Internet Marketing

SUBJECT: Networking with Social Networking Sites

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Over the last couple of years, social networking sites have become
very popular. Millions of people flock to social networking sites
every single day. And these people keep coming back on a regular
basis. Social networking sites are both fun and addictive.

It didn’t take long for Internet Marketers to realize that social
networking sites were a potential gold mine. Here were all these
people who were on one site. What a great place to pitch products
and services!

Most Internet Marketers went about selling the right way but some
of them didn’t. A few people turned to spamming the social
networking sites and these people ruined it for everyone else. The
social networking sites stopped a lot of the Internet Marketing but
there is still some selling going on.

However, if Internet Marketers only see social networking sites as
a place to sell products or services, then they’re missing a huge
opportunity. Social networking sites are meant to bring like-minded
people together. And this is how Internet Marketers should be using
them too.

Most Internet Marketers are in niches that they truly love. That’s
the reason why they’re successful in those niches. They have a real
passion for them. So they should take that same passion and use it
on social networking sites without a direct eye at peddling their
products and/or services. They should go to the social networking
sites and use the sites how they were meant to be used – to connect
with other people who also love a particular niche.

Over time, an Internet Marketer can develop a great relationship
with at least a few different people. These people will probably be
very knowledgeable about the topic that the social networking site
is built around. Once the IMer has built up a good relationship,
those people then become at the very least a good opinion on
different products and services. And one or more of those people
could help develop a great product and/or service; they could even
become a partner.

Some of the most popular social sites continue to be MySpace,
FaceBook, Classmates.com, and Blogger. However, other social sites
such as Xanga, FacePaint, and Squidoo should not be overlooked. In
fact, there are new sites popping up all the time that Internet
Marketers should keep an eye out for. It often helps to be one of
the first to join a new social networking site.

In the last few years, many new social networking sites have sprung
up on the Internet. This is partially because many of the social
networking sites that currently exist are very popular. In fact,
these sites are so popular that millions of people visit them every
day. This is why Internet Marketers love social networking sites.
They are many people to market to. However, IMers need to also see
social networking sites as chance to network within other people in
their niche.

To learn more about social networking on Squidoo CLICK HERE

To Your Success
Cody Moya

Tags: internet home business, home based business, make money, work from home, home business, adsense, business opportunity leads, affiliate, Entrepreneur, online business

Web 2.0

Xanga is one of the fastest growing social sites on the Web right
now. It’s also very user friendly. That means you can create your
very own entries on Xanga and use the site to help direct traffic
back to your main sites where you’re selling products and services.
Not only that, but Xanga can also establish you as an expert in
your niche.

It’s very easy to join Xanga. All you have to do is go to xanga.com
and click on the “Join” link in the upper right-hand corner. From
there you’ll be able to sign-up within a matter of five minutes.

Xanga is a social website that is based around blogging. This means
that what you build your Xanga site with web logs (known as blogs).
These blogs can either be in text form, video form, or audio form.

One of the keys with Xanga is to post blogs that are both
interesting and helpful to visitors. You don’t want to just put
anything on your Xanga site. You want to establish yourself as an
expert that can educate and/or entertain your visitors so that
people keep coming back and you attract more and more people with
your blogs.

Now, you can help get traffic to your site by going around and
adding to other people’s blogs. Yes with Xanga you are allowed to
comment in threads that are linked to other people’s blogs. So go
to related blogs and make useful comments on them. Then people will
read what you’re writing and click on your name so that they can
checkout your blog.

Another great way to gain exposure on Xanga is to join blogrings.
Blogrings are groups of related blogs that form a type of ring
together.

If you are a part of a blogring then you can gain more exposure
because anytime anyone searches a certain topic then your blog will
be one of the blogs that comes-up. Also, your blogs will be
connected to other blogs. So when people visit other blogs, they’ll
be able to link to your blog.

To join new blogrings all you have to do is go down the left side
of your site and click on “Manage Blogrings”. Then from there you
can browse blogrings and join the ones that you want to join.

