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Best for Last – October 9, 2009

yelena — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:00:36 +0000

Every week I read a lot of stuff online – blogs, articles, reviews, etc. I see my share of the good, the bad and occassionally even the ugly. But oh so often I come across something so great that I want to share it with everyone I know.

This week I read:

Blogger Is Cool – ok, Blogger is no Wordpress (yet), but things are looking up for it. As I browse the net, I find more and more Blogger-based blogs, complete with great widgets and premium templates. But the coolest change is this – it used to be so easy to spot a Blogger blog, what with a handful of themes and a .blogspot.com URLs. Well, things are getting more interesting now. Check out this presentation from Small Biz Survival for examples of great un-Blogger-looking blogs (including Small Biz Survival itself).

4 Free E-books – links to 4 free motivational downloads. I just downloaded The Zero Hour WorkWeek from a guy who “gets paid to be who he is”.

Making Money on LinkedIn – a couple of great examples of how to make money on LinkedIn. I believe that the same idea applies to any other social network out there (yes, including Twitter).

Forget Marketing Funnel, Check Out Marketing Hourglass – great diagram of the marketing steps and tools used in each step.

Technorati Tags: Blogger, business blog, social media, free e-books

Best for Last – October 9, 2009 is a post from: 1Click Virtual Assistant

Best for Last – October 2, 2009

yelena — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:00:25 +0000

This week I read:

Control Your RSS Feed Footer - really great plugin, simple to install and configure. It took me 2 minutes to get it all done.

Overcome Fear of Making Mistakes – I guess this is called “convergence” – as I’m working on a post that explains how mistakes can be money-making opportunities, Alice Seba talks about overcoming “paralysis by analysis”.

5 Things Small Business Owners Should Do Today - this is a quick and powerful read. You might already be doing this, in which case pass it along (tweet, e-mail, blog about it, etc) to others who don’t. And if you haven’t started on any of these 5 things – waiting won’t make you $.

Twitteleh – love it, LOVE IT!

Technorati Tags: business blog, small business

Best for Last – October 2, 2009 is a post from: 1Click Virtual Assistant

Best for Last – September 25, 2009

yelena — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:00:01 +0000

This week I read:

WAHM Reflects on Time Management Techniques – now, this is something I can relate to 100%. As a work-from-home mom of a toddler, I am short on time. Trying to keep up with my demands of my business and my family, I am always looking for the time management tool that would solve all my problems. And this is a nice and humorous overview.

Blogging for Business Value – if you still don’t think having a business blog is important, read this short article. And if you have a business blog for your small business, but not sure whether to keep it going, read this article.

100 Ways to Improve Your Blog – and while I’m talking about blogging, here’s a very solid post with lots of tried-and-true ideas (101 to be exact).

Write Press Release in 30 Minutes – do you have business news worth sharing, but are intimidated by the idea of a press release. Well, Meet The New Media takes you through a 10-step process at the end of which you will have a nice little press release ready to be sent out. Well, almost… there is a step # 10.5. And if you think you don’t have anything worth announcing, here’s a list of 101 reasons to write a press release (ok, I do disagree with #6 being news).

Technorati Tags: time management, business blog, social media, press release writing

Best for Last – September 25, 2009 is a post from: 1Click Virtual Assistant

Best for Last – September 11, 2009

yelena — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:00:18 +0000

This week I read:

Must See SEO Guide for Wordpress Bloggers – 12 on page SEO and 4 off page SEO techniques explained in this terrific blog post. Best of all, the guys/gals over at WPBeginner thoughtfully included step-by-step instructions and even screenshots for many of their tips.

My Extreme Makeover: Twitter Edition – if you read my Twitter-related posts or downloaded my e-book, you know I keep stressing the importance of a balance when following new connections on Twitter. After all, if you follow 1500, but only 150 follow you, it screams spammer. But what if the ratio is reversed and you have scores of followers, but choose to follow a select few? And what about people who unfollow you after a while - will you be unfollowing them as well? Here is a interesting perspective.

