Archive for WiseStamp
Are Your Emails promoting for You? Give WiseStamp the Job
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I used to waste days (literally) trying to find some way to contact Gmail about when they planned to do something about their horrendous auto signature. I even searched for other email providers that offered me a way to add a signature where I could format the fonts, add images and use html code. All in vain.
Then one sunny day I received a business correspondence that used the WiseStampbrowser extension. Jumping for joy, I immediately added it to all my browsers.
Since then, lots of folks ask me how I get my long email signature into such an orderly and attractive format. And no wonder, our email signature is a great place to let people know everything we offer them. Mine could almost serve as a resume, yet, because of the slick WiseStamp interface, it isn’t overpowering or ugly.
As you can see, I have a lot of links so people will have instant access to my many ventures. I couldn’t get away with that when I was adding them manually in the Gmail Signature Settings, which include no html codes or images, and use huge, ugly fonts.
I had to severely limit the links to keep a tight signature, which was not good at all since I offer so many teaching sites I want others to be aware of. Not so with the free WiseStamp browser plugin, winner of the “Best Social Media Gadget of 2009″ Open Web Awards presented by Mashable.
Now I can offer a link to every site that is vital, and even the writers groups organized at LinkedIn, Goodreads andYahoo Groups. A lightweight screened line separates the signature from the letter’s body (if you choose), and a favorite quote and company logo image tops the signature.
Beneath that is one neat row of clickable icons that lead to nine social sites, including Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn,YouTube, my Amazon Author Central profile and more. Plus, at the very bottom you can click on my latest blog post, which dynamically changes daily.
Founded by Josh (Tzvika) Avnery and Orly Izhaki, WiseStamp supplies exactly what I craved. With WiseStamp you can easily customize all this, include your IM and Social profiles, automatically share your blog posts, quotes, news, bookmarks and more. This free program is the most powerful email promotional tool I’ve found. It’s easy to use and provides beautiful results.
WiseStamp is available for Chrome, Firefox, Flock and Thunderbird browsers. Check out their signature gallery to see what is possible as you customize WiseStamp to fit your own needs.
So why have I packed so much information into something most people hardly glance at? Because when they do stop to glean information from our signature, we dare not disappoint. Few will bother to write and ask us for links. Opportunity fumbled.
At times opportunity found me when peers saw something in the signature they didn’t know I do. So I make sure I don’t miss those opportunities by including my WiseStamp signature automatically in every email, and WiseStamp makes it possible by supplying the ultimate in attractive calling cards.
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11 Super Simple Ways to Establish a Huge Web Presence
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Creating internet publicity is such a huge undertaking you can count on only one thing: it will constantly change and grow. You will never stop learning how to market your book and yourself, and you will never stop marketing. So apply your efforts to the easiest processes with the most return. Here’s some great ways to start.
Create an Email Signature
Create a business signature that is automatically applied to every email you send. WiseStamp allows you to include links to your web presence, links to buy your books, etc. in an attractive format. See Are Your Emails Promoting for You? Give WiseStamp the Job for full details.
Create a Google profile
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Set up your free Google Profile. Your profile not only shows an article all about you with links and reviews, etc., but also a tab that shows all your Google Buzz posts, plus lots of images, and much more. This is almost like having a blog about you in yet another internet spot, which is what you’re shooting for.
This is a great post by Nicolette Tallmadge, with video, on how to set one up. Nicolette explains,“Big deal, you might say, I already have profiles on Facebook and Myspace. What makes having a Google profile so great?”
Nicolette is a marketer after my own heart, when one of her list of advantages states, “It provides another link to your blog and/or website. Incoming links to your blog and/or website is good for search engine rankings…and because the link is coming from Google, you know that Google is going to rank a bit higher.” Read the rest of Nicolette Tallmadge’s Google Profile suggestion, and instructional video at the Crafted Webmaster, What are Google Profiles?
Become a Blog Commenter
Discover the other thriving blogs in your niche and frequent them. Make comments (that automatically include your blog link) about their posts that speak to you. But never resort to using automatic blog commenting software such as listed at ebookFreeway. Blog owners can make these in a New York minute and you’ll be blackballed for life. Personally I not only delete them on my blogs, but mark them as spam, which is a drastic measure I don’t often resort to.
Use Google Alerts
Use Google Alerts to monitor when you are mentioned online. This free service is a mini-miracle. Enter the term(s) you want to monitor, such as your name, and from then on when anyone mentions it on the Web anywhere, anytime Google sends you an email with the link to it. If you like the mention, you can respond and forge relationships with those who care enough about your niche to refer to you. Or you can silently monitor your online reputation.
Newsletters
Create a newsletter. This doesn’t mean you have to write and email a weekly/monthly newsletter, though you may want to do just that through sites like Constant Contact. But even simpler, or in addition to, use a free service such as Feedblitz. They automatically send out each of your blog posts as a newsletter as often as you tell them to.
Utilize Videos/Screencasts/Slideshows
Make videos/screencasts/slideshows on your blog. You might want to start by making a homemade welcome message for your home page just using your digital video recorder. Personal and sincere touch a soft spot in all of us, making us feel we know you.
Or use free places like Screencast-o-Matic to created live tutorials. High tech isn’t as hard as it use to be. I spent twenty minutes learningScreencast-o-Matic and was ready to make my first tute. Or create free slideshows at places like Animoto or Slide Remember, video is picked up by search engines far more readily than text based posts, and site visitors will gravitate to them first.
BookBuzzr.com
Place your book on BookBuzzr.com and use their widgets on your site(s). I posted my novel, Rightfully Mine, there in September 2009, and spread their widget on a few of my own sites, and then forgot about it.
Freya at BookBuzzr Blog contacted me in late December asking to interview me because Rightfully Mine, made the top ten lists for views in both November and December 2009, at that time with over 10,000 views in just two months. Don’t overlook the vast traffic they attract. I’m now a regular contributor writing for their blog. Putting yourself out there to establish a web presence can lead to places you never imagined.
Blog Tours & Guest Posts
Do a blog tour. Your book doesn’t have to have been recently released to tour it. You can go as big or as small as you want, hiring budget-minded companies such as mine, Promotion á la Carte, to huge, expensive tour companies, to orchestrating it yourself. Be prepared to write a different article for each blog tour stop who hosts you, and give away an electronic or print copy of your book at each stop.
At the least, approach the blog owners you frequent in your niche asking if they’d be interested in you writing a guest post for them. For help with this you can sign up at the free Blogger LinkUP where you’ll receive daily lists of other bloggers looking for expert sources, requests for guest posts, and bloggers and web masters offering guest posts. Put yourself out there.
Make the Most of twitter & Facebook
Be active on at least twitter and Facebook. Meet those in your niche on your social media sites and engage in ongoing conversations. Get to know others and let them know you. That’s the best way for them to learn about your book(s).
Use Ping.fm
Go to Ping.fm and open an account to apply every post to all your social media in one swipe. Once you’ve added all your social media to yourPing account (I presently have 19), whenever ever you make a post it shows up on all of them simultaneously. Just make sure all your posts are only 140 characters or less so that places like twitter won’t cut off part of them.
Join Professional Groups
Joining author and marketing groups on sites like LinkedIn and Ning-type writing forums and communities will introduce you to people in your niche, and introduce them to you.
You don’t have to waste all day there, but when you’ve just created a post you know those in your groups would learn from or just enjoy, post it for them. And if they did the same, take a moment to thank them. This is part of my daily marketing routine, and has resulted in some lifelong friendships, business ventures and sales.
It’s Really Not so Hard
As they say, Just Do It. Just put yourself out there. And before you know it, you will have a web presence.
