Never before has it been more necessary for a company to use internet marketing tactics to not only capture market presence but to also learn about their target audience. Suffice it to say that no longer is there such a thing as brand loyalty and it is the job of a good marketer to understand what makes the mind of the consumer tick. The advent of new technology within our global culture has created a faster than light mentality toward information. From an advertising and PR standpoint, the main concern is that the customer be sent the correct information, at the correct time and in the correct format, wording style.

Our concerns are that with the current housing market and competition at an all time high due the bursting bubble that an organization such as ours benefit from these practices in the most positive of lights as well as protect itself from future problems. As a result, there must be an understanding of the customer and their needs, in other words, now it is most important to understand the target audience.

Essentially a marketing strategy is built around the core values, vision and objectives of the organization. Study of market strategy one becomes aware that in order to have product, price, promotion or placement, the organization must have done its research on the market and the consumer need for its service. Without an understanding the targeted audience, the organization cannot market at all. It is important to work the product, its price, distribution and promotion around the needs of the people and of course, from there, work to persuade segments of the segment into wanting the product. This is called product diversification. Not everyone can afford to be a homeowner right now but a smart realtor will play up the prospect of this happening for future buyers. They will encourage fist time home buyer education and seminars to understand getting a deal in a tight market. Still this environment is cut throat with many threats to income. Consumers are more wary of huge purchases with the current economy and many are looking to the future leadership of this country to set the tone.

What many business people starting out really do not understand about marketing and understanding the average consumer is that more that likely the target is open to finding information about your product or service. It may be they are unaware the need is not satisfied yet but until the need is defined, they will not be receptive. They just need a little push in the right direction. Still it is your job and the purpose of the marketing strategy to define who should be looking for you. Without a clear picture of this, networking or customer relationships cannot be formed on a wink and a prayer. There needs to be a plan. Still this is not to say that your customer will not be diverse in nature. I mean everyone needs a place to call home whether they rent or buy. So it is important that your web site be driven by these defining variables.

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 There are many things you can do to ensure your blog remains successful with the appropriate amount of traffic.  It is important that once you start the blog, you continue updating it with content and different techniques to promote community interaction.  In this way, you can not only drive customers to your site but also expand the online community.  This provides a new level of interaction for many people who would not otherwise know each other.  Here are some tips that are effective in increasing your website traffic.

1. Not to worry about page rank. People worry too much about page ranks or PR. This is a glorified and an unrealistic way of measuring the web site's popularity. Blogging, yes it is about presence but also networking within the online community to build social interaction. What is more important here is content viewer-ship and guest blogging as a means of building integrity on the Web. Ranking will come and go but diehard fans and friends on the Web will continue traffic patterns.
2. Make your presence known and the message clear. Your content needs to be unique every time you post. It is important to cover lots of information but also edit it concisely.
   
