Archive for the ‘Self Publish’ Category

The word “integrity” is the most overused and misunderstood word in business. Many claim to have the upmost highest level of integrity when it comes to serving their customers, respecting their service partners and treatment of their employees but very few really know what the word means. By definition, integrity means “a steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code” so the question that comes to mind is whose moral or ethical code? Yours? Your parents? Society? Your religion? Your friends? The list could go on and on.

Having integrity is doing what you believe to be true and moral based upon the ethical code you have chosen to adopt in your life. All of the experiences you have had and all of the influences you have met, how you were raised and the religion you follow are all part of the composition of your ethical code. Integrity is the developed by making the right choices that support your ethical code consistently and without waiver. Integrity is something you have even when others are not looking.

Many successful people are successful because they have integrity. It is through integrity that you develop trusting relationships. And it is because of trusting relationships that good business is formed. Integrity is one of the easiest qualities to detect, or to detect the lack of in people you meet. Once you become familiar with a person’s actions and the choices they make, you will begin to anticipate their integrity level. When you act with integrity on a consistent basis, your actions become more predictable and your behaviors can be anticipated by others.

Integrity is one of the most sought after qualities by customers, business partners and employers so what can you do to ensure your actions are communicating a high level of integrity?

1.   Know Your Beliefs
Understand what makes you tick. What beliefs do you hold as true and as right? Before you can act with integrity, you must first understand your limits and your beliefs and the actions that you would take when those beliefs are challenged.

2.  Be Consistent to Your Beliefs
Integrity is about consistency and holding true to you not matter what the risk. It is about creating predictable behavior that not only you but others will begin to rely upon and depend. Don’t waiver in your actions and hold true to your beliefs each and every time.

3.  Don’t Lie or Exaggerate
Integrity is about creating trust and lying is always associated with lack of integrity, even if you feel the lie is justified. When you are honest and true, your integrity will shine and draw others to you.

4.  Stay True to Your Values
Sometimes we are easily influenced by others and our beliefs are challenged. We often find ourselves on the edge with a choice to go right or go left. To have integrity means to stay true to your values and your beliefs.

In order to succeed, you must not only have drive and ambition, but you must also act with integrity at all times. In the words of President Eisenhower “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionable integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army on in an office”.

As the business world moves more on-line and email marketing becomes the norm in business, understanding your email metrics can be confusing but is also necessary in determining if your email campaigns are effective. Most email service providers (Constant contact, Aweber and Icontact) provide you with statistics that allow you to track the performance of your digital marketing. There are four measurements that allow you to gain a solid understanding of the effectiveness of your campaigns, they are: Read the rest of this entry »

Guest Author: LisaMarie Dias

E-newsletters are an easy and affordable way to get your message online and into your client’s inbox. They allow you to target your message and stay on your client’s radar. They are environmentally friendly and easily modified and monitored. They are, quite possibly, the best thing since sliced bread! But they do require some planning and a modicum of ongoing maintenance to succeed and this is where most people drop the ball. Read the rest of this entry »

In the world of marketing, you have less than 3 seconds to grab the attention of the reader for them to take the next step towards your product.  The same holds true in article marketing.  A great headline can lead to sales success and a poor headline can lead to failure, therefore your headline is a critical. Read the rest of this entry »

Article Marketing is one of the easiest and fastest marketing methods to build your brand, establish your expertise, and build links back to your website for minimal cost. All that is required is your knowledge in your area of expertise and an effective strategy to ensure you are leveraging all the possibilities that article marketing can bring to you and your business. Every article must have these top five essential elements in order to be effective and drive your desired results:

1. Valuable Content

Article marketing is about offering value through your words. It is about quality versus quantity so make sure you are offering content that your readers are interested in reading. You do not need to be a strong writer to use Article Marketing as a marketing strategy, but you do need to be able to weave in your expertise. If you cannot write, hire a ghost writer to write for you and you provide direction and editing for your own voice.

2. Enticing Headline

You have less than 3 seconds to grab the attention of the reader so your headline is a critical. Make it appealing and compel your readers to read further. Try to relate a solution to a problem, ask a provocative question or offer a command.

3. Targeted Keywords

Strategically placed keywords are a great resource for for search engine optimization. Search engines love keywords so use keyword tools to select the right keywords for your target. With the right keyword density and content, your articles could end up in the top page of search engine results for a number of competitive keywords but remember not to use too many keywords or the search engines will devalue your content.

4. Structured Resource Box

A well structured resource box is an essential element of getting readers to click on your links to your website. The resource box is the small box at the end of the article where you promote your business or yourself and embed links to your website. A structured resource box promotes the benefits of your products and entices readers to click links to your website usually through an offer for a free service and/or product.

5. Strategic Syndication

The last essential element is strategic syndication. By submitting your aricles to the various article directories, the more chance you have for other publishers to pick up your article. There are many services out there who submit your articles automatically to hundreds of directories and provide your tools to enhance and leverage your article submission. Other uses for your article include:

• Ezine Content – use article for your own ezine.
• Blog Posts – post article to your own blog.
• Guest Blog Posts – post article to others blog.
• Linked In – include in news feed
• Newspaper/Magazines – submit to off line publishers
• Ebook – repurpose all articles into an ebook.

Article marketing is a proven method to boost your online presence, increase leads, and drive traffic to your site, all at no cost to you. By spending as little as an hour each day, you can enhance your brand image, establish yourself as an expert and develop trusting relationships that will lead to more business and more profits.