Email is not dead. But email IS changing.

Email facts

Last Updated: December 2014

• There are over 4.1 billion email accounts. This figure is predicted to reach 5.2 billion by 2018 which is a growth of more than 26% - Radicati Group (2013)

• There are 2.5 billion email users worldwide, including both business and consumer users. - Radicatti Group (2013)

• 72% of US online adults send or receive personal emails via smartphone at least weekly - Forrester (2014)

• 122,500,453,020 emails are sent every hour. - MarketingProfs (2014)

People prefer email for commercial communications

• 81% of US online shoppers are more likely to make additional purchases, either online or in a store, as a result of emails based on previous shopping behaviors and preferences. - Harris Interactive

• 68% of consumers find email to be their #1 preferred channel for recieving commercial messages - CG Selections "Nationaal Email Onderzoek" (2013)

• 66% of consumers have made a purchase online as a direct result of an email marketing message - Direct Marketing Association (2013)

• One in five (19%) of consumers said they read every email newsletter they receive just to see if something’s on offer. - Forrester Research "North american technographics survey" (2014)

• In 2014 consumers delete less promo emails without looking, down 25,4% relative to 2010. - Forrester Research "North american technographics survey" (2014)

Email is going mobile

• By the year 2017 1.779 Million people will access email via their mobile device. - The Radicati Group "Email Statistics Report 2013-2017"

• Mobile email will account for 15 to 70% of email opens, depending on your target audience, product and email type. - eMailmonday “the Ultimate mobile email stats” (2014)

• 30% of consumers now read their email exclusively on mobile devices – Yesmail “Email Compass: The Mobile Effect” (2013)

And email marketing?

• 80% of content marketers use email marketing - CMI "B2B Content Marketing Research" (2014)

• 55% of companies generate more than 10 percent of sales from email - Econsultancy "Emailmarketing census"(2014)

• marketers consistently ranked email as the single-most-effective tactic for awareness, acquisition, conversion, and retention. - Gigaom Research "Workhorses and dark horses: digital tactics for customer acquisition" (2014)
• Email is almost 40x better at acquiring new customers than Facebook and Twitter - McKinsey & Company (2014)

• 42% of businesses say email is one of their most effective lead generation channels. And for B2B marketers, 88% say email is the most effective lead generation tactic – Circle Research (2012)

• DMA research puts the ROI of email marketing in 2014 at US$24,93, almost double that of search advertising and better than any other direct marketing channel - DMA UK "National client email survey 2014".

• 88% of marketeers say emailmarketing is bringing them a positive ROI. – ExactTarget “2014 State of Marketing”

Source: http://www.emailisnotdead.com/

What is an Autoresponder and Why Do I Need It?

You've heard it time and time again, "The money is in the list!" This is, after all, the Golden Rule of online marketing. But, where's the list? How do you get a list? What do you do once you have the list? These questions can all be answered with one word: Autoresponder!

Simply put, an autoresponder is an automated follow-up tool, which you set-up to check back with your prospects through email messages you create and schedule. There are various autoresponder services out there, but the most popular once, by far, are AWeber and Get Response. The reason these two services are at the top of the popularity ratings is that they are simple to use, offer several features like form-creation and broadcasting capabilities, and they have great deliverability ratios (all that means is that it is very unlikely for your messages be sent to your prospects' SPAM folders).

Now, the way an autoresponder works is by storing your prospect's information from your opt-in box and getting them on queue to receive your pre-set messages. So, if you have a website (blogs and Facebook business pages can also have opt-in boxes added to them) with an opt-in box which asks prospects to type in their name and email, once someone provides that information, the autoresponder takes care of the rest. Depending on the settings you have established, the new lead (what a prospect becomes after filling-in the opt-in box) will start to receive your messages according to the schedule you have set up.

