Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
List of U.S. Art Licensing Agencies
Just like there are many kinds of manufacturers, there are many kinds of art licensing agencies. Some only license art and some sell art as prints or on products besides license their artists work. Some agencies represent artists whose art fits only a niche market such as lodge, western, and country. Others specialize in representing artists whose art is suitable for home decor, or patterns for fabric, clothing, stationery, and scrapbooking. And of course there are some agencies that license all kinds of art for all kinds of products. Some agencies represent several artists and some represent several hundred artists. Some agencies will sign up artists that are new to licensing while other agencies will only accept artists that are already known and have achieved some measureable amount of licensing success. These agencies tend to represent artists that have a uniquely recognizable art style and are or can become a brand.
United Kingdom
Germany
Netherlands
If you know of any more Agents not in my list, please drop me an email.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Upload videos to multiple websites at once FREE!
Upload videos to multiple websites at once Free
If you want to add your video to all the video sharing
sites at once, here is the solution for you. These are free online resources to
upload a video to all the video sharing sites at once.
1. TubeMogul
is a free service that provides a single point for deploying uploads to the
top video sharing sites, and powerful analytics on who, what, and how videos
are being viewed.
TibeMogul currently supports these
video sites:
Google Video, Metacafe, MySpace, Revver, Yahoo!, AOL Uncut Video, DailyMotion, YouTube, Crackle, Imeem, StupidVideos and Veoh.
Google Video, Metacafe, MySpace, Revver, Yahoo!, AOL Uncut Video, DailyMotion, YouTube, Crackle, Imeem, StupidVideos and Veoh.
2. Hey!Spread
allows users to upload videos to multiple video sites at once. You can check
your upload process in real-time and know instantly when your video is
available on the video portals they support. Hey!Spread currently supports
these video sites:
Sclipo, Sumo, Sevenload, Youtube, Google, Dailymotion, Blip, Metacafe, Yahoo, Facebook, Myspace, Vimeo, Revver, Veoh, Vsocial, Photobucket and Putfile
3. VidMirror helps you to easily upload your videos to multiple video hosting services such as Youtube and Google Video. VidMirror is also available as a sidebar to be integrated into Firefox and Opera.
VidMirror currently supports these video sites:
Sclipo, Sumo, Sevenload, Youtube, Google, Dailymotion, Blip, Metacafe, Yahoo, Facebook, Myspace, Vimeo, Revver, Veoh, Vsocial, Photobucket and Putfile
3. VidMirror helps you to easily upload your videos to multiple video hosting services such as Youtube and Google Video. VidMirror is also available as a sidebar to be integrated into Firefox and Opera.
VidMirror currently supports these video sites:
YouTube, Google Video, Revver, Veoh, Vimeo, Yahoo! Video, Flurl, Ourmedia, Putfile, StreetFire, TinyPic, vSocial and ZippyVideos.
4. VidMetrix allows you to automatically and reliably syndicate your videos to every major video network across the Internet. It also provides a detailed report of your video viewer ship, feedback, and viewer engagement.
VidMetrix currently supports these video sites:
AOL Uncut, DailyMotion, Google
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Today's Four Hottest, Direct Marketing Trends
It is all about the Senses!!!!!
Top Direct Marketing Trend No. 1: Quick Response (QR) Codes
QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes (black-and-white pixel squares) that can be scanned and read by smart phones. And, they're a bonanza for marketers. QR codes allow you to interact directly with your customers and prospects at anytime and anyplace.
Smartphone enabled QR Codes are added to direct mail pieces, advertisements, billboards (on train and subway platforms), product labels, point-of-purchase (POP) displays, business cards, collateral material, coffee mugs, and even t-shirts.
Depending on how QRs are set up, a number of things can happen when they're scanned. For example, prospects can get exclusive content, product demonstrations, video testimonials, and FAQs; be directed to a landing page from a direct mail piece or advertisement; get slideshows or sweepstakes entries; and register for free prizes and coupons.
What's more, you can capture contact information: phone numbers and e-mail addresses can be added instantly to your contact list. You can even track repeat visitors, when and where your code was accessed, and what type of phone was used.
Top Direct Marketing Trend No. 2: Adding Google Catalogs for iPads
iTunes describes iPad catalogs as, "A new, rich, and engaging way to interact with all your favorite catalogs."
Users can flip through pages, save products, and create collages that can be shared with friends.
While some companies are doing away with print catalogs altogether, most are cutting back on print, and adding the digital versions. With increases in postage and printing costs, this is a great way to decrease marketing expenses, and increase ROI.
