In my last post How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym and YouTube video I showed how you can use the free software program Evernote to jot down notes so you can remember anything anywhere at anytime. As I mentioned this works on any platform/ computer (PC, Mac, iPhone, Mobile Phone).
Turn Photos of Notes into Recognizable/Findable Text
One thing I didn't mention about Evernote is that theoretically you can also take photos of your handwritten notes with your mobile/iPhone and Evernote will recognize your handwriting so you can search/find your notes later.
Turn Lost/Misplaced Notes Into Information Bonanza
How many times have you taken notes at a live lecture, webinar, conference call, and filed the notes somewhere (in that giant uncategorized file)...where they're totally lost to you, since you can't locate them when you need them?
Think of all of the conferences, seminars, etc. with tons of great info that would be excellent to tap into...if you just could find it and view it. This should be great for students, conference/seminar/webinar-attendees, knowledge-lovers, and internet marketers (who are always studying and learning).
Now there's a solution, or at least a potential solution...
Not Quite In-Focus Yet
I haven't quite gotten the note recognition functionality to work yet with my T-Mobile Wing phone but this most likely has to do with the resolution (size: number of pixels), quality (fineness), brightness (of light), and/or the distance from the orginal handwritten note (due to the focal length of the camera). Evernote addressed this in their Help/Support: Why can't Evernote find some of the words in my pictures?
How to Turn Handwritten Notes into Retrievable Information
Install Evernote on your Mobile Phone or iPhone.
Start the Evernote program (on your phone).
Select "Snapshot" (Note: This takes you to your phone's camera).
View the handwritten note through your viewfinder and when it's the clearest, take the photo.
Press the curved arrow button.
Enter a title.
Press "Done" (Note: Then your picture will upload to your Evernote page on the Internet).
Go to your Evernote page on the Internet.
Refresh the page (by hitting <Ctrl> + F5 on a PC, or Command/Apple + F5 on a Mac).
View the photo of your handwritten note.
Note: It may take awhile for Evernote to recognize/index the photo of your note.
As I understand it, your note will be processed quicker if you opt for the fee-version of Evernote (which also increases your monthly storage allowance).
Search for a word in your note and Evernote should find your handwritten note so you can read it.
Note: If this doesn't work, then play with the resolution and quality settings on your phone's camera and/or the brightness of the light as well as the distance of the camera from your note.
That's it! (once I figure the last part out, that is).
--> If anyone knows of a clarity-improving solution like this for the T-Mobile Wing or other non-iPhone mobile phones please let me know with a comment below...
Attraction and Internet Marketing
Question: What does all of this have to do with attracting visitors and Internet Marketing?
Answer: People are attracted to:
How to articles.
Solutions to problems.
Tools and gadgets.
Tips and Reviews.
Keywords of interest (e.g., "treasure")
YouTube videos.
Writing blog posts or making YouTube videos addressing what attracts people can increase the traffic to your blog/YouTube site and to your website from there (if they find information of value to them), e.g., IncreaseOnlineProfits.com.
Last word: Always provide valuable content which helps people since "Content is King".
Comments, Questions, Better Solutions?
Have something to say about this? Let me know...
Have a better solution. Chime in...
Have you gotten this to work with your T-Mobile Wing or your mobile phone?
Were there any additional/crucial tips to getting this to work. If so, please let me and the AttractMoreVisitorsblog readers know by leaving a comment below...
Know anyone who might find this blog post interesting/helpful? Then please use "Tell A Friend" below...
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I love working out at the gym because it's a great opportunity to listen to internet marketing podcasts and learn about the lastest marketing strategies and trends. The only problem is that when you hear great ideas (especially ideas that you're thinking of tweeting/blogging about later) it's tough to remember them. Since it's hard to remember several ideas (or website links) throughout your entire workout and until you get to your home/office, it would be great to be able to write them down. But who wants to carry a clipboard or notebook around the gym?
Solution: Your Mobile Phone/iPhone and the multi-platform Evernote program.
