Or how can I get linked to social networking sites?

For a website or business this is how you can create viral growth. With each person who comments, recommends or likes your website on Facebook, there are several people who see that. Some will visit your site. Some will visit and recommend, and some will even recommend your site simply because someone else recommended it.

What should I do?

The key is to help your readers share your website. Add a social bookmarking plugin to your WordPress posts. Sociable and Sexy Bookmarks are quite popular. By visiting the Facebook developers site you can create a “like” button that you can add to your widgets to be ever present reminder for readers to “like” your website. Encourage readers to share by asking. Yes, it really is as simple as asking them to share the site. By the way, please click the like button on my website.

Why is this important?

With these tools, your readers can make a public statement about your website. These typically offer a link, to your website or post. When someone shares this information it becomes a post on their social networking site wall, it becomes an item that can be searched, and on Facebook it becomes part of their profile. Imagine your website flashed across several profiles. Each profile could bring you several people, viral advertising. Best of all this viral advertising is free.

Live Laugh Love

MJ Schrader

Tomorrow will cover how to add Facebook to your blog WITHOUT PLUGINS!!! (Yes, you can do it!)

i. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you used to seeing in print.

Writers may use the phrase inappropriately, or it may not be understood by readers.

ii. Never use a long word where a short one will do.

In his case, he felt like people who used long words were doing so to sound pretentious. Now, people reading online come from all education levels and from around the world, long or confusing words you make your reading harder for them.

iii. If is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

Your articles and posts do not need to go on for pages when one page will do. People have limited time and are more likely to read an article that gets to the point and lets them go.

iv. Never use the passive where you can use the active.

Using active writing pulls readers into your article. The opposite is true of passive writing.

v. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

This was before the multicultural foods we enjoy and before technology was something you didn’t leave home without.  Currently this takes more thought and depends on your niche.  If your website is “Raw recipes” you readers likely understand the difference between Vegetarian, Vegan and Raw.  My readers maybe not, but my readers hopefully understand the differences between sidebars, headers, and posts.  While your raw reader may not.  So try to use words that your readers will understand without talking down or over their heads.

vi. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Even then George Orwell said the rules were mostly suggestions. Using these rules as suggestions will help your article writing and blog writing share information online while helping readers around the world understand you.

And because this blog is read by people in several countries…

Gracias, Blagodaram, Danke, Tack, Arigatô, Xiè xie, Merci, Mahalo, Grazie, and Thank you!

(Spanish, Macedonian, German, Swedish, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, French, Hawaiian, Italian and English)

If I missed your language…  please tell me thank you and please tell me your language.  Sometimes I know other times… not so much.

~ MJ Schrader

Create fun videos.

The number of people who watch videos on YouTube grows daily.   Below you will see a video my cat and I made as introduction to Rockstar Coaching.  I don’t think I even mentioned the coaching.  Next week I will go into getting comfortable with video.

With a fun video you could get more traffic. Create a funny video, an instructional video, a video about your products or services. Then include tags related to your business and your website link.

Use contests.

Fun contests with prizes that people love create word of mouth traffic. People tell friends and your traffic grows. There is also a curiosity factor that brings people. You can have contests that require visitors to contribute to your site, visit multiple pages and more.

Speaking of CONTESTS.

I would like to hold one, but I want YOUR input.  What kind of contest would you like to see?  What would you like for a prize?

Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

~ MJ Schrader

As a side note, things happen with businesses, with life, and so on.  Always have a back up plan in place when things like Microsoft, Windows, & Camtasia do not get along.  (They are all sitting in separate corners until further notice.)

Now What does a sales page need?

It is actually surprising what we can forget to add to a sales page.  And I say we because I have as well.  There are basically 10 components you need to have.

1.  A Headline ~ This needs to get your potential buyer intrigued and get them to continue to read.

2.  Welcome!  ~ Hello, Dear Home Owner, Dear Dog Lover, Dear Future Pro-Golfer, whatever fits your needs.

3. What is their problem? ~ Explain their problem to them. Let the buyer know you have a through grasp of what their problem is.  Not the shedding but replacing vacuums wearing out due to dog fur.

4. What is your solution? ~ Explain the benefits of your product. Write a few lists and mix those into your sales letter.

5. Provide testimonials, stories, facts, figures, just prove it.

6 What does it cost?  ~ Discuss the value of the product. Less shedding means not having to buy vacuums.  Another value you could use is how your price compares to similar products. Then discuss your actual price.

7.  Give them a guarantee

8. What do you want them to do? ~ This may seem like the most obvious thing in the world, but you need to be specific. Tell them to buy your product.   Buy my product or buy vacuums due to more dog fur.

9. Thank them. ~ It is the polite thing to do.

10. Add a postscript. ~ Restate the urgency. Restate the major benefits and again encourage them to buy post haste.

Hope this list helps when you get your sales templates tomorrow!

~ MJ Schrader

PS. To quote #10.  Buy my products.  Post Haste. 

Many people have asked me about writing sales letters in WordPress. They want to know if sidebars and headers and menus are acceptable. This is a mixed situation.

Advantages

If they decide that product you are advertising is not for them but they like your style then being able to look at other products or information is great. This keeps them on your website longer and allows them to pick and choose what they want. If they are not certain your product is for them, they can click the sidebar or other menus to learn more about you and any other products you may have.

Disadvantages

Many people advocate that an advertising copy should have only two options. Option one buy this product or option two hit the back button. By having the menu links and sidebar your potential customers or clients can get distracted. After the distraction they may forget or no longer be motivated in buying your product. Also what may be a cool graphic on your blog is not appropriate on your sales letter. The twitter stream in your sidebar may not be something you want on your sales letter.

Solutions.

There are many solutions which will be discussed tomorrow.  Although one solution I strongly suggest is WP Landing Pages which can be used for landing pages, sales pages and more.

Inline ads ~ are similar to Google AdSense.  Short text ads contained within a box you put on your site.

Contextual ads ~ words marked in blue and underlined.  They link to other sites.

Banner ads  ~ also called graphic ads because they add a graphic to your site.  These can also be square like the one to the left about  Crowd Mountain

Advantages of the various ad formats

Unfortunately people have grown accustomed to seeing ads, so they have learned how to ignore them. Contextual ads still have a curiosity feature to them. While people are used to graphic ads, they still have visual appeal. And as for text ads, if it says the right thing, people will click. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it brings in revenue when people click.

Best Ad locations

This an area that depends on your niche, but as they say it is all in “Location, location, location.” Many people have trained themselves to ignore the ad at the top of a blog. Contextual ads do not disrupt the text of your article but do create curiosity. Ads near the bottom are popular. If you place it near the bottom and have information around it people will be interested in you and the ad just because it might be related.

Advertising Advantages

If you have a product or service to sell this gives your readers an opportunity to click away from your site, perhaps before they read your offer. Yet, this form of advertising might be the only way to get money from people who are window shoppers.