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	<title>April Tara &#187; Marketing</title>
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	<link>http://www.apriltara.com</link>
	<description>Thoughts on Social Media, Music Marketing and More</description>
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		<title>Do you need to blog regularly if you have a service-based business?</title>
		<link>http://www.apriltara.com/445/do-you-need-to-blog-regularly-if-you-have-a-service-based-business/</link>
		<comments>http://www.apriltara.com/445/do-you-need-to-blog-regularly-if-you-have-a-service-based-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:56:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>April</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[experts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[service based business]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Earlier this week, I had a nice long chat with a friend and colleague of mine who started her business around the same time I started mine. We were discussing some of the things we&#8217;ve learned over the past year and one of the topics was something along the lines of advice we&#8217;d been given [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/515/blog-marketing/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Blog marketing'>Blog marketing</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/507/build-your-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Build Your Business'>Build Your Business</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/124/nominations-for-twitter-must-follow-list/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Nominations for Twitter &#8220;Must Follow&#8221; List'>Nominations for Twitter &#8220;Must Follow&#8221; List</a></li>
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<p>Earlier this week, I had a nice long chat with a friend and colleague of mine who started her business around the same time I started mine. We were discussing some of the things we&#8217;ve learned over the past year and one of the topics was something along the lines of advice we&#8217;d been given and how much of that advice we now agreed or disagreed with.</p>
<p>One particular piece of advice I remember getting that went against everything else I&#8217;d been learning was that, if you&#8217;re running a service-based business, you shouldn&#8217;t be worrying about blogging. The advice-giver said it was just one more thing you&#8217;d have to fit into your schedule and gave an example of one particular service-provider who had plenty of business yet they don&#8217;t even have a blog.</p>
<p>This didn&#8217;t really sit well with me but every time I&#8217;ve started to feel guilty for letting my blog go stale, that little piece of advice would pop into my head and I would wonder &#8220;do I really need to be blogging regularly anyway?&#8221;</p>
<p>Since I don&#8217;t have an answer to this question, I decided to ask people I trust and admire: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/remarkablogger" target="_blank">Michael Martine</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/grantgriffiths" target="_blank">Grant Griffiths</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/johnhaydon" target="_blank">John Haydon</a>, and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/dannybrown" target="_blank">Danny Brown</a>.</p>
<p>When I say &#8220;ask&#8221;, what I really mean is that I fired off an email at 1:30 a.m. sucking up to them and telling them how awesome I think they are (I do!) and by the time I woke up and checked my email this morning, they had all taken the time to respond which really says a lot about what kind of people they are to take time out of their late-Friday/early-Saturday to share their thoughts with me. Great guys, I tell ya.</p>
<p>Ok, enough of my rambling&#8230;.here&#8217;s what they had to say:</p>
<p>From <a href="http://www.remarkablogger.com" target="_blank">Michael Martine</a></p>
<blockquote><p>You need to be blogging regularly if the date of post publication shows, because people have a bias against what they perceive as &#8220;old&#8221; information on the web. If you&#8217;re not displaying dates, then it doesn&#8217;t matter as much, but it still matters. The reason why it still matters is that regularly updated sites get crawled and indexed more frequently by Google, and this is generally better for your search rank position (provided you&#8217;re doing other necessary search optimization tasks). If you&#8217;re using WordPress self-hosted and you have the <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/" target="_blank">Google XML Sitemap plugin</a> (which you should), then you can alter its settings to tell Google to crawl your content according to the frequency with which you publish.</p>
<p>People crave consistency, so establishing a rhythm is key, regardless of how many times a week you post. Posting frequently means you&#8217;ll generate more content at a faster pace, and the more relevant content found via search, the better for a site&#8217;s search ranking.</p>
<p>Your readers will respond favorably or unfavorably to changes in posting. Pay attention to their reactions, and adjust accordingly. On <a href="http://www.remarkablogger.com" target="_blank">Remarkablogger</a>, the majority of my readers indicated in a poll they&#8217;d rather receive larger doses of content less frequently. When I delivered, my numbers shot through the roof. You&#8217;d think posting less frequently would mean less traffic, but that has not been case. I now receive more traffic.</p></blockquote>
<p>From <a href="http://www.blogforprofit.com" target="_blank">Grant Griffiths</a></p>
<blockquote><p>Short answer, yes.  And to even be more knee jerky, why wouldn&#8217;t you want to post regularly if you have a service-based business?</p>
<p>A service business is just that, it is a business.  And like any business, you want to market and promote your business.  You want to be found and you also want to be known as the place to go for information about your particular type of service-based business.</p>
<p>In fact, it has been shown that in today&#8217;s business world, 75% of those looking for a service-based business are going to the internet to find what they need.  And if you have a presence online, you are going to be found. But, more than that, you need to make sure you can be found and blogging will accomplish this.</p>
<p>Blogging as a service-based business on a regular basis also positions you as a thought leader or opinion shaper in your particular area of service.  There is no reason that a service-based business should not be blogging on a regular basis.</p></blockquote>