Evernote is an excellent web-based as well as phone-based program you can use to jot down your notes in a hurry. All you have to do is register on Evernote's website and then download the Evernote software and install it onto your laptop/desktop (PC or Mac) and web-enabled phone. Since the Evernote site has directions, videos & tutorials & screenshots, I'm just going to show you how to use Evernote at the gym during your workout.
How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym
Download and Synchronize podcasts onto your mobile phone/iPhone.
Note: I use Juice and Windows Media Player for this.
You may use iTunes.
Listen to the podcasts while doing your workout.
When you hear a great idea start Evernote on your mobile phone/iPhone.
Jot down a note in Evernote.
Example: "MOC: Google Website Analyzer" (see Evernote image).
Rinse and repeat (do this for every great idea you hear that you want to remember).
Extra credit to boost your site traffic:When you get back to your home/office write a tweet or blog post based on the great idea.
Clearly when you write these notes on Elliptical Trainers or the Treadmill they don't always look that great (do not do this...see the Caveat/Warning below).
But the point is: All they have to do is be good enough to remind you of the idea you need so you can take action on them, e.g, writing a tweet or posting a blog post.
YouTube Video: "How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym"
How does this help me Attract More Visitors to my Site?
You might be thinking, this is all great, but how does it help me get traffic to my website? Basically, by helping you remember all of the great ideas you heard in internet marketing and social media podcasts so you can blog and tweet about them on Twitter. That's it, no magic or mirrors involved, just enabling you to write more blog posts and Twitter tweets which others may see or find via Google searches and then follow to your website (from your blog or your Twitter bio/profile).
Comments
Have a better way to remember great ideas during your workout? - just let me know...
And "extra credit" points for ways which improve your site traffic as well.
Caveats and Fine Print Warnings!
Please consult your Doctor before engaging in any exercise program. Also, please be sure to *pause* during your exercise routine *before* writing notes in Evernote in your mobile phone/iPhone! After all, you don't want to end up falling or having an accident at the gym.
In Part I of "Why Internet Marketing is Like a Disney Cruise - Are you Clean with that?" I mentioned the hand sanitizers used on Disney Cruises in all of their places to eat. Since we went on our cruise a number of supermarkets have also placed moist hand wipes at their front entrances. Now every time you go to the store you have an opportunity to think about your internet marketing techniques / methods / practices and think "Are you clean with that?".
8 Tests for Clean Marketing
Can you sleep at night? - "Sleep like a baby"? (soundly, peacefully).
Or are you kept up at night worrying?
Would you be OK with your marketing methods if your Mother read about them in an exposé on the front page of the New York Times?
Do you get a little queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you think about your marketing techniques?
Do your Friends ask you questions like, "What happened to you, you always used to be so (insert any nice wholesome word/concept here)?
Could words like bill of goods, cheat, con, deceit, deception, delusion, dishonest, double-dealing, evasion, exaggeration (huge), falsehood, fraud, hype, illusion, lie, misleading, misrepresentation, overstatement (gross), pretense, scam, scheme, shell game, snake oil, snow job, subterfuge, etc. be associated with your internet marketing techniques?
Would you use the same marketing methods on your friends or family. (The ones you like, that is).
If someone used the same marketing method on you, would you feel tricked or played for a sucker. Again, the "Golden Rule".
Solutions: "Faith, Trust, And Pixie Dust"
Clarity and transparency - it's as simple (and clean) as that.
If you can explain your internet marketing methods to a child or to the hero of a child (e.g., Mickey Mouse, Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty, Lilo [not Stitch!]) and they're ok with them, then you're probably OK.
Being open and honest with your visitors and customers will give them a reason to believe in you, and your methods, and your site - a reason to have faith in you and trust you, your business, and your website/blog/podcast.
Building trust through the words you use and living up to them with follow-through.
Building trust by using trust badges/symbols, etc. where a visitor would want them to be. E.g., Better Business Bureau, Association logos, Visa/MasterCard badges (when purchasing), etc.
Building trust through real Testimonials/Reviews. People can spot bogus testimonials. Remember what your Mom said, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Using persuasion instead of delusion or confusion. Be conscious of when you begin using internet marketing hype instead of a persuasive argument.
