Building Your Web Presence by Gaining RSS Subscribers

Several weeks ago, the topic of one of my BlogTalkRadio hows was Building a Web Presence. I discussed a bunch of ways you can get your message out there to the world through the web. That show stopped short of really focusing on how to build traffic to your websites, landing pages, and blogs. That topic will absolutely be covered in one of my radio shows soon, but one of the traffic building techniques that many new internet marketers forget is the use of RSS.

When people subscribe to your site(s) through RSS, they are expressing an interest in your site (and in you!) and the likelihood tat they will be back regularly increases dramatically over the more casual reader who simply bookmarks your site. Don't get me wrong, bookmarking is great - and some of the social bookmarking sites can really help you increase traffic to your site or blog - but the daily or weekly return of people who are following what you have to say is really valuable.

DailyBlogTips had a post this week week about 50 Simple Ways to Gain RSS Subscribers. It included great tips, and while some are simple and based on common sense (keep your blog focused, offer email subscriptions, etc.), others are based on experience and research and a re probably not as obvious to newcomers (use a large RSS icon, offer a comments feed, use cross feed promotion, etc.).

There is something there for just about everyone. Even if you are pretty experienced and driving traffic to your sites, sometimes a few reminders can really help.

The Biggest Mistakes People Make on Twitter

Mike Smith had a great post this week on The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make on Twitter. As I read his post, it got me thinking about some of the mistakes I see people make on Twitter...and some of the mistakes I have made myself.

While I certainly agree with Mike's list. Here are a few thoughts of my own about Twitter mistakes:

• Forgetting that your are posting to a public forum. I have recently un-followed a few people who are really rude on Twitter. They purport to be business people using Twitter as a marketing tool, but they actually hurt their business reputation by making rude personal comments about others. Nobody likes that. Not in person and not online.
• Mixing business, personal, and political messages. Mixing business and personal is one of the things I really like about Twitter. I especially like learning more about the personal lives of some of the business and marketing gurus that I follow. I'm not talking about acquiring stalker level knowledge about their personal lives, but just enough to know they are human. However, in the months leading up to the recent election, some folks used Twitter as a forum to push their political views, which is fine, of course. But if you are developing a business relationship with people via Twitter, do you really think it's wise to post a bunch of obnoxious politically motivated tweets?
• Tweeting about your every move. Mike covered this in his post, but it is worth repeating here. The fastest way to get me to hit the un-follow button is to post 30 tweets throughout the day all about every move you make in your personal life. Going to the grocery store now. Picking up my son from school. Taking a shower. Watching Leno. Enough already. Getting to know business associates on a personal level is good, but there is a limit, ya know.
• Tweeting private messages to the public forum. This is a common error for newbies (and yes, I have made this error myself). If you want to send a private message, or respond privately, don't use the @+ command (as in @veronicarobbins) that's for calling attention to individual tweeters in the public forum). Use the d+ command (as in d veronicarobbins). That will send your message directly, and privately, to the intended recipient.

Twitter is great. I love it. Use it, but be courteous, ok?

By the way, feel free to follow me and check out some of the great folks I'm following, too.

Learn more about Using Twitter as a Marketing Tool.

Twitter Haiku Contest - Win a MacBook Air!

How would you like to win a MacBook Air?

Well, copyblogger is hosting a Twitter Haiku contest! If the first prize doesn't thrill you, you might be interested in the second and third place prizes, so click on the link here for details and rules.

And hurry -- submissions will only be accepted until Midnight Eastern Standard Time, Sunday, November 16, 2008

Once Again, It's All About Attitude

I have posted about the importance of a positive attitude before. A positive and winning attitude is one of the common characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.

I was scanning the feeds of my favorite blogs (as I do every day) and I came across this great post about "The Marketer's Attitude" on Seth Godin's Blog.

In it, he writes about what he would be looking for in a marketer. Some of the characteristics he highlights include:

• Relentlessly positive (Did you get that? Not just positive, but relentlessly positive.)
• Intellectually restless
• Charismatic
• Self-motivated

Are you the best in the world at something or just good at following directions?

Do you find satisfaction in reaching self-imposed goals?

As I was reading his post, I found myself using his "job description" as a yardstick against to measure my own progress, energy, and behavior.

A little self-reflection can be a very good thing.

The Rebel Woman Show

Consider checking out The Rebel Woman Show. Jann Taber is an experienced and successful public relations specialist and author who has created this television show (viewable online) to help women succeed in business.

The Rebel Woman Show episodes (or, more accurately, "webisodes") are brief (approximately 15 minute) broadcasts featuring successful women and topics of interest for women in business.I met Jann about a year ago as she introduced me to a new business venture.

My experience with her is that she is a woman of integrity, full of energy and commitment to help other women succeed.

Take a peek at her show. I think you'll be glad you did.

List of Internet Marketing Top Blogs

On Twitter yesterday, I saw a post about a list of the web's best Internet Marketing Blogs, so I took a peek.

I was not at all surprised to see some of my favorites there high on the list, like ProBlogger, Copy Blogger, Dosh Dosh, and ShoeMoney. What did surprise me were the many otters I found there.

So, I spent some time yesterday afternoon subscribing to feeds and reading great writing to my heart's content. I now have a whole new set of ideas to act on right away.

Do yourself a favor and check out some of these great blogs. We can only win by learning from those who have been successful.

And when you learn some things that work for you, share them. That's how it works.

Tips for Twitter

If you are interested in using Twitter to spread the word about your business, take a look at Darren Rouse's TwiTip site/blog. Darren Rouse is author of the popular ProBlogger blog.

On TwiTip, Darren gives tips about day to establish a successful Twitter presence and how to engage your followers in meaningful and mutually productive conversation.

You'll get even more useful information from Darren by becoming one of his followers on Twitter (while you're at it, follow me, too!)