<p>From <a href="http://www.johnhaydon.com" target="_blank">John Haydon</a></p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.apriltara.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ranking-on-google1.png"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-447" style="margin: 5px;" title="ranking on google" src="http://www.apriltara.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ranking-on-google1-300x258.png" alt="ranking on google" width="300" height="258" /></a>Yes, yes yes! In order to create trust with folks, you need to give them value first &#8211; then they buy. Blog  posts (to me) are ways to give away free stuff to thousands of people at a low cost (you write the post only once, but it gets read a thousand times). You&#8217;ll notice that all of the successful real estate agents teach people how to buy a home or select a mortgage.</p>
<p>The second reason is SEO. I rank #1 on Google for &#8220;how to make a Facebook Page&#8221;. Part of that result is due to the sheer amount of posts I have on Facebook. I&#8217;m no expert, but I think Google also looks at how current an article is.</p>
<p>Note: John also followed up his email with a link to this <a href="http://johnbell.typepad.com/weblog/2009/10/social-irm-influencer-relationship-management-pt-3.html" target="_blank">post about relationship management</a>.</p></blockquote>
<p>From <a href="http://www.dannybrown.me" target="_blank">Danny Brown</a></p>
<blockquote><p>I&#8217;d say you need to be blogging as regularly as you have something worthwhile to share to your readers (whether they&#8217;re potential clients or not). It doesn&#8217;t even have to be about your particular service, but an off-shoot of it that&#8217;s still relevant. It&#8217;s a great way of showing your skill sets, knowledge and passion all under one cool roof. But&#8230; if it&#8217;s just filler for filler&#8217;s sake, this will come across and put you back a bit.</p>
<p>So&#8230; yes, but only if it&#8217;s &#8220;worth it&#8221;. <img src='http://www.apriltara.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Now watch the other guys completely contradict me <img src='http://www.apriltara.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p></blockquote>
<p>Nope, Danny, they didn&#8217;t! In fact, all four of you gave some great advice! And it confirms some of my own thoughts, especially when it comes to two of the main reasons I think blogging is a great &#8220;tool&#8221; for marketing your business &#8211; you&#8217;re providing fresh content for the purpose of search engine ranking and you&#8217;re providing value to your clients and readers who may become clients.</p>
<p>Thanks again to Michael, Grant, John and Danny!</p>
<p><em>To anyone else who may be reading, what do you think? Do you have a service-based business? If so, how has blogging (or not blogging) affected your business? If you don&#8217;t have a service-based business but you&#8217;re a consumer, would it influence your selection of a provider if they were blogging regularly?</em></p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/515/blog-marketing/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Blog marketing'>Blog marketing</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/507/build-your-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Build Your Business'>Build Your Business</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/124/nominations-for-twitter-must-follow-list/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Nominations for Twitter &#8220;Must Follow&#8221; List'>Nominations for Twitter &#8220;Must Follow&#8221; List</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
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		<title>Careful with that axe, Eugene (and that subject line!)</title>
		<link>http://www.apriltara.com/440/careful-with-that-axe-eugene-and-that-subject-line/</link>
		<comments>http://www.apriltara.com/440/careful-with-that-axe-eugene-and-that-subject-line/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:18:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>April</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Affiliate Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.apriltara.com/?p=440</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve ended up on too many Internet Marketing lists and I go through periods where I just start unsubscribing in the hopes of eliminating all the noise in my inbox. Today I unsubscribed from the list of a major, well-known Internet Marketer. Why? Because of the subject line of his email&#8230; &#8220;Copywriter Commits Suicide?&#8221; I [...]


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<p>I&#8217;ve ended up on too many Internet Marketing lists and I go through periods where I just start unsubscribing in the hopes of eliminating all the noise in my inbox.</p>
<p>Today I unsubscribed from the list of a major, well-known Internet Marketer. Why? Because of the subject line of his email&#8230; &#8220;Copywriter Commits Suicide?&#8221;</p>
<p>I understand that you&#8217;re supposed to use your subject line to catch their attention and stimulate emotion but sometimes the reaction your subject line gets may not be the reaction you wanted. Sure, I opened his email instead of deleting it&#8230;but that was just to get to the unsubscribe link.</p>
<p>Did the copywriter whose product this marketer is trying to sell actually kill himself? No. It was a reference to &#8220;professional suicide&#8221; which he&#8217;s supposedly doing by giving something away for free.</p>
<p>So why make light of something as serious as suicide just to earn some affiliate commissions? Is it really that effective? I&#8217;d love to find out his stats and see how many of those emails were even opened and if there were others that unsubscribed.</p>
<p>There are better ways than this to write attention-getting subject lines. And if you&#8217;re delivering quality products and valuable information to your clients and customers, they&#8217;re going to open your email and read it no matter what the subject line is.</p>
<p>In fact, I don&#8217;t even pay attention to headlines. I check to see who its from, because there are certain marketers I trust&#8230;and one that would use a sensitive topic like suicide for profit isn&#8217;t on that list. I don&#8217;t care how rich he is or how many others may trust him. I don&#8217;t.</p>
<p>P.S. Avoid the cuss words in subject lines too&#8230;unless you&#8217;re Frank Kern.</p>


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		<title>Who IS your target market?</title>
		<link>http://www.apriltara.com/435/who-is-your-target-market/</link>
		<comments>http://www.apriltara.com/435/who-is-your-target-market/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:17:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>April</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[target market]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[As I was listening to Alexis Martin Neely on her monthly coaching call with the Personal Family Lawyer group today, part of the topic was Target Market and it really got me thinking because I know that can be one of the most overlooked aspects when it comes to running your business. Actually, I say [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/360/virtually-successful/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Virtually Successful'>Virtually Successful</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p>As I was listening to <a href="http://alexismartinneely.com/" target="_blank">Alexis Martin Neely</a> on her monthly coaching call with the <a href="http://www.personalfamilylawyer.com" target="_blank">Personal Family Lawyer</a> group today, part of the topic was Target Market and it really got me thinking because I know that can be one of the most overlooked aspects when it comes to running your business.</p>