Top Direct Marketing Trend No. 3: Sensory Direct Mailers
More marketers are integrating smell, touch, taste, sound, and even video into their mailers. Referred to as sensory appeal, this technique is significantly increasing response rates.
Sensory Direct Mailers are successful because when the senses are involved, the message is more memorable. Take, for example, smell. When aroma is used in a direct mail piece it can have a big impact. Why?
1. 75 percent of our emotions are generated by what we smell, and
2. The Sense of Smell Institute reports that people recall smells with 65 percent accuracy after a year. Visual recall drops to around 50% after three months.
Engage the Nose
Your prospects and customers can sample your product's fragrance when you add scented coatings, papers, and scratch-and-sniff labels to mailers and ads. But, don't feel that this method is only for those who sell fragrances.
A smell can be used to evoke an image or memory. According to the book Sensory Marketing by Bertil Hulten, scents can be an important component of a firm's sensory marketing because scents have a close connection to our memory and well-being. Just imagine the smell of freshly brewed coffee. What are the memories associated with that smell? How does the smell of a new car make you feel? What about fresh-cut grass?
Michael Solomon states in his book, Sensory Marketing: Smells Like Profits, that ad companies spend about $80 million per year on scent marketing, and the Scent Marketing Institute estimates that number will reach more than $500 million by 2016.
Add Video
Instead of directing Direct Mail recipients to a website to watch a video, companies are now embedding a wafer-thin video player directly onto a mailer. This hot new technology, called video in print, allows your company to speak off line, directly, and immediately to your prospects. They can be used in a number of ways: to explain complex benefits, give a product demonstration, and use emotion to communicate brand messaging, to name just a few.
Involve the Taste Buds
Forget about sending out expensive samples. Flavor strips are an effective and economical way to allow your prospects to taste your product.
Connect through Touch
There are a number of clever ways to use touch. You can raise the print of an image or section of text; use paper with different textures; or even use other materials, like fabrics.
Top Direct Marketing Trend No. 4: Dimensional Mailers
According to the 2010 Response Rate Report, Dimensional Mail gets the highest response rate of any direct response medium: 5.72 percent from current customers, and 3.59 percent from prospects.
The Direct Marketing Association defines Dimensional Mail as mail that's more than .75 inches thick. It can be a box, tube, or any unusual shape that's effective in peaking curiosity, and, more important, getting it opened.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Some Words of Wisdom For My Dear Friends of this Blog
Those critics, those naysayers, the nags and the negative people in our lives who want to tell us: "No. It can't be done. Don't try. Give up. Why do you have to stand out? Why won't you just be sensible and give in to the inevitable?"
They don't count. And you mustn't mistake their words for truth.
Don't buy into their message of settle-settle, underachievement, and muddle-along-now.
Because you've been blessed with talent, you have a higher calling.
Use the great gifts you have been given, find the forum where your talents will shine, discover that place where your spirit soars and the work smells like… victory in the morning.
They don't count. And you mustn't mistake their words for truth.
Don't buy into their message of settle-settle, underachievement, and muddle-along-now.
Because you've been blessed with talent, you have a higher calling.
Use the great gifts you have been given, find the forum where your talents will shine, discover that place where your spirit soars and the work smells like… victory in the morning.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Today's Five Facts About Youth Markets
16% of players in online casual game tournaments are under 16, reports ArcadeWeb.com
29% of men had a crush on a cartoon character during childhood, says Men’s Health.
Families are more likely to say they would prefer to watch Disney XD (33%), PBS Kids Sprout (32%), and Nick Jr. (30%) programming on a smartphone or tablet than programs from the top three broadcast networks (20%), says Beta Research Brand Identity Study.
16% of teens ages 15-17 have purchased a product or service after seeing it on a TV infomercial, reports ExactTarget.
47% of Millennials are “strongly interested” in working at government agencies, such as the CIA and FBI, finds The National Society of High School Scholars.
29% of men had a crush on a cartoon character during childhood, says Men’s Health.
Families are more likely to say they would prefer to watch Disney XD (33%), PBS Kids Sprout (32%), and Nick Jr. (30%) programming on a smartphone or tablet than programs from the top three broadcast networks (20%), says Beta Research Brand Identity Study.
16% of teens ages 15-17 have purchased a product or service after seeing it on a TV infomercial, reports ExactTarget.
47% of Millennials are “strongly interested” in working at government agencies, such as the CIA and FBI, finds The National Society of High School Scholars.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS
-29% of hiring managers believe it will be “easy” for teens to find a summer job this year, according to Snagajob.com.
