Blog Marketing Singapore - Online Marketing Training and Promotion Strategies for Business

With much success of the previous run, the SEO Blogging workshop by the Singapore SEO specialist Shi Heng Cheong is running again, this time on 31 May 2008, and also on 12 June 2008!

I’ve personally attended it before, and I can say its a great workshop if you want to get started with using a WordPress blog to market your company and products - particularly in search engine positioning.

This workshop is suitable for those who have no prior knowledge of web design or experience in corporate blogging, so if you have been waiting to get started, this is the one!

Check out the course outline for the workshop and register!

Tags: finggle, seo, seo blogging workshop, shi-heng-cheong

I’ve been working on a few niches that are not related technology and Internet marketing, and as part of the project, I am collecting email addresses… as they always say - the money is in the list.

However, I did an experiment with regard to the method of collection of email addresses. Particularly, I tried both single and double opt-ins.

My original AWeber account has double opt-ins enabled. Due to AWeber’s strict policies, I was not able to create a mailing list that used only single opt-ins. The results weren’t fantastic.

I was curious if the double opt-in mechanism was the one causing the less than satisfactory results, so I went on to register a separate account, using single opt-ins. At the same time, being curious, I personally emailed a couple of the unverified leads from my first experiment to ask what actually happened.

Some of the replies I got were stunning.

One said that he didn’t receive the verification message… and another mentioned that he didn’t know that there was a need to verify (even though my notice to check the verification message is VERY prominent!).

On the other hand, not to what I expected, the single opt-in method work well. The leads were still responsive, and I cut my cost per lead 4 times.

I gave it some thought - that from a strictly business standpoint, single opt-ins should be the way to go. That probably explains why most Internet marketers use single-opt ins.

People are simply too lazy to get verified.

What’s your take on this?

Sometimes, I sit in front of my computer reading email after email, blog post after blog post and I really wonder - how come these Internet marketers never seem to run out of words to say?

Don’t they get the dreadful writers block?

Yesterday, Joel Comm - the Internet Revenue Expert shared his views on this. Its a short video with really awesome advice on tackling that hair-pulling situation and get creative with your brain.

Check out Joel’s video here.

Yes, even millionaires have writers block too.

Tags: joel-comm, writers-block, writing

… whatever business you may be doing, the money is in the list.

Of late, I have been exposed to a couple of different business models, whether it is on and off the Internet, from training primary school kids to network marketing, to import and export business, to retailing shoes at a store front… and there is one most common denominator in all business that do well.

They all have a wonderful source of leads.

Its very logical if you think of it this way - whatever business you do, as long as it is legitimate, money is moved only when there is a movement of products or services. And its a fact that no single product can cater to every single person on this planet.

Even if you have the most aromatic melt-in-your-mouth baked-to-perfection fat-free chocolate cookie, you will bump into some people who will say that “Chocolate is not for me.“, and there is no way (well, unless you hold your customers at gunpoint!) these people are going to spend money on your cookies!

So, does that mean that your business has failed? No! You just expose your product or service to more people! … and the more people you show your product to, that higher the chances of success.

That’s why you need a list, no matter what business you are in!

So if you are already on your business, and you don’t have a source for leads or prospects, what are you waiting for?

Tags: business, list building

Just popped over from the WordPress site after viewing what’s going on with WordPress 2.5.

2.5 looks awesome.

I’d really have to take my hat off Matt and his team for putting together the most wonderful blogging system ever (well, actually at the rate it is going, I won’t call it a blogging system anymore… its an amazing full fledged, easy to use content management system by itself!)

Anyway, check out the screencast by Matt

Can’t wait.

Tags: wordpress 2.5

An Internet Marketer releases a new product and my email gets flooded by the second. That’s not new if you’ve subscribed to all the email lists in the world.. but heh, but this time it was slightly more interesting experience for me as I skim the mails coming in.

Yeah, you know its all about Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula 2.0.

And it looks like a huge fight is going between the affiliates.