You want to make sure you post as many well-written blogs on Xanga
as you can. You should add content at least a couple times a week.
This will keep your site fresh and it will also keep it valuable
for regular visitors.

Also, when you write your blog, try to incorporate keywords that
will help your blog appear on the search engines. However, don’t
let the use of keywords ruin the quality of your blog.

Xanga is a great social site as long as you use it correctly. You
need to make sure you take the time to update your content on a
regular basis and you also need to make sure you post quality
content. In addition to this, take the time to join blogrings and
to post on other people’s sites and you’ll be able to draw more
traffic to your Xanga site.

To find out how to get masses of traffic from Xanga and other Web
2.0 sites click here to check out the Web 2.0 Stampede guide

To Your Success
Cody Moya

Tags: home based business, Entrepreneur, make money online, business opportunity, affiliate program, internet opportunities, business opportunity leads, online business opportunities, work from home, small business

Web 2.0

Do you Squidoo? If not, you should be. It takes very little effort
and the publicity and money you can make from it make it well worth
your time.

Some people call Squidoo Web 2.0 while others call it a Social
Networking Site. Whatever you might want to call it, it was created
a few years ago by marketing genius Seth Godin. Since that time
many people have taken advantage of the site to help their Internet
Marketing businesses and many other types of ventures.

It’s really very easy to set-up a Squidoo lens. All you have to do
is go to Squidoo.com and sign-up. Then you can start creating a
lens right away.

You can create a lens on any topic of your choice. You can create
it all about you or you can create the lens about a product or
service of yours. It’s completely up to you. Just be careful. You
have to put good content on each one of your lenses or your pages
might be seen as SPAM and then you’ll probably get kicked off
Squidoo.

For the ins and outs on how to create great looking lenses you can
just search how to do basic html. There are a few great lenses that
will show you exactly how to change the look of your lens. Or if
you already know how to do basic html then you’re all set.

Some people spend a lot of time working on their Squidoo lens(es).
These people (called lens masters) might try to get a high ranking
on Squidoo and a high ranking on Google and other search engines.
If you want to do this then you are certainly welcome to do so.
Just know that right now Squidoo is once again favored by Google
but a few months ago all the Spam content on Squidoo caused lenses
to dramatically drop in ranking. However, this probably won’t
happen again.

The one key you want to follow is to include an important keyword
in the title of your lens and then in the modules within in the
lens. This will let the search engine spiders find your lens and
rank it according to the keyword / keyword phrase.

You can also visit other people’s lenses and leave comments for
them and rank their lens. Then hopefully they’ll see you left a
comment and they’ll visit your lens. This will help you in the
rankings on Squidoo.

Lastly, update your lens at least once a week and preferably every
other day. You don’t have to make any major changes but you should
change something just to keep your lens fresh.

There are many great reports and books on the market that will help
you succeed using Squidoo. But just having a lens or two will give
you one more spot where you are marketing yourself and/or your
products. And you can never have enough marketing opportunities.

So from now one when anyone asks you, “Do you Squidoo?’ You better
be able to answer, “Yes.”

If you’re looking for a detailed plan that will show you how to use
Squidoo to crack the first page of Google just head over to the
following website now:

Click here to check it out

To Your Success
Cody Moya

Tags: internet home business, small business, home business opportunity, work at home, online business, affiliate, affiliate program, Entrepreneur, business opportunity, online business opportunities

Web 2.0

Web Traffic Tips

If you are trying to sell things on the Internet and you do not have a blog you are putting yourself at a disadvantage. Would you go to play golf without a putter?

Your competition is blogging and they are beating your pants off every day with ease. A part of blogging is submitting your articles to social directories.

Here are 3 reasons social marketing must be a part of your Internet business.

1. Social marketing is a popular way to get information. Directories like Digg and Netscape are quickly becoming the choice of people all over the world as a way to keep up to date on what is going on.

If you are not blogging and submitting to relevant social directories you are missing out on this easy form of traffic.