Pixie dust: It's ok to have add a little magic - some zing. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) seems like magic, but it works. So a little "white hat" SEO (the good SEO) is fine. Especially since these techniques are no more than what Google recommends so it can serve-up more targeted search results to its customers (searchers). You're just helping Google's customers find what they're truly looking for better.
Bottom Line: Add content and value - true value - and market them as straightforwardly as possible.
Morality Screed versus "What Just Makes Sense" and the Law
You might be thinking that this is just a heavy-handed moral screed, but really it's a plea to consider how your marketing efforts are viewed by those who encounter them, your potential customers. Then turn it around and think (deep down), "Do I want to be marketed to that way?" and that should be your answer.
"The Federal Trade Commission Act allows the FTC to act in the interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair acts or practices. In interpreting Section 5 of the Act, the Commission has determined that a representation, omission or practice is deceptive if it is likely to:
mislead consumers and
affect consumers' behavior or decisions about the product or service."
Everything I need to know about Internet Marketing, I learned on a Disney Cruise: "Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust". Are you "clean with that"? (more on this below...)
Cleanest Hands in the World
Clean hands make a healthy voyage. Every time you eat on a Disney Cruise, you're given moist hand wipes before you're allowed in the dining facility. One of the comedians on the cruise joked that "We have the cleanest hands in the world."
I'm "Clean With That"
When I used to work for a Big Oil company (I mean large global energy resources corporation), one of my co-workers used to rate decisions and/or courses of actions by saying, "I'm clean with that." This is like saying, "I'm OK with that," but far more positively.
Clean Marketing
Similar to these two examples, if we can be "clean" with the methods of Marketing we use, then we can feel good about what we're doing. I think this spirit of positivity carries over to the people we're attracting to our web sites and creating relationships with. If we're genuine about our intent then people will sense this and naturally be more predisposed to purchase at our web site.
"Mud People" versus The Golden Rule
Conversely, I remember hearing a professional speaker refer to the members of his audiences as "mud people". These were people he felt were stuck in the mud in their lives and needed his hand (techniques) to help pull them out.
This is wrong on so many levels. Once you start thinking of your potential visitors or customers as "marks" (easy marks), as they say in the carnival business, then clearly you've lost all respect for them. As always, the time-honored test is, "Would I want to be thought of that way?"
As the Golden Rule says: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"The ethic of reciprocity (also known as the Golden Rule) is an ethical code that states one has a right to just treatment, and a responsibility to ensure justice for others." - Wikipedia
If you would not want to be thought of that way, then steer a straight course for a journey to internet marketing success you can be "clean" with.
More on this is Part 2: Why Internet Marketing is Like a Disney Cruise - Part 2
Wishing you the best online marketing success,
Karl
PS: Have a Comment on this? Or are you "clean with that"?
In Part I we started looking at ways of evaluating and changing your website (or blog) to improve it. Today I'm giving you 10 Quick Questions to help with this process:
10 Quick Questions for Evaluating/Improving your Website
Does your website look nice and inviting? (Does it make your visitors "feel" nice, like the landscape on the right?)
Is it a site that you'd feel like staying at if you just happened to land on it? (Where you feel like you could lie down in the meadow, enjoy the blue sky, and watch the clouds - in other words: hang out for awhile, check out the info/resources, and engage at the site.)
Can visitors find your "Buy" button? (so they can take the desired action easily, e.g., Buy, Join, Subscribe, Register, etc.).
Can prospective buyers (visitors) find what they need easily (information, prices, reviews/testimonials, etc.)?
Is it easy and intuitive to navigate around your site? (Or is it a virtual maze or an impossibly dense mishmash of text or links pretending to be organized)?
Is it easy to use/access your site? (Are there so many fonts and colors that the content is difficult to see, especially for visually impaired individuals)?
Does your site rank highly in search engine results (particularly Google's)?
Is your site's search engine result (Title and Description) enticing enough that you'd click on it (versus all of the others)?
If you click on your site's search engine result, are you taken to the site you'd expect from the Title and Description?
Now loop back to #1 (above) and quickly run through this list again with "fresh" eyes (based on how your site might be found by potential visitors searching the internet).
