Article Marketing & Online Marketing Strategies from IdeaMarketers - Where Your Ideas Shine

20 Tools for Tracking Your Social Media Results

There's an excellent article one of our writers (Merle) posted about the 20 tools for tracking social media marketing. I used some of her recommended tools and discovered I'd been named as member of the "League of Extraordinary Internet Marketers." Move over Sean Connery! LOL I also discovered that IdeaMarketers had been selected as one of LeadTails Best Article Directories of 2009.

If your "ears are burning" as Merle puts it, find out where people are talking about you in the social media world using her list of 20 tools. Here are a few of my favorites she listed. I recommend getting the full list of tools for tracking your social media marketing.

My favorites from Merle's article:

1) BackTweets : A search engine for Twitter. See who's tweeting your links and more. Can also sign up for email alerts of new findings.

2) Addictomatic : A little different than the others , you type in a keyword, topic or phrase and out it goes searching the top blogs, news sites, Google, Technorati, Ask, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Topix and more. You'll be given a personalized results page to bookmark with everything it finds related to your topic.

3) BlogPulse : A search engine that searches only for data posted to blogs. Enter your keyword, hit submit and off it goes to gather results.

Again, I recommend getting the full list of Merle's tools for tracking your social media marketing.

Saying I Love You : Creating Your Own Cards with I Love You Quotes

Sharing well-chosen I love you quotes in a homemade card can mean much more to your loved one than an expensive store-bought card. You don't have to be an award winning writer to create a meaningful, heartfelt message either.

Poetry is the language of love. The only problem is that most of us are not poets. At best we can create a well used version of "Roses are red". If you are looking to wow your mate with some words of love, you are probably looking for the "I love you" quotes from some of the experts. Some of my favorites are "Grow old with me! The best is yet to." -- Robert Browning or "I've fallen in love many times. . . always with you" -- Author Unknown. There is nothing like some unexpected words of love and passion to spice up any relationship.

Maybe you aren't into the mushy, gushy in love quotes - perhaps funny love quotes are more your style. Laughter makes the world a much easier place to live.

Read Lisa's entire article Saying I Love You : Creating Your Own Cards with I Love You Quotes

Lisa Preston, our official Writing for Entrepreneurs Expert

Have you ever ...

... told a friend about a movie you liked?
... advised someone on where to have dinner?
... recommended a good book?
... sent a web site link to a friend?

We all have. Every single one of us has recommended some sort of offer to friends of ours. We do it every single day.

At the office, you might say something like:
"Let's have lunch at this great burger place today."
"You have got to see this amazing movie!"
"Did you buy that new xBox game, yet? It ROCKS!"

"I'm reading this awesome book. You should check it out."

Read Brian's entire article You're Already Doing Network Marketing ... even if you hate MLM

Brian Rooney, our official Autoresponders Expert

Marketing Is Everything That You Do

What is the definition of marketing? The dictionary states that marketing is the business activity of presenting products or services in such a way as to make them desirable. Obviously, marketing consists of writing great ad-copy, producing creative business cards and designing innovative websites that sell your products and services.

However, there is an integral part missing from the dictionary definition of marketing. In fact, the missing ingredient is so important that it can literally mean success or failure for the small business owner. Marketing is actually every single interaction we have with our potential customers and clients that present our products or services in such a way as to make them desirable.

Read Jessica's entire article Marketing Is Everything That You Do

Jessica Swanson, our official Shoestring Marketing Expert

How Strong Is Your Customer Loyalty? What AT&T and Apple Can Teach You

 I've recently run into an interesting dilemma -- will my loyalty to Apple win out against my disgust with AT&T?

I admit it. I'm been a lifelong Apple lover. My parents bought the family an Apple 2E in high school. (Remember those?) The first computer I bought was a Mac Classic. I own an iPod, not a MP3 player.

It's Apple all the way. There's been no turning back for me.

So of course I've been salivating to get my hands on an iPhone. However, to get an iPhone means I need to do business with AT&T.

Read Michele's entire article How Strong Is Your Customer Loyalty? What AT&T and Apple Can Teach You

Michele PW, our official Advertising/Marketing Online Expert

How To Market Your Products and Services On Twitter

Twitter is one of well over 1000 social networking sites that I know of. I actually have a list of that many, but have only checked out a handful of the most popular ones.

Actually, my list is about 1800 bookmarking and social networking sites. I may share that list with my inner circle soon... after my assistant go over it with a fine toothed comb :-)

I've already shared my list of the most popular (and productive) bookmarking sites in an ebook called, "How To Bookmark Effectively For Massive Free Website Traffic!" You can actually download that ebook for free, without needing to opt-in or fill out any forms at: http://TheRealSecrets.com/FathersDay/

Read Willie's entire article How To Market Your Products and Services On Twitter

Willie Crawford, our official Joint Ventures Expert

Three Common Website Design Mistakes That Can Cost You Business

How many times have you visited a website and had to hunt around to determine what that site was about and who it was for? Maybe the site was boring and lifeless with nothing special to draw you in to it. I'd be willing to bet you didn't stick around very long. In the ten years I've been a website design and marketing professional, I've been asked to provide SEO and other marketing services for websites that were developed by other professionals. Getting visitors to a website makes absolutely no sense if they won't stick around and convert to leads and customers. Before you invest in marketing your website, determine whether you have an effective website design. Avoid the following three common mistakes that can dramatically compromise your results.

Mistake 1: No Clear Objective for the Visitor on A Web Page

Read Ruth's entire article Three Common Website Design Mistakes That Can Cost You Business

Ruth Kuttler, our official E-Business Expert

Legal Aspects of Public Domain Material

Public domain material is content that's no longer copyrighted. That means you are allowed to use the work for creating your own personal or commercial projects.

Numerous individuals and publishing companies have reprinted old works like the G. A. Henty books for young folks and Charlotte Mason's educational books. Others take bits and pieces of art or photos and create totally new collections. Magazine covers become artwork, old ads hang in restaurants, vintage graphics are transformed into patterns for needlework. The sky's the limit when it comes to repackaging public domain material!

Read Lisa's entire article Legal Aspects of Public Domain Material

Lisa Preston, our official Writing for Entrepreneurs Expert

Email Marketing: Single Optin vs Double Optin

Email Marketers are constantly debating the worth of single optin vs double optin when it comes to building their lists.

Single optin simply means that someone can enter any information in to a capture form and they are automatically subscribed and/or given access to the free ebook, software, etc... that is being offered.

Double optin means that once the form is submitted, the person will receive an email asking them to confirm their request. Typically, the confirmation is accomplished by having the subscriber click a uniquely coded link.

Read Brian's entire article Email Marketing: Single Optin vs Double Optin

Brian Rooney, our official Autoresponders Expert

Your Profile Picture Matters

If you are a small business owner who is serious about boosting your income, listen up! Your profile picture matters. I have seen thousands of profile pictures including those that are silly, indecent, weird and just plain unprofessional.

Obviously, if you are utilizing free-marketing strategies, you're going to tap into social media marketing. And ALL of these sites allow you to upload your picture.

Remember, marketing is all about transparency, visibility and connectiveness. That is, people want to get to know the person "behind the company."

Read Jessica's entire article Your Profile Picture Matters

Jessica Swanson, our official Shoestring Marketing Expert