2. Social marketing is easy to do. Here’s what you need. You should get a WordPress blog and set it up so that you can quickly bookmark the top directories. Then you should post in your blog everyday. If you can talk and type you can blog.

3. Social marketing is an interactive way to develop relationships with your readers. This has become know as Web 2.0 and it is important to the future of your business.

People still like to deal with people. This is an age-old sales trick that sometimes gets lost on the Internet. By making yourself and your blog interactive you become a real person. This will help increase your chances for sales and repeat sales.

4. Search engines love social marketing. You are making their life easy when you blog around keyword rich topics that a person researching can find. When you master the techniques of social marketing you will find you can get on page one of Google and other search engines very quickly.

The reason for this is search engines are spidering Digg, Reddit, Newsvine, and many more non-stop looking for fresh relevant content to put online. This may as well be you as opposed to your competition.

If all of this seems confusing it really shouldn’t be. Read “The Authority Black Book” by Jack Humphrey. It is a free ebook you can get online. In it you will learn everything you ever wanted to know on social marketing and how to use it to increase your business.

Do not wait until tomorrow to get started. Do it today and your Internet business will thank you.

To Your Success
Cody Moya

Tags: business opportunity leads, internet marketing, internet home business, home business, business opportunity, make money, online business opportunities, home business opportunity, Entrepreneur, small business

Web 2.0

What Is Myspace?

I’m sure you’ve heard of Myspace.com before, if not here is a quick recap. Myspace is a social networking site where you can build a network of “friends” who can share photos, post blogs and communicate with each other. That’s the general nature of Myspace, but what I’m about to reveal to you are some innovative ways you can start marketing to myspace users and start receiving traffic FAST!

I’ve personally been using Myspace to market my websites for the past few months and have had some great success. Before I proceed I should first state the following:

1) Myspace traffic is usually people between the ages of 15-30 years old. That age group accounts for the majority of the users, BUT they are NOT the only users. You’ll still find many users above that age demographic on Myspace.

2) Myspace was not initially developed to be a social networking marketing website, but because of the millions of members they have, along with the communication tools, many people join Myspace simply for marketing purposes.

3) Myspace is continuously evolving, what works today may not work tomorrow as the coding is always changing and things are becoming stricter. At the time of writing this, these techniques do work.

Creating Your Myspace Account
Before we proceed the first thing you must do is create your myspace account. You can do this at the link below:
Link: http://signup.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=join

When you register with Myspace, it will request you to create a profile. For now create the basic options. With regards to using your real name, you can use an alias if you prefer. The other options such as interest etc are all self explanatory. The uploading of a photo is optional, but for a more favorable response it is best to upload one. If you rather not have your photo on the internet you can upload any image for example an artsy image, an image of anything general to use as a placemat. Keep in mind though, that images of a real person do get a better response rate than those that do not have a photo.

Changing Your Myspace Theme

It’s best that you change your myspace theme from the default theme that Myspace uses. There are many myspace help sites that you can use to select a theme. I’ve listed some of the best ones below:

1) Myspace Support
Link: http://www.myspacesupport.com/myspace-layouts/myspace-layouts.php
2) Doobix
Link: http://www.doobix.com/myspace/layouts/
3) Myspace Layouts
Link: http://www.myspacelayouts.us/

The above three sites should enable you to find a layout that you like. Once you’ve found the layout, copy/paste the layout code they provided into the “About Me” section in your myspace profile. This will then transform your Myspace Profile page to the theme you’ve chosen. Take note that most of these sites will have links back to their website. You can edit the coding to remove these links if you know basic html.

Editing Your Theme

Now that you have your new theme, it is now time to edit it to have links back to the websites you are going to be promoting. If you have banners for your website, you can add those banners in any section you wish. For example by placing your banner code in the about me section it will load your banner in the About Me area. Start placing links to your site in high visible areas, preferably the top half of your profile page.

Okay, you’ve created your profile and have links, so what’s next?

