Are you tagging your images?  No?!  Then you’re missing out on tons of free traffic from Google!  Have NO idea what I’m talking about?  I’ll teach you, of course!  Read on…

When you upload an image to your WordPress site, there are fields to give your image a title and description.  As with anything in WordPress, if you fill in the blanks, you’re pretty much golden.  Don’t neglect these blanks!

Google loves to know what the pictures on websites are about, because their bots can’t really “read” an image.  Makes sense so far? So when you fill in the blanks (also called “tagging”), you are telling Google what the image is about.

When Google knows what your picture is about, it’s happy to send you traffic to it!  Google even has a way to search just images.

I’m amazed every month at the traffic I get just from my images.  This stuff truly works, and it’s so easy.  Just fill in the blanks that show up when you upload an image.

Don’t worry about being too fancy… just be honest, and you’ll be great.  I tend to try to use long tail keywords, which means I use at least 3 words for the title of the image.  I also try to make it similar to the title of the post.  I leave the alternate text field blank because WordPress will make that the title, but will add hyphens.  (These words are what will show up if someone’s browser can’t show pictures.)  For the description, just write a sentence describing the image.  It doesn’t hurt to use that longtail keyword pharse in there, too.

Shows which fields to fill out when tagging images

I have kept this post simple.  Could I make it overly complicated and talk way over your heads?  Sure, of course I could.  The topic of tagging images is worthy of a whole workshop of it’s own.  But to keep it simple, just fill in the blanks.  Be honest.  Google loves that honesty stuff.

Then…  watch the free traffic roll in.

Oh, and if you haven’t been tagging your images…  spend a little while and go back and fill in the blanks.  You’ll be glad you did.

If you liked this article, hit that Google +1 button.  It tells Google this is good stuff.

Alright, want a super easy tip that can get you more recruits and leads right away?  Here it is…  Put your full address, e-mail address and phone number on your websites!

Really!  It’s that simple, but I see many home party plan reps who think they shouldn’t.  Some of the reasons you may not have done this include:

• “I’m worried that my home address and phone number will be public.”  Well, yes, don’t you WANT it to be public?  You’re running a business, after all.  Get yourself out there!
• “I’m worried I will get unwanted phone calls.”  This is valid, to a point.  Here’s the thing… you may get some unwanted phone calls.  But you will also get phone calls that you want, from leads!  Don’t you think it’s worth it?
• “I’m worried I’ll get spam e-mails.”  You may, of course.  But you’ll also get e-mails from leads.  So, again.  Decide and weigh your options.  Spend a few seconds deleting spam from your inbox AND get good leads.  Or, save yourself the hassle of the spam, and get no leads.  Hmmmm.
• “I’m worried people will know where I live.”  What do you have to hide?  People who find your website are looking for your product or your opportunity.  They’re not looking to harass you.  On the other hand, leads are looking to buy or join with someone, and they naturally want to know where you live.  Tell them and show them!
• “If people are really interested, they will fill out the contact form on my website.”  This is NOT true in all cases.  People are leery of websites and scams, and they want to know they are dealing with a real person.  If you are hiding your address and phone number, they think you are a scam.  They will not fill out your contact form.  Rather, they will just leave your site.

So, just put your full contact information on your site.  The benefits of doing so are…

1. People know you are real.
2. You don’t seem scammy, like you’re hiding something.
3. Builds trust.
4. Gives prospects a phone number so they can CALL you!  Yes, some will!
5. Helps people looking for a local rep to know where you are.
6. Tells Google where you are and will send you more traffic.  This is a good reason alone!
7. Tells Google you are legitimate.  In turn, they send you more traffic.

Would you like a hint to reduce the spam e-mail and phone telemarketer calls?  Here  you go…  Make an image of your address, phone and e-mail address.  The mean spam bots can’t read an image, so they can’t harvest your info.  Take a look at my contact page, and you’ll notice, it’s actually an image.  You can’t even copy/paste the text.

