Posts

Posted on

An unusual secret for doing business online

As a result of COVID19 digital marketing is more important than ever, and many people are turning to it as a way to promote their business. The problem is that most businesses are not making any money as a result. However, I will introduce you to the one unusual trick that will make your digital marketing profitable!
 
That is a trick for making money online. It is very simple, just do not worry about being perfect. If you’re worried about what others think, or how they will react, just do it. The worst that can happen is you’ll be rejected and perhaps learn a lesson.  Remember, there are many other things to worry about in life than any potential failures and the fear of not doing it right.  But do stay legal.
 
A big mistake a lot of people make is to wait for the “perfect” moment before doing that important thing. They procrastinate for the fear of getting it wrong.
 
The bad news is that gone are the days when all you needed to do was post a link and start earning cash. Believe it or not, now it’s more difficult than ever before. In order to be successful, you need to have a certain skill set and many tools at your disposal. More importantly, you need the will to succeed, a sense of humour, and the ability just to be you.
 
Now that is something not everyone has!
 
Posted on

The EIGHT Magic Steps To Write an Unforgettable Press Release

The content you write is very much like any other blog article or an email that you pen.  Therefore, you need to follow the steps below.

Step 1. The all-important point sizes

Headline 24 point

Sub Headline  22 point 

First para 20 point 

Second para 18 point 

Third and subsequent paragraphs.  The Text is 16 point

Step 2 – Therefore here is the layout of your Press Release 

Your Fantastic Headline Here (Please Use https://www.thehoth.com/headline-generator/ to help you write any headlines) 

The Sub Header.  The bit that adds some oomph – describes the story a bit more.

Date: Which should read “For Immediate Release” or “Not to be released until DD MM YY” for the UK or MM DD, YY for the USA and Canada

Your Contact name, phone number and email address and press officer details (if you have one)

Step 3 – First/Opening Paragraph

The opening paragraph is mega important.  It should cover the high level, of what the story is about.

That is:

– WHAT  the story is about

– WHO are the people in the story

– WHY is it happening 

– WHERE is it all happening 

and the bit that is sometimes missed

– WHEN did or is it going to happen –

– HOW is it or how was it to be done.

The first paragraph is to grab the attention of the journalist to make him or her want to print your article.  Therefore, make it an active paragraph, one that excites and is positive.   

HINT: Read that first paragraph and ask yourself…  “would I continue reading this?”

Step 4 – Second paragraph.

You need a quote.  That is something along the lines as shown below

An example could be…

Organizer Mr Doerly said “This will be the event of the decade”

Step 5 – Third paragraph

Three bits of statistics, data or known facts

One item could be a future statistic such as forecast ticket sales 

Step 6 – The Grand Finale

Reminders,  re-enforce message with any action needed by the readers, such as an invitation to a meet.

This is where you put a reminder about the major issues 

Step 7 – Images

For any image that you include your article, you need to provide a short summary about the image and any attribution to a photographer or image taker.  Do make sure all copyright issues are covered and you have the permission of the subject(s) to use the image.  In any email make sure everything is in the email, to be clear avoid attachments.  It is a little known fact that JOURNALISTS and readers are reluctant to click on links. That is proven by any email statistics you may look at in the future.

Step 8 – For an audio story, provide the same as above

But in addition, add your own recording of up to 7 answers to the 7 question of your own choice and no more. 

The bottom line is that you need to give the presenter the questions he should ask you so that your audio with appropriate edits behaves as though it is a live interview.

Posted on

July is Mobile Phone Courtesy Month

July is Mobile Phone Courtesy Month

Therefore here are a few tips…

We all know about this issue. Especially when we are on a bus, train or in any other public place because we become an audience to someone else’s conversation.

Sometimes when we speak on a mobile phone we forget our manners!

Therefore do try to make the most of Mobile Phone Courtesy Month. You can do so if you follow these tips about mobile phone etiquette:

– When you are in a meeting: don’t check your phone constantly for texts and emails. But do concentrate on the people you are with.
– In a court, official room, theatre, or place of worship set your mobile phone to silent or vibrate
– Don’t embarrass yourself… If you know you are going to make an intense emotional call save it for when you are somewhere private. The public at large have no need to know about your relationship issues. That is unless you are a celebrity of course!
– Do check your personal volume levels. It is very easy to start shouting into your phone. Instead speak softly and everyone in your vicinity will enjoy the peace and quiet. They will also appreciate your good manners.

