I can’t wait to share this new traffic source with you! Check this out if you want to be first:

As you know I’ve been studying some of the Interenet Marketing BIG BOYS over the last year and applying what they have taught… and it works!

I will have more details over the next week… It’s still ssssshhhhhhh…  secret squirrell for now BUT….

If you want to be the first to see it then give us your details here and you’ll be on the MEGA Uber VIP list and be one of the CHOSEN ONES!

I’m excited! Can’t wait to show you!

Feel free to pass this on to your friends too!

Want to give your Facebook Page or Fanpage a short cool title? e.g. http://www.facebook.com/thewebchik as opposed to one of those long weird ones? It’s really simple!

Go set yourself up right now go here:

http://www.facebook.com/username/

Here is the Facebook Help section telling you how to do it if you need some extra help or else just add a comment to this post and I’ll help you!:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=383008189821

Wicked!

Love it!

So you have a Fanpage of your own or you want to promote another persons fanpage to all your friends… Great! It’s really easy! I’m pretty choosy about who I add as a friend now or what pages I become a fan of but when I do find a good one I want the world to know. Especially if it is going to help their business online!

All you have to do is go to the page that you want to promote (yours or another persons/organisationa) and click “SUGGEST TO FRIENDS” under their profile pic. Like this image below:

Easy as that! Til’ next time…

If someone has tagged you in Facebook saying “Who is checking your profile” then you need to untag yourself and report it. IF YOU DONT the spammers will invade your entire friends list. This video shows you how to get rid of it so your mates are not spammed!

A lot of people get confused between wordpress.com and wordpress.org so lets clear it up so you can make a decision on which to use for your business.

WordPress.com

PROS

• It’s free and very easy to set up.
• It’s hosted for you
• Your posts are automatically backed up
• Do well in search engines
• There are about 70 themes (designs) to choose from but they are very basic
• Setup, upgrades, spam, backups, security, etc are taken care of automatically
• You can add pages

CONS

• Your domain name will be something like www.yourname.wordpress.com – you can pay to upgrade to use a normal URL you purchase from places like godaddy.com
• You can’t simply FTP (upload) stuff to the server because you don’t control the hosting.
• You can’t add plug-ins that make your site do cool and useful stuff that automates your site, makes it more flexible and easier to do things like easily add videos and audios etc.
• You will need an experienced CSS web design to customise the look
• You have to pay a small annual fee to be able to do ANY customization
• There are limitations to the customisation
• You can’t automate it with all the bells and whistles
• You can’t upgrade it to a membership site or full ecommerce site

WordPress.org (Recommended)

PROS

• Free to download and use
• You can use your normal domain name eg: wwwyourname.com as opposed to www.yourname.wordpress.com but don’t have to pay for the upgrade
• You can use this option for website, even without a blog and you can have unlimited pages.
• You can have unlimited pages that don’t show on the navigation, which means you can set up SALE LETTER pages within the same site and just point a domain there. No need for lots of different websites. Needs a plug in to do this.
• You just add it to your normal hosting which sh0uld be about $7 a month which gives you full control over the site
• Ability to upload completely custom themes or use one of the millions of free (and very cool) themes on the net
• You can upload unlimited plug-ins (there are plug-ins for EVERYTHING you can think of) which automates your online business, makes the site easier to use and so many excellent business and brand building tools
• You can upgrade to a Membership Site or Full ecommerce site
• There is complete flexibility to customize code in both look and feel and functions
• Even though wordpress.org do WAY more than the .com there is loads of video and online support on how to run your site

CONS

• You’ll need a web designer to set up up your site on your host but its SUPER fast and easy so wont take long and therefore shouldn’t cost you much.
• You’re responsible for backups and spam but there are plug-ins we always add to do all this automatically for you.

CHECK OUT THE ULTIMATE PLUG-IN LIST

These are the types of plug-ins we include in all our Big Fish Website Design Packages. [view packages]

These results are based on actual events. This speaks VOLUMES about the power of internet marketing vs the old school way.  I compared the results of 2 hours a week networking face to face with 2 hours per week blogging about valuable tips and tricks.

I use to attend a lot of face to face networking event to grow my business. I’d get up to be at a 7am breakfast each week and spend 2 hours there networking. The people there knew me, my work and encouraged their friend and clients to come to me. 45% of my business came from this breakfast and it was great relationship building. The work from there was built on trust. It was by far my best lead bringer-inner-er I could speak to 10 cold-warm people in that 2 hours individually or as a small group but they were not all qualified.

For 8 weeks on this website I spent the same amount of time (2 hours) at my desk, blogging tips, tricks and little motivators out to the internet apply a handful of marketing advice I read from gurus on the topic of blogging and marketing online.