Building Your Friends List

This is the most crucial aspect. You’ve got your page all set and ready to go but you have 1 friend, and that’s a guy name Tom who is everyone’s friend by default. Well, now it’s time to build up your friends list. You can do this in several ways. I’ll show you the free way which may take a bit longer and entails work, and I will show you the easier way which will build your friends list faster.

I’m going to teach you how to build an extremely targeted network of friends who will be interested in what you have to offer. Myspace has a section on their website called “Groups”. Each created group is assigned to a particular category. For example if you want to target a group about “Recipes”, then you would go to the Myspace Groups section and do a search for “Recipes”. This will then give you results of groups that relate to the word “recipes”.

Review the search results and “Join” the group(s) that relate to your keyword. The key here is that once you have joined a group, whatever you post is sent to the ENTIRE group to see, meaning it is visible by all group members. Be careful though, you need to build a relationship with your group members before advertising anything. Do not spam the group or you will be banned in most cases, and you’ll ruin your chances of building a targeted network.

Review the postings by other group members and respond to their posts. You should do this for a few days, and then you can make some posts of your own as well and have a link to your site included in the posts. Do not ever make your post seem like an advertisement. Simply make a general post or response but also have a link to your site included. For the most part you do not have to advertise your link to get traffic, you just need to have it listed, and most people will click on it, if it’s targeted to what the group is all about.

Now that you’ve started a relationship of posting and making comments within Groups, the next step is to start sending friend requests. A friend request is when you view a person’s profile, you’ll see an option that says “Add To friends”. If clicked, this will send a request to the person stating that you would like to be added to their friend network. If the person approves, you’ve just made a new friend

The next step is to go to your Group(s) that you have joined, and then click on “View All Members”, you can then view each person’s profile and send a friend request to each person within the group. It is important to note that most groups have thousands of members, so sending a friend request individually to each user WILL take some time.

Another important note is that Myspace only allows a certain number of friend requests to be sent per day. I recommend that you do not go over the limit of 300-400 friend requests per day. Any number with that range should be fine, but do not ever go over 400 as then your account can be restricted for 24 hours or possibly banned or removed permanently.

By sending a friend request to users within the group(s), you are building a targeted network of friends that you can send messages and bulletins to regarding your products/services. Remember the key here is that the group you chose MUST be related to the product/service you are offering. You do not want to send any bulletins or messages to non-targeted groups as it can be labeled as SPAM. The more targeted the group is to your product/service the better.

As mentioned prior, the above is the LONG way of acquiring friends as it requires you to manually send requests one by one to each member in the group. I still strongly believe that the key to myspace marketing is *not* quantity but the quality, therefore targeted members are much better than thousands of members who have absolutely no interest in what you have to offer.

ACCELERATE YOUR FRIEND REQUESTS

You’ve done all the research, you’ve joined groups, and you’ve posted messages within the group so people are aware of who you are. The next step is accelerating your friends list. You can do this by using a software program called Madder Adder. This is a very powerful piece of software designed specifically for Myspace Marketing.

Links: http://www.madderadder.com
http://www.friendbot.com/

You can download the free trials of these programs and give them a test drive, but here’s what these programs can do for you.

1) Mass Messaging
2) Mass friend adding
3) Mass Commenting
4) Posting Bulletins
5) Event/group invites
6) Searches for friends

and much more!
All these members that you will attain using the program you can now send messages or bulletins to regarding anything that is related to the group. The good news being that since you chose a group that is targeted to your website; your posts cannot or should not be labeled spam since it does relate to what the group is all about. It is still important to make your messages or posts NOT look like blatant advertising. Be very selective with your wording and how often you send messages. I would send a message only once per day unless you are promoting more than one item.

Other Ways to Generate Traffic Using Myspace

Auto Comments

This method allows you to post comments on your friend’s profiles automatically. Usually you can leave a comment saying something nice but general, that can be sent to all your friends. Within your comments you can have a link to your site. Again, be discreet with your link placement, you can say something friendly such as “Hey, just leaving a comment to say you rock, since I haven’t posted a comment on your profile in awhile, if you have some free time you can check out my new site xyz.com, I think you will find it interesting”.

