Author Archive for Allen
Icon Demon Not A Good Buy
I like to use icons ion websites and I do buy templates at template monster. So, when I saw a special offer for a membership to Icon Demon, I decided to try it out. They have some nice icons, but the way the site works, Icon Demon was a total waste of my time. Here’s why;
1. You can view individual icons and sort them by category. Good so far, right?
2. You have to drag each individual icon into the shopping cart window. You cannot drag them by sets.
3. Then you click the download button for all the icons you dragged into the cart.
4. Then you go to a page that says click here to go to your downloads page.
5. Then you have to click download for each and every individual icon you previously dragged into the cart window.
6. The icons are numbered, no names to describe them and if you accidentally click to download the same icon twice, it just gives it a different number rather than saying it already exists, do you want to replace it.
7. There is no download all button.
8. They have icon sets for download, if you want to pay them an additional $99.
So, basically, the site is designed to be a hassle, unless you upgrade to their premium membership. The offer at Template Monster is just a come on.
On a positive note, this demonstrates how usability of a website is extremely important. I’ll never use or recommend Icon Demon to anyone because of the hassle of using the site. The hassle at Icon Demon seems very intentional, but is your website easy to use?
If you aren’t looking to suck people in to buy a premium membership like Icon Demon and you have a real offer that has value instead and aren’t trying to “trick” your customers, you should make sure that you are not adding too many steps or complications for your potential customers.
I welcome anyone from Icon Demon to come and tell me why it isn’t just a come on to con me into the premium membership and that the hassle is worthwhile. Because as it is, the money I paid for a membership to IconDemon.com was a total waste of time and money.
FaceBook SEO
Image via Wikipedia
Is your FaceBook Company page doing all it can for you? Some of you may not even have a company page yet. If not, you’re missing another opportunity to rank well in search engines and another way to reach your target audience. If you don’t know anyone who uses FaceBook, you live in a cave. Your customers use it. So you need to have a presence there.
It’s easy to create a company page. Once you have done so there are even FaceBook Templates you can use to spice it up a little. Just do a search for FaceBook Templates in your favorite search engine.
OK, I have a FaceBook Company Page and found a template I like. What’s next?
Once you get a few likes you can get a custom URL. So instead of a set of numbers like facebook.com/394857687, it will be facebook.com/yourcompanynamehere. You can also add a keyphrase in your custom URL. Once you create your custom URL, you are stuck with it, so think about what you want there.
Next you need to add content to your wall. There are tools like TwitterFeed.com that will help automatically update FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter whenever you make a new blog post. But that is not enough. You need to go to your FaceBook page and share videos you uploaded to YouTube, articles that you have online somewhere and other things that will interest your targeted audience.
That doesn’t mean you have to put all of the content there. You can do a summary, then link to the content wherever it is on the web. part of Internet Marketing is the ability to get people to click links and follow where you guide them.
Once there, you need to make sure they are finding something truly of interest to them. Do not mislead people into following your recommendations. There are a ton of so-called marketers that think if they can trick someone into doing something or buying something that they are somehow a great marketer.
Great marketers tell you the truth and still make the sale. They don’t need tricks. So make sure you create quality content and recommend it to your FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn followers.
Adding content to your wall is easy. If you are writing a short summary you can just add it. If you want to write more, use the link that says NOTES in your sidebar.
Next make sure you use the INFO tab to add more information about you and your company.
That’s just some basic tips on how to SEO your FaceBook Page. There is a lot more you can do. But if you haven’t even done the things I mentioned here, you’re not ready for more yet. Call me at 512-322-9566 if you need help or you are ready to do more with your FaceBook Company Page.
Blog Marketers: Share Your Tips Now
All you blog marketers need to come together right now and join the IM 365 Club. I’m looking for 365 joint venture partners and you could be one of them. You’ll get all the details by clicking the link. Great value and great marketing for pro Internet marketers. Check it out!
Why A Real Estate Agent Should Have A Blog
I’m amazed at the number of real estate agents who still don’t have a blog. This is the one tool I think every business owner should have, but a real estate agent especially.
I recently found an article that promised to discuss the benefits of real estate blogging. I was sorely disappointed.
To start with, the articles has no meat in it for about five paragraphs. Then, when you do find the substance, the author recommends a third-party website for blogging, quizzes, and polling. While that in and of itself isn’t bad, the community the author recommends is a second-rate site at best. If you’re going to take his advice and start a blog on a third-party site such as the one he suggests, you’d be better off going to one of these three as a real estate agent:
Both Blogger and WordPress.com offer free blog hosting for any niche. ActiveRain is a real estate community that offers free blog hosting for real estate professionals. But, honestly, a better solution than any of these three is to own your own domain name and to set up your real estate blog there. It’s much better to own the real estate than to rent it, even if renting for free. Don’t you agree?
Learn more about setting up your own real estate blog from a blog management professional now.
