Build Business Profits

Traffic is the first key success factor to successful on line marketing. You cannot move a person from visitor to customer unless the person visit you in the first place. Blogging for Profits is all about using one of the tools in your toolkit for developing traffic to your site. There are a number of other tools that should also be used including, pay per click, direct mail, and other proven marketing resources that work. This issue of Blogging for Profits will show you the exact steps to reading your your traffic statistics.

One of my friends with a cosmetic products and services business is paranoid thinking her website and blog traffic is being diverted to a competitor’s site. Jessie these instructions are written for you dearheart so you and all my readers know how look at server logs and read the traffic trends and sources for that traffic.

The Exact Steps To Reading Website and Blog Server Logs For Visiter Trends and The Source of That Traffic

(These steps are for those who have a website or blog hosted on their own domain and the host provider’s systems offer Cpanel and Fantastico. My host provider is Host Gator which I highly recommend. I am announcing very soon a test program for 20 or so people interested in having their domain, website and blog completely set up for them with hands on instructions on how to update and maintain the website and blog. This test will be at a rediculously low price. Register for email updates at Steve Reports and don’t miss this announcement.)

Step 1. Log into your Cpanel screen by typing in your domain name along with /cpanel. Example www.mydomain.com/cpanel

Step 2 Enter your user name and password for your hosting account. When I set up a site and blog for any client I give them this information. If you registered your domain with a hosting service, they either emailed this information to you or you will need to contact them for this information.

Step 3 Once you have Cpanel access, look for the icon that says Web and FTP Stats. Click on it.

Step 4 Now you will see a list of programs to use to view your stats. Pick anyone you like. I use Awstats because of the graphics but there are many programs there – see what ones you like.

Step 5 Explore and see where your traffic is coming from. You will see a section called Who in Awstats and there a link to Hosts. Under that you will find IP addresses for sources of traffic. http://www.webyield.net/domainquery.html is a great site for resolving IP addresses meaning it will tell you the name of the site for the number listed. This service is free. From you stats you will be able to see that the search bots like Google are indexing your site. I was looking at my stats for Fast Airport Travel this morning noticing a lot of traffic comes from Feedburner. That is a service I use to promote all my blogs. In a separate post I will write more about Feedburner.

Start exploring your stats and you will learn allot about what is propular or not about your site. I have learned the search engine bots really love blogs which is why you should be reading all the information published in the Blogging for Profits series.

Be well and prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting

Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.

Blogging For Profits Issue No. 14: The Absolutely Single Most Important Step To Blogging For Profits

In the past couple of weeks I have activated blogs for three business development clients each serving different niche markets. Like others who have been through the process of activating blogs numerous time, I continue to be amazed at how easy it is to do. Consequently I naturally think everyone must know what a blog is and how to post to a blog.

The facts are that outside the marketing circles, few business people understand what a blog is yet alone it’s potential. That is the reason I started the Blogging for Profits series. Note most of the material in the Blogging For Profits series is for a blog using the WordPress platform and hosted under your own domain.

Today I am going one step further and realize what I am about to disclose has been disclosed before. It has even been presented on video. But here it is again because my clients want it and if I am going to write it for them, I am going to write it for my Blogging for Profits audience.

Are you ready for this? Here goes…you cannot possibly have a successful blog unless you know how to post new content to your blog. I advise posting to your blog three times a week minimum to start. Here are the steps for posting to your blog and I am going to use a live example for illustration purposes:

1. Go to your blog. For this example I am using www.harleydavidsonharrisburg.com
2. Scroll down the right sidebar until you see the words Login. Click on that.
3. Enter your user name and password.
4. Click on Write. You should be at the Write Post tab.
5. Enter the Title in the Title box
6. Enter the content in the post section
7. This last step is very important: scroll down and click Publish. Once you click on Publish your post is now visible for all the world.

Congratulations – you are done. Well almost.

Big Bonus Blog Posting Tips:

Editing Your Blog Post:

1. Login
2. Click on the Manage Tab
3. Select the post you want to edit. Click edit and edit your post.
4. This last step is very important. Scroll down and click Save.

Linking Your Blog Post To Your Web Site:

You will see an example of this in every most posts at www.harleydavidsonharrisburg.com A link is a colored word or phrase that when clicked takes the reader to another destination. So how do you activate a link in a blog?

Background: All the blogs have the Rich Text Editor feature deactivated. This simply means any link in a post needs to be activated. Here is how you do it.

1. Follow the steps above for posting to your blog. Let’s assume you want to activate the words Susquehanna Valley Harley Davidson to your main website
2. Left click you mouse and highlight the phrase you want to activate as a link.
3. Move up to the index bar of your blog post right under the word Post. The bar stars with a b then moves on. Look for the word link which probably is in blue. Click on that an a box will pop up asking you for the URL you want to link to.
4. Enter the URL and click OK
5. This last step is very important. Scroll down and click Save.
6. View your site and test the link. If there is a problem, repeat steps 1-5.

Adding A Picture To Your Blog

You can see an example of a picture we just added to Harley Davidson Harrisburg Here is how you do it:

1. Log in
2. If this is new post follow the steps above for posting or follow the steps for editing. When you have the post screen open (Write Post) scroll down until you see three tabs starting with Upload. Click on the browse button and locate the file of the picture you want to upload. (It is important the picture is stored on a file on your PC’s harddrive.) Click ok and you should now see the picture you have uploaded.
3. You are not done – pay close attention:
a. right click on the picture and then click on “Copy Image Location”
b. scroll up to the posting section and activate your curser at the point in your blog post you want to appear. Now scroll up and look for the letters “img” in your post navigation bar. Click on img and a box will pop up asking you for the URL of the picture. Right click and click paste. Click OK
4. You should now see the code for the location of your picture in the section of your blog post where your want the picture.
5. Now here is the very important step, scroll down an click Publish or Save depending on whether this is a new post or an edit.
6. View your blog make sure everything in your post is working properly.