<p>Actually, I say &#8220;running&#8221; your business but your target market should be something you figure out when you&#8217;re <em>starting</em> your business. Looking back at the planning I did when I started my own business, I didn&#8217;t realize what a huge piece of the puzzle I was missing by not doing more research and carefully considering and evaluating my target market.</p>
<p>When someone asks you who your target market is, what&#8217;s your answer? (If it&#8217;s &#8220;I don&#8217;t know&#8221;, we need to talk!) Do you just have a one or two word response? If it takes you a nanosecond to answer that question, you probably haven&#8217;t put enough thought into it. Your answer should be something more than &#8220;parents&#8221; or &#8220;small business owners&#8221; or &#8220;work at home moms&#8221;!</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t just write out a list&#8230;try to really picture your ideal client. What is their day like? Are they busy? Are they checking their Blackberry while they brush their teeth and taking conference calls on their Bluetooth on the way to their corner office downtown? Or are they so busy with kids and school and appointments and carpooling that they haven&#8217;t had time to check their email in a week!?</p>
<p>One of the first questions people will ask when thinking about their target market is &#8220;How much income do they have?&#8221; Take that a step further and ask yourself what are they spending their money on. Do they travel? Do they invest? Do they splurge? If you&#8217;re marketing some kind of luxury item, you may not get very far with the frugal types. But if you&#8217;ve got some kind of info product or other item that helps people save money, then frugal folks are your friend!</p>
<p>There are plenty of outside-the-box questions you can ask when you&#8217;re evaluating your target market. Instead of listing what kind of job they may have, think about what they do on the weekends. What are their hobbies? Would they rather read People magazine than the Wall Street Journal?</p>
<p>You get the idea, right? Don&#8217;t just make a list&#8230;create a character!</p>
<p>Oh, and once you&#8217;ve chosen a target market, don&#8217;t think of it as being set in stone. Times change, needs change, even your business changes. If you&#8217;re feeling stuck or like your business has hit a plateau and you still feel like there&#8217;s room to grow, go back and revisit this process. You may benefit from  changing your target market, adding an additional one, or just try to get to know your existing market a little bit better.</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/360/virtually-successful/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Virtually Successful'>Virtually Successful</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Make a Referral Week</title>
		<link>http://www.apriltara.com/570/make-a-referral-week/</link>
		<comments>http://www.apriltara.com/570/make-a-referral-week/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:37:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>April</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Make a Referral Week]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[I am a big fan (if you can call it that) of referrals when it comes to working with someone virtually. Most of my clients are referred to me by former or current clients. Its also a mutually benefical process because it gives each person an idea of what to expect from the other if [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/117/building-your-list-with-freebie-giveaways-the-missing-ingredient/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient'>Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/515/blog-marketing/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Blog marketing'>Blog marketing</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/266/make-2009-the-year-you-make-money-online/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Make 2009 the Year You Make Money Online'>Make 2009 the Year You Make Money Online</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p>I am a big fan (if you can call it that) of referrals when it comes to working with someone virtually. Most of my clients are referred to me by former or current clients. Its also a mutually benefical process because it gives each person an idea of what to expect from the other if they do get into a work relationship.</p>
<p>Its also one of the best (and least expensive!) forms of marketing you can do. There&#8217;s no trick to it, it doesn&#8217;t cost anything, you don&#8217;t have to worry about niches and target markets. All you have to do is a good job and clients or colleagues will gladly pass your name on to others.</p>
<p>Now with all of this talk of recession, the economy, and stimulus packages, many people are taking control of their careers and launching their own businesses. And they&#8217;re discovering that advertising and marketing can be time consuming and expensive.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s a way we can all help each other out:</p>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-388" title="1028813_make_a_deal_2" src="http://www.apriltara.com/wp-content/uploads/1028813_make_a_deal_2.jpg" alt="1028813_make_a_deal_2" width="236" height="300" /></p>
<p><a href="http://www.makeareferralweek.com/pledge/" target="_blank">Make a Referral Week</a></p>
<p>From their website:</p>
<blockquote><p>Make a Referral Week is an entrepreneurial approach to stimulating the small business economy one referred business at a time. The goal for the week is to <strong>generate 1000 referred leads to 1000 deserving small businesses</strong> in an effort to highlight the impact of a simple action that could blossom into millions of dollars in new business. Small business is the lifeblood and job-creating engine of the economy and merits the positive attention so often saved for corporate bailout stories.</p></blockquote>
<p>And here&#8217;s how you can help&#8230;visit the <a href="http://www.makeareferralweek.com/pledge/" target="_blank">Make a Referral Week</a> website and sign the pledge to make at least one referral between March 9th and March 13th and then return to the site and tell them about the referral you made.</p>
<p>Its as simple as that. Of course, you don&#8217;t have to limit yourself to just one referral nor do you have to limit it to just this one week. But its a good start.</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/117/building-your-list-with-freebie-giveaways-the-missing-ingredient/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient'>Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/515/blog-marketing/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Blog marketing'>Blog marketing</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/266/make-2009-the-year-you-make-money-online/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Make 2009 the Year You Make Money Online'>Make 2009 the Year You Make Money Online</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Failure to deliver</title>
