Duplicating Content And Killing Your Business

It’s a common practice for small business website owners to try to maximize their efforts by taking content from their website and using it on other websites. One example would be taking an article from your website and submitting it to countless article submission websites for general use. This practice is very damaging—and I’m not just talking about search engine penalties. Read more

Traffic Numbers Feed Your Ego Not Your Bank Account

For years, I’ve come across countless website owners that get consumed by the almighty traffic stats. For many clueless individuals, daily traffic stats become a badge of merit. Don’t be like the largely unsuccessful masses. Focus your time on the right kind of traffic–targeted. Read more

Better Internet Writing

One of the downfalls of many Internet writers is the inability to write pithy sentences. I’m not talking about five words or less. I’m talking about sentences that go on forever—one after the other.

While Academia might be impressed with page long sentences, Internet readers are not. It’s just poor writing when this happens. Today, I will share an example of what not to do. And how to correct it.

Our first example is taken out of a sample provided by an “expert” writing service. As you will quickly see, that’s not the case. Whenever you write or hire a writer, you want the final piece to flow. Clumsy sentences trip up your reader and destroy the whole experience. Let’s dive into our first example.

Sample:

“Each hotel is said to be like a vacation all in itself, many of which are equipped with casinos (yes, some resorts house more than one casino!), golf courses, restaurants, wedding chapels, swimming pools, and even spas—anything anyone could possibly imagine, Las Vegas hotels and casinos have it!”

Yes, that’s one entire sentence. Let’s forget about all the grammar errors for a moment and focus on the length. This horrible excuse for writing is almost 50 words in length. Go ahead and count them if you like—I’ll wait. That’s not even the worst part. This sentence is a train wreck—and other sentences in the original document were just as bad.

Could this “sentence” have been saved? You bet. Let’s take a quick stab at making it better for our readers.

Revision:

“Each hotel is a private oasis. Las Vegas resorts feature everything from golf courses to day spas. If you meet that special someone, the famous Las Vegas wedding chapels are the perfect place to tie the knot. A city unlike no other, Las Vegas is only limited by your imagination.”

Isn’t that better? The shorter sentences tend to flow through the mind. Each period is like a mental rest stop. Readers don’t want to run a mental marathon when they digest copy.

The sample could have been rewritten many ways, but you should get the point from the revision. Don’t settle for poor writing that will scare off your valuable visitors.

Free Money Making Ideas – Part 1

Often, I see people asking the same question over and over—”what’s a good way to make money?” These people are usually trying to figure out what industry to go into to make money. I imagine they spend their days sloshing around the Internet looking for a way to make money. Is this you? There’s no reason why you should struggle to find moneymaking ideas.

Here are some tips for finding ideas—and they are quick and free.

Moneymaking Tip: Look at your junk mail

That’s right. Start with something you probably get every day of the year. I go out of my way to get on mailing lists. I fill out requests for information in the backs of magazines. I request any free catalog or information pack I see—regardless of whether I really want it.

There’s a reason behind my madness. When I get a piece of “junk” mail, I know that someone spent money to send it to me, which means, there could be money in whatever they are doing.

Since companies sometimes sell mailing information, it’s possible to end up on a slew of fun lists without any additional work. If you do this, I recommend setting up a mailbox at the UPS store, Post Office or similar location.

Let’s look at a few pieces of my mail from today.

Item One: It’s a brochure for a business-training course.

Item Two: It’s a catalog for specialty clothing with promo giveaway.

Item Three: It’s a catalog for gift baskets.

I’ve only listed three items, and I already have a slew of ideas. Let’s stop and look at item #2. This catalog is full of specialty clothes and there’s a bonus if you order now. The bonus was most likely researched by the company and tied to things that potential customers of these products would like. That’s free market research in my mail!

Now, I know what you are saying. How can I use this? Here are some quick ideas from just these three items.

1. Put together my own business-training course.
2. Create a website about gift baskets.
3. Write an article about gift baskets and sell it or use it for myself.
4. Make a note about what promo items work with certain customers.
5. Create and sell gift baskets like the 100s in the catalog.
6. Create a course about how to make and sell gift baskets and show examples.
7. See whether any of these companies have an online affiliate program. If so, look for ways to promote them.
8. Keep the catalogs for future reference on how to set up catalogs that sell.

There are eight ideas from three pieces of junk mail. Some of them take more work than others, but you can see how the ideas are out there.

In the next installment, I’ll share another moneymaking tip and give you more examples.