Why do you need an autoresponder? 
Well, the most obvious reason is that you need a way to build that infamous list! It is absolutely no use to you to have an offer people can only see once, especially if they make a purchase that first time. Also, autoresponders put your marketing and follow-up on autopilot. Think about it, you can set up your list so that people receive emails from you on a set interval for as long as you wish them to. And, the beauty of it is that after the initial set-up, you don't have to do anything else. Another beautiful aspect of having an autoresponder is that it allows you to "broadcast" or send one-time offers to your list with ease. This is another way of capitalizing on your list.

Should you get an autoresponder? 
If you are serious about building an online business, then the answer is YES, ABSOLUTELY, WHAT ON EARTH AREYOU WAITING FOR! Remember, that the money is in the list. You cannot make a living on the internet if you have to go back every day and start from scratch! Imagine how long it would take you to do all the follow-up by phone or writing emails one at a time. AWeber and Get Response are also a great value for their cost. Both go for about $20/month. AWeber will give you the first month for $1. Get Response also has a free version, which can be a good way to test it, if you're still a bit skeptical, but it limits considerably number of leads you can store and broadcast. Also, if you are an affiliate to several opportunities or businesses, then you can broadcast your list with new offers. This means you no longer have to start a business venture from scratch!

Autoresponder: by far the BEST tool a network marketer could invest in. Not only is it essential for list-building, but it will truly put your lead management on autopilot. Get your account today!


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4625214

Why You Must Not Miss List Building

There must be some reasons some internet marketer can earn millions of dollars while others make zero cents. On the other words, if two equally experienced internet marketers are asked to start their business again but one of them cannot build a list. I am sure that one will quit within one month. This is because he lacks of the most powerful tool to make real money, which is "list building."

What is a list building? 
List building is a powerful and evergreen internet marketing strategy that allows you to contact your website visitors. When visitors browse through your website, they find the information on the website is useful to them then they agree to give their contact (mostly email) to you. They would like to know what else you can offer them. With the list, now you can generate income without driving new traffic every day.

Why list building is important? 
First, it is the main source of income in internet marketing. This is because the majority of the new traffic that you bring in to your website does not buy. They most probably look around and then leave your website. The reason behind it is they are thinking somewhere must have a better offer. Despite the "better offer" does not exist, and they love the information you have provided, they are most likely to forget it and never come back unless they bookmark your site. So you must capture their contact before they click away from your site.

As mentioned earlier, people do not buy at the first time you offer them. The research showed that many buyers will only purchase after being offered six to seven times. The fact surprise you, doesn't it? However, do you think the same visitors will come back to your website and be offered for six to seven times? Therefore, holding the subscriber contact information can eventually help you archiving your financial goal.

In addition, people refuse to pay their money to you is simply because they do not know who you really are. People prefer to buy with someone they know instead of a stranger. However, they will not offer you a chance to build a relationship with them. You need to grab the opportunity by yourself. Therefore, every new contact you get will be your future friends. Build a good relationship with them, so they are comfortable to buy any services or products from you.

If you can build a quality list of 100,000 contacts with an auto responder you now can work less and start making passive income. You will be liberated from the financial trap, work lesser but earn more money. An auto responder such as Aweber.com allows you to follow up your subscribers automatically. This is the why you choose internet marketing, isn't it?

Conclusion 
You have no reasons to say NO to this internet marketing strategy. If your traffic does not convert to sales, you must lack of a quality list in your business. Build a list now to take a large leap for your business growth.


Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6735773

Working From Home: Weekends

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7 Parenting Tips for Working from Home with Young Children

With economies struggling all over the world, more and more mamas and daddies are trying to juggle work and children. Working from home is one way to earn a living or supplement your household income while still parenting full-time, but it comes with its own unique set of challenges. Here are seven tips to help you parent your little ones gently while operating a home business:

1. Think ‘routine’ instead of ‘schedule.’
Gentle parenting is very much about being in-sync with your child’s needs. Being tied to an inflexible schedule will only cause stress and conflict as your child’s needs evolve from day to day, week to week, month to month, and year to year. Children do, however, enjoy the comfort and familiarity of a regular routine, and knowing what to expect helps them to make transitions throughout the day. So, instead of making a minute to minute schedule, try working with your child to establish a routine that’s flexible enough to adjust to meet their fluctuating needs, but builds into your day the time you need to devote to your work. For example, a routine could look something like this:

• Morning cuddles, breakfast, playtime with mommy
• Playtime while mommy works
• Snack and storytime with mommy
• Play while mommy works
• Lunch and outside playtime with mommy
• Naptime while mommy works
• Playtime with mommy
• Playtime while mommy works
• Help mommy with dinner
• Dinnertime
• Help mommy clean up after dinner
• Playtime while mommy works
• Evening snack
• Bathtime, bedtime story, cuddles, night-night time

Notice that there are no time limits, only a loose plan for the day that you can adjust if your little one is sick or teething or just needs some extra mommy time during the day. A younger baby will need more naps during the day and can be worn in a baby carrier for naps and/or in place of playtime, and some toddlers and preschoolers will outgrow their need for naps earlier than others, and some will need more outside time, etc. so you’ll want to come up with a routine that accommodates your child’s age, sleep needs, and temperament. Also, of course, if your spouse or a trusted family member or friend is available to help, be sure to include them in your routine.

2. Children love the novelty value of new toys.
So get a box for each of your working days of the week. Label each box with one day of the week and place a set of toys in them that you only bring out on that day. Remember to think outside the box (lol) and don’t only choose store-bought toys. One box could be full of paper towel and toilet paper tubes and various sizes of bouncy balls and hot wheels, etc. so your little one can make tunnels and chutes and all sorts of inventions. Another box could have kitchen utensils and bowls and pots and pans. Don’t be afraid of a little mess, either! Children are washable, and messy play can keep them happily engaged for long stretches of time, so in one box you could have a plastic tablecloth from the dollar store or even a little blow-up wading pool, some paintbrushes, and shaving cream. Just put down the tablecloth or blow up the pool and add a touch of different colors of food coloring to a few small bowls of shaving cream let your little Picasso go to town! The trick is to be creative and choose things that are out of the ordinary that will engage your child’s imagination, not just keep them busy.

3. For older preschoolers or early elementary ages.
An independent project is an excellent idea to help them stay happily engaged while you’re working. During your work periods, provide your child with an ongoing project that they’re interested in and can work on independently. It can be a paint-by-number project, a jigsaw puzzle, a simple model car, a jewelry making set, or any number of other things. Since time is a hard concept for young children, setting a timer for your work periods and having a little sticker chart on the fridge for you and your child to ‘clock in’ and ‘clock out’ of work might be a fun, helpful part of your routine, as well.

4. Meal planning is a huge, huge help in freeing up time and mental energy. 
Take the time to write out a list of every meal you know how to make that your family likes, then break each of those meals down into their ingredients. Save the list on your laptop, and then twice a month simply cut and paste two weeks of meals into a Word doc. Then print it out, cross off any ingredients you already have on hand, and ‘voila’ you have a shopping list and menu for two weeks done in one shot!

5. Simplify, simplify, simplify. 
Be realistic about your commitments and expectations for yourself. Have fruit and cheese for breakfast most mornings instead of eggs and pancakes and sausage. It’s healthier, faster, and there’s less to cleanup! Resign from any pre-working-at-home commitments you can such as directing your church’s Vacation Bible School or doing the book work for your local community center. No one expects you to be able to do everything, and someone else can take on those tasks while you’re doing double duty as a work-and-stay-at-home-mom. And, once you’ve cleared up your commitments, avoid the temptation to fill up your time with playgroups and playdates and mommy-and-me classes. Your little ones need you, not activities.