When leaving comments, it is important to note you can leave the comment on your friends profile or any profile for that matter that allows comments from anyone. Some users do restrict comments to people in their friends list only. To ensure it doesn’t look like you are spamming a bunch of people with comments, I would restrict it to people who are actually you’re friends as they are less likely to get angry.

Other Ways of Friend Building

There are other non-targeted ways that you can use to build your friends list fast. If you are not interested in targeting a specific group or users, you can use what is called “Friend Trains” to get friend requests quickly. A myspace friend train is basically a list of people who add themselves to a “train” requesting that other users add them to their friends list.

Popular Friend Train Site:
FriendStorm.net

This is a very popular site that allows users to enter their Myspace Friend Id. Your myspace friend id is the actual number myspace assigned to your account upon registration. For an example see the screenshot below to find your id #:

Once you enter your friend id, you’ll then see a listing of hundreds and sometimes thousands of other users who are looking for friends. It’s the easiest way to grow your friends list fast. Please remember the same limit of 400 is set here by Myspace, so you cannot send out more than 400 requests.

Link: http://www.friendstorm.net

If you are looking to build your friends list even faster without having to lift a finger, then you should consider a “Featured” spot on FriendStorm.net. A featured spot ensures that you are featured on the site, which in turn will have many users sending YOU friend requests which you’ll need to accept.

TIP: The easiest way to accept a flood of friend requests is to use one of the robots mentioned earlier. If you open the bots you will see a feature entitled “Accept Friends”. This will allow you to “Auto Approve All Requests’ so that you would not have to approve each request one by one.

Link: http://www.friendstorm.net/featured.aspx

In Conclusion

Get started as soon as possible with your myspace promotion. It is important that you cash in now on this latest marketing trend before any drastic changes happen with Myspace. If you follow the steps I’ve outlined you can create a very strong network of targeted friends who you can keep informed of all the happenings with your site.

To Your Success
Cody Moya

Tags: adsense, internet business, business opportunity leads, affiliate program, internet opportunities, Entrepreneur, internet home business, work at home, small business, make money online

Web 2.0

Web Traffic Tips

MySpace is an online community which can be a fun way for members to meet new friends, reconnect with old friends or make romantic connections. MySpace members who are interested in pursuing these types of activities online are free to create a website which reflects their personality. This will help others to understand who they are and to learn more about their preferences.

Although MySpace offers all of these fun entertainment type activities, there are some members of MySpace who utilize the community for business purposes. They may use MySpace to network, make business connections or to promote their business. In these cases care should be taken to create a MySpace website that is attractive and interesting while maintaining a professional appearance.

Avoid Slang and Abbreviations

One way to maintain a professional appearance on a MySpace website is to avoid the use of slang or abbreviations. Many MySpace websites feature slang, abbreviations and terms which are not grammatically correct. While this type of Internet language may be entertaining and may be considered acceptable among members of the community, this type of writing is not likely to appeal to potential customers or business partners. Additionally, not everyone understand the cryptic language often used on message boards, text messages and emails and those who do not understand may have trouble reading the information presented on the website.

Keep the Design Tasteful

As previously mentioned, those who are using MySpace strictly for entertainment purposes can design a website according to their personal preferences. This may include unusual fonts, garish colors, offensive images and blaring background music. While this type of design may provide a great deal of insight into an individual’s personality it is not a good idea for a business related website. Therefore those who are using their website for promotion of a business should create a more tasteful design.

There are a few generic tips which can make a website appear more professional. The use of muted colors that complement each other can make a website aesthetically appealing. Users are more likely to spend time on websites with these types of color combinations because it is soothing. Additionally, the use of a common font type and size which makes reading the text simple is recommended. The use of background music should also be avoided in professional websites as many users either do not have speakers or may view the website in a location where they do not want to hear music.

Avoid Embarrassing Photos

Finally, special consideration should be given to the use of photos on a website which is striving to maintain a professional appearance. While those who are using MySpace for entertainment purposes only may opt to plaster their website with embarrassing pictures of them and their friends, those who have business intentions should use photos more judiciously.