-89% of parents assign chores to their children, says financial website DoughMain.
-The number of parents who seek their children’s input in car purchases has grown from 38% in 2007 to 57% in 2011, according to The Family Room market and research agency.
-25% of college libraries surveyed by Research and Markets have purchased e-book readers, iPads, or other devices for students to read e-books.
-Teen girls are more likely to be distracted while driving and look away from the roadway than male teens (46% vs. 43%), reports the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
-89% of parents assign chores to their children, says financial website DoughMain.
-The number of parents who seek their children’s input in car purchases has grown from 38% in 2007 to 57% in 2011, according to The Family Room market and research agency.
-25% of college libraries surveyed by Research and Markets have purchased e-book readers, iPads, or other devices for students to read e-books.
-Teen girls are more likely to be distracted while driving and look away from the roadway than male teens (46% vs. 43%), reports the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Please remember that in addition to Easter and Passover - The Month of April is Holocaust Remembrance Month.
No matter how many times I see the above photograph — and it is perhaps the most widely published and iconic picture from the Holocaust — I still freeze with revulsion, sadness and outrage. Makes me angry to see that children could be treated like this. Lets make sure this never happens again.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS
-Lucky Charms is the cereal brand most widely available on college campuses, says General Mills.
-48% of MTV’s Facebook fans access its pages via mobile devices, reports the network.
-16-18-year-olds perform better academically with seven hours of sleep; U.S. federal guidelines recommend nine hours, finds Brigham Young University.
-15% of teen girls ages 13-17 who play online games purchased a virtual item in 2011, according to PlaySpan and Frank N. Magid Associates.
-43% of parents say their children’s assessment test results lose their relevance within one month, according to Grunwald Associates.
-48% of MTV’s Facebook fans access its pages via mobile devices, reports the network.
-16-18-year-olds perform better academically with seven hours of sleep; U.S. federal guidelines recommend nine hours, finds Brigham Young University.
-15% of teen girls ages 13-17 who play online games purchased a virtual item in 2011, according to PlaySpan and Frank N. Magid Associates.
-43% of parents say their children’s assessment test results lose their relevance within one month, according to Grunwald Associates.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
-A quarter of Americans (25%) admit to having driven a car after two or more alcoholic drinks, according to Harris Interactive, as cited in Research Alert.
-90% of Americans live in households with at least one working cell phone, finds the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
-Only 12% of Americans are willing to sit through a 30-second online ad before viewing free content, according to Poll Position.
-84% of women say they recommend brands after trying free product samples, according to Total Beauty Media Group.
-Onions are the most popular hamburger topping, according to grill maker Weber.
-90% of Americans live in households with at least one working cell phone, finds the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
-Only 12% of Americans are willing to sit through a 30-second online ad before viewing free content, according to Poll Position.
-84% of women say they recommend brands after trying free product samples, according to Total Beauty Media Group.
-Onions are the most popular hamburger topping, according to grill maker Weber.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
My Latest Paintings
I have started painting again, and am working on a series that really revolves around my Catholic upbringing and my ongoing association with those of the Jewish faith. As my twin brother likes to say, "the Jews have always been good to us" (us meaning my twin brother and I). I can't say that I disagree with him.
As, always if you are interested in buying any of these, please email me at tmar13_3@hotmail.com
Jewish Experience of Suffering (oil on canvas)
Expulsion from Eden (oil on canvas)
Lamb of the Cross (oil on canvas)
As, always if you are interested in buying any of these, please email me at tmar13_3@hotmail.com
Jewish Experience of Suffering (oil on canvas)
Expulsion from Eden (oil on canvas)
Lamb of the Cross (oil on canvas)
Lady Liberty Cries for Her Dead
I just sold this painting to a collector in Switzerland. I can get into the story behind the painting, but I think the tear of blood says it all.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
TODAY'S FIVE FACTS ABOUT YOUTH MARKETS
-61% of girls ages 9-11 would like to wear more makeup than their parents allow, reports Mintel.
-66% of high school students with smartphones use them when shopping for apparel and accessories, finds Ypulse.
-83% of teens who use online video chat do so in order to communicate with friends.
-Moms with children under age seven are more likely than moms with older children to own an iPhone (57% vs. 49%), says 360 PR MomSquad.
-Teens think having more than 350 Facebook friends is "strange," according to Ericsson.
-66% of high school students with smartphones use them when shopping for apparel and accessories, finds Ypulse.
