Business Lessons from a Bride
My daughter Katie recently got married. Something dawned on me as the planning wound down and the big day finally arrived. (Actually, two things dawned on me. One was the almost machine-like efficiency with which this extravaganza reduced our bank account balance. But that’s not what I’m writing about now.)Here’s what I noticed: Everything came off exactly as planned.Before you say, “So what?”, consider … There were dozens of people involved and hundreds of details to manage. Tuxedoes. Dresses. Photographers. Videos. Down-payments. A cake. A reception hall. Invitations. More down-payments. Decorations. The church. The vows. Bridesmaids. Groomsmen. You get the idea - the list goes on and on.It was a truly impressive display of planning your work and working your plan. Here’s what I saw:It started with my daughter’s personal vision for her perfect wedding. (A long-range vision.) a surprise to you, but search engines such as Google 'like' sites that get constantly updated. Think of news websites like The BBC or CNN, or think of social bookmarking sites like Digg.com or even del.icio.us - they all do very well when it comes to being 'valued' by the search engines.

The reason? Well, the search engines believe that sites that change every hour are more 'important' than related sites that change every month. You would too, don't you think!

So, how does this help you?

Well, you need to consider creating new content for your site as regularly as possible to try and recreate this 'valued' factor with the search engines.

Whether you add new articles to your site, or new product listings or even new content like videos, you want to get into the habit of adding new content to your site on a regular basis. Do this every day if possible.

Day 7 - Test, Test, Test

Hey! You may have nothing to do today.

It all depends on how well you have been doing the above activities. And the only way to find that out is to measure results, or to test.

How to test?

Log your activities and then find the answers to the following types of questions:

1) Is your site ap

Website promotion only works if you promote your site on a regular basis. So how about promoting your website every day? Read how, below.

Day 1 - Submit Your Site To A Search Engine

Okay, okay there are no big surprises with this promotion method.

Search engines still represent the best way to get traffic to your site, day after day after day. But which search engines are the most important?

Answer: Google, MSN Search, Yahoo! Search.

The good news is that you don't have to submit your site to Google at all as it prefers to find your site. The bad news is that it can only find your site if another site (already listed on Google) is linking to your site. So you need to build some incoming links to your site straight away. (Learn how to build incoming links in Day 3.)

It is also important that your pages are optimised for the search engines. You'll find an up-to-date list of the major search engines and directories at StrongestLinks.com .

Day 2 - Write An Article

You've probably heard of article marketing, and know that writing articles is a great way to do two important things:

1) build incoming links to your website
2) establish your expertise

So, how do you write articles? Well, you can learn by reading other articles; or you can visit an article directory and read articles about writing articles; or you can buy a book about writing articles. It's up to you. Writing articles is not difficult, especially if you follow these basic guidelines:

* Know what you are trying to achieve in writing your article and know who your target audience is

* Brainstorm the content using an article-writing formula like a 'Top 10 Formula' or a FAQ formula

* Know what your outcome is and create an author resource box that makes that outcome happen.

There are many article writing formulas and you might even come up with your own. The main thing is to work out a method of writing good quality articles, quickly.

After that, you either post your article on your website or you let others do the same by submitting your article to the major article directories. EzineArticles.com is one such directory.

Day 3 - Build Incoming Links To Your Site

Links make the Net go around; they are what make the internet great! Links also make your website useful to your site visitor (a well-maintained, and useful, links page can in itself make a website worth re-visiting again and again).

One way of achieving lots of links to your site is to swap links with other sites. The best way to do this is to:

- Identify sites with similar content to yours
- Send a personal email to the webmaster suggesting that both your sites could benefit from a reciprocal link
- Develop a useful "Resources" page and put those links on this page.

Personally speaking, I don't respond to reciprocal link requests when my link is simply going to join hundreds of others, often not related. I don't think Google thinks too highly of such links pages, either.

A much better strategy is to try and build incoming links to your site only. Writing articles is one way of doing this and so is using Web 2.0 sites like MySpace (see below).