   
3. Start a conversation. It is also important to remain human and use everyday language to capture the attention of the every day person. Write like you are talking to your new friends because formal, academic writing will not catch a visitor's attention but only label the site as boring.
4. Create your own Blog.  Blogs practically write themselves. With the addition of Feedburner (http://www.feedburner.com/), you can allow your blog to be transmitted via RSS feeds and therefore develop user metrics. The next thing you should do is mesh up with Google Analytics, which is a sitemap plug-in that allows for populating the blog and inventing helpful, actionable metrics. Also another thing people often forget is to ensure the blog is actively shooting a signal at http://www.technorati.com/ and other social-positioning sites like http://www.digg.com/. This indeed sets the blog up to be included in a myriad of networks.
5. Focus on ranking for three key words or phrases to start. This is where ranking becomes important. The keywords for your blog should be present within your HTML title tags and also evident within the site's content, where appropriate. Remember too much of a good thing, may be just that. Still it is important to keep in mind the concept of key word concentration ranks because they will evolve over time. If these ranks get above 5%, the site becomes convoluted with extraneous words. It is smart to allow the concentration to remains between 2% to 3% as this allows for creative choice and flexibility. This practice allows potential bloggers to know the essence of the site right away.
6. Have a "Recommend This Site to Your Friends" link on your blog. If you want what people refer to as regular patrons, make sure you have a "Recommend This Site" link on your blog because this is the best marketing or PR anyone can generate, or word of mouth. If someone likes your site, more than likely his or her friend will as well.
7. Have knowledge of the competition. You must know and understand your competition. They're looking at your stuff so have a deep understanding of theirs. Look at http://www.spyfu.com/ to do a little legwork of research of the particulars of evaluations employed by competitor sites and their visitors. While you cannot steal their ideas but it will give you a better idea of what they're doing so you can do it better or reinvent the essence of the idea.
8. Remember SEO basics. Don't forget the roots of web site traffic in the first place. Remember to provide thought provoking keyword-rich title tags, meta keywords and descriptions, and only link to high-quality sites. Remember too much of a good thing is overkill. Don't over do it. Your posts should flow naturally and be precise, important to the day's context. Still most of all, remember to keep the postings current.
9. Get linked alongside related blogs on other sites. Another thing you can do to optimize your exposure is to trade links and you can request the blog administrator to do this especially as you become a regular guest blogger and if your writing is good enough or your knowledge extensive. Where this really works well is specialty or Niche sites.
10. Don't fill blog post titles with keywords. Don't stuff keywords into posts titles. This is a big no-no. There is a careful balance between keywords and non-keywords about 40/60.
11. Present your URL to blog directories. On the web there is an ‘in crowd' or ranking called "best of the Web," which are considered paid directories, such as Yahoo, but also other free directories. One good example is the Open Directory project that can be found at http://www.dmoz.org/. Still what is special about directories and how they work like a phone book, each listing is yet another connection to your site or yet another means of people finding out about your blog. When in doubt, continue to google directories as they are updated regularly.
12. Invent blog categories that contain keywords, for instance, popular words that describe your blog like Real Estate, Foreclosure etc. These keywords assist with accurate site hosting and definitely allows for better positioning and design in the long run.
13. Have Quality content! It is important to have an understanding of what topics your target audience are reading about. In this case, try to write something appealing and unique. Your opinion goes a long way. Also older posts work in a way for you that regular updating is needed because things change so quickly. You don't want to appear out dated and slow.
14. Vary topics, content length, relevancy and posting times. Really the key is to stay disciplined in this art of Blogging. The art of keeping an audience is to remain constant but also take your time so that you catch the eye of the SE spider.
15. Invite guest bloggers. Another idea that can help you with remaining timely and consistent in content is to invite guests to blog. If your blog becomes linked, you soon build a community, a virtual neighborhood of interaction and information exchange. Ask your community to create submission for your blog and you can also repay them the favor as well.
16. Do not duplicate. Please do not use old or duplicate content. Also if you are to going use other people's stuff, even if it is public domain (let's say literature), you need to signify this with quotation marks.
17. Call posters by name. Get friendly with your bloggers and remember their names. Recognition of their contributions is important to maintaining a sense of community. So if one frequent poster is named Nancy, make sure to acknowledge her participation.
18. Be friendly with other bloggers no matter what the purpose of your is, if it's business related or personal. This crucial to all interactions. You've asked them to guest blog and you need to return the favor. This is will pay off as more and more bloggers tell their communities to link with yours because you have remained an active poster on their sites.
19. Kill them with kindness. Your mother always said, send a Thank You Note. There may not be the time but make it. Getting personal and being nice goes a long way! If you send a personal email to thank a poster, there's the greater chance of that person responding and joining your community.
20. Support viral link building. Like I said earlier, opinions count more so than ever on the Web. Use your voice! Speak out because many do not understand how much blogging is changing virtual interactions and also one's sense of community. You always wanted to be a rebel, now's the time.
21. Position your blog advantageously with Technorati. It cannot be stressed enough your blog is yours and it's important you take ownership of it. Put into action an avatar and a constant connection utilizing pings. You will find that the tag device is common but also don't keep your pings at one site but branch out as means to track the blog.
22. Avoid advertising with a new site. There will be a time and place for ads later. In the beginning, advertising is just so gauche. Still if you see the need for ad space, do so at your discretion and tasteful. Remember it reflects upon you and influences your standing in the virtual community.
23. If your blog isn't pulling, have the program duplicated so it's as semantic, approachable and true to programming with content still very well performing. When in doubt, get an expert in code to take a look at it. It may be an issue of positioning the content above ads or editing the site markup.
24. Disregard Alexa. A lot of new site owners rely on Alexa for site parameters. Like the page ranking, Alexa is an unreliable means of determining popularity and traffic. Alexa is not broadly driven and relies upon the Alexa toolbar and data only.
25. Develop credibility. In order to do this, have publishing experts rate your site's topicality and this action usually helps a lot building credibility. Once a blog is well known as being a true place to network, you will be able to name your topics and branch out into new areas of discussion, even approach new problems from different angles.
26. Buy or build a screamin' hot blog design and submit it to design galleries. If your site warrants and should you know someone with such talent, please do bring on board a web site/ professional blogger as a means of bringing your dream to life. This adds a whole new dimension to your blog because it allows your blog to merge into five or six demographic iterations from your home site. Thus this increases the site's range outside the immediate site community. This establishes new opportunities for marketing tactics quickly.