Bottom Line
IMPORTANT: Please note that "potential visitors" aren't visitors until they visit and "potential buyers" aren't buyers until they buy.
Your task is to re-design your site to create the environment that entices searchers to visit and visitors to buy. This may involve using some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as well as some E-Marketing techniques and strategy (list building, E-Newsletters, Social Media/Networking, etc.) to promote your site and attract people to it.
If you'd like more ways to evaluate and improve your website (or blog) you might enjoy our free 77 Great Tips of Internet Marketing (at top-right of web page) for a more complete checklist.
~~~
Have any questions, comments, or tips of your own for evaluating websites? If so, please leave a comment...
With a New Year and a sense of there being a new outlook in the world, it's a good time to think how your website/blog/podcast is doing. While the Presidential Inaugural parade was today in Washington DC, we can also look at the recent Rose Parade on New Year's day in Pasadena for some guidance on website design and strategy.
Design, Planning, Functionality, and Theme
Looking at the before and after pictures of NAMM's* "Musical Extravaganza" float which was designed to coincide with the Rose Parade's "Hats Off to Entertainment" theme you can see that a lot of work and planning goes into creating a pleasing yet functional float. And it must have been pleasing because it won the President's Trophy.
* National Association of Music Merchants
Big Bird float - BEFORE
Big Bird float - AFTER
Before and After
This wasn't just random - the float was entirely conceptualized and planned out before it was built (structurally) and the flowers were glued on. You can see the scaffolding used to build the structure in the Before photo (on the left) and the final flower-decorated float in the After photo (on the right).
Blind Evolution versus a single Objective
But many websites have grown-up (evolved?) from initial ideas/concepts into something which might be quite different from what they originally began as. These websites (yours?) weren't tightly themed, planned, and constructed with a sole purpose for a particular effect or goal (e.g., winning the President's Trophy).
"Now" is the Time to Step-Back and Evaluate your Site
No matter how your website got to where it is, now is a great time to step-back and evaluate it (or re-evaluate it). One way not to do this is to let your body go all limp, squint your eyes, and stare at your website for x minutes (like a "magic picture").
Ways to Evaluate (and Improve) your Site
Ok, so if that isn't the way to evaluate your site, then what is? One way would be to find a handful of brutally-honest friends and ask them what they think. A variation on this would be to find a handful of strangers and ask them what they think. The difference being that you'd have to reward the strangers in some way (free ____, pay them, etc.). Or you could simply evaluate it yourself by answering some questions or using a checklist.
On this Thanksgiving I find that I have so much to be thankful for:
You(!), my blog reader: For finding your way here and reading this blog. My hope is that you find what you seek and enjoy what you read.
My Wife, Milen: For a huge amount of things (way too many to count), including her practical wisdom and her passion for arranging our travel (like Costa Rica!).
My business Partner, Rick Henkin: For asking me to be the EVP of IncreaseOnlineProfits.com and for his great business sense, ability to carry a dream to fruition, clear thinking and clear writing among many other things.
My co-instructor at UCLA Extension, Beverly Macy: For being one of the most amazing people I know, not to mention being a Strategic Planning wizard and having a dynamite and dynamic sense of Marketing in every realm (Global, Social Media, offline, online, Web 2.0...).
Our bunny rabbits: For showing us that a lot can communicated even without words and that sometimes it's great to simply jump for joy (called binking). When's the last time you jumped for joy?
All of my Friends (you know who you are!): For being so thoughtful and supportive.
The Internet: For giving us a platform we can all communicate better and more quickly on.
Let's hope it remains free.
The Long Tail of the Internet: For giving us an infinite and unlimited amount of niches and for giving every individual a community (no matter how small) they can belong to.
Social Media: For giving us ways communicate better and more real-time than ever before with: Blogs (like Attract More Visitors), Photo sharing sites like Flickr, Video sharing sites like YouTube, etc.
Wordpress and other Open Source Applications: For furnishing platforms for us to publish on, communicate with, and connect through.
Plugin Creators, Coders, and Programmers Everywhere: For empowering our platforms and giving us the tools to do what we do.