-83% of teens who use online video chat do so in order to communicate with friends.
-Moms with children under age seven are more likely than moms with older children to own an iPhone (57% vs. 49%), says 360 PR MomSquad.
-Teens think having more than 350 Facebook friends is "strange," according to Ericsson.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Angry Professor Hits 5 million views! How? Brilliant Creative, That's How!
Anyone who knows Jonathan Schoenberg, Creative Director at TDA_Boulder, knows he's a man with high creative standards. This piece, done as a joke (although it should be mandatory in any lecture) has just hit 5 million views. This is a man who knows how to go viral, and his clients know it, too. Nicely done.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Charles Darwin was not an enemy of the Christian faith. Clearly atheists are ill informed.
St. Augustine knew this and warned against taking the Bible at its wo...rd. Unfortunately in the 19th century in particular England, some Theologians started rewriting the Bible, interpreting it at its word even listing exact dates of Biblical occurrences. They were “Creationists” who began taking every occurrence in the Bible literally. Sadly creationists and most Christians who started believing in Creation began to attack Darwin as an enemy of God.
For the record Darwin believed in God and did not lose his faith based on his ideas on “Evolution”. His theories were never written to attack the Bible. Darwin actually lost his faith after his 10 year old daughter died. Which is not unlike most of us who start to doubt our belief in God after we have experienced a loss of a close one. It was never meant to challenge God…ever! As I said it is in line with traditional Theological beliefs!
Creationists made “Darwin the enemy. Darwin was never a “God Hater”. And now you have the Atheists and the Darwinists if you will using Darwin’s brilliant ideas to counter the existence of God.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the uninformed Christians who take the Bible literally at its word for turning me off from Religion (Not God) and I want to thank the Atheists and Darwinists for being so bloody stupid by claiming that evolution contains atheism…which it never was meant to!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
How To Increase Traffic To Your Website!!!!
There are many creative ways to increase traffic to your website. Some will cost you money, and some won't. Below you'll find many legitimate ways (ranging from free to costly) to boost the number of visitors to your website. But if you don't have so much as a cent to spare, read How to Increase Website Traffic for Free.
Steps
1. Search engine optimization is about ways to get your website to the top of search engines. This cannot be stressed enough. You can do this by generating useful content like articles and blogs, by social networking and the development of multimedia. This sounds easy but it’s a lot of hard work. Still, you can also strategically spread your content in different websites while keeping your target niche in mind.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Reach Your Customers With Google. Get Your Ad Online In Just 15 Mins!
www.Google.com/AdWords
2. After on-page optimization, you can go build your back links to your site. With backlinks, search engines will directly index your websites after finding the links. No need to submit your website to the search engines themselves. Your backlinks will do the work for you.
3. This cannot be done without a little effort though; there are companies out there on the Web that could do the hard stuff for you at a reasonable price.
Improve your Internet Presence
Offer free, original, and quality content on your site. This is the most effective means for increasing traffic to a website; offering people something that they cannot obtain elsewhere, or at least, not to the level of quality that you are offering it. Ways in which to ensure that your content is of higher quality than competitors or is unique include:
oCreating content that is helpful and useful. Simply cobbling together information from another website will not generate traffic. You need to offer visitors the information they need to achieve a goal, solve a problem, be entertained, find out quality news or have a good laugh.
oKeep it fresh. For repeat visits, it is crucial to provide regular updates to the website, especially in frequently viewed zones. Add fresh content every few days if possible; at a minimum, weekly.
oTo have a fully functioning and successful website, you need to make sure your tags are in place and your links are not broken. You also need to submit a sitemap.xml file to Google to have your website show up in Google's search engines. There is a tool that inspects websites just in case you missed tags and links and it creates a free sitemap.xml file. It gives you results in minutes.
oOutsource article writing. If you hate the thought of generating content yourself, or your team is not writing-savvy, consider outsourcing this end of the task. Depending on the length, content, specialization and quality required, prices can start as low as US$5 per article. However, don't neglect attempting to write your own work - who better than you knows your own business, hobby or club and can express precisely what needs to be said? Just sit down and start writing an article. You may be impressed when you're done!
oAdd video to your landing pages (VLP - Video Landing Page) that is informative and relevant to your site. Respected studies show that good video can improve conversions and page ranking more than most any other item you can add to your pages.
oUse landing pages for fast fulfillment of your PPC advertisement.
oLaunch some contests. It'll draw you instant traffic. You can Goggle search some free sponsor program and do such contest frequently.