		<link>http://www.apriltara.com/242/failure-to-deliver/</link>
		<comments>http://www.apriltara.com/242/failure-to-deliver/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:45:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>April</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mailing list]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newsletter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.apriltara.com/?p=242</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Image via Wikipedia I am on a lot &#8211; and I mean a LOT &#8211; of mailing lists because it seems like almost every blogger or marketer has some great info to share but in order to get it, they want your email address. Now that&#8217;s not a bad thing. List-building is one of the [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/117/building-your-list-with-freebie-giveaways-the-missing-ingredient/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient'>Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/497/use-a-newsletter-to-get-more-clients/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Use a newsletter to get more clients'>Use a newsletter to get more clients</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p>I am on a lot &#8211; and I mean a LOT &#8211; of mailing lists because it seems like almost every blogger or marketer has some great info to share but in order to get it, they want your email address. Now that&#8217;s not a bad thing. List-building is <a href="http://www.chrisg.com/email-list-building/" target="_blank">one of the best things you can do</a> for your blog or business. Its a win-win situation for both sides. You get some (hopefully) valuable information and they have a better way of reaching their target market more directly.</p>
<p>Some of the lists I&#8217;m on, though, are the result of a big JV (joint venture) giveaway. If you haven&#8217;t seen one of these, it&#8217;s basically a collection of a ton of free products &#8211; ebooks, graphics, memberships &#8211; contributed by Internet marketers trying to reach more readers and customers.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I spend the next few weeks UNsubscribing from most of them. Did I sign up just to get the free stuff? Nope. Believe me, the last thing I want is a bunch of unnecessary email. No, when I entered my email address in exchange for whatever info products on the list grabbed my attention, I had every intention of seeing what else this person had to say by continuing to be a subscriber. But when they fail to deliver and I find myself deleting their newsletters without even reading them, its time to remove myself from their list.</p>
<p><span id="more-242"></span></p>
<h3>Give &#8216;em the good stuff</h3>
<p><a href="http://theinternetmarketinginnercircle.com/" target="_blank">Willie Crawford</a> explained it perfectly in a recent email he sent to his own list. <em>&#8220;Deliver genuine value and they will stay on your list. Then, if you offer things that they need, they will buy from you because they feel a connection.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>So when someone offers a promising info product, I am more than willing to hand over my email address in the hopes of getting more good quality products and content from them even if I have to pay for some of it. But when it feels more like a <a class="zem_slink" title="Bait and switch" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait_and_switch">bait-and-switch</a>, its disappointing.</p>
<h3>Keep &#8216;em coming back for more</h3>
<p>I am by no means any kind of list building expert. In fact, I don&#8217;t even have a list yet because I&#8217;m still working on trying to figure out what kind of stuff I would even put in a newsletter and I don&#8217;t feel comfortable asking people to sign up for something when I&#8217;m not even sure what I&#8217;m asking them to sign up for! So this is strictly from a consumer&#8217;s view: don&#8217;t just BUILD a list&#8230;KEEP it. Don&#8217;t be a one trick pony. Don&#8217;t giveaway your best quality for the sake of gathering email addresses. (In fact, if its your best stuff, you should be selling it anyway!)</p>
<p>Take that old movie quote &#8220;If you build it, they will come&#8221; and expand on it. &#8220;If you keep up the good stuff, they will stay.&#8221;</p>
<p><em><br />
</em></p>
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" title="Zemified by Zemanta" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/d5c30a04-9d62-489f-ad2d-ca4f8941a140/"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" style="border: medium none; float: right;" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d5c30a04-9d62-489f-ad2d-ca4f8941a140" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a></div>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/117/building-your-list-with-freebie-giveaways-the-missing-ingredient/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient'>Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/497/use-a-newsletter-to-get-more-clients/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Use a newsletter to get more clients'>Use a newsletter to get more clients</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>&#8216;Tis the Season for lots of great deals</title>
		<link>http://www.apriltara.com/225/tis-the-season-for-lots-of-great-deals/</link>
		<comments>http://www.apriltara.com/225/tis-the-season-for-lots-of-great-deals/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:09:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>April</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Affiliate Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coaching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miscellaneous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogEnergizer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carrie Lauth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[discounts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lynette Chandler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Melissa Ingold]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mom Masterminds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Promotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[special offers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wendy Wood]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Image via Wikipedia I am just overwhelmed with deals to share with you! Some of my friends and colleagues have some specials going on that I have to tell you about. First, I have to say &#8220;Happy Birthday!&#8221; to Lynette Chandler and tell you about her birthday wish. She recently launched the Blog Energizer program [...]