6. Don’t be afraid to go mobile. 
Find a local park that is suitable for your child’s age and temperament (i.e. Don’t go to a park with a lake if your little one is a runner, and don’t choose a playground with only big kid slides and jungle gyms if you’ve got a toddler.). Once you’ve found a park that’s a good fit, take your laptop or iPhone and answer emails or return phone calls or do other simple tasks that you can manage while swinging your little one in a baby swing or watching your toddler dig in the sand. Make sure you take the time to play with them while you’re there, too, and don’t worry if you get a few judgmental looks from other parents. They don’t know your life, but you know you’re doing the best you can to meet your child’s needs while doing what you need to do for work, so take comfort in that knowledge.

7. Don’t forget to take care of yourself! 
We can get so caught up in meeting our family’s needs at times that we forget to take care of our own needs. Make sure you include a bit of downtime in your routine each day to simply be still and have a cup of coffee or read the newspaper or simply stare out the window and daydream for a few minutes. Take the time on a regular basis to do your nails, go have your hair done, and make a lunch date with a friend. Even if you bring your little one with you, you’ll still be out and about in a non-working environment for a bit and actually get to feel like an adult. If you’ve got a teething baby or a sick child and aren’t getting much sleep at night, take a nap during the day when your little one’s asleep instead of working during their nap. You may get a bit less work done, but you’ll enjoy your life and your family more, and isn’t that really the point of it all anyway?


By: L.R.Knost
Source: http://www.littleheartsbooks.com/2013/03/29/7-parenting-tips-working-from-home-with-young-children/

55 Quick SEO Tips Even Your Mother Would Love

Everyone loves a good tip, right? Here are 55 quick tips for search engine optimization that even your mother could use to get cooking. Well, not my mother, but you get my point. Most folks with some web design and beginner SEO knowledge should be able to take these to the bank without any problem.

1. If you absolutely MUST use Java script drop down menus, image maps or image links, be sure to put text links somewhere on the page for the spiders to follow.

2. Content is king, so be sure to have good, well-written, and unique content that will focus on your primary keyword or keyword phrase.

3. If content is king, then links are queen. Build a network of quality backlinks. Remember, if there is no good, logical reason for a site to link to you, you don’t want the link.

4. Don’t be obsessed with PageRank. It is just one isty bitsy part of the ranking algorithm. A site with lower PR can actually outrank one with a higher PR.

5. Be sure you have a unique, keyword focused Title tag on every page of your site. And, if you MUST have the name of your company in it, put it at the end. Unless you are a household name, your business name will probably get few searches.

6. Fresh content can help improve your rankings. Add new, useful content to your pages on a regular basis. Content freshness adds relevancy to your site in the eyes of the search engines.

7. Be sure links to your site and within your site use your keyword phrase. In other words, if your target is “blue widgets” then link to “blue widgets” instead of a “Click here” link.

8. Focus on search phrases, not single keywords, and put your location in your text (“our Palm Springs store” not “our store”) to help you get found in local searches.

9. Don’t design your web site without considering SEO. Make sure your web designer understands your expectations for organic SEO. Doing a retrofit on your shiny new Flash-based site after it is built won’t cut it. Spiders can crawl text, not Flash or images.

10. Use keywords and keyword phrases appropriately in text links, image ALT attributes and even your domain name.

11. Check for canonicalization issues – www and non-www domains. Decide which you want to use and 301 redirect the other to it. In other words, if http://www.domain.com is your preference, then http://domain.com should redirect to it.

12. Check the link to your home page throughout your site. Is index.html appended to your domain name? If so, you’re splitting your links. Outside links go to http://www.domain.com and internal links go to http://www.domain.com/index.html.

Ditch the index.html or default.php or whatever the page is and always link back to your domain.

13. Frames, Flash and AJAX all share a common problem – you can’t link to a single page. It’s either all or nothing. Don’t use Frames at all and use Flash and AJAX sparingly for best SEO results.

14. Your URL file extension doesn’t matter. You can use .html, .htm, .asp, .php, etc. and it won’t make a difference as far as your SEO is concerned.

15. Got a new web site you want spidered? Submitting through Google’s regular submission form can take weeks. The quickest way to get your site spidered is by getting a link to it through another quality site.

