You must take the time to learn what your potential customers are interested in, what they are looking for and how you can give it to them quickly and easily. People will remember where they found what they were looking for, and they will come back again if they truly are engaged.

This is the most important thing you can do…take the time to understand your target market and what they are looking for. Then create content to fit that need.

That’s easier said than done right? Most marketers have lots of ideas about what content would be good, and then get stuck. How should we present this content? I’m going to give you a few simple ways you can present that content, keeping in mind that these will work for any type of website or business.

Interviews

Interviews are a great place for content when you are stuck in a rut. Many people out in your field, even the experts, are always delighted at the chance to be interviewed by a website. It means more exposure for them, but more importantly, great content for you. Come with a list of questions, a positive attitude, and a video camera (make sure to get permission first!) At the beginning and the end of the video simply mention your website name

Spotlight

A spotlight is when you take a member or user of your particular product or service, and you interview them to see how they are using your company. This is a great type because other users of your site will gain new perspective on how they can use your product. It also gives that member exposure, making them happier and more willing to stay connected with your company in the future.

Critiques

You can also take someone using your product and take the time to show them how they could be using it better or in a different way. It is easy to see how this would be beneficial to that member or user, but it is also beneficial to those watching the video. They gain understanding on what you are actually selling, and in turn whether or not they should become users also.

Top ten lists

These are a great concise way of organizing your thoughts and streamlining them into chunkable readable sections of content. When you are writing these you may find that just one of the items on the list could be the focus, and that in turn can be expanded into more content.

Checklists

Checklists should be geared towards what your readers can do right now to improve or add value into their own lives. Simple steps that they can take to improve their running, or clean their house, or gain more visitors to their websites. Whatever it is, these can be very beneficial to them, and they can in turn write their own checklists that can be very helpful to your visitors, and beneficial to them also. Whenever you get your users to interact with your business, that means your relationship with them is growing.

Hire Someone

If you still can not think of content, or just plain don’t have time to create any, think about hiring someone to do it for you. There are several different businesses that offer this, I’ve just mentioned a few of my favorites below:

http://www.textbroker.com

http://www.spudaroo.com/

https://www.writer4me.com/ straight to device

Soon you will be bringing visitors in droves to your site with all this content you are creating. This is crucial to any website, and the first step to becoming successful in any competitive market.

Client’s of ours are beginning to really see the value in a nice looking newsletter to send out to their marketing list. So I decided to dive into some of the different options. Here are five things I learned about them:

#5: Thorough testing is crucial to an effective campaign

With so many browsers and versions out there, testing is crucial to formulating an effective Email newsletter. Before sending out emails to your subscribers you must test both the HTML email and the text version. Also, it’s important to test links within the email to ensure that images appear both in the preview pane and full page view. Troubleshooting and solving problems will result in more actual views for the email campaign.

#4 Placing key messages prominently will boost views and responses

If you are like me, many emails never make it past the first cut. It takes a trusted user or outstanding subject to avoid the delete button and jump to the actual content of the message. This practice can produce unwanted results, as the main message of your email never actually gets opened. To improve on this, place a textual statement that presents the key message of the email in the subject line, and again at the very top of the page.

#3 Using an Email Management Service is smart and produces results

There are many services out there, and picking the right one to design and deliver professional HTML email communications can pay dividends. The services are designed to ensure compatibility with the greatest number of email clients and provide reporting metrics about clicked links, subscribers and the like. Some great services I like are Aweber, Mail Chimp and Auto Response Plus.

#2 Always use the BCC option when sending to multiple recipients

I thought this was a given, but then I read a blog this week from someone who was offended by a blatant CC mail out with hundreds of listed addresses. There is no problem with sending out mass emails, but people still want to feel like they are not lumped into the crowd. Making this simple commitment to connect with individual users will help add a touch of personal service to your email campaigns.

#1 No business is too big or too small for an Email Campaign

There is a path to follow for any company that wants to launch an effective marketing campaign. Following this outline will eliminate some of the intimidation that comes with such a task.

1. Build a proper website

2. Create an HTML-designed Email template.

3. Don’t sleep on content flow.

4. Build thorough subscription lists.

5. Measure success and make adjustments as needed.

Good luck!

In 1996 there was a famous column by Bill Gates that talked about how content would be the main source of revenue on the Internet.

This is the first time that really these two things are starting to happen. With advents like Netflix and Hulu, on demand streaming video has become a reality. Bill Gate’s prediction is reaching fruition as the major publishers of content learn how to unbundle it and make money with it. (though some companies faster than others, note HBO’s new Go service only available for cable subscribers) It’s only a matter of time now before cable television goes the way of the dinosaur.

The real truism out of this is “Content is King”.

Want traffic to your website…create great content.

Want to generate revenue from your website…create great content.

Want your website to place well in search engine results pages…create and distribute great content.

Content is King.

In the next post we’ll talk about how to create great content and where to look in your company for great content.

The Yahoo-Twitter partnership will be more comprehensive and more encompassing than Twitter’s search partnerships with Google and Bing. It will primarily focus on three integrations:

- Access to your Twitter feed on Yahoo: On Yahoo Mail, Sports, the homepage and other Yahoo properties, you will be able to check the most recent tweets of your friends.

- Ability to update status from Yahoo: Yahoo will become a Twitter client, allowing you to update your status from multiple locations on Yahoo. We’re not sure if this is going to be through widgets or another method.

- Yahoo Search and media integration: Public Twitter updates will be integrated throughout Yahoo Search, News, Finance and Entertainment, among other properties.

Yahoo will have full access to the Twitter data firehose, so you can expect real-time updates in Yahoo Search, among other integrations. It will use tweets to improve relevancy, freshness and search results, as well as “drive deeper user engagement.”

