A Collection of Great Business Resources, Generators and SEO Tools Online

Running a business online is pretty sweet! Not only do you get to work from the comfort of your own home (if you are lucky enough), you also get to play around with new business ideas and internet software and tools all the time.

While most people like to spend their free time on social media, I prefer to make connections through email and write content for my own sites and others. All of this comes together to not only help me grow out my business and brand but also find some cool resources and tools online as well.

Today I will be sharing a few of my favorites and most useful ones out there!

Animated Banner Creation Tools

When I first started making money online back in the mid-90s, it actually all started with creating and selling 468×60 graphic banners for $1 each in the AOL Web Diner. This was way before anything like Paypal was around, and I would actually get a physical dollar sent to me in the mail.

Just like online payments have evolved over time, so has the way we create banner ads and images online. I personally used to design my banners with JASC Paint Shop Pro (not really even around anymore), but thanks to in-browser design tools, this is now cheaper and easier than ever.

For example, anyone can create a static banner for their site, but if you wanted to make something animated, then you might be lost. This can easily be done through the use of this gif editor in a matter of clicks. You can see two examples of static images brought to life through animation below.

In an online world where attention is everything, why stick with the old and use regular boring banner ads. Add some life to your banners and watch your engagement and click-through rates soar!

Business/Product/Domain Name Generators

Millions of news websites and business are launched every month. With so many sites and new brands going live, we are quickly running out of original names — let along domain names!

Sometimes, you just need to get creative, come up with a name, and move forward with your business. After all, world renown brand names like Starbucks, Yelp, Google, Facebook, and Instagram, really didn’t mean anything until they were launch and became what they are today.

If you are currently in a fuss about coming up with a new brand name, product name, or even a domain name, try your luck with each of the resources below.

• Domain Name Generators – Coming up with a great domain name isn’t easy, but this list of resources and tools will help you get the job done. If the .com name isn’t available, go for the .net or .org. Try to stay away from any of those weird domain TLDs that no one really pays attention to.
• Business Name Generators – If you are lucky enough to come up with a business name and also find that the domain is available as well… amazing! If not, you will find the resources and generation tools listed in this guide very useful.

No matter what route you take, always remember to make sure your domain and brand name is easy to spell and remember. The last thing you want is to create a brand and always have people being sent off to the wrong site, or not understanding what you are saying when telling someone the name of your site or brand. Keep is as simple as possible.

Site Audit and DA/PA Checkers

If you have a website or blog, you likely check the search rankings for it all the time. The actual rankings and movement for your site in the search engines comes down to many different factors. In addition to the actual content on your site and incoming backlinks, the structure, age, domain and page authority, and reputation can all have a big factor in this as well.

The Hoth is one of the leading SEO agencies on the internet today, and along with providing a great service and advice through their blog, they also have a bunch of useful tools and trackers on their site as well. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Site Audit – Running a quick site audit will allow you to see any areas of your site that need a quick clean up or fix. If any areas of your site are lacking, it could be hurting your overall search rankings.
• DA/PA Checker – I’m always checking the recent movements on my own sites DA/PA, and also of my competition. There are many tools out there for doing this, but many require a login or limit you on how many searches you can make. This tool does neither.

When it comes to using online tools, tracking reports, and generators to improve your sites SEO or overall performance, be sure to make a list so you can always go back and check your site for updates after changes have been made.

Random Number Generator Tools

If you’ve ever wanted to give something away or randomly pick an individual or event, you may have found yourself using a random number generator. This is one of the most simple generator tools online, but also extremely effective as well.

The most popular one on the internet is Random.org, which simply asks for the end user to enter how many random numbers they want, and the lowest/highest numbers that they should be from. Click a button and you will have your number(s). It doesn’t get much easier than that!

In addition to not collecting any user information on the site, Random.org also provides a bunch of other free scripts, tools, and generators as well. Just visit their main page and scroll down to see their list. Some of the other web tools for site owners and bloggers include:

• Integer Widget – Wizard will put a mini-RANDOM.ORG on your web page or blog
• Draw Widget – Wizard will put the result of a paid drawing on your web page or blog
• HTTP API – This tool will connect true random numbers into your own code
• Guidelines – Describe how to avoid getting in trouble
• Banned Hosts – A list of sites who didn’t behave and have been blocked

Like many other tasks, Google had to come in and create a tool of their own. So if you search for “random number generator”, you will also be able to accomplish this from right within the search window.

