Why do online marketers take the time to do live and archived podcasts?
Are they simply wasting their time or is there value?

Stay tuned for an exclusive interview with a business friend of mine that will be posted within the next week or so that sheds more light on these questions about podcasts. However, to help you “see” the effects of podcasts, here are some recent stats:

Now granted, these are not HUGE numbers. I had 11 listeners the first day, then 12 a couple weeks later, then 5, 1, 0, 2, 4, 6, 4, 9, 6, 6, 6, 11, 10, 2 and then WHAM - 22! My best day yet. That’s a total of 117 downloads in less than a month of doing podcasts at MollerMarketing.com.

These people find me through links on other sites, social media efforts, and through iTunes where I post the podcast for free to the general public. (If you go to iTunes and type in Moller Marketing in the search or How to Start an Online Business, you’ll see my podcast show up.)

To get you all more involved in the Moller Marketing Podcast, the first reader to make a valid comment on this post will be the first “sponsor” on the next podcast. This will be a FREE offer so act now!

Moller Marketing will also be offering a special introductory advertising rate of only $10 for podcast sponsorship. Starting in July, there will be 3 sponsorship spots on the Moller Marketing Podcast - one mentioned at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end of each recorded conversation. I will be presenting one podcast per week . The $10 introductory fee will include ad placement for the entire month of July 2008 - this means your business will be promoted at least 4 times in the month of July, plus a content link in the text of each podcast.

Each sponsor will be required to provide the following:

• Complete Payment made prior to launch (email mollermarketing (at) gmail (dot) com for further details.)
• 3-4 sentences of text that explain what your site is about, what you are offering and a special promotion that we can track.

The friend who taught me about podcasts has helped one of his sponsors sell $2,000 worth of product in a month because of the mention of the sponsors product, site, and promotion. Stay tuned for more fun to come!

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Does using images in StumbleUpon (and other social media tools) help you get more traffic to your site?

This is a question I want answers to. My “gut” says yes, of course images are going to help. But testing will be the only way I can really say for sure. You’re feedback will help too.

One test I recently did was with a new website I created for Utah Tourism and Business Reviews. Here’s the SU Review:

I made this post about Spanish Fork Utah massage the day after I opened up the website and then, by habit, reviewed it and included an image. These are the results I got within an hour:

71 visitors and 108 page views. Now to many, this may not be great traffic at all, but to me, it was awesome since it was all within an hours time. If my goal with the site is to get high numbers of traffic, this is a great step in that direction. Plus it helped me build links for that page which led to a quick cache by Google not long after opening day. I was out of the “sand box” quick and it’s only going to get better.

What have your experiences been with adding images to your social media marekting reviews?

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Janet Meiners, professional blogger at MarketingPilgrim.com and online press release extraordinaire shares tips on making your online PR strategy effective.

Why is online PR so important to the effective marketing of an eCommerce business?

If you have any business you want to get the word out.  You need to think of ways to publicize what you’re doing. Online PR is all about the distribution.  Use a distribution service online like PRWEb and other sites for amplification of what you’re doing.

Who are some of the clients you’ve helped with online PR?

ShoeMoney - Jeremy Schoemaker - Janet volunteered to write a professional press release for ShoeMoney and succeeded with an editorial score of 5 out of 5! Because of this press release Jeremy was interviewed by newspapers and radio stations all over the place.  Janet has also received many responses and leads because of this service she provided.

Who else does Janet write for?

Andy Beal at MarketingPilgrim.com
5 Tips for Effective Online Press Releases

1. Find a good newsworth story: one of the biggest mistakes clients make is that they don’t have a story - they try to manufacture something.  Press releases like this get less response and less exposure.  In order to be effective with online press releases you need a compelling story.  Find something new in your business that is helping your target audience, maybe a trend, or something interesting.
2. Tie your story in to a larger story
3. Use keyword phrases strategically: Don’t just use www.YourWebsiteName.com.  Instead use keyword phrases within the content that link to specific pages on your site.  Don’t be afraid to source other websites too - it adds credibility.  Use keywords in the title of your press release - this will help readers know what the content is about. Using keyword phrases in the first sentence can be very helpul too.
4. Attend the PRWeb.com seminar: ask questions, test, and re-test, watch statistics and “do more of what makes you more”.
5. Warning - Don’t overdo it: writing a press release every 10 days is probably too much. Shoot for 1 press release per month and provide good quality content.

Any other recommendations?

Just because you write a press release doesn’t mean you’re going to get a great response right away.  Reach out to others in your industry. Ask others in the industry to write about what you are sharing.  Submit to social media sites, put your information on forums, and use keywords to get people to your sites.

Are there any sites besides PRweb that you recommend?

PRLeap.com, ClickPress.com - Janet likes PRWeb because they allow users to add logos, pictures, images, social media pieces, etc.  There are lots of PR sites for just links too.  The $200 PRWeb option is better for distribution and linking.  Users can add a direct link in every 100 words of content.  In Janet’s testing it’s paid off a lot more to do the $200 option.

Other fun facts

Per Press Release Janet Meiners averages 60,000 impressions, 1,000 readers, and her professional press release is is online forever!

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Just over 2 hours until the start of the long-awaited Firefox Download Day! The Guinness World Record attempt will start when Firefox 3 is officially launched at approximately 10:00 a.m. PDT (17:00 UTC) on Tuesday, June 17th.

At that time, please check out the official Download Day site to download Firefox and for a map of worldwide downloads!

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Sounds like a good deal, right? Make sure to download Firefox 3 during Download Day to help set the record for most software downloads in 24 hours.

The official date for the launch of Firefox 3 is June 17, 2008. Join the internet community and this effort by pledging today.

P.S. This is a great “Viral Marketing” campaign by Firefox too - think how you could use ideas like this to increase traffic, boost sales, and achive your business goals.

Make a comment on how you plan to implement a plan like this to get the word out about your online business.

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