Using Social Media to profit from the July 4th holiday might seem like a far fetched idea and an impossibility but in fact, it is in some ways easier than other ideas involving social media.

Here are some great ideas you can use right away to profit from the July 4th holiday and social media.

1. Create a Squidoo lens around a July 4th theme.

I put together one on July 4th picnics.

2. Write a blog post around a July 4th theme. Get creative here. For example, if you are in network marketing you could talk about how thankful you are for the freedoms of the United States which allow you to have a network marketing business. If you are a banker, real estate, or other business professional then you could share how the July 4th holiday has impacted your business or if you are involved in any kind of business really, you could share your gratitude and thoughts about July 4th and what it means to you.

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What makes a great Facebook note?

The basic elements of a great Facebook note are the following:

The note is interesting, entertaining, it invites comments and it engages your readers. Now, here is a list of 8 great ideas for Facebook Notes:

1. Top 10 tips.
Share top 10 tips for how to do something, or how to avoid pain, get something that people desire, or related to something that your target audience is interested in.

2. Support or stir up awareness about an issue or a cause.

3. Something slightly controversial.
Be careful though with this one, as you can also make people mad if you don’t handle it appropriately.

4. Ideas about how to do something.
People love to learn and be taught, use Facebook notes that teach them something.

5. Information about a local event.
This can be a great way to get the word out about what you are doing.

6. Questions and Answers
People always have questions and you can use a Facebook note to answer their questions for them.

7. Personal Experiences
People love to read about others, especially if your stories are interesting and if they share a piece of you and how you can help them.

8. Inspirational Quotes or Stories.
These are great and also offer a great way to get people motivated and many times if the story or quote is good enough it will go viral and others will share it.

If you have been online for any length of time, you have no doubt heard about GDI or Global Domains International.

This company is the exclusive register of the .ws domain. Well, I had heard of them before and a few years ago I had watched their online movie but I had at that time decided not to join.

Well recently I decided to give the program a try, and why not? At only $10 a month with a 7 day free trail it’s a no brainer.

Plus the income opportunity is a bonus. I have to say that I am impressed. I have tried a lot of site builders and template website programs in the past and still have one that I use for one of my websites but they all seem to either be overpriced or have limitations and in many cases while they claim to be WSIWGY and friendly, I have not found this to be the case. There is still a learning curve with many of them and they can be quite frustrating to learn to use.

No more, the site builder that comes with GDI’s service is impressive, very easy to use and the only website template builder I have found that is truly what you see is what you get. If you can use Microsoft Word you can use their website builder. So why not give it a try? You have nothing to use and I believe you will be presently surprised at how easy and friendly their service is.

I recently discovered another way that you can make money online. You can become a writer for examiner.com This website pays you based on the number of people who view the articles you write on a given topic for their website. You are expected to write at least three articles per week and to work on promoting your articles. If you have a business you can also promote it via your examiner profile. In addition you can earn a referral commission for each new person you refer who is accepted to write for them. They are currently looking for writers for a variety of topics, so why not apply today and get busy getting paid for your articles? And please tell them AnnaLaura Brown sent you.

Social Media Marketing can seem confusing and complicated to many people. However, it really is quite simple if you know what to do. Here are some keys to follow to make your social media marketing simple.

1. Decide who you want to target with social media marketing.
2. Develop a plan to target them and then connect with them and then engage in conversation with them.
3. Have a plan in place to build a list and to stay in contact long-term with those with whom you build relationships.
4. Spend 1-2 hours per day working for social media marketing.
5. Offer value via content, notes, videos, quotes, free reports and other interesting bits of information.
6. Make sure people know how to buy from you.
7. Make sure to take the relationship offline when appropriate.
8. Take advantage of social media to invite people to events both teleseminars and offline events.
9. Avoid spam like the plague.
10. Have fun.

Learn more about social media with my online business newsletter.

As a small business owner building a business online, it is crucial to brand yourself and to establish credibility. There are various ways to accomplish this. I will discuss only seven of them.

1. Place your picture on your website. In my opinion, this is not optional, people need to see who they are doing business with and this allows them to see you as a real person rather than someone who is trying to hide.