Wikis and Collaborative/Community Websites: For giving us places to contribute and come together in meaningful ways.
Bloggers and Podcasters: For sharing your wisdom and insights in real time and on-the-fly.
Creativity: Rising up from yoga and meditation, helping bring out great ideas and possibilities.
The Universe: From subatomic particles to Super Novas and everything in between - giving us a playground to be creative in.
That from where all Creativity emanates: Known by many names, worshipped in many forms, languages, and constructs: For allowing us to be...and be together.
Yes, we have much to be thankful for, so please pardon this partial list.
I'd also be thankful for your comments, if you'd care to share them:
Welcome to the Attract More Visitors blog. The mission of this blog is to help you attract more visitors to your web site, blog, or podcast.
How?
By using evil internet marketing techniques, vacuuming unwilling and unsuspecting innocent bystanders onto your site and holding them hostage until they buy from you?
No!
How really?
By using proven e-Marketing, Social Media/Networking, and traditional marketing techniques.
Of course any discussion about attracting visitors and increasing traffic wouldn't be complete without some SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEM (Search Engine Marketing), and SMO (Social Media Optimization).
Anyone who has a site that isn't performing to the level they'd like.
Maybe you have a business-card website that you set up years ago and have never done anything with since.
Or maybe your business has the obligatory stagnant website that no-one ever updated.
Or perhaps your business has a phenomenal web site, but not as many people come to it as you would like, so your chances of convincing them to buy from you are problematic at best.
Why does the Title of this post say "...or Else!"
That's just a fun and humorous way of titling the post. Life is too dull and serious anyway. The process of attracting people to your web site should be interesting - to you...and them. Nothing says that you can't have a good time during this process. Part of this blog will be using humor, satire, irony, and roasting (there's nothing like "roasted web site"...ummmm!...until you've seen it) to make some points. So stay tuned and see if you can "spot the irony".
While the focus of this blog is to Attract More Visitors, the focus of our sister blog is to Create More Customers. Together these blogs and our upcoming web site are an integrated whole which will help your business achieve the success you desire. Well that is, if you take the techniques we show you and apply them.
Nike has a great slogan: "Just Do It". And you should do it too. We'll show you how - all you need to do...is, well, do it. By applying these techniques consistently you'll find success, which means that more visitors will find your site and choose to do business with you...over and over.
Sound like a plan?
Ok, let's get to it then...
Oh, and by the way, our IncreaseOnlineProfits.com web site will have a lot more techniques (with "how-to" descriptions, videos, etc.) available when it's up and going. If you'd like to keep updated on when these will be available, just subscribe to our eNewsletter and grab our free 77* Point Internet Marketing Checklist while you're at it. See the upper right corner of this page for the opt-in box to subscribe.
* 77 Points as of this post date. With the imminent roll-out of changes to Google's algorithms these points may also change somewhat, but if you continue adding true value and transparent usability of your site for your visitors then you should still be on the right track.
One last thing:
You might wonder why we're making the distinction between "attracting visitors" and "creating customers".
First you have to get the people in the door, or in our case, in the "virtual door" of your web site. Then you can consider how to "convert" them to a customer or buyer of your products, services, ideas, etc.
If there's no "there there", visitors will leap (bounce) out of your site and you won't have a chance to sell to them.
The "creating customers" side of the equation involves everything that would give the visitor an enjoyable and informative time on your site, such that everything they're exposed to eases and smoothes their way to finding what they need (visually pleasing, intuitively organized, with great accessibility and usability) so they can make an informed decision and finally make their purchase(s) seamlessly and without a hitch.
As my partner, Rick Henkin says, "Your competitors are only a click away." Getting your visitors to stay long enough to buy is critical to this process. Is every aspect of your site designed to lead visitors to this favorable conclusion? That's why the "create customers" part is crucial. For more on this see the Create More Customers blog.
In my last post How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym and YouTube video I showed how you can use the free software program Evernote to jot down notes so you can remember anything anywhere at anytime. As I mentioned this works on any platform/ computer (PC, Mac, iPhone, Mobile Phone).