The Internet is Your Business Treasure Chest

Never before has it been so easy to get started with a business or brand of your own. Thanks to the internet, everyone now has access to the powerful tools like the ones I’ve listed for you above.

Take advantage of what each of these has to offer, while also bringing your blog, brand, or business to the next level!

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How To Correct a Poor Content Marketing Strategy

A poor content marketing strategy can be blamed for your business failing. If you have an online business, then you are probably relying on 2 things to generate profits. First, you sell products relevant to your niche and they provide value so people purchase them. Next, you have a solid content marketing campaign and this helps generate traffic, leads, and conversions. However, I can tell you from experience that content marketing is tough because you have to find the line between an effective or poor quality marketing strategy. Another thing I’ve noticed in my years of blogging is many people simply don’t pay attention to the signs of a poor content marketing campaign. They’ll let the campaign run and NOT make tweaks along the way. What does this do? Simple…

You’ll waste enormous conversions and leads because you didn’t take the time to tweak along the way. Let’s look at what you can do right now to tweak your content marketing strategy. These are very effective so start today.

Accept Problem

The first line of defense is to admit you need to make changes. When you know you can improve your strategy, only then you can make the right tweaks. You should research online and find out what your competitors are doing and any case studies they have posted. Why? You can find out the average conversion of a solid content marketing strategy and this will guide you in the right direction. For example, I’ve seen conversion rates between 15%-40%, but keep in mind, much of this success has to do with tweaking. These rates improved as the blogger learned about their audience and the type of content they prefer to read.

So,

Always try to do better because this will help push you in the right direction and help you to find ways to improve your content marketing.

Adjust Content Quality

Another huge reason many content marketing strategies fail is because bloggers simply don’t provide value. The time of quantity is gone and has been replaced with quality so you need to change your mind’s focus. Over the years, Google has been working at improving the user experience and this means providing quality. If you want your content marketing strategy to work, then you have to do things differently compared to your competitors. I encourage you to take time and research them then add the elements they are missing going forward. At the same time, you might want to improve your posting schedule by slowing it down so you can focus on publishing value.

Comments Provide Insight

The comment box can be a source of very targeted high value information. For example, through your comment box, you can find questions or feedback that’ll lead to more topic ideas going forward. The next time you publish content, make sure you have a comment box enabled so people can leave comments. What will this do?

First, it will allow you to base content around topics people want to read. Many people post questions within comment boxes and this improves your writing style. Instead of you freebase writing, you’ll write to problem answers to common problems within your niche.

Secondly, your content will resonate with your reader, which is important to improve engagement. This will also increase social shares, which ultimately will direct traffic to your website. Third, it will show your readers that you care about them and write content based on their requirements. I’ve noticed when I write user based content, it’s easier to build engagement and increase conversions at the same time.

Amplify Marketing Channels

Sometimes your content marketing is NOT producing results because you don’t market on the right channels. I’m a true believer in trying everything before changing so recommend the following. You’ll find enormous relevant traffic and can use #hashtags to target a specific group.

• Social media
• PPC networks
• Forums
• Relevant blog comments

Test and tweak because I’m sure some channels will work better for your niche compared to others.

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The Greatest Asset You’ll Ever Own

If you’ve been in business for any time at all, you possess a certain hidden asset that can make you rich. The best thing is, this hidden asset is also hidden from all your competitors. Once you understand and take advantage of its true value, you’ll enjoy an instant and unfair advantage in your marketplace. What is this hidden asset? The secret is this.

Your customer list Is Everything.

The more promotions you run to your existing customers, and the better your relationship with them is, and the more value will accrue to your list.

America’s first billionaire, Andrew Carnegie, once said: “You can take away all my factories, all my machinery, all my equipment, all of my real estate, and leave me with my very best people—and I’ll have it all back in no time flat.”

I love that quote, because I firmly believe in the value of good people. However, I want to add an important distinction. I say: “Take away everything from me, but leave me my best people and my customer list, and I’ll have it all back in no time flat.” That’s because a good customer list is your meal ticket for life. It can produce enormous lifetime sales and profits.

