Not a week goes by that I don’t talk to someone about how they’ve been ripped off by a freelance copywriter or freelance designer. I’ve been a freelancer myself for several years, and while I always take a professional approach to handling my business, I’m very well aware that not all freelancers are on the up and up.

Fortunately, hiring a good freelancer isn’t all that difficult. You just have to take these steps to make sure you don’t get ripped off.

• Avoid the job boards—I know that many of you are going to disagree with this, but I don’t think that the best way to find a freelancer is to post an ad on Craigslist, a freelance writing job board, or one of this websites where freelancers bid on jobs. Why? Let’s be honest—any freelancer who is truly skilled at his or her craft isn’t going to spend time trolling around on job boards. That freelancer’s services will be in demand. In other words, you need to find the freelancer. A simple Google search for the type of freelancer you need (e.g. “freelance copywriter” or “freelance web designer”) will get you pointed in the right direction.
• Always ask for samples—Never hire a freelancer without seeing samples of their work first. It doesn’t matter what services you need, you must see a portfolio before hiring. This will prove that the freelancer is capable of handling the job, and it helps to make sure you hire someone whose style and approach meets your needs.
• Be willing to pay a competitive rate—There’s something to be said for the old adage “you get what you pay for.” If you’re offering super cheap compensation, guess what type of freelancer you’re going to attract? A low quality one. You need to be willing to pay a competitive rate if you want to get the best talent.
• Pick up the phone—Spend a few minutes talking to the freelancer on the phone. Tell them about your project, ask them about their experience, find out about their working process, and try to get a feel for whether or not the freelancer will be a good fit on your project.
• Never pay the full amount up front—You should never pay in full for the project before it has been completed. In most situations, the freelancer will request a deposit before starting work, usually up to 50% of the total price. Paying a deposit is totally acceptable. Paying the full amount up front is not.
• Get it in writing—Draft up a basic agreement that outlines the details of your project, the freelancer’s responsibilities, rates, deadlines, and other relevant information. Sign it, have the freelancer sign it, and keep it on file.

Have you ever been burned by a freelancer? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below.

One of the keys to success with running a home-based business is identifying ways to advertise it effectively. When I first launched Clarksville Computers, I spent a lot of time making sure that it pulled up in all the right places in Google. I worked hard to achieve top results in organic search and Google Maps. And to reinforce things further, I even setup an AdWords campaign. Once my search engine marketing campaign was complete, I had a total of three listings per page in Google. I felt like I was going to “eat up the competition.” But surprisingly, the results did not deliver as well as I had expected.

I couldn’t understand why my phone wasn’t ringing off the wall. I thought to myself, “perhaps there’s a problem with conversion?” and “perhaps my ads needed optimization?” So, I checked into that, and quickly realized that conversion was not my problem. Instead, it was with exposure. In other words, my search engine marketing campaign was not receiving the amount of ad impressions I predicted. “But how could that be possible?“, I thought to myself. And then I realized how my predictions failed.

I realized that when a potential customer has a problem with their computer, it’s very likely that they are NOT able to get online to search for a repair shop. If their computer is broken, or in need of a repair, how can they get online to find me? So, that’s when I realized I could not completely bank on search engine marketing alone. That said, here are some other forms of advertising that I am using to market my home-based computer repair business.

#1. Customer Referral Program — I offer every customer the opportunity to earn money by enrolling into my customer referral program (inspired by HostGator’s Affiliate Program). If a customer is interested, I give them a handful of my business cards and explain to them to write their name on the back of each card they hand out. Each card I get back from a new customer, they earn $20 cash for the referral.

#2. Car Magnet Advertisement — I ordered two huge magnet advertisements for my car. The cost of the magnets was only $20 each on VistaPrint.com. With my car turned into a mobile bill board, I am exposing my business to hundreds of people on a daily basis. My advertisement is simple, catchy, and effective. Here is a copy of my car magnet:

#3. Bus Stop Advertisements — My girlfriend’s father gave me this idea, and it’s a smart one too. Many cities offer an advertisement program for bus stops. Also, there are cities, such as mine, where you can simply tape up an advertisement on the plexiglass wall. Advertising your home-based business at bus stops is effective because your ads are being exposed to people while they wait to catch the bus. They have a lot time read, register, and remember the message in your advertisement.