The photos used on a business website should invoke a professional sentiment. This may include posed photos of the website owner in a dignified location, landscape photographs or pictures of products sold by the company. Alternately those who are using MySpace to promote products or services might consider not using images as at all. Whether or not pictures are used on a website is a matter of personal preference but when they are used, care should be taken to ensure they contribute to the overall design of the website rather than distract from it.

To Your Success
Cody Moya

Tags: work at home, internet home business, internet marketing, business opportunity leads, small business, adsense, affiliate program, home business, online business opportunities, home based business

Web 2.0

MySpace is an online community which offers members the tools they need to create a website for other members of the community to view. MySpace also hosts these websites and provides search features which enables visitors to find information about particular members or members who have certain hobbies.

Opening a MySpace Account

The process of opening a MySpace account is fairly simple and takes place almost instantly. Members who wish to join the online community only have to provide some basic information and agree to the terms of service to be granted membership. The basic information which is required to request membership is a full name, a valid email address and a password containing alpha and numeric characters. After supplying this information and checking a box which states you agree to the terms of service your application process is complete. You are then sent an email with a welcome letter and a link which will activate your account. You only need to click on this link and enter your email address and password to activate your account.

Understanding the Terms of Service

Reading and agreeing to the terms of service is required for membership to the MySpace community but members should review these terms regularly and should be sure they understand all of the terms. This is important because violation of these terms could result in the member’s account being deleted or legal action being taken against the individual. Some of the highlights of the terms of service are:

* Members must be at least 14 years of age and must report their age accurately.
* Members are responsible for keeping their password secret and reporting suspected cases of others using their password.
* Commercial use of MySpace is prohibited unless prior authorization from MySpace is received.
* Users must not publish any copyrighted materials on their website without permission.
* Members may not post content which is prohibited by the terms of service.

Designing a MySpace Website

The process of designing a MySpace website is one of the most exciting parts of membership for many. It is also one of the most complicated part of the membership. However, it is not incredibly difficult and even those with limited HTML or other design skills can create a great website.

MySpace members have a great deal of control over the appearance and content of their website. They are only limited by their own design skills. The homepage for your MySpace account features the following links:

* Edit Profile
* Account Settings
* Add/Edit Photos
* Add/Change Videos
* Manage Calendar
* Manage Blog
* Manage Address Book

The “Edit Profile” section is the one which allows members to add the bulk of the content to their profile. This section is broken down into subcategories such as interests & personality, name, basic info, background & lifestyle, schools, companies, networking and profile songs. Some of these subcategories, such as the interests & personality section, contain titles with text boxes where members can add text and HTML code to modify the appearance of their website.

During the design process, members can preview either individual sections or the entire profile. Other sections, such as the background and lifestyle section, have a series of questions where members can supply answers with pull down menus or radial buttons. These features make it easy for members to supply basic information about themselves in a quick and easy fashion. They only have to answer the questions and MySpace integrates the answers into the design of the website.

To Your Success
Cody Moya

Tags: work at home, online business, make money online, home business, online business opportunities, business opportunity, affiliate program, home based business, internet business, Entrepreneur

Web 2.0

Squidoo has been part of the new Web 2.0 category of internet marketing tools since 2005. Squidoo allows an author to create a lens, a one page website, which focuses on any subject for free. A particular lens can draw information from numerous sources and place it all on one page for easy viewing and reading.

A lens maker can create numerous lenses on a subject, focusing attention on a different aspect of the subject with each lens. On the other had, a lens maker can make numerous lenses that cover many different topics, reflecting the lens makers’ different interests and expertise.

Internet Marketing

One of the many good uses for Squidoo lenses is to use the lens as part of an overall internet marketing strategy. One or more good lenses can help to bring attention, traffic, and credibility to a product or business by providing valuable information and resources. Additionally, the lens can help to establish the author as an expert in their field and a person whose advice should be taken seriously.

