning Your Website and Understanding Search Marketing — we’re proud to announce a new line-up for web marketing webinars that will last into perpetuity.

To keep things simple, we’re having them every single Tuesday at 2PM EST, and lest you ask, they’re as free as free can be.

So why should you attend?

5. It’s summer, and what do you REALLY have to do on a Tuesday afternoon?

4. Play “stump the SEO” during our Q&A at the end.

3. Hear Fred’s crazy radio voice and Chrystie’s good-natured humor.

2. Get out of boring company “strategy” sessions to learn about how to REALLY grow your business.

1. Because if you don’t, your competitors will.

So what are you waiting for? Register for one of our webinars today!

A few of our customers have received an email claiming to be from Google Adwords that looks like this:

Dear Google AdWords Customer,

Your ads have stopped running because we were unable to process your billing information. We will reactivate you account after you update your billing information. In order to reactivate your account, please sign it to your account at http://adwords.google.com/select/login and update your billing information.

This is a scam! Do not visit the site and do not enter your information.

In general, if you get any emails that sound fishy — asking for credit card or other personal information to avoid a bad outcome — it’s good to err on the side of caution. We’re happy to review any such emails to let you know if they are legitimate or not.

We’ve had many people ask us how to subscribe to our blog, but more often we get the question,”What is RSS?” and “Why should I subscribe to a blog?”

RSS = Really Simple Syndication. Basically, in the same way you would subscribe to a magazine and receive it in your mailbox monthly, RSS allows you subscribe to a blog and receive the latest posts in your feed reader daily or even hourly depending on how often your blogs are updated. Let’s say you regularly follow 10-15 blogs, we can agree that it is pretty time consuming to visit each of those blogs everyday to see if they have posted any new information. A feedreader will allow you to log into one account and view all of your blogs right there in one easy to navigate dashboard.

There are dozens of feedreaders out there, Bloglines, Google Reader, NewsGator, PageFlakes, are just some of the more popular ones, but the list goes on. For the sake of this “How To”, I’m going to focus on using Bloglines. It is the most popular feed reader, it’s also one I use, and very simple to navigate.

1. Locate and click on the subscribe button:

2. You will be brought to a Subscribe screen where you will have the option to choose which reader you would like to view your feed:

3. If you are using Bloglines you will be prompted to log in to your account, otherwise you may choose to create an account.

4. Bloglines will show you the feed title and description, ensure it’s accuracy and then click on Subscribe.

5. Success! Once logged in to your account, you will be updated with your subscriptions latest blog posts and offerings.

Now get started! Subscribe to your favorite blogs. Save time and enjoy life! Be sure to look out for our next blog post, “How to Subscribe to a Podcast” later this week.

Hello? Hello? Is anybody out there?

Ever spend hours crafting the perfect blog post? It’s informative, witty and controversial, everything that all the blogging experts say a blog post should be, Yet, nobody comments on it…at all?  As bloggers, we spend a great deal of time, trying to convey information, thoughts and ideas to our readers, yet when feedback is not received, it can makes us feel like we are talking to ourselves, and let’s face it…blog posts can look a little pathetic without comments. Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.
So the question is, how do you get your readers to comment?

How to get blog comments:

1. Ask a Question - By asking your readers a question, they may feel compelled to answer it, especially if you are asking for their opinion or experiences. Remember, people love to talk about themselves and voice their opinions, give them an open invitation to do so.

2. Say Something Controversial - Do you have an opinion that goes against the majority? Write about it. State your conviction and stand strong while the comments from supporters and naysayers pour in.

3. Challenge another Blogger - Choose a successful blogger and write a post about how much you disagree or agree with one of his or her latest posts. Then, leave a comment on his post with a quick summary, be sure to link back to your blog. Not only will you be inviting the blogger to comment on your blog, but you will probably get a lot of curious readers of his blog to visit yours as well.

Comments give the visitors a sense of community. Communities are what you should be aiming to build with your readers, this is a sure fire way to get them to return, get them to subscribe, and best of all tell their friends about you.

Comment, Comment, Comment!
photo credit: saris0000