The Powerful WordPress Text Widget

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Add functionality to your WordPress website using text widgets and the widget logic plugin. Embed a different YouTube video on each page of your website.

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What is a widget anyway? Well, the simple explanation is that it’s a mini-app of sorts. You can use it to do something as simple as run a line of HTML code that displays a follow button in the sidebar of your WordPress blog or it can be a companion piece to a plugin. There are also several widgets that are part of the standard WordPress installation like a calendar, tag cloud and a search button. If you’re looking for a simple way to add functionality to your WordPress website, you may need to look no further than the simple text widget.

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Utilizing Social Media to Build Brand Awareness and Authority

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Building brand awareness, trust and authority is important to bloggers, entrepreneurs and businesses. Whether you’re selling products or services, people do business with (and buy from) people who have their trust. Do you use social media to  build awareness, trust and authority?  Do you advertise? Do you run PPC (pay-per-click) advertising campaigns? Are you active on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Plus? Do you have testimonials on your site?

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Can Someone Tell What Your Website/Blog Is About In 3 Seconds?

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You’ve heard me talk about the 3-second rule before. When someone visits your website, you have about 3 seconds to convince them that they’re in the right place. That’s it. If they searched on baby buggy bumpers and clicked on a link to your site, they better immediately see something about baby buggy bumpers or they’re out of there. If they land on a site and are so overwhelmed by links to Google Adsense ads and affiliate marketing programs, they’re probably out of there too. (I would be.)

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Community Building and Having an Online Support System

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The last few weeks have been rather interesting filled with the usual challenges and information overload that most of us who are self-employed have to deal with. I’ve needed support, provided help and garnered an enormous amount of information along the way. Throughout it all, I’ve managed to find solutions on my own and through the support of the community of bloggers that I’m a part of. Continue reading “Community Building and Having an Online Support System”

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Want Ideas to Promote a Niche Ecommerce Site With A Blog?

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This week someone left a comment about wanting to add a blog to an ecommerce site. He recognized that it would be a great way to help drive traffic to his website but he didn’t know what to blog about. His perception was that “it is so hard to build a blog for niche ecommerce sites.”

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Can One Website Meet the Needs of Multiple Niche Target Markets?

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I was recently approached by a gentleman who was interested in having a website built for him. As we started our initial consultation, I commented that his domain name was somewhat generic for the product that he was building the site for. Upon further discovery, I learned that the site name was intended to cover a broad market that he had long term plans of reaching. One of his goals was to segment his market by the different ways people like to learn. He had no idea how to accomplish this. (Which is why he had come to me in the first place.) So, what did we plan? Continue reading “Can One Website Meet the Needs of Multiple Niche Target Markets?”

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Guest Post: 5 Tips for Juggling Blogging and Office Work by James Adams

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The popularity of blogging is increasing every day, as more and more people realize that it has a powerful earning potential and also allows them to express themselves to a large audience. However, it can be difficult to begin a blog when you’re already balancing work, family, and other life commitments. How do you find the time to add one more activity to your list? It’s important to consider what you want to get out of blogging and how much you’re willing to put into it. Here are five tips for juggling blogging and office work. Continue reading “Guest Post: 5 Tips for Juggling Blogging and Office Work by James Adams”

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Are People Clicking on Your Pay-Per-Click Ads and Leaving?

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What is a landing page and who ever heard of a microsite? Well, if you’re running Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising or are about to, you should be able to answer those questions. One of the advantages of running PPC ads is that you can target your ads to specific customers. You can select the geographic area where you want your ads to appear and even target specific demographics. When you write your ad title and copy, you can carefully select targeted keywords and bid on keywords based on buyer-intent. So, why would you send someone who clicks on your ad to your home page or some other page that currently exists on your site? If you’re investing money into pay-per-click advertising, why not take it one step further and create a customized landing page for each ad campaign?

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Are Buyers or Window Shoppers Clicking on Your Pay-Per-Click Ads?

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PPC (pay-per-click) advertising can be a very effective marketing channel for your eCommerce website. When you buy PPC ads, bidding on keywords that indicate buyer-intent is essential to reach people who are ready to buy rather than people who are still in research-mode. You know who your niche target customer is and you already have a list of keywords that people search on when they’re looking for products or services like yours. You’ve searched to see what ads your competitors are running. As you sit down and prepare to write that first ad, take another look at your list of keywords. Are you keeping your customer in mind? Do you want to pay for a click if someone is simply searching for information? How do you write copy for your PPC ads that targets the person who is ready to buy?

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How Do Entrepreneurs and Sole Proprietors Juggle All Those Balls?

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Are you the sole proprietor of a business? Are you a 1-person shop? Whether you’re trying to make a living online, supplement your income or build a nest egg, more and more people these days are looking to the Internet as a way to make money. Every day hundreds (maybe hundreds-of-thousands) of websites and blogs are being launched in this country alone. So how do you stand out? Even after identifying your niche, doing your keyword research, understanding your target customer and carefully mapping a business plan … what’s the secret to success? How is it that some people are sitting back and boasting that they’re making 6-figure incomes while some of us are struggling to pay the mortgage? How does the “little guy” (or “gal”) compete with companies (and individuals) when you’re faced with limited resources?

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