4. Trying to get more backlinks on your website this may help to increase the traffic.
oGet a proofreader. Poor spelling and grammar reflect badly on the services and information being provided; avoid unwarranted negative judgments by getting the writing in order prior to publication online.
oAvoid content generators. While these were once the delight of a fledgling web industry, they are no longer useful. Putting your own team's creativity online is what is useful.
oNever copy and paste from another website - Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines are too smart for this nowadays and will detect copied and unoriginal content, sending you to the bottom of the pile.
5. Improve your search engine ranking by focusing your content on keywords related to your topic.
Improve your search engine ranking by focusing your content on keywords related to your topic. This is called search engine optimization and will help people find your website when they're searching the Web. Make sure the keywords flow naturally with the text and when you are brainstorming for good words, ask around for words that come naturally to people of all ages when looking for your type of site. To help you understand better, realize that the keywords not only go into headings and page names but also into "meta tags". "Meta tags" are the software code that website visitors do not see but search engines do. Finally, don't overdo the keywords; over-stuffing keywords will result in a very low search ranking for your website. Also, be very careful not to place key text inside graphics; search engines cannot pick up graphics.
6. Get linked.
Get linked. This is a very important part of website management. Exchange links. Trading links with other websites that are closely related to the subject of your website can bring you more website traffic. These are two-way links because you must provide a link to them, too, and linking to low-quality websites can threaten the credibility of yours. Only link to sites that are dead on topic, and truly help your visitors. Instead of trading links, you could also trade banner ads, half page ads, classified ads, etc.
Be sure to not be too excessive with your link exchanges and do not make this your entire link building method.
Google webmaster guidelines specifically says to not engage in link schemes including "Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you.")"
7. Advertise your presence.
Advertise your presence. Besides using links, you must make use of numerous other ways to increase web traffic. Sit down and write a list of all the ways you can think of to get your web address noticed and clicked on. For example:
oIf you have money - consider pay per click. The big search engines like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft provide schemes. But find out first how to limit your expenditure to the level you want.
oUse e-zines. Make your own that relate to your website and form a regular reminder each issue for people to visit your website. Submit all the free e-zine directories on the internet.
oSubmit your articles to e-zines, websites and writing sites that accept article submissions. Include your business information and web address at the end of the article. This is a good way to create one-way backlinks to your website. This is the most effective way to get listed on any search engine. Usually, the more relevant links you have pointing to your site the higher you will rank.
oGo beyond the electronic medium and into the print medium. Advertise in local newspapers, business brochures, magazines, nationwide publications and mail-drop literature. And don't forget the perennial favorite, the good old Yellow Pages™ - printed version naturally!
oSmall business cards left in cafés, on signboards, exchanged at meetings etc.
oUse local resources such as clubs, libraries and community centers for non-profit website awareness raising.
oParticipate on message boards. Post answers to other people's questions, ask questions and post appropriate information. Include your signature file containing your website's URL at the end of all your postings.
oStart your own online discussion community. It could be an online message board, e-mail discussion list or chat room. When people get involved in your community, they will regularly return to communicate with others.
oUse word of mouth. Tell everyone you know about your website, give out business cards to passers-by in the street, and so on. You might even want to run a guerrilla marketing program!
oUse your car, especially if your website is area-specific (e.g. a website detailing local events or selling local services). Get some vinyl decals or bumper stickers created and turn your car into a moving advertisement, literally driving traffic to your web site!
8. Give freebies.
Give freebies. Who doesn't like a freebie?! Online freebies are commonplace and they leave the visitor wanting more when they are well written and informative introductory materials. Consider such freebies as:
oGiving away an eBook with your ad on it. Allow your visitors to also give the freebie away. This'll increase your ad exposure and increase web traffic to your website at the same time;
oHolding free online classes or seminars. They could be held in your website's chat room. The idea of "live" information will definitely entice people to visit your website. You will become known as an expert on the topic.
oGiving visitors a free entry into your contest or sweepstakes. The prizes should be something of interest or value to your visitors. Most people who enter will continually revisit your web site to get the results.
oLetting visitors download free software such as freeware, shareware, demos etc. You could even turn part of your site into a free software directory. If you created the software, include your ad inside and let other people give it away.
oTargeting specific groups who might worry about using the internet with free classes in using it on your site - senior citizens, busy workers etc. might find these convenient and alluring.
oOffering free online services or utilities from your website. For instance, they could be search engine submitting, copywriting, proofreading etc. The service or utility should be helpful to your target audience.
oGiving free consulting to people who visit your website. You could offer your knowledge via e-mail or by telephone. People will consider this a huge value because consulting fees can be very expensive.
oOffering a free start-up package that has a finite time; enough time for the customer to practice with your online product and like it enough to pay for continued use.
oSending out free CD-Roms, CDs, DVDs etc. that contain starter packs or teasers to encourage the customer to use your site more.
oOffering free screensavers or templates for business cards, cards, writing paper etc., anything that a customer can print out.
