In Search of Optimization

The internet is a very large place and unless you know how to make yourself known to the vast population of the web, then chances are you’ll never get noticed by anyone at all. In this lesson, we will be discussing about self-promotion. I understand that this may sound too egoistic to some of you but I must remind you that we’re discussing SEO as well as marketing in general and whenever marketing is involved, promotion is also involved.

How to promote yourself in the internet…

What’s your name? As for me, my name is Mike Lopez and if you do a search in Google, Yahoo, and MSN Live (at the time of this writing), then you would see my blog (www.mikelopez.info) in the #1 position. So, what’s the big deal? Simple, the more trusted you appear, the more people will trust you. The more trusted you are, the more sales you make. So if you’re name is Neil Crespi, then you would want people to see a good image whenever they do a search about you on the internet.

Here’s a quick checklist on how to promote yourself in the internet.

1. Write a personal blog about yourself and discuss your expertise in it. Make sure that you look ‘human’ in your personal blog and not just someone who wants to sell a product.
2. Participate in email groups (Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, etc) related to your target market and reply intelligently to questions. Don’t just reply with ‘I know the answer to your question, visit this website….’ as people will quickly label you as a spammer.
3. Participate in forums related to your target market. Rules that apply to email groups also apply here.
4. Join social networking websites such as Friendster, Tagged, etc. and make friends with people and when I say make friends, make real friends and not just ‘contacts’.
5. Back to your personal blog, create posts that link to your forum posts, friendster / tagged profile, and other activities you are doing. The more people perceive you as involved in your niche, then more they will trust you.

There are many more ways to promote yourself such as including your blog address in your business cards or even making stickers about it. Just be creative and always remember that the whole goal is to start treating yourself as an expert so people will also treat you as one.

Step 7 of our series will be about The Art of Google Bombing.

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