One mail came in today saying that “If you buy from my affiliate link, I’ll give you an audio seminar, loaded into an MP3 player… for free!”

Then… seconds later another came in, and I literally burst into laughter as I read these paragraphs:

… Some of these bonuses might fall into what I classify as the “crap stack”.

…This refers to a stack of useless bonuses that have absolutely no relation to the product itself. Some people try to impress you with the sheer volume of bonuses (crap) that you get. Not me.

Heh. Ouch.

Tags: jeff walker, product launch formula

Yesterday, I sent out an email using my regular Ms Outlook email client, using an email account hooked up with my webhost provider… To my surprise, today I received a bounce back from my friend’s Yahoo email address, with this:

Basically, I am using a shared web hosting, and that means that there are probably hundreds or thousands of users around the world using the same server with the same IP address.

… and someone with an account has been very naughty - sending mass unsolicited mail, which triggered Yahoo to defer mails from the particular IP.

It was lucky for me, because it is not a business email. But that emphasises the need for marketers to use professional email marketing services like AWeber or GetResponse. Because companies like these pay a lot of attention to having their server IPs in the white list in many ISPs, so that your mails get delivered.

Imagine how much money could potentially be lost if you have used your own web host IP to mail out your marketing messages?

Tags: aweber, email deliverability, email-marketing, getresponse

… and that is after 76 days of inactivity! (okay okay, I did log in and get rid of spammy comments )

Shi’s SEO techniques works. And they work for a loooooong time.

Needn’t say anymore, need I?

Tags: google 1st page, Search Trend Optimization, shi-heng-cheong

Wow! Its been a long two and a half months since I last added entries to this blog, and its a good two months of break! Today, thanks to my SEO mentor Shi Heng Cheong, I am finally back blogging.

Anyway, what is happening today is there is actually a SEO Blogging Workshop and I am just back to get back to the community and help out.

Some photos:

I’m just halfway through the workshop as I am typing this, and the learners are all having their tea break! Its a great workshop if you want to get started with blogging with WordPress!

Update more later.

Tags: blogging workshop, SEO blogging, seo singapore, singapore seo blogging

When I talk to people about my busy schedule, I was often told “Why don’t you outsource your writing to someone else?”

Well, outsourcing can be one of the best ways to get work done… if you do it correctly. Lately, I have given it a go, and frankly, I didn’t really get what I want.

There are many portals for outsourcing, or finding freelancers, like Elance, or RentaCoder, or Design Outpost. But from my experience, here are a few tips you need to watch when you use these portals, to make sure that you are happy with your outsourced job.

#1. Write your project proposal in detail

Many of us just go in and say “I want 10 articles on blogging”. Yes, that one sentence might say what you want, but what about things like the format? Will you want it in Microsoft Word, text files, or HTML? What about the deadline? When are you expecting the project to be done? What about the structure? Is there a certain structure you would want for your articles? All these should be specified in your proposal.

#2. The cheapest might not (and will most probably not) be the best

Of course, I understand the cost is a major concern most of the time. But face it, if someone is going to offer you $2 per article, versus another firm offering $10 (or when the market rate is about $10), there might be something with the $2 deal. My advice is, don’t rule out the possible great deal, but evaluate each bidder by asking for sample articles (and make sure they fulfill the same quality when they deliver your project!)

#3. Review until you are satisfied.

Remember, you are the buyer. You are paying the money to get work done, and you have the right to say “This article is not up to the standard of the sample” Keep reviewing your articles as many times as you wish until you are satisfied. There are many firms out there who are just providing sloppy work for a cheaper rate, knowing that people will choose the cheapest bidder. I personally think offering cheaper services should not be an excuse for sloppy work - so make sure you get your money worth!

By the way, if you are having your own blog that really represents you - like how this blog represents me, I think it is a good idea NEVER to outsource your writing. You are putting your own branding and reputation at risk.

Tags: article writing, design outpost, elance, outsourcing, rent a coder