Posted on

Top Level – Recommended WP Plugins Your Starter for Ten

Back of computer with many data cables they are plugins

This is a list to help the first time WordPress user implement their WordPress site.   This is not an exhaustive list and is just at this point a list of plugins that will help. There is a table below and the items in it are all essentials. However, any shaded items are your starter for ten gold star items and will give you a flying start.

Most plugins are available directly from your WordPress dashboard and this is the simplest place to load your plugins from

If you are starting out the simple solution is to rely on JetPack and a couple of supporting plugins.  In the example below, it assumes your host provides some automatic backup facility of your website.  There is a backup feature in JetPack but this is a paid premium feature and as such as been omitted. This article is affiliate link free.

Ref Function Complexity Plugin WordPress source
1.1 Forms Simple Jetpack Forms JetPack Forms and similar
1.2 Forms Simple Contact Form 7 Contact Form 7 and related plugins
2.1 Partial Website Security – Repeated wrong user name and password protection Simple LoginIzer Loginizer and similar
2.2 Fuller Website Security Moderately Complex WordFence Security including WordFence
3 Backup (optional if your hosting company provides sufficient backups) Simple Updraft Backup plugins including Updraft
4 Social Media Simple Jetpack Social JetPack Social Media and similar
5.1 Grammar & Spelling –  Simple Jetpack Proofreader JetPack Grammar/Spelling and similar
5.2 Style Checker Simple Style and grammar checker Style and Grammar
6 Force HTTPS: if there is a reference to HTTP if your website has secure browsing  Simple  ForceHTTPS WordPress Force HTTPS
7 Make your website seen – Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Simple All in One SEO All in One SEO and similar

 

Posted on

Top Level – Price Comparison of Email and Autoresponder Services

To succeed on the Internet you need an Email / Autoresponder system to send emails to people who sign-up …

The email features include:

  • Capture the name and email details of a person visiting your site using a form. Provide unsubscribe services
  • Send emails to those people on your list
  • Allow emails to be sent to those that have not opened or opened one of your emails.
  • Automatically respond to people that sign-up
  • The creation of Lead Capture Pages
  • Statistical Reports

Most people use services such as MailChimp, MailerLite, GetResponse, or aWeber, but there are also more sophisticated services.   These will let you collect, store, manage, and search many different types of information.

If you are starting out MailChimp and MailerLite both have free forever services as long as you keep within their restriction on use for the number of subscribers and number of emails.  See table below.  The pricing links below are not affiliate links. However, the Service Provider column contains affiliate links (I receive a small commission if you buy a subscription – it helps to pay for any website costs).  This applies for MailChimp, Mailerlite, Getresponse and AWeber main links.    

Service Provider Pricing link Free Service Paid Cost
MailChimp MC-Pricing Up to 2,000 Subscribers From up to 500 From $10 per month
12,000 emails per month Unlimited emails
Landing Pages

 
MailerLite ML-Pricing Up to 1,000 Subscribers From up to 1,000 From $10 per month
12,000 emails per month
Landing Pages

 
GetResponse GR-Pricing For 1 month up to 1,000 subscribers 1-month trial From up to 1,000 From $15 per month
Unlimited emails
1 Landing Age Up to 1,000 visits

 
Aweber AW-Pricing For up to 500 subscribers 1-month free trial From up to 500 From $19 per month
Unlimited emails
Posted on

The TEN Commandments for Quality Content

Internet website with content that is attractive to visitors popping out of the screen

Content is King...

1. Accessibility

Your content needs to be accessible, to that end one of the simplest things to do is to use the correct font size and style in your articles. 

The suggestion from the Royal National Institute for the Blind is that it recommends 14 pt. Helvetica or Ariel font (Tahoma and other font styles are suggested too).  The minimum font size is set at 12 pt, but this does not meet most of the visual needs of those with partial sight.    Additionally, any images that are not logos or are not present for design reasons should have appropriate descriptive text in an alt tag (A special place on websites to help the visually impaired – usually a facility provided in any content management system to allow the addition of text).  