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<p>I am just overwhelmed with deals to share with you! Some of my friends and colleagues have some specials going on that I have to tell you about.</p>
<p>First, I have to say &#8220;Happy Birthday!&#8221; to Lynette Chandler and tell you about her birthday wish. She recently launched the <a href="http://blogenergizer.com/?&amp;aff_id=716" target="_blank">Blog Energizer</a> program and, of course, I immediately signed up for all of the blogging tools and opportunities. But Lynette has a specific goal in mind. She made a little birthday wish and with your help, it&#8217;s going feed a lot of families this holiday season. Lynette has promised that if <a href="http://blogenergizer.com/?&amp;aff_id=716" target="_blank">Blog Energizer</a> reaches 2,000 members by December 31st, she&#8217;ll donate 8000 bowls of food to the food banks through &#8220;<a class="zem_slink" title="Feeding America" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeding_America">Feeding America</a> &amp; <a class="zem_slink" title="Kraft Foods" rel="homepage" href="http://www.kraft.com/">Kraft Foods</a>&#8221; program. Un-be-lieveable!! Way to go, Lynette! Now all you have to do is visit <a href="http://blogenergizer.com/?&amp;aff_id=716" target="_blank">Blog Energizer</a>, sign up, and start downloading this month&#8217;s resources, browse through topic ideas, even find some guest blogging opportunities.</p>
<p>Oh, speaking of Lynette, I have two more offers from her:</p>
<ul>
<li>One free month of <a href="http://blogenergizer.com/?&amp;aff_id=716" target="_blank">BlogEnergizer</a> and pay just $10/month after</li>
<li>50% off <a href="http://www.bloggingstarterpack.com" target="_blank">BloggingStarterPack</a> using coupon code BSP0812</li>
</ul>
<p>I&#8217;ve also got another good deal for you from my friend Carrie Lauth, the Natural Mom. Carrie is one of those successful (single!) WAHMs who enjoys helping other WAHMs grow their businesses. Right now she&#8217;s adding a little bonus to <a href="http://wahmcart.com/x.php?adminid=16&amp;id=4460&amp;pid=2975" target="_blank">her coaching program</a>. If you purchase one hour of coaching with Carrie, you&#8217;ll receive a FREE copy of her &#8220;Mini Course Money&#8221; program. This offer expires on December 16th so sign up for your <a href="http://wahmcart.com/x.php?adminid=16&amp;id=4460&amp;pid=114" target="_blank">coaching session</a> soon!</p>
<p>Another WAHM and <a href="http://www.mommasterminds.com/order/go.php?r=1375&amp;i=l0" target="_blank">Mom Masterminds</a> member, Wendy Wood, has put together two special offers. First, she is offering a 35% discount on any <a href="http://www.marluckmarketing.com/member/go.php?r=237&amp;i=l0" target="_blank">PLR Food Content</a> PLR packs. Just enter coupon code A7E16 when you check out. She also has an awesome collection of Christmas and holiday graphics you can use in your blog designs, posts or even your holiday family newsletter and craft projects. Just <a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=889848" target="_blank">visit her website</a>, go to the Products page and on the right sidebar you&#8217;ll see the ad for her Christmas graphics&#8230;click it! Be patient, it may take a while for the page to load because there are SOOOO many graphics. When you get to her checkout page, enter coupon code XMAS30 for 30% off.Both of Wendy&#8217;s offers expire on December 15th.</p>
<p>Now I&#8217;ve got just one more set of offers from Melissa Ingold. She&#8217;s offering a discount on her <a href="http://www.specialreportclub.com/amember/go.php?r=240&amp;i=l1" target="_blank">Special Report Club</a> so instead of the usual $19 per month, you&#8217;ll only pay $12.97 per month. Just leave me a comment or drop me an email (April@AprilTara.com) and I&#8217;ll send you the signup link that&#8217;s exclusive to this special price.</p>
<p>Melissa&#8217;s also offering a great price on her content marketing kit, <a href="http://www.fullybiz.com/x.php?adminid=156&amp;id=466" target="_blank">Earn With Content</a>, for just $12.97. That&#8217;s $83 worth of info for less than $15! That deal also includes a copy of her soon-to-be-released &#8220;Earn With Product Descriptions&#8221; pack when it becomes available.</p>
<p>Melissa BEST deal, by far, is her <a href="http://www.fullybiz.com/x.php?adminid=156&amp;id=466&amp;pid=922%20" target="_blank">copywriting package</a>. This package includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Sales letter</li>
<li> Opt-in page offering sample, free gift to build list</li>
<li> 5 related articles for article marketing or to provide to affiliates</li>
<li> Keyword research</li>
<li> 3 blog posts for marketing or to provide to affiliates</li>
<li> 5 pay-per-click ads</li>
<li> 5 forum/email signatures</li>
<li> 5 day ecourse to capture visitors who don’t buy. Ecourse will give them tips/info, and refer to your product.</li>
<li> 1 promotional email</li>
<li> 1 follow-up email (sent after promo email)</li>
</ul>
<p>Now usually she provides these services for $997&#8230;but she must be totally into the holiday spirit (or the eggnog!) because she&#8217;s offering all of that for just $500! That&#8217;s almost HALF of the usual price! Wow. Just <a href="http://www.fullybiz.com/x.php?adminid=156&amp;id=466&amp;pid=922%20" target="_blank">use this link</a> to sign up for the discounted amount, but you better make it quick because all of Melissa&#8217;s offer expire on December 16th.</p>
<p>And, of course, I am joining in all of this holiday discount stuff. Throughout the month of December, any purchases of a <a href="http://www.advantagevirtualassistant.com/services">Blog Design Package or Blog Makeover Package</a> will include a free Custom Graphics Package consisting of three matching graphics to promote your website, blog or services. You can choose from any combination of a 125 x 125 button, 468 x 60 banner, or any other specific size you may need.</p>
<p>So check out all of these special offers from these amazing ladies, treat yourself and your business to some holiday deals, and get 2009 off to a GREAT start!</p>
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		<title>Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient</title>
		<link>http://www.apriltara.com/117/building-your-list-with-freebie-giveaways-the-missing-ingredient/</link>
		<comments>http://www.apriltara.com/117/building-your-list-with-freebie-giveaways-the-missing-ingredient/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:17:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>April</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[list building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[newsletters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://apriltara.com/?p=117</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You&#8217;ve read my posts about Alice Seba a/k/a The Internet Marketing Sweetie, right? I really admire her approach to marketing and she&#8217;s very good at what she does. Fortunately, she shares her knowledge with others, whether you&#8217;re just starting your online business or you&#8217;re trying to give your current business a boost. Alice is now [...]