27. Establish some friendly contacts on social media sites and create communication networks with these new communities. Ask contacts to support and interact with your blog content. They can become posters! Once they start posting, continue to encourage their interaction. Get the juices flowing and don't be afraid to start a debate. People will feel inspired and share their views. It is this aspect of self-expression that remains key to the art of blogging.
28. Only purchase ad links on relevant niche sites. This makes perfect sense from ad-sales, marketing point of view. This drives the correct traffic to the site but also allows your blog to maintain limits on competitive links and delivers more competent (educated and ready-to-purchase) visitors to your site.
29. Participate in your link community. Forum and blog links are short-lived, lasting a day or two at the most as food for Web thought so to speak, so there's always the need for updated information. It is important to interact and exchange information on a regular basis. This will not only create content but also steer traffic with the link. This networking capability also links your site with others of the same standing. 
30. Poll your readers. Don't forget everyone else's opinion and NOT just yours. Find out what people are thinking. Let them voice their opinions and this will be fuel for the fire. Also take surveys and polls of what people think about different topics. Still please stay on topic.
31. Publish new content on weekdays. Surprisingly so many people post to their blogs during the weekend. Even search engines can feel over worked. Even though the postings are being written on the weekends, there are more non-posters on the Web during the week and these are the people whom you are trying to capture their attention. These small details matter when it truly comes down to traffic and building solid networks.
32. Write content for various experience levels. You must understand your viewer's content reading level. I know it sounds degrading but so many are just starting out in viewing the Web and they are starting with mainly DIYs web sites. While many people are old pros at this stuff and may even be better at it than you, it is important to capture the general audience and create content around the idea that it will be read by people from all walks of life including education levels.
33. Cite the sources of your content. As mentioned above, it is very important to acknowledge your sources with quotations. Not only does this add to your credibility but also if you do not do this one small thing, it can be considered plagiarism. It also shares your ‘faves' but also gives the reader food for thought and something to research, discuss within the blog community.
34. Focus on contextual relevancy before quantity of links. Please always remember your market appeal more so than SEO, it is important.
35. Create surveys. Surveys allow more detailed opinions especially when it comes to buyers. Surveys also provide a great wealth of marketing information. Customer satisfaction should be promoted with a seal of approval on your site.
36. Write about popular brands or celebrities where possible. Celebrity and branding goes a long way in capturing spiders so use them accordingly. A good example is bragging that your product was featured on Oprah or in a magazine. This applies to virtually every product and service.
37. Find free stuff to give away. We are a culture obsessed by free stuff. We love a good deal also use this to an advantage especially with return customers. Free shipping of merchandise goes a long way to make the customer feel valuable. Free games and screensavers as well promote interaction.
38. Answer questions on Google groups and Yahoo Answers. Become a guru in your field. SE like Google and Yahoo have Q&A blogs, make yourself available and throw in your advise where needed. This too can promote traffic to your site as more people find out about your specialty. Also handing out advice will make you feel good.
39. Add imagery and video content to your posts. The blog should be interactive but also on topic. Pictures of who you are and what you do, certain events for your company or even your ‘fave' music or movies allow the poster to feel a more human connection. Multi-media and visual aides so have the influence of conveying important complex data while not using much space. If you are not a creative type, enlist the help of a freelancer. Still beware never use clip art or copyrighted material without prior permission from the owner.
40. Use QA sessions in your blog. You're the guru. Still it is also really important to get other points of view, different angles on the subject. If you don't know the answer, seek another guru. This allows the blog to offer advice and also spawn new discussion and interaction. This will drive visitors again and again.
41. Syndicate content outside of your blog. You need to use all materials to your advantage. Don't hesitate to seek out content from web sites like http://www.helium.com/ and http://www.ezinearticles.com/, which also are virtual, super centers of content. You can become a writer at these sites and post your insights in order to create links to your blog, creating new avenues of traffic.
42. Update or create a Wikipedia page and link to your site. This is a good tool that many do not realize anyone can use as a means of publishing content. Still word of warning, make sure the content is correct and accurately cited before submitting. It is also good to proof any and all work as well.
43. Submit industry or topical news to general news sites. Submitting to not only just industry related sites but also smaller companies as well can bring a large amount of traffic especially if it's of a larger interest than just the insiders. This not only adds another link but more integrity to your blog.