Day 4 - Write A Press Release

What's better than advertising in a publication? Answer: having your business feature in an article in that publication.

So here are the basic steps of writing a press release:

=> Press Release Checklist

1) Have a story to tell
2) Think like a journalist
3) Format the press release properly
4) Keep your press release short!
5) Promote your press release online

Above all, keep it short.

Obviously there is a little more to it than that. Do a search for how to write a press release to learn more.

Day 5 - Use Web 2.0 Sites Like MySpace, Squidoo and Digg

Whilst it will always be important to rank well on Google, the website promotion rules are slowly changing. Now it's important to know about social media optimization and not just search engine optimization to get visitors to your website.

For example, here are three websites that *can* help you promote your website and thus help you promote your business, online:

1) YouTube
2) Digg.com
3) Del.icio.us

The above sites are known as social networking sites or social bookmarking sites or even social media sites. Whatever they are known as, the most important thing about these types of sites (and these three sites in particular) is that they are some of the most visited websites in the world. And, they allow you to link to your site, one way.

However, putting content that links to your website on these social media sites and then getting exposure to that content is, effectively, the art of social media optimization. Again, do a search to learn more.

Day 6 - Create New Content

It may come as a surprise to you, but search engines such as Google 'like' sites that get constantly updated. Think of news websites like The BBC or CNN, or think of social bookmarking sites like Digg.com or even del.icio.us - they all do very well when it comes to being 'valued' by the search engines.

The reason? Well, the search engines believe that sites that change every hour are more 'important' than related sites that change every month. You would too, don't you think!

So, how does this help you?

Well, you need to consider creating new content for your site as regularly as possible to try and recreate this 'valued' factor with the search engines.

Whether you add new articles to your site, or new product listings or even new content like videos, you want to get into the habit of adding new content to your site on a regular basis. Do this every day if possible.

Day 7 - Test, Test, Test

Hey! You may have nothing to do today.

It all depends on how well you have been doing the above activities. And the only way to find that out is to measure results, or to test.

How to test?

Log your activities and then find the answers to the following types of questions:

1) Is your site app

write articles? Well, you can learn by reading other articles; or you can visit an article directory and read articles about writing articles; or you can buy a book about writing articles. It's up to you. Writing articles is not difficult, especially if you follow these basic guidelines:

* Know what you are trying to achieve in writing your article and know who your target audience is

* Brainstorm the content using an article-writing formula like a 'Top 10 Formula' or a FAQ formula

* Know what your outcome is and create an author resource box that makes that outcome happen.

There are many article writing formulas and you might even come up with your own. The main thing is to work out a method of writing good quality articles, quickly.

After that, you either post your article on your website or you let others do the same by submitting your article to the major article directories. EzineArticles.com is one such directory.

Day 3 - Build Incoming Links To Your Site

Links make the Net go around; they are what make the internet great! Links also make your website useful to your site visitor (a well-maintained, and useful, links page can in itself make a website worth re-visiting again and again).

One way of achieving lots of links to your site is to swap links with other sites. The best way to do this is to:

- Identify sites with similar content to yours
- Send a personal email to the webmaster suggesting that both your sites could benefit from a reciprocal link
- Develop a useful "Resources" page and put those links on this page.

Personally speaking, I don't respond to reciprocal link requests when my link is simply going to join hundreds of others, often not related. I don't think Google thinks too highly of such links pages, either.

A much better strategy is to try and build incoming links to your site only. Writing articles is one way of doing this and so is using Web 2.0 sites like MySpace (see below).

Day 4 - Write A Press Release

What's better than advertising in a publication? Answer: having your business feature in an article in that publication.

So here are the basic steps of writing a press release:

=> Press Release Checklist

1) Have a story to tell
2) Think like a journalist
3) Format the press release properly
4) Keep your press release short!
5) Promote your press release online

Above all, keep it short.

Obviously there is a little more to it than that. Do a search for how to write a press release to learn more.