9. Be patient.
Be patient. Search engines need a lot of time to index a new website and domain. They need time to index all your content; it's worth the wait and should be factored into your website profitability and/or popularity timeline. In the meantime, continue to add high quality content to your website and keep it up to date and relevant.
10. Use all of these free techniques to increase traffic to your website: USFreeads.net, twitter.com, bloggvertise.com, drop flyers, chat rooms, forums, Youtube, Myspace and Google Groups.
Improve Your Website
11. Balance your page. To improve your website, balance your page because when users enter a website, their focus first starts at the top left of the page and hovers there before slowly tracking to the right. The web user is focused more on the text of the page, rather than images or graphics. This is where balance comes into place.
oBalance will not only make your page more visually appealing, but it will make your page easier to read and items easier to find. A good object will help the objects on your page flow.
oKeeping it simple. If you clean your website up by removing all the unnecessary visual elements, it will allow important items to stand out. You should leave some white space on the page so the illusion of the space is visually pleasing, as well as easier to navigate.
12. Clean backgrounds. The background textures and colour you chose have the ability to estimate the overall appeal of the website. Lots of texture and graphics in the background can be distracting, and the more texture you add to the background, the less noticeable your text and images become. If you are going to use a colour on the background, you should make sure there is significant contrast between the background colour and the text. You will rarely go wrong with black text and white background because it’s clean and easy to read. You have to be careful when using brighter and darker colours such as red or yellow. They cause visual fatigue (temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work) and the reader will lose their focus on the text.
13. For easy navigation, you should create a toolbar with links that are easy to navigate and position the toolbar in an area that makes sense. Web users often look for the toolbar across the top or down the left the left hand side of the page. You shouldn’t forget a link to your homepage. It’s often forgotten but very important to point your users to your homepage.
14. Text readability should make your pages easy to read, break up blocks of text and create short paragraphs. You should consider the key points on each page and create headings and subheadings use one or two fonts. You should select one font for your headings and subheadings and another for the body text and highlight key words and phrases by bolding or using a different colour. You should be careful when selecting colours, and not to use every colour in the rainbow. Many such as yellow and pink don’t stand out well if you’ve selected a white or black background.
15. Scrolling Horizontal scrolling- it would be better if you get rid of horizontal scrolling because users hate to scroll left to right. It's disorienting and annoying, so if you've got it, lose it. Vertical scrolling is ok if you have to have it, but consider moving larger blocks of information to another page and providing links. There's also the danger of missing vital information that falls below the screen if a user decides not to scroll down to view it. So if you’ve got to have a scrolling page, try to keep all your important information above the fold.
16. Make it quick. We all get impatient when it takes more than 5 seconds to connect to a website. Users want to make contact, and make it quick. You need to ensure that your pages load as quickly as possible. Eliminate unnecessary graphics, especially flash graphics they can be time hogs.
Steps
1. Search engine optimization is about ways to get your website to the top of search engines. This cannot be stressed enough. You can do this by generating useful content like articles and blogs, by social networking and the development of multimedia. This sounds easy but it’s a lot of hard work. Still, you can also strategically spread your content in different websites while keeping your target niche in mind.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Reach Your Customers With Google. Get Your Ad Online In Just 15 Mins!
www.Google.com/AdWords
2. After on-page optimization, you can go build your back links to your site. With backlinks, search engines will directly index your websites after finding the links. No need to submit your website to the search engines themselves. Your backlinks will do the work for you.
3. This cannot be done without a little effort though; there are companies out there on the Web that could do the hard stuff for you at a reasonable price.