You can do this in Paint, which is probably on your computer already, or any free image editor.  You could also hire someone on Fiverr.com to do this for you.

Two other ways to protect your privacy, yet still gain trust is to get a virtual phone number and forward it to your home phone, or just check the voice mails frequently. I like www.Phone.com for this.  And for your address, you can get a PO box at your post office or a local UPS store.  I personally don’t do these things, because I prefer to keep my costs down and my life simple.  But doing those two things are better than hiding behind a contact form!

So..  don’t be afraid!  Put your full contact info on your site!  Address, phone number and e-mail address!  Do this one thing, and you will greatly increase your odds of getting leads from your home party plan or direct sales website.

Google loves fresh content.  It’s in the business of giving searchers websites that are relevant and not outdated.  So if you were to blog or add content to your site each week, google thinks your site is up to date and current.  Even the older stuff you posted will rank better.

I definitely notice when I take a few weeks off and don’t post anything, that I get less traffic from Google.  When I start posting at least weekly, the rankings increase again.

Don’t stress about your posts, either.  You can see that lots of my posts are very short, as a matter of fact.  Just a paragraph or two is much better than not blogging at all.

Easy peasy way to increase your search engine traffic.  Now go do it. 

I love HootSuite!,  http://hootsuite.com/  I use the just the free version, and it’s great.  I can manage my twitter account, personal facebook account and my facebook pages from one easy console.  It’s really clever.  And I love that it’s free.  Of course, they have great apps for your phones and ipads, too.  No more excuses.  I must get posting!  You, too!  Go check it out.

I met a lady who sells handbags for a popular direct sales/home party plan company recently. I told her what I do, and she instantly tuned me out because she said her company policy doesn’t allow her to use their name or logo on the internet.  So she assumed that there’s no way that online marketing would be useful to her.  She’s dead wrong.  Here are just some of the ways that you can market yourself online without using your company’s name or logo.

1. Blog about yourself.  When you have a website or blog, you shouldn’t be blogging about just the product or company, anyway.  All of you should be branding yourself.  Leave the company out of it.  Just write about your life, and sometimes, mention how your life is better because of the great products you use to solve a problem.  Or how your life is better because you have your own home business.  People will be curious, and will ask you.  This is more powerful than you can imagine.
2. Build an e-mail list.  On your blog, ask people for their e-mail addresses.  It’s no different than the rest of my e-mail marketing training.  In e-mails, you can mention the company and products because e-mails are not posted in the public online space.  In exchange for their e-mail, offer information, “Would you like to know the company that makes my life better?  Enter your e-mail address and I’ll tell you.”  Something like that.
3. Be honest.  On your blog, you can say that you’re not allowed to mention the company’s name because of their rules.  Tell people that if they would like to know more, they must get on your list or call you.  Make your phone number available as well as your e-mail address.
4. Facebook is still valuable.  It’s the same idea as with your blog. Just mention little tidbits now and then about how your life is better.  People will be curious and ask what products you’re referring to.

Those are the big ways.  And they are the same big ways we should all be marketing ourselves.  Brand yourself.  People will like YOU first, then your products.  Really, the restrictions on marketing with the company name are no big deal.  The internet is still full of leads for you!

Creating a blog is really simple in 2011.  And, super cheap.  There are free ways, but with those methods, you don’t really own it.  Some other company owns it.  And I’m a big fan of you being in control of your business in every way.

A blog and website are pretty much the same thing.  WordPress is the best way to accomplish both.  It’s simple and free.  I made videos that show you step by step how to create a blog.  Click here to watch them.

In this video I give several strategies for struggling owners of small retail shops.  The last tip is the best, I think! There is a sample of the “browsing buck” below the video for you to download.

Note:  Don’t call the “browsing buck” a coupon.  Call it a “browsing buck.”  Tell them it’s for anything in the store.  Wording matters. Print some.  Make it look like a dollar bill.  Like monopoly money.  Simple.  I made up a simple ugly one for you to download and print. Seriously ugly, but you get the idea.    Try it!