44. Deep links or links to sub-pages are vital. It is not always best to link from a remote site to your home page. It is a better idea strategically to pages deeper in the site - pages related directly to your blog post. In this way visitors will not get distracted by someone else's content and pay attention to yours.
45. Respond to comments in your blog. What this does is three things. First it allows you to create a human persona online for the blog, second, it allows you to show off your skills and expertise; and lastly, you can direct the thread in a new direction or keep the discussion going. It also maintains a civility amongst bloggers as a part of netiquette.
46. Network offline. You can find helpful networking equipment at http://www.linkedin.com/, http://www.meetup.com/ and http://www.mybloglog.com/. These sites provide traditional contacts to simplify and streamline the process of networking. I mean there is only so much online networking you can do and it is good to keep a balance amongst the two. Of course it goes without saying that offline relationships also have a way of being cultivated with online interaction. It may be a good idea to hook up with local organizations or clubs as well as attending seminars and conferences.

Can you think of anymore, please help add the list.

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Social networking - you've heard of it but do you know the magnitude of what it really means? 

 Social networking happens because individuals chose specific clubs or groups of people in which to hang with because of their individual interests.  These groups can be found in any demographic found smaller, rural communities to the expanding suburbs and metropolitan areas, urban and fast paced.  While social networking traditionally has been done in person at meetings or in the workplace, lately it seems it is most popular online as a means of creating virtual communities.  The Internet has made it possible for people to have friends all over the world brought together by common interests like knitting or rebuilding Ford transmissions.  Universities are even creating virtual learning centers to replace the more traditional classroom.  Where will it stop?

For online social networking web sites become important gathering places.  The web site becomes a channel, a social site for people's virtual selves to congregate.  Once you have gained free access to these social sites, you can begin networking and socializing with others, even start discussing different topics about your common interest.  The key is learning about people from their profiles and even contacting them about their experiences.

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Blogging is everywhere. It seems everyone has a blog or is blogging about something at any given time. It is the new e-mail, even better than texting because your words are alive in cyberspace. The corporate world has turned to blogging as a means of creating online marketing tactics; artists use it as a form of self-promotion and retailers use blogging as means to influence branding of products. It is all about presentation and audience participation. With all this in mind, it is an expected behavior of marketing gurus.

Blogs have popped up for everything from real estate, movies, self help, food to books. The list goes on and on, changing daily as social interaction changes between people, consumers and anyone on the ‘Net' who will listen. Pretty soon people will not even need to leave the house! This might be a good thing with the price of gas but blogging is changing the very face of the world. So what is going on with yours because I really want the 411? What makes a blog? What is it any way and why should we care because Proctor and Gamble told us or Miley Cyrus has one and so does every other teen?

A blog is just like a diary, journal, your thoughts, a website. It needs to be built and maintained. Much like a ‘Field of Dreams' it gets much of its background history from journaling online. Instead of the traditional diary locked and thrown under the mattress, one has an e-journal now a days. But what makes one blog better than another? Do you really want to know about every second of my day, what we ate for dinner last night or what I think about "How I met your mother." A blog is all about the traffic just like a website and well, if yours is boring then, need I say more?

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