Over the 8 weeks I went from brand new blog site to 190 readers in week 8. That’s still small fish but as you can see it grew pretty quickly. Considering I did not have a list to market too and this was purely through having my blog automatically put a link back to each blog post on my Twitter account and my Facebook account. That’s all I did!

Best of all… if they are reading your blog posts it’s because they are interested in your topic, which makes them FAR more QUALIFIED than the random folk you might speak to at a face to face networking event!

When I used to do it the old school way with face to face meetings there was traffic to deal with, costs to be members and for the food there, and looking back was a crazy way to try and build my business. Especially my type of business! This does go for almost anyone though. Even if your business is local only… 2 hours a week blogging is so cheap and powerful – it’s an awesome way to get known as the guru.

If you do keep up the traditional way as well you can use your blog as back-up for that person who meets you. They might meet you – google you to check you out, read your blog posts and get to know you WAY more than they could in any 10 minute face to face chat and then they’re REALLY sold!

I used to speak really loudly at events so that other interested standing buy would come over but the most I could get to over 2 hours would be 10 people. Even then the discussions were short so they could mingle with the most people possible in the short time.

Online… you can speak to millions! Obviously you need to get them to come to your blog but there are a whole heap of ways to do that… but they’re a whole other blog post to come

Website design is not just about sticking pretty pictures up on the net with some text and hoping someone will magically discover you. Your website is a powerful marketing tool that, if set up right, will be your most cost effective strategy ever.

It’s all very well to have a site but just EXISTING on the web is not enough. You’ve got to make that website work for you! Get your money’s worth!

The more your website can help you in getting top results the better! I don’t just mean selling your products (which is obviously awesome!).

If you had a powerful Ferrari you wouldn’t park it in the garage, throw away the keys and not put gas in it right? Your website is the same! You need to get it out there, tell the world, show it off and get the immense thrill when your website is a  money making machine!

Here are a few other ideas for when you’re trying to think of your websites purpose:

ONE

Add to your site HOW TO videos showing off your product in action or, if you promote something like speaking services or consulting, show videos of YOU in action. This will give them a taste of your product or service so they see what they are getting before they buy. They’ll be far more likely to trust you and make that purchase.

TWO

Gather a following by blogging valuable tips and advice regularly. Podcasting works well for this too. Make sure the tips you give are of real value. It will give you credibility, show you know your topic and show your consistent dedication to your business.

THREE

Promoting affiliate products that you make a cut on. There are many websites out the e.g. clickbank.com that are a database of affiliate products that you can sell for other people. Go research some that are relevant to your business and sell them on your site. Make sure you keep good stats because this will also give you excellent feedback on what people are searching for and actually buying in your industry.

FOUR

Create some eProducts and sell them online. eBooks, audios or videos and add workbooks too so they are more interactive. Again, don’t just waffle. Make them valuable so the reader/listener walks away thinking “Wow – I want more from this guy/girl”. Look on websites like http://www.cbengine.com/ and see what products are doing really well. Check them out to give you an idea of what your product and topic should be.

FIVE

Add an FAQs page to answer common questions. This will free you up from hours on the phone answering the same questions over and over. Then you can spend your time focusing on growing your business, not the mundane boring stuff.

SIX

Building your list by giving valuable freebees so you can market to them. Create one of the freebees I mentioned before and give it away on your site for free in exchange for visitors joining your database. Then you’ll end up with a targeted list of potential prospects.

SEVEN

Convert your site to a membership site. Then you can charge an ongoing access fee for members to view useful information (videos, audios, PDFs). If you’re updating it constantly then this is a fantastic way it get on-going income for very little cost.

These are just SOME of the simple ideas to make your website work for you. Saving you money, saving you time, making you money, building your brand… whatever your goal is… make that puppy WORK baby!

Over and out!

J

I’m putting my stats out here for the world to see. I have always known the importance of blogging but was always “too busy” to actually do it. Now that I have finally started to delegate more I have more time to test out powerful marketing strategies, like blogging, that I KNOW is golden!

Almost everyone I talk to who needs a website says that they were referred to me or found me somewhere, then read my blog. Most of them had horrible experiences with web designers but after reading my blog felt reassured that I could help them. That is PROOF that blogs are personalized and give you credibility. You can show that you actually know what you’re talking about on your topic.

I have only been blogging a couple of months and as a result my sales conversion rate is currently at 100% and as you can see my traffic in the last month has increased by 776%. The ONLY thing I’m doing differently is blogging 3-5 times a week.

It sounds like I’m bragging but I just want to prove the power of blogging. As I said, keep in mind I have only been running my business differently for about 8 weeks so imagine, if you stick with it, the long term benefits of websites like this one.