I’m shocked at the number of small businesses that don’t stay in touch with their best customers on a regular basis. What shocks me even more are all the small businesses that are constantly chasing after new customers, but paying very little attention to their existing customers. Their attitude is that their existing customers know where they are, and when they need more of what they sell, they’ll come back automatically. That’s a huge mistake because you can’t be sure it will happen.

This is the secret of success for every business. No matter what business you’re in, getting customers to come back and do business with you repeatedly, for as long as possible, is the key to success. In order to do that you have to invite them to come back and do more business with you. You can’t just wait for them to come to you. It’s easy enough to be proactive.

All you have to do is maintain your mailing list with a service like Aweber or Contact Contact, then contact those people on a regular basis. Develop new products, services, and offers that give them more of what you know is most important to them. Show them you really do care. Every business claims they care about their customers, but what are you doing to prove it?

The key to building a good relationship is to show people you really care about them. That can be very easy to do if you have the systems and processes in place that let you do it. Build and maintain strong relationships with people who have done business with you before. Make it easy for them to keep doing business with you, and you’ll leave your competitors eating your dust. It’s as simple as that.

Start Your List – Today No Risk No – Credit Card Require

My friends over at Constant Contact would like to offer you a free 60 day trial to test out their world class list building service.

The free trial will allow you to explore all the campaign types and features that Constant Contact has to offer. You can create as many campaigns as you want, and try out all the different campaign types available.

And, unlike other trials, you don’t need a credit card to sign up. Test it out for a full 60 days and then decide if you want to be a customer. I’m sure you will once you see how powerful the service is.

In upcoming post seris, I will show you how to take full advantage of all the unique features Constant Contact has to offer. Go set up your free trial now so you learn can along with the training. Remember, it’s free and no credit card is required.

Start Your Free Constant Contact Trial. No Risk. No Credit Card Required.

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Awesome Alexa Skills for Work-at-Home Professionals

Even though you don’t necessarily need the latest and greatest in technology in order to be successful as a professional blogger, Internet marketer, or other online professional, it’s definitely not a bad idea to leverage technology in your favor if it means you can be more productive and your business can be more profitable.

The Amazon Echo family of products isn’t exactly new anymore and that’s a good thing, because there are more developers than ever before who are interested in creating excellent Alexa Skills to go along with Amazon’s smart voice assistant. It can be really daunting to select which Alexa Skills to enable, so here are several that should help you make the most of your dot com day.

Find Your Phone with Tile

Our phones are so much more than “just” our phones these days. They’ve become our lifeblood, the thing that connects us to the rest of the world no matter where we are in the world. Now if only we can figure out where we left it. If you’ve invested in a Tile tracker, then you should definitely enable the accompanying Alexa skill.

You can use it not only to find and ring your phone, but also to track down the various Tile trackers you may have attached to your keys or in your wallet. Alexa can help. If you don’t have Tile, a good alternative is Trackr, which simply works in coordination with the corresponding mobile app.

Get Caught Up with Flash Briefing

Everyone has a slightly different morning routine. Maybe as a dot com mogul, you’re not even a morning person and your day doesn’t start until noon. Maybe you’re an early bird who gets up at 6 a.m. to get an early start to the day. Whatever the case, you can get the audio version of the morning paper by way of Alexa on Amazon Echo too.

Select for a great variety of Alexa Skills that can then be bundled together into your daily flash briefing. Personally, I like to include the weather, a couple relevant news sources (like CNN and Engadget), and a dash of entertainment for balance.

Control Your Nest Thermostat

Maybe the room is a little too cool for your liking. Maybe it’s a little too hot. Whatever the case, you don’t need to reach over for your phone and go through the trouble of finding and opening the Nest app to change your thermostat settings. Just ask Alexa to do it. This way, you don’t have to get up from your desk to stay comfortable and productive.

Turn on the Lights with TP-Link Kasa

Continuing with the theme of the smart home and the Internet of Things, there are Alexa skills available for a great number of smart home brands and ecosystems. One of my favorites is Kasa, which works with the TP-Link family of products.