16. If your site content doesn’t change often, your site needs a blog because search spiders like fresh text. Blog at least three time a week with good, fresh content to feed those little crawlers.

17. When link building, think quality, not quantity. One single, good, authoritative link can do a lot more for you than a dozen poor quality links, which can actually hurt you.

18. Search engines want natural language content. Don’t try to stuff your text with keywords. It won’t work. Search engines look at how many times a term is in your content and if it is abnormally high, will count this against you rather than for you.

19. Text around your links should also be related to your keywords. In other words, surround the link with descriptive text.

20. If you are on a shared server, do a blacklist check to be sure you’re not on a proxy with a spammer or banned site. Their negative notoriety could affect your own rankings.

21. Be aware that by using services that block domain ownership information when you register a domain, Google might see you as a potential spammer.

22. When optimizing your blog posts, optimize your post title tag independently from your blog title.

23. The bottom line in SEO is Text, Links, Popularity and Reputation.

24. Make sure your site is easy to use. This can influence your link building ability and popularity and, thus, your ranking.

25. Give link love, Get link love. Don’t be stingy with linking out. That will encourage others to link to you.

26. Search engines like unique content that is also quality content. There can be a difference between unique content and quality content. Make sure your content is both.

27. If you absolutely MUST have your main page as a splash page that is all Flash or one big image, place text and navigation links below the fold.

28. Some of your most valuable links might not appear in web sites at all but be in the form of e-mail communications such as newletters and zines.

29. You get NOTHING from paid links except a few clicks unless the links are embedded in body text and NOT obvious sponsored links.

30. Links from .edu domains are given nice weight by the search engines. Run a search for possible non-profit .edu sites that are looking for sponsors.

31. Give them something to talk about. Linkbaiting is simply good content.

32. Give each page a focus on a single keyword phrase. Don’t try to optimize the page for several keywords at once.

33. SEO is useless if you have a weak or non-existent call to action. Make sure your call to action is clear and present.

34. SEO is not a one-shot process. The search landscape changes daily, so expect to work on your optimization daily.

35. Cater to influential bloggers and authority sites who might link to you, your images, videos, podcasts, etc. or ask to reprint your content.

36. Get the owner or CEO blogging. It’s priceless! CEO influence on a blog is incredible as this is the VOICE of the company. Response from the owner to reader comments will cause your credibility to skyrocket!

37. Optimize the text in your RSS feed just like you should with your posts and web pages. Use descriptive, keyword rich text in your title and description.

38. Use keyword rich captions with your images.

39. Pay attention to the context surrounding your images. Images can rank based on text that surrounds them on the page. Pay attention to keyword text, headings, etc.

40. You’re better off letting your site pages be found naturally by the crawler. Good global navigation and linking will serve you much better than relying only on an XML Sitemap.

41. There are two ways to NOT see Google’s Personalized Search results:

(1) Log out of Google

(2) Append &pws=0 to the end of your search URL in the search bar

42. Links (especially deep links) from a high PageRank site are golden. High PR indicates high trust, so the back links will carry more weight.

43. Use absolute links. Not only will it make your on-site link navigation less prone to problems (like links to and from https pages), but if someone scrapes your content, you’ll get backlink juice out of it.

44. See if your hosting company offers “Sticky” forwarding when moving to a new domain. This allows temporary forwarding to the new domain from the old, retaining the new URL in the address bar so that users can gradually get used to the new URL.

45. Understand social marketing. It IS part of SEO. The more you understand about sites like Digg, Yelp, del.icio.us, Facebook, etc., the better you will be able to compete in search.

46. To get the best chance for your videos to be found by the crawlers, create a video sitemap and list it in your Google Webmaster Central account.

47. Videos that show up in Google blended search results don’t just come from YouTube. Be sure to submit your videos to other quality video sites like Metacafe, AOL, MSN and Yahoo to name a few.

48. Surround video content on your pages with keyword rich text. The search engines look at surrounding content to define the usefulness of the video for the query.