The first integration will be available “immediately,” and that is the real-time search integration.

The search integration has already gone live – with the other integrations expected to launch later this year.

This brings Yahoo Search in line with its competitors in terms of real-time data.

“We’re turning the key to the online social universe — you will find the most personally relevant experiences through Yahoo!,” said Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president, consumer products group, Yahoo! “We’re also simplifying people’s lives by bringing their social worlds — and the world —- together for easy access.”

Twitter’s co-founder, Biz Stone added: “The information in one single tweet can travel light-years farther with this Yahoo! integration. Tweets in more places brings relevance where and when you need it most.”

The news follows closely behind the announcement that Microsoft and Yahoo!’s search deal was granted the green light by the US and European regulators, as it was not deemed anti-competitive.

What does this mean for your business? Well it’s hard to tell at the moment. Immediately the integration taking place will mean that it will be even more important to your business to start twittering now. These will undoubtedly bring more visitors to your site, increasing your bottom line. Twitter is a free service, and fairly easy to use. Click here to watch a video on how to use twitter.

Merchant Account. This is not a checking account, but an agreement with a Merchant Account Service Provider to process credit card payments and make deposits into your checking account. The MASP is not a bank, but their service is obtained through, and coordinated with, a brick-and-mortar bank. Online processors can’t set this up for you, and neither can your web developer.

Platform. One of several electronic data transfer protocols used for financial transactions. Your MASP and Gateway have to use the same Platform.

Gateway. The online processor who provides the mechanism through which credit cards are verified and processed in real-time. There are many, including Autorize.net, iTransact, eProcessingNetwork, 2Checkout, Linkpoint, and others.

API. Most gateways (but not all), offer this Application Programming Interface, a “toolbox” with which your eCommerce programmer can connect to the gateway and verify charges “behind the scenes”, without sending your customer to someone else’s website. Since each gateway’s API is different, but the costs of processing charges are very similar, it is often to your advantage to use a gateway with whose API your programmer is familiar.

AVS. Address Verification System, a mechanism for verifying that the cardholder knows the billing address on the account. If not, the charge is usually fradulent. People who have recently moved will sometimes be flagged by AVS, and will not be able to complete a purchase.

CVV. A 3-digit number on the back of the card that proves that the purchaser actually has the card in hand, not just the number. Currently, only Discover actually requires this data, but the others will soon.

SSL. Secure Socket Layer, a protocol by which all data transfer from the customer’s computer to your webserver is encrypted with military-grade encryption. This is referred to as a “secure link”, and is implemented by the programmer using a

digital certificate, which is either setup on the server for the use of multiple clients, or purchased specifically by the customer. Under no circumstances should credit card numbers be submitted except over a secure link.

The good news is, you don’t have to know all this. Your bank can set you up with a Merchant Account and the Service Provider, and will often provide the necessary configuration data to your selected gateway. Your web development team can do most of the rest. You, then, have to select which of the following levels of service you want to use, based on your business needs, and budget.

These are listed in increasing order of sophistication. In general, they are also listed in ease of use for the customer and positive image for your company. The options requiring programming may cost more to setup, but will also usually cost less per transaction.

1. Paypal (standard). Use a link, send the customer to Paypal. If they don’t get too aggravated, they may pay you for something, but there is no good way to track payments, provide instant downloads, capture their name or email, etc.
2. Paypal (with an API). Similar to below, but requires the customer to do more. Basically free
3. Gateway (without an API). Customer fills out a form, is sent to another website to enter credit card data, and perhaps sent back to you. Very clumsy and unprofessional looking, and requires multiple steps to capture their information.
4. Gateway (with an API). Customer fills out a form, the charge is verified in the background (also AVS, if used), data can be saved to a database, emails sent, and a confirmation screen displayed. The best choice.

She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?” Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity. Boiling water and each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. It’s thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?” ” Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

The furnace came to life, started chugging away, and heat started coming out of the vents. The plumber wrote out a bill and handed it to the man. It read:

Fix furnace, $100.00.

The customer said, “What, are you nuts? All you did was hit it with a hammer! I want an itemized invoice.”

The plumber wrote out another bill and handed it to the man. This one read:

1. Hit furnace with hammer: $10.00

2. Knowing where to hit: $90.00

You’re not paying for the 60 hours the graphic designer and programmer spent on your website. You’re paying for the years of experience that allowed them to be able to do that work in the first place

lol : laugh out loud
lmbo : laughing my butt off (g rated)
brb : be right back
imho : in my humble opinion

more click here

So now Sparking Products is getting its own blog. What is thse purpose of this? Well, this blog is spawning from mainly two thoughts I had awhile back:

1. I was surprised by how much of a following some blogs had.
2. Why would anyone allow open comments?

I concluded from the open comments part, that blogs were basically toy versions of forums.

In the following months it seemed the articles about the need to blog dramatically increased in the web development and marketing newsletters I read. So I decided to take another look at blogs.

I read a dozen articles, and still didn’t get what all the hub-bub was about. So I wrote them off initially. So I decided to buy some research about blogs. Still didn’t really get it.

I did learn from the research that we should be blogging but I don’t really understand why blogs are any different than forums with the caveat that the first post is made by us. Yet still client’s were interested in blogs and while I knew the theory, I really desired some practical hands on experience to share with them.

So I decided to launch this blog experiment.

In the end, this is why we are blogging:

1. A lot of people say that we should be blogging (I hope next month they don’t say we should jump off a cliff)
2. I think a blog can be a great way for us to share knowledge. I love anything that facilitates a learning culture.
3. To figure out why we should be blogging.

I would love to say we are experts at everything web, but we aren’t – at least I’m being honest. Much of what we know we learned by doing and it is time for us to understand blogs from a first hand experience. In the meantime I hope you enjoy our new blog!