2. Provide an audio message in your own voice or a video on your website.

This is closely tied to the former tip. It all has to do with feeling connected and human.
This is crucial to helping others understand who you are and to building a relationship with you. This is especially true in an automated world.

3. Place your PHYSICAL address and contact information on every page. If you are nervous about this you can include only your city, state, and zip and then your full address or a P.O. Box in your autoresponder messages.

Here again you are being transparent and in the open about your identity and how you may be contacted. You have nothing to hide, and you do not intend to take their money and close down your website the next day.

Can you be reached by fax, landline phone, email, and mobile phone? This information adds to your credibility, not to mention your perceived availability.

4. Do not use a free email or hosting service as your main site.

This is crucial to how people will perceive you. If you use a free email or hosting service, not only will the quality suffer but it will send the message that you must not be doing very well with your business because you cannot afford to even pay for your web hosting, or your email account.

5. Have an About Me or About Us page.

People need to know who you are and why they should do business with you. They also want to know a bit about your story, why you started your business and how you can help them. Including your business vision and goals are also good ideas.

6. Include a Privacy Statement.

Internet users are becoming more and more sensitive to how their personal information is being used. This makes it almost imperative for you to provide a page with your privacy policy.

General concerns that would have to be addressed are:
*How you use the information that is collected.
*Is the information shared with a third party?
*Let them know how they can opt out of any mailing list they sign up for.

7. Use your customers unsolicited testimonials and product reviews.

This can help establish third-party credibility and make it so that people are aware that other people like and use your products and services besides just you.

Grab your free copy of my online business newsletter and get special subscribers only videos, reports and more.

If you have been using article marketing to grow your business for any length of time then you know that it can be more of a challenge than many people realize. Here are 7 keys you can use to ensure an effective article marketing strategy.

1. Plan out how many articles you will write each day, each week and each month. In the beginning you will want to write more articles and after you already have written quite a few then you can cut back and write less.

2. Do keyword research in order to determine what keywords you want to target with your article marketing. You can use the google keyword research tool or something else with fancier features if you have the money.

3. Write at least five articles for each of your major keywords and post them online at 2-5 article directories or in other popular online locations.

4. Post a selection of some of your articles on your own website.
Regular updates and content via article marketing will help boost the search engine rankings of your website.

5. Keep track of where you have posted your articles, the date when you posted them and of the amount of traffic you are receiving from each one.

6. Find at least three content websites for your niche where you can have one or more of your articles published. This will help you get more traffic from readers whom you would not otherwise reach.

7. Even after you have already published quite a few articles, continue to write at least 2-3 new articles each month in order to keep new content following into the search engines with your name and website attached.

Do you need article marketing help? Let me help you with my comprehensive article marketing is easy course.

Do you want to learn how you can market your business and make money with a newsletter?
Watch the video below and then sign up at Newsletters Teleseminar to join me on the phone on June 22nd.

Many people have the belief after seeing ads online that you can start an internet business for free. They see offers for free web hosting, free blogs, free autoresponders and free advertising plus free social networking sites, free business cards and more. However, this is not really true.

While there are online businesses you can start that do not require money upfront, the reality is that any long-term and sustainable business will have a cost. You can only use free for so long, and it will only go so far. There may only be some aspects in the business wherein you do not have to invest any amount to actually open up your online business.

For example, registering a domain name. Although this is not expensive, it does have a cost to it and you do need to do this in order to be viewed as a viable and legitimate business. Another example, is an autoresponder, because while there are free ones out there, they do not have the features, and reliability that you will need to make any reasonable amount of money.

Before you begin you should look up actual experiences of online entrepreneurs who are now earning thousands of dollars. From their experiences you may learn several things that will help you become ready than ever to launch your free online business. This can save you quite a bit of time and headaches.

Your online business domain must reach everywhere. Better not search free offerings for these and choose the best services, even if they might cost you some dollars. However, choose the web hosting service that offers the ones you need. Do not spend on other features that you do not require. When first getting started with your online business, you can find a good host for around $6.00 a month.

Many free online business information from reputable websites give you tons of tips on handling your internet business.

Free online business may not be very free. Nevertheless, in breaking down the aspects you need to have and know in getting started, you will find many free offerings to take advantage of.