Marketing at Conferences and Seminars – if you ever wondered how can you get the most out of attending conferences and other business-related events, then you must read this great article. One thing that I like about Tracy Needham’s blog ( @ tracyneedham on Twitter) and newsletter is that she always provides great ideas and step-by-step how-tos for her readers. That’s why I archive (and often reference) every single issue of her newsletter.

Technorati Tags: Wordpress, SEO tips, Twitter, networking

Best for Last – September 11, 2009 is a post from: 1Click Virtual Assistant

Best for Last – September 4, 2009

yelena — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:00:18 +0000

This week I read:

Event Promotion Checklist – if you think event promotion takes place only BEFORE your event, think again. Becky McCray from Small Biz Survival provides a checklist for things you can and should do AFTER your event. Make sure to read the comments as well as the post for some really great advice (yes, including my little comment).

Build a Business That Survives and Thrives – great post on what it means to build a resilient business. Or you can scroll down to Planning for Resilience for an outstanding point-by-point breakdown of what it takes for a business to grow despite economic uncertainties.

Deal with Burn-Out – if you haven’t guessed why I was so quiet in August, here it is – I simply reached the burn-out point. Every time I sat down to write a new blog post, my mind would go blank and eventually I’d do a zillion other things instead (Twitter, e-mail, shopping for baby wipes). It’s a “been there, done that” for the guys over at Workshifting. The cool thing is, they offer some ideas on how to deal with this situation.

Social Media Building Blocks – all the social media marketing efforts boil down to these two things - listening to and connecting with your audience. Simple, right? Read on for details on these building blocks.

Best for Last – September 4, 2009 is a post from: 1Click Virtual Assistant

Best for Last – July 24, 2009

yelena — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:00:33 +0000

This week I read:

LinkedIn Profile Tips - actually, it’s a complete LinkedIn profile makeover done by a LinkedIn expert, Jason Alba. From profile name to Groups, Jason explains what can be improved and why it is important.

Secret of Marketing for Small Businesses – there is nothing fancy or magical about John Jantsch advice to small business owners: “Just Be There”. But being there every day for your clients and prospective clients, maintaining contact while remaining helpful requires a systematic approach. That’s why I found the tips on building “being there machine” especially useful.

Social Media ROI – if you largely ignore social media because you think it’s a waste of time and/or money, read on.

Technorati Tags: social media, social media ROI, LinkedIn, Twitter

Best for Last – July 24, 2009 is a post from: 1Click Virtual Assistant

Best for Last – July 17, 2009

yelena — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:00:08 +0000

This week I read:

Spezify – ok, I didn’t read it, rather I read about it on Mark Krynsky’s Lifestreaming Blog. For the past few years, the only search engine I used was Google. But I think that’s about to change. You see, I’m a very visual person – doodling, scrapbooking, mindmapping, choosing what to cook for dinner based on cookbook photos – yes, it’s all me. Sure, I get the results from Google (and other search engines’) search results lists. But do I enjoy what I see? NO!

Spezify’s results, on the other hand, are very visual. You also get more than 10 results per page. So go ahead and Spezify yourself or your business. I loved the Related Keywords feature – a list of words closely associated with your online composite image.

5 Tools to Help With Tedious Tasks – ok, if you’ve been reading my blog and my “Social Media in 30 Minutes a Day” report, you already know about Bit.ly - a service that lets you shorten links, Tweet them and track the number of clicks you get. Still that leaves 4 other tools. My personal favorite is the ZAP Reader although the interface is pretty clunky. BTW, the 6th tool for getting tedious tasks done is - shameless plug for myself and the industry here – hire a virtual assistant.

MyLiveSignature – sign your e-mails, newsletters, blog posts, PDFs, etc with a digital signature that looks like the real thing.

5 Ways to Get Others to Blog For You – blogging can be absolutely exhausting… hitting a brick wall is no fun, yet blogging burn-out is pretty much unavoidable if you’re all alone and on an ambitious blogging schedule. Instead of taking time off to recharge, get others to help you (for free).