49. Use the words “image” or “picture” in your photo ALT descriptions and captions. A lot of searches are for a keyword plus one of those words.

50. Enable “Enhanced image search” in your Google Webmaster Central account. Images are a big part of the new blended search results, so allowing Google to find your photos will help your SEO efforts.

51. Add viral components to your web site or blog – reviews, sharing functions, ratings, visitor comments, etc.

52. Broaden your range of services to include video, podcasts, news, social content and so forth. SEO is not about 10 blue links anymore.

53. When considering a link purchase or exchange, check the cache date of the page where your link will be located in Google. Search for “cache:URL” where you substitute “URL” for the actual page. The newer the cache date the better. If the page isn’t there or the cache date is more than an month old, the page isn’t worth much.

54. If you have pages on your site that are very similar (you are concerned about duplicate content issues) and you want to be sure the correct one is included in the search engines, place the URL of your preferred page in your sitemaps.

55. Check your server headers. Search for “check server header” to find free online tools for this. You want to be sure your URLs report a “200 OK” status or “301 Moved Permanently ” for redirects. If the status shows anything else, check to be sure your URLs are set up properly and used consistently throughout your site.



Maybe a little technical here and there, but most of them easy to understand and quick to use in your blog. Other tips? Please share.

Source: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/55-quick-seo-tips-even-your-mother-would-love/

Affiliate Marketing Tips That Everyone Should Know

If you have a knack for finding a niche, you might be a great affiliate marketer. With thousands of companies and millions of products to choose from, you can be an affiliate for any type of business you choose. However, you will first need to know more about affiliate promotion. We will cover some vital information in this article.

Disclosing your use of internet marketing will let you know if it influences your readers in a positive way. Transparency is always appreciated, particularly in the field of affiliate marketing. Your customers should understand why you market certain goods. If they do, they are more likely to buy them.

When you first start web marketing, seek out affiliates who sell products that will resonate with your customer base. Setting up agreements with multiple affiliate networks can give you a good source of income. Don’t work with just anybody; make sure that you do thorough research so you know that you are with the right people.

A lot of affiliate communication happens through emails, but the inbox makes an inefficient place to store important information. To make sure you are not missing a beat, copy and paste your tasks into a separate window. By using the document as your reference, you can work more quickly and efficiently.

Choosing the hottest products to promote as an affiliate may mean thinner profits. Market quality is important, but quality doesn’t mean oversaturation. The downside of promoting hot products is the intense competition. This might mean you get very little or even no profit.

Every single affiliate you choose should be in your site’s niche. This will increase traffic to your website and also assist you in truly understanding the needs and wants of your customer base.

Try using paid services like Google Ads for affiliate promotion. Purchasing keyword-driven advertising doesn’t just send traffic to your website, it sends prospective customers who have already shown they are interested in the keyword.

Use a deadline for affiliate products that you offer. When people notice there is a short time frame to buy the product, they may hurry up and place an order faster so they can make sure they get it. Incorporating this strategy is an effective way to increase your sales.

Understanding your target audience is important to growing your business. It is imperative that you target your readers’ needs. Decipher what is compelling them to visit your site. What is catching their attention?

Tell your readers up front that you’re part of an affiliate program. They will feel that you are more trustworthy. This is the beginning of a relationship that may lead to more sales.

Avoid using a tracking system from a vendor, unless you are sure it is not a scam. Just look for tracking systems that are legit and offer proof that it works.

When backlinking to your site content, be honest about where you are taking your potential customers. If your customer comes to your site looking for an HP tablet, they won’t be able to see iPads. Although you may think it is a clever strategy, a mismatched link will appear shady to visitors.

A good product is not the only thing necessary to your career in web marketing. As mentioned previously, there is a lot of information about internet marketing than you may have thought. Use the advice in this article to help you start a successful affiliate promotion campaign. Always take your business seriously. Learn all you can and apply what you know.


Source: http://www.mlspro-onlinemarketing.com/affiliate-marketing-tips-that-everyone-should-know/