How I actually make money from my blog:

I use the WebChik blog as my FREE INFO site. I give tools and tips that help people in their business. I do this to build my brand and give credibility. This is usually referred to as TRUST MARKETING. That’s the perfect term because if they know and trust you they’ll buy from you. If not now then at some point. They’ll at least refer to you!

The way I monetize is through creating websites for people. Not just “normal” sites (for lack of a better word), also Blog sites, Membership sites and eShops – all created using Wordpress as a base. Then we add the bells and whistles. Clients can manage their own sites and add as many pages and content as they like. We’ve also streamlined the process to keep out prices super affordable.

Check out that blatant plug. Got a bit carried away and started doing my spiel

Ok so the proof…

Since I have been blogging here is the result on my Big Fish Website Design traffic in the last month:

And here is my biggest referring site:

As you can see nearly 50% of my website traffic comes from my blog site.

Even better… they spend on average 5 minutes looking at my services AND they look at about 8 pages. This means the people coming to my Big Fish site are QUALIFIED leads looking at web design services. I’m sure there are just a few nosey people and competitors checking it out too but that’s cool

And the stats on the blog:

This shows you the gradual increase of the last couple of months of followers of my blog. You can see it’s gradual and not really anything to do somersaults over just yet, BUT its a long term strategy and if done consistently is a MASSIVELY powerful too to increase your street cred

The bounce rate is pretty high which means there will be a lot of “robots” checking the site to see if it’s “real”. I’m cool with that though because it’s so knew I want the search engine robots to be checking me out for ranking purposes. They’re also checking to see how often I post. The more the better!

The average visitor is staying over 3 mins too which means they’re actually READING the posts.

Ok so if that doesn’t show you the value of blogging then nothing will

I’ll keep you posted on other tips and tricks and stats so you can continue to see the power of the blogmonster

Till next time… over and out

It always seems to be the simplest little things that make the biggest difference. This idea is no different. So simple yet the results are outstanding! I can prove it!

This is totally relevant for website planning AND anything you want to achieve really. It nothing new but it’s something we tend to not bother to do.

This tip works for building your website, starting a business, running a marathon, teaching a monkey to do a one handed backwards flip-flop while eating a banana… All are goals with a desired outcome.

How this trick came about…

About 2 months ago my cousin Nat and I caught up. We both chatted about our goals and how online business was by far the easiest way to achieve our goals while doing what we love. Oh and with the smallest cash outlay. (I’ll tell you why online business is all these things in another post).

Another thing we both discovered is that we were both easily excitable. We’d jump up and down at the opening of an envelope. Especially if there’s wine! We found we were both in, what I call, “Helicopter mode”. Spinning around and around in circles very fast but not actually going anywhere. So here is what we did….

The simple 30 minute trick…

Once a week, same time each week, we meet up for an hour. We give each other 30 minutes each to set ourselves about 5 tasks for the coming week. They can be as big or small as we want, as long as they are things that are moving us towards our goals. During our 30 minutes we also say what we did complete from the previous week and what we didn’t.

Sometimes we don’t do everything on the list BUT most the time it’s because something bigger popped up that was a better opportunity to move forward. Always towards our goals though.

We don’t beat ourselves up if we didn’t do all the tasks BUT if one of us catches the other procrastinating on a task we’ll ask the question “So whats REALLY going on and get to the bottom of it so we move forward. It’s these ones that are perhaps the best part of this group.

Like I said, this is nothing new. Call it an accountability session, mastermind group, wine and cheese hour. Whatever blows your skirt up. Simple… but with huge results.

The biggest, bestest thing EVER that I get out of these sessions…

When there are issues in your business or even personal life, it is hard to see the label from inside the jar. With someone on the outside who is brutally honest, and has no qualms about telling you your being stupid, you become “unstuck” a lot faster. They ask you questions that you are too stuck to ask yourself. Next thing something that was a big personal hurdle becomes a leap forward  in the right direction.

I even had a couple of sessions lately where the thing that was holding me back seemed small, but when I broke through them were so huge that I felt PHYSICALLY different. Like I could do ANYTHING. Like I was BIONIC. Some of these things were realizations that had held me back for years! And all it took to bust through them was 30 mins a week.

Having someone holding you accountable each week makes a massive difference I promise you.

So take action… find even just one like-minded person to have your accountability sesh with. You don’t even have to have common goals. Nat and I are in totally different industries… but the principle of these sessions work brilliantly for us both.

That’s all folks!

PS: Comment on here or email me at j@webchik.net and I’ll have a 30 min session with you on moving forward with your website, membership site, blog site or online store