Day 5 - Use Web 2.0 Sites Like MySpace, Squidoo and Digg

Whilst it will always be important to rank well on Google, the website promotion rules are slowly changing. Now it's important to know about social media optimization and not just search engine optimization to get visitors to your website.

For example, here are three websites that *can* help you promote your website and thus help you promote your business, online:

1) YouTube
2) Digg.com
3) Del.icio.us

The above sites are known as social networking sites or social bookmarking sites or even social media sites. Whatever they are known as, the most important thing about these types of sites (and these three sites in particular) is that they are some of the most visited websites in the world. And, they allow you to link to your site, one way.

However, putting content that links to your website on these social media sites and then getting exposure to that content is, effectively, the art of social media optimization. Again, do a search to learn more.

Day 6 - Create New Content

It may come as a surprise to you, but search engines such as Google 'like' sites that get constantly updated. Think of news websites like The BBC or CNN, or think of social bookmarking sites like Digg.com or even del.icio.us - they all do very well when it comes to being 'valued' by the search engines.

The reason? Well, the search engines believe that sites that change every hour are more 'important' than related sites that change every month. You would too, don't you think!

So, how does this help you?

Well, you need to consider creating new content for your site as regularly as possible to try and recreate this 'valued' factor with the search engines.

Whether you add new articles to your site, or new product listings or even new content like videos, you want to get into the habit of adding new content to your site on a regular basis. Do this every day if possible.

Day 7 - Test, Test, Test

Hey! You may have nothing to do today.

It all depends on how well you have been doing the above activities. And the only way to find that out is to measure results, or to test.

How to test?

Log your activities and then find the answers to the following types of questions:

1) Is your site ap

and again).

One way of achieving lots of links to your site is to swap links with other sites. The best way to do this is to:

- Identify sites with similar content to yours
- Send a personal email to the webmaster suggesting that both your sites could benefit from a reciprocal link
- Develop a useful "Resources" page and put those links on this page.

Personally speaking, I don't respond to reciprocal link requests when my link is simply going to join hundreds of others, often not related. I don't think Google thinks too highly of such links pages, either.

A much better strategy is to try and build incoming links to your site only. Writing articles is one way of doing this and so is using Web 2.0 sites like MySpace (see below).

Day 4 - Write A Press Release

What's better than advertising in a publication? Answer: having your business feature in an article in that publication.

So here are the basic steps of writing a press release:

=> Press Release Checklist

1) Have a story to tell
2) Think like a journalist
3) Format the press release properly
4) Keep your press release short!
5) Promote your press release online

Above all, keep it short.

Obviously there is a little more to it than that. Do a search for how to write a press release to learn more.

Day 5 - Use Web 2.0 Sites Like MySpace, Squidoo and Digg

Whilst it will always be important to rank well on Google, the website promotion rules are slowly changing. Now it's important to know about social media optimization and not just search engine optimization to get visitors to your website.

For example, here are three websites that *can* help you promote your website and thus help you promote your business, online:

1) YouTube
2) Digg.com
3) Del.icio.us

The above sites are known as social networking sites or social bookmarking sites or even social media sites. Whatever they are known as, the most important thing about these types of sites (and these three sites in particular) is that they are some of the most visited websites in the world. And, they allow you to link to your site, one way.

However, putting content that links to your website on these social media sites and then getting exposure to that content is, effectively, the art of social media optimization. Again, do a search to learn more.

Day 6 - Create New Content

It may come as a surprise to you, but search engines such as Google 'like' sites that get constantly updated. Think of news websites like The BBC or CNN, or think of social bookmarking sites like Digg.com or even del.icio.us - they all do very well when it comes to being 'valued' by the search engines.

The reason? Well, the search engines believe that sites that change every hour are more 'important' than related sites that change every month. You would too, don't you think!

So, how does this help you?

Well, you need to consider creating new content for your site as regularly as possible to try and recreate this 'valued' factor with the search engines.