Improve your Internet Presence
Offer free, original, and quality content on your site. This is the most effective means for increasing traffic to a website; offering people something that they cannot obtain elsewhere, or at least, not to the level of quality that you are offering it. Ways in which to ensure that your content is of higher quality than competitors or is unique include:
oCreating content that is helpful and useful. Simply cobbling together information from another website will not generate traffic. You need to offer visitors the information they need to achieve a goal, solve a problem, be entertained, find out quality news or have a good laugh.
oKeep it fresh. For repeat visits, it is crucial to provide regular updates to the website, especially in frequently viewed zones. Add fresh content every few days if possible; at a minimum, weekly.
oTo have a fully functioning and successful website, you need to make sure your tags are in place and your links are not broken. You also need to submit a sitemap.xml file to Google to have your website show up in Google's search engines. There is a tool that inspects websites just in case you missed tags and links and it creates a free sitemap.xml file. It gives you results in minutes.
oOutsource article writing. If you hate the thought of generating content yourself, or your team is not writing-savvy, consider outsourcing this end of the task. Depending on the length, content, specialization and quality required, prices can start as low as US$5 per article. However, don't neglect attempting to write your own work - who better than you knows your own business, hobby or club and can express precisely what needs to be said? Just sit down and start writing an article. You may be impressed when you're done!
oAdd video to your landing pages (VLP - Video Landing Page) that is informative and relevant to your site. Respected studies show that good video can improve conversions and page ranking more than most any other item you can add to your pages.
oUse landing pages for fast fulfillment of your PPC advertisement.
oLaunch some contests. It'll draw you instant traffic. You can Goggle search some free sponsor program and do such contest frequently.
4. Trying to get more backlinks on your website this may help to increase the traffic.
oGet a proofreader. Poor spelling and grammar reflect badly on the services and information being provided; avoid unwarranted negative judgments by getting the writing in order prior to publication online.
oAvoid content generators. While these were once the delight of a fledgling web industry, they are no longer useful. Putting your own team's creativity online is what is useful.
oNever copy and paste from another website - Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines are too smart for this nowadays and will detect copied and unoriginal content, sending you to the bottom of the pile.
5. Improve your search engine ranking by focusing your content on keywords related to your topic.
Improve your search engine ranking by focusing your content on keywords related to your topic. This is called search engine optimization and will help people find your website when they're searching the Web. Make sure the keywords flow naturally with the text and when you are brainstorming for good words, ask around for words that come naturally to people of all ages when looking for your type of site. To help you understand better, realize that the keywords not only go into headings and page names but also into "meta tags". "Meta tags" are the software code that website visitors do not see but search engines do. Finally, don't overdo the keywords; over-stuffing keywords will result in a very low search ranking for your website. Also, be very careful not to place key text inside graphics; search engines cannot pick up graphics.
6. Get linked.
Get linked. This is a very important part of website management. Exchange links. Trading links with other websites that are closely related to the subject of your website can bring you more website traffic. These are two-way links because you must provide a link to them, too, and linking to low-quality websites can threaten the credibility of yours. Only link to sites that are dead on topic, and truly help your visitors. Instead of trading links, you could also trade banner ads, half page ads, classified ads, etc.
Be sure to not be too excessive with your link exchanges and do not make this your entire link building method.
Google webmaster guidelines specifically says to not engage in link schemes including "Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you.")"
7. Advertise your presence.
Advertise your presence. Besides using links, you must make use of numerous other ways to increase web traffic. Sit down and write a list of all the ways you can think of to get your web address noticed and clicked on. For example:
oIf you have money - consider pay per click. The big search engines like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft provide schemes. But find out first how to limit your expenditure to the level you want.
oUse e-zines. Make your own that relate to your website and form a regular reminder each issue for people to visit your website. Submit all the free e-zine directories on the internet.
oSubmit your articles to e-zines, websites and writing sites that accept article submissions. Include your business information and web address at the end of the article. This is a good way to create one-way backlinks to your website. This is the most effective way to get listed on any search engine. Usually, the more relevant links you have pointing to your site the higher you will rank.
oGo beyond the electronic medium and into the print medium. Advertise in local newspapers, business brochures, magazines, nationwide publications and mail-drop literature. And don't forget the perennial favorite, the good old Yellow Pages™ - printed version naturally!
oSmall business cards left in cafés, on signboards, exchanged at meetings etc.
oUse local resources such as clubs, libraries and community centers for non-profit website awareness raising.
oParticipate on message boards. Post answers to other people's questions, ask questions and post appropriate information. Include your signature file containing your website's URL at the end of all your postings.
oStart your own online discussion community. It could be an online message board, e-mail discussion list or chat room. When people get involved in your community, they will regularly return to communicate with others.
oUse word of mouth. Tell everyone you know about your website, give out business cards to passers-by in the street, and so on. You might even want to run a guerrilla marketing program!
oUse your car, especially if your website is area-specific (e.g. a website detailing local events or selling local services). Get some vinyl decals or bumper stickers created and turn your car into a moving advertisement, literally driving traffic to your web site!