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<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/570/make-a-referral-week/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Make a Referral Week'>Make a Referral Week</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p>You&#8217;ve read my posts about Alice Seba a/k/a The <a href="http://www.internetmarketingsweetie.com" target="_blank">Internet Marketing Sweetie</a>, right? I really admire her approach to marketing and she&#8217;s very good at what she does. Fortunately, she shares her knowledge with others, whether you&#8217;re just starting your online business or you&#8217;re trying to give your current business a boost.</p>
<p>Alice is now taking registrations for <a href="http://www.quicksales.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=827944&amp;u=www.emailmarketingreformschool.com">Email Marketing Reform School</a> which is a 4-week program that takes you building a highly-targeted list and profiting from it, without working yourself half to death. Each week includes a detailed lesson and practical assignments, but the best part is the one-on-one guidance Alice provides throughout the coaching.<br />
<a href="http://www.quicksales.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=827944&amp;u=www.emailmarketingreformschool.com"><br />
<img src="http://www.affiliatecommandpost.com/horizontal_composite_sm.jpg" border="0" alt="Email Marketing Reform School" width="200" height="122" /></a></p>
<p>Now you&#8217;ve probably heard that it’s a good idea to offer some kind of freebie to entice your visitors to sign up for your mailing list. That way you’ll get more people on your list that you can turn into subscribers.</p>
<p>This advice can be true, but it’s only telling <strong>part<strong> </strong></strong>of the story.</p>
<p>Do it wrong and you might grow the list, but your responsiveness will go down the tubes.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Key to List Freebies</span>: Make sure the freebie is something created by your company, represents you and your products…and is very relevant to what you plan to sell to your list.</p>
<p>That may sound simple enough, but I see people scrambling to acquire resell/giveaway rights to products they can put as bribes for subscribers.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Why This is a Problem</span></p>
<p>This strategy promotes someone else’s business and showcases someone else’s expertise. To have a truly responsive list of your own, you have to knock their socks off with YOUR stuff. You want to start your relationship-building off with a bang and you can’t do that giving away Joe Blow’s Guide to Growing Beautiful Tulips.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Freebie Ideas</span></p>
<p>* A topic-specific report you created (if you use PLR, take it and make it unique, add your branding and promotions).<br />
* Go the extra mile and create a full-on course (instead of a teeny-weeny report) that will show your readers exactly the kind of great stuff you are famous for.<br />
* Coupons and other special offers for your product &#8211; particularly for shopping cart style websites with store update newsletters.<br />
* Useful tools, spreadsheets, software…anything your customers need to help them eventually consume more of your products.</p>
<p>If you currently offer a freebie made and branded by someone else…cut it out. If you don’t offer one, try a highly-targeted free offer and see what it does for your opt-in rates. Take the time to create something that will WOW your readers and they’ll be tuned into what you have to say, week after week.</p>
<p>To help get you started, head over to the Email Marketing Reform School website and download your free audio and transcript of &#8220;<a href="http://www.quicksales.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=827944&amp;u=www.emailmarketingreformschool.com/sell-confidently.html " target="_blank">Selling Confidently to Your List</a>&#8221; and sign up for the program. As always, class size is limited, especially since this is one-on-one coaching, so make sure you get registered quickly.</p>


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<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/570/make-a-referral-week/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Make a Referral Week'>Make a Referral Week</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Internet Marketing Spring Cleaning</title>
		<link>http://www.apriltara.com/115/internet-marketing-spring-cleaning/</link>
		<comments>http://www.apriltara.com/115/internet-marketing-spring-cleaning/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:49:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>April</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coaching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alice Seba]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet marketing]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re feeling like your business is in a rut or you&#8217;ve hit some kind of plateau no matter how hard you&#8217;re working, it may be time for some marketing &#8220;spring cleaning&#8221;. (Note: read all the way through to the end for a special &#8216;freebie&#8217; offer!) It happens to all of us. We build and [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/250/new-year-goal-setting/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Goal Setting for the New Year'>Goal Setting for the New Year</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/117/building-your-list-with-freebie-giveaways-the-missing-ingredient/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient'>Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/72/whats-stopping-you/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Affiliate Marketing – What’s Stopping You?'>Affiliate Marketing – What’s Stopping You?</a></li>
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<p>If you&#8217;re feeling like your business is in a rut or you&#8217;ve hit some kind of plateau no matter how hard you&#8217;re working, it may be time for some marketing &#8220;spring cleaning&#8221;.</p>
<p><em>(Note: read all the way through to the end for a special &#8216;freebie&#8217; offer!)</em></p>
<p>It happens to all of us. We build and build and build, and then suddenly we’ve got all this virtual real estate out there. Problem is, we aren’t quite sure what to do with it all or how to leverage our hard work for maximum profitability.</p>
<p>Thankfully, <a href="http://apriltara.com/imsweetie" target="_blank">Alice Seba</a> (one of my favorite Internet marketing teachers) has come up with the perfect solution and it’s called: “Spring Cleaning to Maximize the Profitability of Your Online Business.”<br />
<a href="http://www.quicksales.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=827944&amp;u=www.imspringcleaning.com"><br />
<img src="http://www.imspringcleaning.com/courseimage.JPG" border="0" alt="Internet Marketing Spring Cleaning" width="450" height="250" /></a></p>
<p>This isn’t some flimsy ebook or 10-minute video, but rather a 6-week intensive step-by-step coaching program. It’s designed to help you clean out all the extra stuff that you’ve accumulated, identify and make the most of what’s working in your business and planning for long-term success. You’ll get to work directly with Alice week-by-week and apply these strategies directly to your own unique business. We’re not just talking theory here. You’re going to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty, but in a very good way!</p>
<p>See, I’m really excited about this because Alice is the real-deal. She speaks from true experience in her own successful online business. Just the other day, a lady named Rhonda, left an impromptu comment on her blog stating:</p>
<p>“I simply love Alice Seba. I love the way she runs her business. I love her ideas and most of all I love her being my mentor to how I want my business to run. Thank you Alice for your hard work. Can&#8217;t wait to keep getting your emails!”</p>
<p>That’s exactly what you get when you work with Alice. If you could use some hands-on help with your Internet Marketing Spring Cleaning, get over to the coaching information page right away. Alice is only accepting 25 students and registration closes on September 27th – whichever comes first. And knowing Alice, it&#8217;ll be the 25 student limit. So don&#8217;t take too much time thinking about it. And you can find out more and claim your spot now by visiting <a href="http://www.quicksales.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=827944&amp;u=www.imspringcleaning.com" target="_blank">the information and registration page</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Still not sure? Get the first lesson F-R-E-E!</strong> Click here: <a href="http://www.quicksales.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=827944&amp;u=www.imspringcleaning.com/free-lesson.html" target="_blank">&#8220;Yes, I want my first free lesson from Alice Seba&#8217;s Internet Marketing Spring Cleaning!&#8221;</a></p>