See short link  https://goo.gl/D6nwq7 that is https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-communication/accessible-communication-formats

If you have clicked on either of the above links you will find that 16 pt is mentioned and of course if you use this size your crucial content will be read by nearly all your visitors that are partially blind.  The site also recommends that 70-80 characters should be used per line except when you are using columns.

 

2.  Interest

The best and most useful content is written well, but more importantly,  it should grab your reader’s eyes and interest.  This is obvious but content that is boring will not be read.   Nor will it encourage anyone to look at anything else you write.

3. Entertain When You Can

And of course, not all of what you write can entertain. 

 

The golden rule if your text is not useful or interesting, write fun-filled content that excites and entertains.

4. Useful

It is important that any content interests or entertains.  But if it is not useful and does not relate to the reader’s needs he or she may not come back.   To avoid that you can create useful content such as tutorials and educational material.  This technique is popular with readers and with search engines.

5. Research Well

 

Your content needs to be well researched, ideally from multiple sources.  Some are obvious:-

 

  • Google and Google Alerts
  • Yahoo
  • Facebook Search
  • LinkedIn Search
  • Twitter Search
  • and Bing 

Basically,  these are the big search engines and you will probably know more

The less obvious are:

6. Factually Correct

You need to check your content and of course, that takes time,  One needs to verify that at the outset and of course you need to go back to the article from time to time as facts do change.

7. Grammatically Correct

Grammar image of grammar test paperThis is always a challenge.  For some people,  it is easy, while for others that may not be the case.  If you are using the Chrome browser there is Grammarly Extension that may help.  For WordPress, there is the standard JetPack plugin, by using the Proofreading Function (Grammar and Spelling).   Don’t forget to tick the proofread check box.

I am pulled up from time to time by the Grammar police on the Internet.  But it will surprise you to know that Google can tell if your content is grammatically correct or not.  Therefore, it is very important that your spelling, grammar, and punctuation are all correct.  So get those free or paid for extensions from Google and WordPress now.

8. Long

The bad news is that these days, Google wants quality content,  and much more than 300 words,  The nearer to a  thousand words the better.  But three thousand words is top-notch and that is what we all should be aiming for.  Perhaps I need a content writer!

9. Media

Having a variety of media on your pages is great for your visitors, and Google loves a variety of Media too.   That is images, video clips, slides, audio tracks, and games.   You do need to balance with written content on your site,  especially if you are using video clips.  There is a requirement that video clips should have text script or a textual explanation about it.

10.  White Space

Create white space if you can.   Office typists prior to the year 2,000 did this automatically,  They used the following rules.   

Double or One and a half space between lines

Two spaces between sentences

and Two lines between paragraphs.

Posted on

Google is changing the rules – is Your Website Ready for 2020?

The New Year Celebrations, they are all gone. We are at the beginning of the year. Remember that promise, a website makeover this year. A New Year resolution perhaps? A resolution to do a review, and to make sure your Shop Window performs as it should. Perhaps a new website is needed or a makeover might do?

Another issue in all of that is with Google.  Therefore…

  • If you have your own website or are thinking of creating one, there are some big changes that you need to be aware of.

Google and WordPress are making those changes that could be a big opportunity for those who know the details. If you don’t know, it could hit you like a ton of bricks.

Click the link below to get my free report detailing the opportunity and the danger

http://trck.me/422615/

Afterthought… If you need any help with hosting your domain or reviewing it please drop me a line. Look forward to helping you grow that is chas@chaslitster.com

Posted on

Beat Writer’s Block and write up to 10,000 words a day

Have you ever sat at your computer, and in front of you there is a blank white screen?

It sits there waiting for you to enter that all important content. Your mind is blank and no matter how beautiful your Word Processing software is you just cannot start writing a word. This is Writer’s Block and the report ‘Speed Writing’ gives you that all important advice to refresh your mind and unleash the untapped writing potential within you.

Then the moment arrives and you do not have the time to write those vital words. That is those precious gems of wisdom that you need for your long awaited project. But you have no time!

‘The Speed Writing’ report will help you write up to 10,000 words a day. Just think about how much time that would free up. After all ‘Your time is money’.

To obtain your free report please click on the link below.

You can find out how to beat writers block here…   Beat Writers  Block 

Look forward to hearing from you and please let me know what you think.

Note… Finding content and content writing is an art. If you need any help please drop me a note.  That is at chas@chaslitster.com

                   Power Blogging ...

                   Speed Writing ...