The single page websites that Squidoo allows an author to create are called lenses because the finished website focuses on a single subject or idea. This focused attention on a subject is very attractive to users of the internet who are constantly searching for answers to questions or problems. The internet search engines whose job it is to find good, focused websites that will answer the questions or problems are attracted to the lenses.

Therefore, the use of Squidoo lenses has become a valuable internet resource for building and marketing a business.

Basic Modules

There are numerous tools available on Squidoo to build a lens. Most of these tools are called modules. The modules create separate sections on the overall web page. Other tools available on Squidoo include the author’s biographical area, a keyword list called tags, the lens title or headline, a lensroll, and RSS subscription for readers.

One of the basic modules allows the author to write short articles about various aspects of the lens’s subject. Another basic module makes it easy to list and describe appropriate links to offsite information that complements the subject of the lens. For internet marketing purposes the author can use these basic modules to link to their own websites, thereby driving traffic to their own business.

Other basic modules provide links to commercial internet resources such as eBay, Amazon, Starbucks, CompUSA, and many other businesses where the reader can be directed to the author’s own merchandise offerings or to merchandise and information that supports the author’s own business. These modules can also provide some income, as the lens maker earns a small percentage of the sales of merchandise on these commercial websites.

Interactive Modules

Many modules are interactive in nature, which is why Squidoo is considered to be part of the new Web 2.0 category of interactive websites. Readers can respond to many of the modules, adding their own favorites to certain categories. For example, readers can add their favorite YouTube videos to the list of videos on the lens or add their favorite pictures to the lens’s list. Additionally, readers can add their favorite links to a list of links that the author has provided on the lens, or they can add their comments or responses to questions asked by the lens’s author. One of the favorite interactive modules is the voting module where readers can vote on a question by the lens’s author or vote on a listing of favorite resources.

All of the interactive modules have the effect of creating new content for the lens. The benefit to the lens maker is that the new lens content makes their lens more searchable by the many internet search engines. This is an obvious boost to the lens maker’s overall internet marketing strategy.

Syndicated Content Modules

Another category of modules is that of syndicated content that is drawn from other websites. For example, if the lens maker has a blog on the same subject as his lens, he can have the blog posts automatically directed to the lens each time he creates a new blog post. Other types of syndicated content include articles from magazines and newspapers. The lens maker can automatically draw content related to the subject of the lens each time a new article appears in the specified periodicals. Similar to reader interactivity, this constantly changing syndicated content refreshes the lens on a regular basis, making it more attractive to the internet search engines and giving a boost to the lens maker’s internet marketing efforts.

Creating a Squidoo lens can be fun as well as wise. It is fun because the tools produce a lens with a wide range of variety and creativity. And it is wise because the lens will help the lens maker market their business more successfully.

To Your Success
Cody Moya

Web 2.0

Many users of MySpace tout the potential for advertising to be one of the most useful features of this online community. However, there are quite a few pitfalls to advertising on MySpace. Most importantly those who advertise on MySpace run the risk of finding themselves in violation of MySpace’s terms of service and facing the consequences of these infractions. In addition advertising on MySpace can appear very unprofessional to potential customers. Finally, those who advertise on MySpace may become guilty of spamming. This article will take a look at these three advertising pitfalls and provide advice for avoiding these potential problems.

Violating the Terms of Service on MySpace

One of the most serious potential problems with advertising on MySpace is violating the terms of service outlined by the administrators of MySpace. This is significant because members who are found to be in violation of these terms of service can have their websites deleted and may be banned from the community. The terms of service should be reviewed carefully to determine which types of activities, in relation to advertising, are permitted and which activities are prohibited. Special attention should be paid to the section of the terms of services which specifies member websites are not to be commercial in nature. It might be necessary to contact MySpace directly for ask for clarification of this section and additional information on what constitutes a commercial website.

Appearing Unprofessional

Another potential pitfall to advertising on MySpace is appearing unprofessional. MySpace websites can be created very quickly and easily through available templates. This may result in some members becoming overly anxious to start advertising immediately. When this happens the members may be sloppy in their design and may create a website with many errors which does not present a professional appearance.