Whether you add new articles to your site, or new product listings or even new content like videos, you want to get into the habit of adding new content to your site on a regular basis. Do this every day if possible.

Day 7 - Test, Test, Test

Hey! You may have nothing to do today.

It all depends on how well you have been doing the above activities. And the only way to find that out is to measure results, or to test.

How to test?

Log your activities and then find the answers to the following types of questions:

1) Is your site ap

t short.

Obviously there is a little more to it than that. Do a search for how to write a press release to learn more.

Day 5 - Use Web 2.0 Sites Like MySpace, Squidoo and Digg

Whilst it will always be important to rank well on Google, the website promotion rules are slowly changing. Now it's important to know about social media optimization and not just search engine optimization to get visitors to your website.

For example, here are three websites that *can* help you promote your website and thus help you promote your business, online:

1) YouTube
2) Digg.com
3) Del.icio.us

The above sites are known as social networking sites or social bookmarking sites or even social media sites. Whatever they are known as, the most important thing about these types of sites (and these three sites in particular) is that they are some of the most visited websites in the world. And, they allow you to link to your site, one way.

However, putting content that links to your website on these social media sites and then getting exposure to that content is, effectively, the art of social media optimization. Again, do a search to learn more.

Day 6 - Create New Content

It may come as a surprise to you, but search engines such as Google 'like' sites that get constantly updated. Think of news websites like The BBC or CNN, or think of social bookmarking sites like Digg.com or even del.icio.us - they all do very well when it comes to being 'valued' by the search engines.

The reason? Well, the search engines believe that sites that change every hour are more 'important' than related sites that change every month. You would too, don't you think!

So, how does this help you?

Well, you need to consider creating new content for your site as regularly as possible to try and recreate this 'valued' factor with the search engines.

Whether you add new articles to your site, or new product listings or even new content like videos, you want to get into the habit of adding new content to your site on a regular basis. Do this every day if possible.

Day 7 - Test, Test, Test

Hey! You may have nothing to do today.

It all depends on how well you have been doing the above activities. And the only way to find that out is to measure results, or to test.

How to test?

Log your activities and then find the answers to the following types of questions:

1) Is your site ap

a surprise to you, but search engines such as Google 'like' sites that get constantly updated. Think of news websites like The BBC or CNN, or think of social bookmarking sites like Digg.com or even del.icio.us - they all do very well when it comes to being 'valued' by the search engines.

The reason? Well, the search engines believe that sites that change every hour are more 'important' than related sites that change every month. You would too, don't you think!

So, how does this help you?

Well, you need to consider creating new content for your site as regularly as possible to try and recreate this 'valued' factor with the search engines.

Whether you add new articles to your site, or new product listings or even new content like videos, you want to get into the habit of adding new content to your site on a regular basis. Do this every day if possible.

Day 7 - Test, Test, Test

Hey! You may have nothing to do today.

It all depends on how well you have been doing the above activities. And the only way to find that out is to measure results, or to test.

How to test?

Log your activities and then find the answers to the following types of questions:

1) Is your site appearing on the search engines?

Do a search on Google, say, for site:www.yoursitenamehere.com

This will list all of the pages of your site that appear on Google.

2) How many inbound links to your site exist on a particular search engine?

Again, major search engines provide tools to allow you to determine this.

3) Has your press release been published?

Check the magazines it's likely to appear in, on a regular basis. It's a great feeling when you see your website in print! :-)

Some press release services can provide much fuller online stats, too.

4) How many of your articles have been published elsewhere?

Good article sites give you stats like this, or you can set up a Google Alert for certain words that appear in your article (do a search, if you don't know what a Google Alert is).

5) Is your website getting more visitors?

A good website statistics package should be provided by your web host, but you can buy an independent package should you require more accuracy.

Etc.

Seriously, online, the winners are those who test.

--

There you have it. Several ways of promoting your site every day. Try and do 'something' every day if you can, and your site will receive more visitors over time. If a daily schedule is too difficult then promote your site every week, instead.