<p>P.S. While you&#8217;re there, be sure to sign up for Alice&#8217;s <a href="http://www.quicksales.com/app/?af=827944&amp;u=www.sweetiesaturdayreportclub.com " target="_blank">Sweetie Saturday Report Club</a>, a monthly club that features a topic-focused written report, an accompanying audio recording for each report, both of which include resell rights, and <em>Essential Biz Notes* </em>which is<em> </em>a monthly supplement from Alice that      covers a variety of Internet business topics, designed to help members move      ahead in their business.</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/250/new-year-goal-setting/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Goal Setting for the New Year'>Goal Setting for the New Year</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/117/building-your-list-with-freebie-giveaways-the-missing-ingredient/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient'>Building Your List with Freebie Giveaways: The Missing Ingredient</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/72/whats-stopping-you/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Affiliate Marketing – What’s Stopping You?'>Affiliate Marketing – What’s Stopping You?</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Think outside the blog</title>
		<link>http://www.apriltara.com/517/think-outside-the-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://www.apriltara.com/517/think-outside-the-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>April</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tools & Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newsletter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[podcast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[talk show]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[webinar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://advantagevirtualassistant.com/blog/?p=41</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In previous posts, I&#8217;ve mentioned marketing your blog as well as the statistics on how attorneys are using &#8220;Web 2.0&#8243;. But there are other ways, other than blogging, to market your practice or your firm online. As an attorney, you have at least one area of law that you specialize in and may consider yourself [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/516/attorneys-web-20/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Attorneys &#038; Web 2.0'>Attorneys &#038; Web 2.0</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/497/use-a-newsletter-to-get-more-clients/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Use a newsletter to get more clients'>Use a newsletter to get more clients</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/606/your-band-is-your-brand/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Your band is your brand'>Your band is your brand</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p>In previous posts, I&#8217;ve mentioned <a href="http://advantagevirtualassistant.com/blog/2008/08/31/blog-marketing/" target="_self">marketing your blog</a> as well as the statistics on <a href="http://advantagevirtualassistant.com/blog/2008/09/02/attorneys-web-20/" target="_self">how attorneys are using &#8220;Web 2.0&#8243;</a>. But there are other ways, other than blogging, to market your practice or your firm online.</p>
<p>As an attorney, you have at least one area of law that you specialize in and may consider yourself an expert in that field. One method of using your expertise to reach potential clients and other attorneys is to host a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webinar" target="_blank">webinar</a>. As the phrase implies, a webinar is a seminar presented on the web. I make webinars a part of my weekly work schedule and attend at least one per week. Some groups, like <a href="http://www.vanetworking.com/seminars/" target="_blank">VA Networking</a>, offer a regularly scheduled weekly webinar on various topics. Others will offer a series. For example, this summer I attended several webinars as part of the annual Hot Seminar Series by business coach <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5vn4fj" target="_blank">Kelly McCausey</a>. But if you don&#8217;t have the time to host a regular webinar, you can present them as your schedule permits. While there are a lot of free seminars available, if you are presenting on a specialized topic and have a specific target market, charging a fee for the webinar is also an option, whether its $10 or $100.</p>
<p>Another option, using modern media, is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast" target="_blank">podcast</a> or &#8220;radio&#8221; show. If you have the time and the material, you can produce a regular weekly podcast or <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/" target="_blank">host a talk show</a>. Otherwise, you could always do some research and see if any interview or guest host spots are available on other podcasts or talk shows and contact the producers with an inquiry. The great thing about podcasts is that they can be recorded when you have the time and then published on a regular day. By establishing a regular, consistent schedule, you stand a better chance of gaining and retaining listeners. However, by hosting a talk show, your listeners will be able to participate in the discussion.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re not comfortable doing any kind of audio or video presentation, there are several print or text options to consider. Newsletters are one of the most popular forms, as we&#8217;ve seen in the <a href="http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/web_20_still_a_no_go/" target="_blank">recent ABA survey</a> which indicated that 59% of those that responded to the survey are getting their online information via newsletters, second only to websites. Services like <a href="http://www.aweber.com/?302454" target="_blank">Aweber</a> can be used to set up the newsletter template, the sign up form to be placed on your website, and manage your mailing list. Again, the frequency of the newsletter should be based upon what your schedule allows but however often you choose to publish &#8211; weekly, bi-weekly, monthly &#8211; the important thing, in addition to the actual content, is to be consistent and reliable.</p>
<p>In addition to newsletters, you can also produce an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-book" target="_blank">&#8220;ebook&#8221; (electronic book)</a> which can be purchased from your website and immediately downloaded in PDF format by the purchaser. The advantages of ebooks are that they are completely within your control (and they&#8217;re environmentally friendly! No trees are killed in the making of an ebook.) Unlike publishing a paper book, there is no middle man and you don&#8217;t need to find someone to sell your idea to and rely on them to publish and promote it for you. Writing, creating, designing and publishing can all be done by you.</p>
<p>These are just a few of the many alternatives to blogging that are available to you when you&#8217;re trying to find ways to promote your business. And, as always, Advantage Virtual Assistant can help you with all aspects of the process, beginning with the research and ending with the publishing and promoting.</p>
<p>If you have any questions about the process involved in any of this or need some help getting your own webinar, podcast, newsletter or ebook produced, feel free to contact me via email April at AdvantageVirtualAssistant.com</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/516/attorneys-web-20/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Attorneys &#038; Web 2.0'>Attorneys &#038; Web 2.0</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/497/use-a-newsletter-to-get-more-clients/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Use a newsletter to get more clients'>Use a newsletter to get more clients</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/606/your-band-is-your-brand/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Your band is your brand'>Your band is your brand</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Attorneys &amp; Web 2.0</title>
		<link>http://www.apriltara.com/516/attorneys-web-20/</link>