Additionally, MySpace is a rather relaxed community where members often use slang or abbreviations haphazard. This practice can also create an unprofessional appearance which may alienate some potential clients. Also, MySpace members must consider the comments left for them by other members of the community. The individual who maintains the website should understand the comments left for them are considered by others to be a reflection of them. Therefore those who do not think highly of the comments left on your website are not likely to think highly of you or your business either. For this reason care should be taken to maintain a lee of control over the comments left for you. This can be done either by not allowing comments at all or by only allowing comments that receive your approval to appear on your website.

Engaging in Spamming techniques

One of the most dangerous pitfalls those who advertise on MySpace might encounter is spamming. Before advertising care should be taken to review MySpace’s policy on spam to ensure the advertising techniques you are using are not considered to be spam by MySpace. This is important because those who are found guilty of spamming may have their account and website deleted. They may even be banned from creating a new account in the future.

Also, potential customers are not likely to think highly of a business that they view as engaging in spamming techniques. These customers are likely to purchase products and services from other providers who they believe run a more honest marketing campaign. Spamming can therefore be a very costly mistake for business owners.

To Your Success
Cody Moya

Web 2.0

Getting noticed on MySpace is very similar to getting noticed in real life. Those who want to create a great deal of interest in their MySpace website should create an appealing website, offer something unique to visitors and make a concerted effort to meeting others on MySpace. Additionally, MySpace members should optimize their website for keywords they wish to be associated with to ensure other members will find their website when searching for these keywords.

Creating an Appealing Website

The most important step to being notices on MySpace is to create a website which is both aesthetically appealing and interesting to visitors. This is necessary because otherwise, members are not likely to spend a great deal of time visiting your website. Those who find your website will likely only spend a few moments on your website if you use garish colors or fonts which are difficult to read.

Conversely, websites which are designed to be appealing to the eye are more likely to hold an audience’s attention. Likewise websites filled with useful information related to a particular subject are much more likely to be interesting to visitors than websites which do not offer much useful information and are not really focused on a particular subject.

Offer Something Unique

A MySpace website can get noticed by offering something unique. Websites which are created with the help of a template can seem somewhat boring and may not really stand out among other websites on the community. Try investing in an original design to attract more interest on MySpace. More advanced website design on MySpace requires basic knowledge of HTML. Information on this subject is readily available in a number of locations. Those who are interested in learning more about HTML to create a more interesting MySpace website can find useful information on the Internet or in books. This information can be used to design a MySpace website in a way that will be unique and attention grabbing.

Those who do not have any design skills or the desire to learn about website design can still find a way to offer visitors a unique website experience. Websites which are designed with templates can still stand out by providing unique content. Members who are able to provide in depth information on a particular subject or a unique take on a situation in their blog can help themselves get noticed on MySpace.

Meeting Others on MySpace

Another way to get noticed on MySpace is to visit other members’ websites and place comments or send messages to these members. They will be more inclined to seek out your MySpace website if you left a message on their website than they would otherwise.

Those who make an effort to meet other members of the MySpace community are much more likely to attract a greater interest in their own website. The concept of friends on MySpace includes those who visit your website. Besides commenting on the websites of other members, MySpace users can also promote their MySpace website on other Internet locations. Including a link to the MySpace page in the signature line on discussion forums is just one way to promote your website.

Optimize Your Website on MySpace

Another way to create a greater interest in your MySpace website is through search engine optimization (SEO). This includes incorporating relevant keywords into your website in the hopes of making your website one of the first ones noticed by members who search for particular keywords. This not only helps to get a website noticed on MySpace but makes it much more likely that the website will be noticed by members of the target audience. Those who are searching for information on particular keywords featured on your website are those who are also more likely to be interested in the content of your MySpace website. The SEO step is very important for those who want to attract a particular audience but for members who are just interested in making a large number of friends through MySpace, SEO is not really necessary.

To Your Success
Cody Moya

Web 2.0