I can ask Alexa to turn on the lights to my office, change the color of the LED light to blue, or dim the lights to 50% if that’s what I want. You’ll find a similar set of options if you prefer the Belkin WeMo family of smart home products.

Grab a Pizza with Domino’s

Sometimes, you find yourself getting into such a great groove, such a compelling sense of flow, that you just can’t be bothered to interupt your work session. When you work from home, you’ve got to treasure and maximize the benefit from these occurences.

And that might mean that you don’t want to bother getting up to make yourself some lunch (or dinner). It may not exactly be the healthiest option, but you can use the Domino’s skill to order some pizza without ever getting up from your chair or opening another browser tab.

Get Fit with 7-Minute Workout

After loading up on the meat lover’s pizza with extra cheese, after sitting at your desk for hours on end, you really need to combat that sedentary lifestyle with a little bit of physical activity. If you don’t have the time or motivation for something more substantial, the 7-minute workout will get you moving and help you burn off a few of those calories.

Exercise has the added benefit of boosting your endorphins (the “happy” hormones), which can in turn bolster your productivity and creativity too.

Calm Down with Guided Meditation

On the other end of the spectrum, mindfulness meditation can be a remarkably powerful tool in your arsenal as a solopreneur. When you’re getting especially anxious or stressed out about a project, take a few moments to go through a calming guided medtitation with a little help from Alexa. You’ll feel refreshed and better prepared to tackle any challenges that come your way.

Check Your Car with My Tesla

The dot com lifstyle dictates that you need to have a dot com ride. And if that dot com ride happens to be a Tesla, you may be interested in picking up the unofficial My Tesla Alexa skill.

While the skill is not officially developed or endorsed by Elon Musk’s electrified baby, the My Tesla Alexa skill can you let you interact with your hot electric car in all sorts of interesting ways. Ask about its charge status, its current range (“how far can I go”), or its current location. Tell it to honk the horn or set the driver temperature. Pretty cool, huh?

Call a Ride with Uber or Lyft

When your dot com lifestyle takes you away from home (or maybe your dot com lifestyle dictates that you don’t need a car of your own at all), you can always take advantage of the growing community of ride-hailing services to call someone to pick you up and drive you safely to your destination.

Both Uber and Lyft have Alexa skills for precisely this reason, ready to take you wherever your dot com journey may take you.

Do you have any favorite Alexa skills that I missed? Let everyone know by commenting below.

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How I Got Neil Patel To Buy Me a MacBook Air

In this video, I explain how I got Neil Patel to buy me a brand new $2,000 MacBook Air. I also explain why Neil did it and the lessons you can learn from it. Enjoy the video, and I welcome your feedback.

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The Problem with Blogging These Days

I’ve been blogging for so many years and work in many different niches. Aside from my personal blogs, I work with many others, consulting them on how to get online. My cliental includes bloggers, ecommerce, general websites, etc., and this can become very tedious for me. However, I’ve learned a lot along the way and would like to share some of my experience with you now. I’m surprised by how many of my clients have NOT been able to be successful simply because of the way they have approached their business over the years. I’ve figured out some things that were holding people back and what the major problems with blogging are, so I would like to discuss some of the factors below.

This series will be divided into “2” parts…

Let’s get started…

A Simple Idea

One of the major problems right now is people don’t have the right idea before they get started. They think blogging is going to be very easy and start blogging about anything, hoping to make money. However, you need an “idea” to get you moving in the right direction and this can be the difference between success and failure. I always encourage my clients to NOT think too outside of the box and focus on a single idea. Why? The answer is simple…

I’ve noticed a simple idea usually flourishes into something more valuable and this should always be your initial focus. When you think too much, it can push you in the wrong direction and I try to avoid it at all costs. You’ll learn in the next section where your “simple” idea should stem from.

Passion

If you are NOT passionate about your business, then you’re going to fail almost immediately. One huge problem I find with blogging is people get involved for the wrong reasons and this can have an opposite effect going forward. For example, if I’m starting for profits and don’t see them immediately, then I might give up because I have nothing else pushing me in the right direction. The MOST successful blogs online started NOT for profit, but because they wanted to solve a major problem online. By doing this, they kept pushing forward when all else failed and this eventually ended up generating profits for them going forward.