		<comments>http://www.apriltara.com/516/attorneys-web-20/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:11:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>April</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tools & Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virtual assistant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[attorneys and marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blawgs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogs for lawyers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[law blogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[websites for attorneys]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[An article in the September 2008 issue of the ABA Journal reveals that only 8% of law firms and 2% of attorneys maintain a law blog. Wow. That&#8217;s a lot lower than I would have expected, especially since this same survey shows that 96% of attorneys are doing their legal research online and over half [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/507/build-your-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Build Your Business'>Build Your Business</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/517/think-outside-the-blog/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Think outside the blog'>Think outside the blog</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/514/whats-holding-you-back/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: What’s holding you back?'>What’s holding you back?</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
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<p>An article in the <a href="http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/web_20_still_a_no_go/" target="_blank">September 2008 issue of the ABA Journal</a> reveals that only 8% of law firms and 2% of attorneys maintain a law blog.</p>
<p>Wow. That&#8217;s a lot lower than I would have expected, especially since this same survey shows that 96% of attorneys are doing their legal research online and over half of the solos who participated in the survey have websites.</p>
<p>Ironically, a vast majority of the attorneys responded that they receive their information from websites, newsletters and discussion lists. But who provides the information contained on those websites and in those newsletters?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.apriltara.com/wp-content/uploads/1132864168-12655.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-112 alignright" title="attorney on computer" src="http://advantagevirtualassistant.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/1132864168-12655-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="144" height="192" /></a>Obviously there is a huge market for online legal news. And in this field, news needs to be&#8230;well&#8230;<em>new</em>. Static websites that are rarely updated are not news. Articles, blog posts, newsletters&#8230;this is the direction that news in the legal field is heading. Legal blogs even have their own unique title and are referred to as &#8220;blawgs&#8221;.</p>
<p>Legal blogs are no longer a task left up to the firm&#8217;s IT guy. Sure, they can set up a website for the firm, maybe even add a blog and show the attorneys how to add content. But who is going to write the content? The IT guy can&#8217;t help you with that. He knows computers, not legal analysis. And every firm has at least one attorney who really &#8216;gets&#8217; technology and has a real interest in it. But what are the chances that he has time to maintain an active website with constantly updated content? Probably pretty slim. And what if you&#8217;re a solo attorney? Or what if you are &#8216;the attorney/computer geek&#8217;? Do you have both the time and the computer skills to take on such a vital task?</p>
<p>The purpose of sharing this information isn&#8217;t to give you some sort of sales pitch but I am going to explain to you how a <a href="http://www.advantagevirtualassistant.com" target="_blank">Virtual Legal Assistant</a> can help you solve this problem.</p>
<p>First, there&#8217;s the blog set up. You may already have a domain and website but how do you add a blog? The most common blogging platform is <a href="http://www.wordpress.org" target="_blank">WordPress</a>. A VLA can install WordPress for you, add the essential plugins such as those for SEO (search engine optimization), comment forms, and social bookmarking, and even design a template for you incorporating your practice logo and contact information.</p>
<p>Then there&#8217;s the content. Now obviously, as the legal expert, you&#8217;re going to be the one responsible for providing the content. But chances are that you don&#8217;t have the time to sit and write it out, especially since the time you spend on it is non-billable. The most efficient way to do this with the assistance of a <a href="http://www.advantagevirtualassistant.com" target="_blank">VLA</a> is to send an outline or notes or dictation to your VLA for compilation or transcription. The VLA would then draft the post for you, submit it to you for your approval, and then once you&#8217;ve approved the content, your VLA can take care of adding it to the blog for you.</p>
<p>Once you&#8217;ve got your blog set up and some content added, its time to promote it and let others know its out there. Your blog audience may be other attorneys or potential clients. Consider both of these as a possible source of income. From other clients, you may acquire referrals and from the non-attorneys who have probably found your blog through a search for information about a specific legal topic, you may gain a new client.</p>
<p>Again, marketing your blog is an area that your VLA should be equipped to handle. After all, we do own our own business and have spent a lot of time marketing it using many of the same methods we would use to promote your blog. There are several social networking sites, most of which I have mentioned before, that provide marketing opportunities. <a href="http://www.linkedin.com" target="_blank">Linked In</a> has become very popular with those in the corporate world and there are many LinkedIn groups available for specific industries, including law firms and even legal bloggers. You can also take advantage of social bookmarking and use those to highlight particular posts. One of my favorites, other than the well-known <a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com" target="_blank">Stumble Upon</a> and <a href="http://www.digg.com" target="_blank">Digg</a>, is Social Median. <a href="http://www.socialmedian.com" target="_blank">Social Median</a> allows information consumers to &#8220;clip&#8221; certain articles and categorize them to be shared with special interest groups. For example, I subscribe to groups such as <a href="http://www.socialmedian.com/network/knowledge-management-for-legal-professionals" target="_blank">Knowledge Management for Legal Professionals</a>, <a href="http://www.socialmedian.com/network/the-law-and-technology-network" target="_blank">Law and Technology</a>, and two that I created, <a href="http://www.socialmedian.com/network/work-at-home-resources" target="_blank">Work at Home Resources</a> and the <a href="http://www.socialmedian.com/network/virtual-assistant-industry" target="_blank">Virtual Assistant Industry</a>.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s a perfect example of how blogging and networking has helped one attorney build his solo practice. <a href="http://www.andrewflusche.com/" target="_blank">Andrew Flusche</a> is a Virginia attorney who has expanded his business to include <a href="http://www.andrewflusche.com/reduce-your-liability-webinar-protect-yourself-and-your-business/" target="_blank">webinars</a> (online seminars) and a regular business <a href="http://homeofficewarrior.com/category/ask-legal-andrew/" target="_blank">law column at the Home Office Warrior</a>, a popular website for professionals and entrepreneurs working from home in a variety of industries.</p>
<p>Hopefully this article has given you some ideas and inspired you to take advantage of the online resources available to help you in the growth of your legal practice. And, as always, Advantage Virtual Assistant is available to assist you in these areas and answer any questions you may have.</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/507/build-your-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Build Your Business'>Build Your Business</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/517/think-outside-the-blog/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Think outside the blog'>Think outside the blog</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.apriltara.com/514/whats-holding-you-back/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: What’s holding you back?'>What’s holding you back?</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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