Technorati Tags: Spezify, Twitter, business blog

Best for Last – July 17, 2009 is a post from: 1Click Virtual Assistant

Best for Last – July 10, 2009

yelena — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:00:25 +0000

This week I read:

18 Blog Post Ideas – coming up with new ideas to keep a business blog alive and interesting is a daunting task. At some point is seems like you hit the wall. Having an editorial calendar helps. But even with an editorial calendar, you might find yourself frantically searching for ideas for a post. Copying “the big boys” might not be such a good idea since larger companies might be using multiple contributors and ghost-bloggers. Instead, turn your company size into an advantage and create blog posts that are as personal as your business.

19 SM Chores for Every Day – daily relationship-building tasks for Twitter (5 tasks), Facebook (6 tasks), LinkedIn (5 tasks) and your blog (4 tasks). I don’t know if you have time to do these every day… but it’s not a bad goal to work toward. BTW, if you don’t get 5+ comments on your blog daily, you can still get involved by checking out blogs of 2-3 fo your Twitter friends and tweeting links to the posts you especially like and find useful/noteworthy.

Turn Articles into E-books – if you use article marketing (or write plenty of article-length posts for a blog or newsletter), eventually you will have enough material for an e-book. Great idea that builds on content re-use and repurposing! The only thing I’d like to add is an extra step (in addition to the 10 listed in this article). This extra step would include reviewing and updating the content of each article you plan on including into the e-book.

20 Tips to Manage Your Online Social Life – you know how sometimes you start doing something on Internet, get caught browsing and end up discovering some totally awesome site? Well, I started off watching a video about the importance of proofreading and somehow ended up at MakeUseOf.com. I’m going to add its RSS feed to my Google Reader and to my Social Media mindmap (more on it in the 20 Tips post and BTW, I still use the FreeMind)

Technorati Tags: business blog, social media, Twitter, article writing

Best for Last – July 10, 2009 is a post from: 1Click Virtual Assistant

Best for Last – July 3, 2009

yelena — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:00:47 +0000

This being the Independence Day in the US, I’m including free downloads and other goodies:

Jim Goolsby’s Copy Made Easy – if you’re interested in online direct response copywriting, this website is a must-see. The blogposts are great, but since it’s the goodies addition, make sure to sign up for a free Sales Copy Generator software (and a bunch of other great stuff, but I’m not going to ruin the surprise for you).

Authority Black Book – for DIY social media marketing, download-read-follow this free ebook ranked #1 by Mashable. The updated 2009 edition talks about creating serious traffic to your site by using power linking and social marketing.

Business Services Giveaway – BizCentral USA is running a contest with prizes totalling over $100,000 in business services to small businesses. Actually, there are two contests – “Start a Business” and “Business Makeover”. So whether you’re looking for a chance to start a new business or grow the existing one, this is a fantastic opportunity.

Thriving on Less: Simplifying in a Tough Economy – this is one of these cases when you wonder whether it’s a coincidence or some kind of a sign… Yesterday I added Leo Babauta’s book The Power of Less to my Amazon Wish List (so what it’s 10 pages long by now). And today I found out that he’s giving away a free companion e-book called Thriving on Less. This is really a no-strings attached offer – no e-mail address required.

Happy Reading!

Technorati Tags: free ebook, business ebook, small business

Best for Last – July 3, 2009 is a post from: 1Click Virtual Assistant

Best for Last – June 26, 2009

yelena — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:00:10 +0000

This week I read and liked:

Online Identity Calculator – been Googling yourself lately? Online ID Calculator™ is a tool that will help you make sense of your Google results and give you advice on how to build a stellar online identity that’s aligned with your real-world personal brand.

SEO for Beginners – the basics of on-page search engine optimization explained in a clear and consize way. This post mostly deals with optimizing through use of keywords. In case you’re wondering how long it’d take to start seeing the results, Backlink Builder has an answer for you.

BizEquity – If you’ve just started your biz, selling it is probably the last thing on your mind. Still you might want to find BizEquity Business Valuation Tool useful. It takes only a couple of minutes to answer questions for the basic valuation and you get to see the value of your business go up or down with each answer.

Technorati Tags: social media, SEO, small business

Best for Last – June 26, 2009 is a post from: 1Click Virtual Assistant