Here is something to keep in mind…

Always start with a simple idea that should be based around your passion. You can dig deeper into your passion and find something specific but make sure the core of your idea is based on your passion.

Not Providing Value

Another huge problem with blogging is people NO longer provide value and are more consumed with bulk blogging. The internet has grown so much over the years that people know EXACTLY what they are looking for and won’t read your content if it doesn’t provide substance. This is why I always encourage bloggers to take time and research before writing. Next, they should make sure their content is lengthy and provides enormous value at the same time.

Writing high value content doesn’t have to be tough, but you have to have patience so you can do the following to help streamline your content writing and value.

• Always do research (keywords, topics, competitors)
• Write an outline covering “target” keywords and subheadings
• Pace your writing and how often you publish. For example, if you pace out your writing over several days, you won’t burn yourself out and will be able to add more value over time. A good publishing frequency to follow is 1-2 posts per week.

Please stay tuned for Part 2, where we’ll be looking at some others, which are destroying blogging.

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Do You Keep a Procrastination List?

It’s a pretty standard practice at most supermarkets and grocery stores. I think the only place where I haven’t seen it (yet) is Costco. You mosey your way through the aisles to pick up a carton of milk, a box of cereal, a pack of chicken thighs and a loaf of bread. These are all pretty typical items on the shopping list for most families. No big deal.

The Cheap Temptations

You make your way over to the checkout and you’re immediately hit by a variety of celebrity gossip magazines. There’s a bit of a lineup, so you catch yourself skimming through the headlines for some of the latest scandalous dealings. The line moves a little bit and you’re hit with fully stocked shelves of candy, chocolate bars and chewing gum, along with more magazines. There may be some cold beverages in little fridges there too, sold for at least double the price (on a per unit basis) of the larger packs you found back in the regular (non-refrigerated) aisles.

And I don’t know about your local supermarkets, but the Real Canadian Superstore here in Vancouver always has a deal of the day or a deal of the week. The cashier is obligated to offer this to you — it could be anything from cough lozenges to dish soap — or else you get one for free.

Why? Why do all supermarkets stock up their cashier lines with these relatively small items? Because they’re all impulse buys, designed to tempt you after you’ve already gone through all your regular shopping in the main part of the store. You see, there’s this concept in psychology called ego depletion and the idea is that your self-control is a limited resource that gets depleted the more you use it.

Enter the Procrastination List

So, what does picking up a sleazy tabloid and a bottle of fizzy drink have to do with Internet marketing and making money online? The very same mechanism at play at the checkout stand before you’re greeted by the cashier is equally applicable to how you go about approaching your day-to-day life as a self-employed professional.

When you set your own schedule and when you don’t have a traditional “boss” to answer to, the opportunities for distraction and procrastination are limitless. And after you exhaust your self-control trying to avoid Facebook and YouTube for a couple hours, it becomes so much easier to give in to your temptation to dive into some forum or fall into a bottomless pit of Google searches, and these end up being a tremendous waste of time.

Perhaps with a healthy dose of irony, I came across an interesting strategy as I was meandering my way through the Internet one day. It’s called the procrastination list, but you can call it whatever you want. Basically, you maintain a list of tasks that you are “allowed” to do when you feel the urge to procrastinate. The key is that when you want to procrastinate, these are the ONLY things you’re allowed to do.

This is a little different from the scheduled breaks you would allow yourself under the Pomodoro technique, as those 5 to 15 minute breaks should be spent away from the computer anyhow. Instead, pull in some items from your Kanban boards or your other to-do lists, items that are lighter and “fun” and could serve as a pleasant escape or “break” from what you’re normally working on.

If you write a lot, as you probably should as a blogger, then perhaps one of your permissible procrastination list items is to take pictures for a product review or shoot a video for your YouTube channel. Maybe it’s to dive into a helpful book that you’ve been meaning to read. The main thing is that when you feel like you want to procrastinate, you must pick something from your procrastination list. If you don’t want to do anything from the list, then you have no choice but to return to whatever it is that you’re currently working on.

Do Better Work

Now while some researchers have evidence that may debunk the notion of ego depletion, the lessons we can learn from the concept can still be applied to our everyday lives, both personally and professionally. Stack the odds in your favor of actually getting important work done. Always keep a procrastination list.

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