I hope you enjoyed these tips. Let me know by posting your comments at Steve Reports

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant
“Helping Companies Achieve a 30% Increase in Profits in 90 Days or Less.”

PS: Register for the complete Blogging for Profits series at Steve Reports The information in the series will help you tremendously in understanding the power of blogs and it will save you huge amounts of time. Bonus The Blogging for Profit series is still free.

What if…

- For the first time ever in Internet Marketing history,
you can watch a live case study of an actual MONEY-MAKING
site being built right before your eyes.

- You’ll be able to witness the entire step-by-step process
to turn a blank website into an automatic revenue generator.

- You can see EVERYTHING, including the cpanel, AdSense earnings,
affiliate earnings, traffic generated, search engine spidering,
EVERYTHING.

- You’ll get the keys to be able to create AS MANY
of these Internet cash machines as you want.

- You’ll be able to discover the no cost methods to automatically
get 100 or more visitors per day, everyday, within 24 hours of
building your site

- You’ll be able to get your sites indexed in major search engines
(Google, Yahoo) within 24 hours, and appear on the first page of
those search engines for many keywords.

- You’ll be able to generate money in less than 24 hours of loading
your site

- Did I mention you can build as MANY of these cash machines as you
like??

And Finally, what if all the above was possible AND

(drum roll, please……………….)

…………

………

……

It’s FREE!

But wait :
There is NO one time offer.
There is NO upsell.

Usually FREE never means FREE, but Today, it DOES MEAN FREE!

You will pay NOTHING to get instant access to this video series.

Just Click Here for VistorSense.com and The Video Series

To your success

Steve Pohlit
_____________________

The following article by my friend Allyn Cutts offers excellent advise and is a courtesy of Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant who helps companies develop and implement business building marketing programs and organizational processes to optimize profit growth.

Are You Top Of Consciousness

How many great ideas have you had that fizzled and evaporated into thin air? Heck, they were darned good ideas too! The problem wasn’t the ideas, it was implementing them… making them work.

We’ve been talking about Top of Consciousness Marketing, one of the greatest marketing tools I’ve come across. Now it’s time to do a little strategizing about ways to make it work for you. There’s no sense in letting another brilliant idea vanish!

How often and how many ways could you contact a potential customer outside of normal visits to you place of business? Quick! Make a list…

Here are a few to get you going:

* Seasonal greetings
* Post cards
* Birthday cards
* Newsletters
* Catalogs
* Flyers
* Special sale notices
* Telephones calls
* Emails
* Thank you’s

Listen up, here’s the secret to effectively obtaining Top of Conscious positioning in the mind of your customers… finding 10 to twelve ways to contact them every year.

Newsletters are probably one of the easiest ways to implement a regular contact system with your customers and potential customers. A monthly newsletter written in an informative and entertaining style is something your customers and potential customers will look forward to. It’ll also go a long way in establishing your credibility as an expert in your field of business.

Who doesn’t appreciate a personalized “Thank You?” It doesn’t really matter if it’s a phone call, and email, a card or a bouquet. It’s the thought that counts.

Remember the pleasant surprise of an unexpected birthday card? Hey, it always feels good to have someone remember your special day.

The key to staying on at the top of peoples minds is simply getting their attention on a regular basis. Pick one or 10 of these methods and start using them to get the attention of your potential customers and to keep loyal customers feeling appreciated.

Stick around for some more great ideas on implementing Top of Consciousness strategies.

Dedicated To Your Further Success.

All the best,

Allyn Cutts

About the Author

Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers.

Allyn consults personally with clients to design and deliver offline and online direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at http://AmazingMarketingStrategy.com or you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays
___________________________________________

Steve Pohlit develops and implements processes and procedures that grow revenue, maximize gross margin and optimize net profit. This approach is detailed in the free course “How To Increase Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less” which can be found at by click here and “Blogging for Profits” which is another free series that can be found here at Steve Reports.

May Your Profits Grow and You Have Fun With The Journey

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant

Microsoft Office Live: A FREE small business web site solution for people looking to get online

I just read an interesting New York Times article about Microsoft’s new and improved Office Live Basics service, which is launching on Nov 15.

Looks like Microsoft is trying to persuade people to become part of the “Microsoft family” by offering free a small business web site solution to people who want to start an online business but don’t have their own web site yet.

On the surface, it seems like a pretty sweet deal… You get your own unique domain name, a hosted web site, five personalized email accounts, site tracking and analysis tools– and, of course, seamless integration of all of Microsoft’s paid advertising offerings, such as AdCenter.

And if you like what you get in the Live Basic small business web site solution, you can always upgrade to Live Essential, which offers advanced features such as increased bandwidth, advanced traffic reporting, and more than 20 applications for managing all aspects of your business.

Of course, that’s what Microsoft wants you to do–to become so reliant on their free small business web site solution that in order to grow, you need to start using their paid services, too. Not a bad business model on their part!

If you don’t have a web site yet and are thinking about taking Microsoft up on their offer, I’d advise you to proceed with caution.

First of all, the Basic version only provides you with a prefab template design for your site. It allows for some flexibility, but certainly isn’t something you can totally customize from the ground up. And once you get hooked in by Microsoft, who knows how easy it will be to switch your site to another host, if you choose to do so?

Still, it should be interesting to see how well Office Live is received. I look forward to hearing from people who actually use this small business web site solution — I’m eager to find out how it works for them!

Thoughts, anyone?

Click Here to Comment on Derek’s article

Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consultant