Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Do You Make These 7 Blogging Mistakes?

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From the Latin, meaning, "my bad."
From the Latin, meaning, “my bad.”

Blogging is an effective way to build your web presence, connect with customers and help new customers discover you. But all is not perfect in the land of blogs. Here are 7 common business blogging mistakes that you need to avoid.

1. Bizarre Design and Layout

It won’t matter how good your posts are if your blog is tacky or confusing. Make sure the colors, style and layout fit with your target market. Also watch out for off-putting features such as distracting flashing graphics, pop-ups and loads of ads. Make it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for.

Take a look at websites and blogs in your niche to get ideas. Look at the colors and design features that they employ. Use the type of design that your readers will expect to see. [Read more…]

How Not to Market Online

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ethicsThe other day I got an email with an offer that looked interesting. I clicked on the link and scanned the sales page, looking for the price. It was one of those looooong sales letters, but I found the price, read the terms and decided that the product was worth $9.95, especially with free shipping.

I entered my payment information and clicked submit. That is when the bad things started happening. [Read more…]

Make Yourself Famous

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fame.jpgMy tagline at IdeaLady.com is “Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous.” Those things go hand in hand, as becoming even a little famous in your niche will cause customers to seek you out.

It is not as hard as you might think to get a little famous and, no, the paparazzi will not begin stalking you. Of course, publicity is a great way to gain fame, but you are dependent on the whims of the media for that.

So, while you are waiting for The Oprah to call, here are some things you can do today to make yourself a little famous. Many of these techniques are free, and all can help to create awareness of you and build your expert reputation while making you (at least a little) famous.

Become a famous expert by submitting tips to http://www.Lifetips.com/ and http://www.Lifehack.org/ Lifehack will give a live link with your tip, Lifetips allows you to mention your web site in your profile.

Put up a profile and some of your articles at http://www.EzineArticles.com/ They refer more visitors to my site on a consistent basis than any sites other than the major search engines.

Put your profile on LinkedIn.com, then connect with your network, and their networks, and their networks…this is MySpace for grown-ups with jobs or who are looking for jobs. No garish backgrounds or bad music, just the opportunity to make mutually beneficial connections.

Set up a page at HubPages. Post articles, photos, links to your site and more.

Post thoughtful comments on leading blogs in your field. Not sure who they are? Browse the directory at http://www.BlogCatalog.com/. You can also add your blog to their directory.

Distribute an online press release. When it goes out to the news services you will see an increase in traffic to your site. And there will be links to your site, well, forever.

Put yourself on a t-shirt. Or a mug, a mouse pad, a necktie…at http://www.CafePress.com/ or http://www.Zazzle.com/.

Watch yourself get famous by setting up Google Alerts for your name, web site, etc. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts and tell Google what terms you want to watch for. When they run across a term you want to know about, they will send you an email with a link to the page.

None of these things have to take a long time. Just select a couple actions from the list and get started today. A little weekly maintenance will take your fame to greater heights.