8. Give freebies.
Give freebies. Who doesn't like a freebie?! Online freebies are commonplace and they leave the visitor wanting more when they are well written and informative introductory materials. Consider such freebies as:
oGiving away an eBook with your ad on it. Allow your visitors to also give the freebie away. This'll increase your ad exposure and increase web traffic to your website at the same time;
oHolding free online classes or seminars. They could be held in your website's chat room. The idea of "live" information will definitely entice people to visit your website. You will become known as an expert on the topic.
oGiving visitors a free entry into your contest or sweepstakes. The prizes should be something of interest or value to your visitors. Most people who enter will continually revisit your web site to get the results.
oLetting visitors download free software such as freeware, shareware, demos etc. You could even turn part of your site into a free software directory. If you created the software, include your ad inside and let other people give it away.
oTargeting specific groups who might worry about using the internet with free classes in using it on your site - senior citizens, busy workers etc. might find these convenient and alluring.
oOffering free online services or utilities from your website. For instance, they could be search engine submitting, copywriting, proofreading etc. The service or utility should be helpful to your target audience.
oGiving free consulting to people who visit your website. You could offer your knowledge via e-mail or by telephone. People will consider this a huge value because consulting fees can be very expensive.
oOffering a free start-up package that has a finite time; enough time for the customer to practice with your online product and like it enough to pay for continued use.
oSending out free CD-Roms, CDs, DVDs etc. that contain starter packs or teasers to encourage the customer to use your site more.
oOffering free screensavers or templates for business cards, cards, writing paper etc., anything that a customer can print out.
9. Be patient.
Be patient. Search engines need a lot of time to index a new website and domain. They need time to index all your content; it's worth the wait and should be factored into your website profitability and/or popularity timeline. In the meantime, continue to add high quality content to your website and keep it up to date and relevant.
10. Use all of these free techniques to increase traffic to your website: USFreeads.net, twitter.com, bloggvertise.com, drop flyers, chat rooms, forums, Youtube, Myspace and Google Groups.
Improve Your Website
11. Balance your page. To improve your website, balance your page because when users enter a website, their focus first starts at the top left of the page and hovers there before slowly tracking to the right. The web user is focused more on the text of the page, rather than images or graphics. This is where balance comes into place.
oBalance will not only make your page more visually appealing, but it will make your page easier to read and items easier to find. A good object will help the objects on your page flow.
oKeeping it simple. If you clean your website up by removing all the unnecessary visual elements, it will allow important items to stand out. You should leave some white space on the page so the illusion of the space is visually pleasing, as well as easier to navigate.
12. Clean backgrounds. The background textures and colour you chose have the ability to estimate the overall appeal of the website. Lots of texture and graphics in the background can be distracting, and the more texture you add to the background, the less noticeable your text and images become. If you are going to use a colour on the background, you should make sure there is significant contrast between the background colour and the text. You will rarely go wrong with black text and white background because it’s clean and easy to read. You have to be careful when using brighter and darker colours such as red or yellow. They cause visual fatigue (temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work) and the reader will lose their focus on the text.
13. For easy navigation, you should create a toolbar with links that are easy to navigate and position the toolbar in an area that makes sense. Web users often look for the toolbar across the top or down the left the left hand side of the page. You shouldn’t forget a link to your homepage. It’s often forgotten but very important to point your users to your homepage.
14. Text readability should make your pages easy to read, break up blocks of text and create short paragraphs. You should consider the key points on each page and create headings and subheadings use one or two fonts. You should select one font for your headings and subheadings and another for the body text and highlight key words and phrases by bolding or using a different colour. You should be careful when selecting colours, and not to use every colour in the rainbow. Many such as yellow and pink don’t stand out well if you’ve selected a white or black background.
15. Scrolling Horizontal scrolling- it would be better if you get rid of horizontal scrolling because users hate to scroll left to right. It's disorienting and annoying, so if you've got it, lose it. Vertical scrolling is ok if you have to have it, but consider moving larger blocks of information to another page and providing links. There's also the danger of missing vital information that falls below the screen if a user decides not to scroll down to view it. So if you’ve got to have a scrolling page, try to keep all your important information above the fold.
16. Make it quick. We all get impatient when it takes more than 5 seconds to connect to a website. Users want to make contact, and make it quick. You need to ensure that your pages load as quickly as possible. Eliminate unnecessary graphics, especially flash graphics they can be time hogs.
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