#4. Business Card Distribution — Distributing your business card out on the counter-tops of other businesses is also a very effective way to advertise. Just about every place I go, I drop a few cards on the counter-top. And I do so automatically if I see other business cards already there.

#5. Little League Baseball Outfield Fence Billboard Advertisement — My son has been playing Little League Baseball for six years. Hundreds of people migrate to the baseball fields to watch their kids play baseball. Our local Little League has a billboard advertisement program for the outfield fence. The cost is $200 for the first year, and then $125 to renew each year. Check your local Little League Baseball website for advertisement programs available.

I hope these ideas help you with creating your own successful OFFLINE advertisements for your home-based business. What are some other ideas you can think of that could help others? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed so you never miss a beat over here at SEOHosting.com.

I just came to a realization. This is the SEO Hosting blog, yet we almost never talk about web hosting. The truth is your web host plays a huge role in helping you build your online presence. If your website is always down, you could lose out on potential customers, and it could even cause the search engines to have problems crawling your content. Additionally, if your website loads slowly, it may possibly cause your search rankings to drop.

Simply put, you need to make sure you have a quality web host that can help you grow a successful online presence. Here are some signs of a bad web host. If your see these characteristics in your host, RUN!!!

1. Your website is down on a frequent basis. When your website is down, you can’t make sales online. It’s just that simple. Every minute your site is down is money that you could be losing. While a lot of hosting companies will promise a certain percentage of uptime, it’s hard to gauge which ones really live up to their claims. Your best bet is to find one that actually guarantees 99% or more uptime and that has a proven track record of satisfying their customers.

2. You can’t get in touch with customer service. You want to know how some companies are able to offer ridiculously cheap hosting? They do it by cutting their customer service. They either outsource their service or reduce the number of hours it’s available. Unfortunately, your website is a 24/7 store, and if it goes down, you need to get it back up no matter what time day or night it is. Make sure you choose a hosting company that offers 24/7 customer support.

3. Your website takes too long to load. Load time is important for a couple of key reasons. First, the average visitor gives a new website 8 seconds to grab his interest. If your website takes too long to load, visitors will back out before even seeing your content. Also, load time seems to play a role in determining your website’s search engine placement. A quality web host can help your site load faster.

4. Your website keeps getting hacked.Most people look at uptime and bandwidth when choosing their host. However, they overlook the importance of security. A web host with poor security could leave your website and personal information at risk. Make sure your hosting company uses the latest security technology to help keep your website safe.

Who is your web host? Are you happy with their services?

Christmas is the time of year where many bloggers fondly recall their favorite memories and posts from the past year. Other bloggers look forward to the upcoming year with hope, optimism, and bold predictions.

Not me.

See, around here, it’s not Christmas time. Nope. It’s Festivus time. And in the spirit of Festivus, it’s time for my airing of grievances with the blogosphere. (In my best Frank Costanza voice) “I’ve got a lot of problems with you people, and now you’re going to hear about it!”

Grievance #1: Not every post you write is linkbait gold, so stop over-promoting it

Look, I don’t have a problem with you promoting your blog. Hell, I encourage it. Promotion is an essential part of blogging that many bloggers overlook. But what I do have a problem with is when you treat every single post (several posts each day) as if it’s pure linkbait gold. You constantly rally the troops to try to get your post on the front page of Digg, ReddIt, Sphinn, or some other social voting site. Then, you Tweet out links to the post with the urgent preface of “PLEASE RT!!!”

The bottom line is this: Not every post you write deserves to go viral, hit the front page of Digg (or other similar sites), or become a trending topic on Twitter. And that’s okay. That doesn’t mean you should stop promoting your posts, but I think it’s a good idea to save your heaviest promotional pushes for the few pieces that are truly linkbait worthy. Otherwise, if you rally the troops too often, they’ll stop giving you their full effort, and then the law of diminishing returns kicks in.

Grievance #2: Every post you write contains 20 different links to your sales pages

Linking internally on your blog does have its benefits. It can improve usability, and it can also improve your website’s search engine performance. Having said that, directing every link to sales pages for your products and services is not the way to grow your blog. Blog readers don’t want to feel as if they’re constantly being sold something. They want to learn, and they want to read your unique insight on topics important to them.

That’s why your links should point to pages with content that enhances the learning experience. This can be past posts on your blog, articles you’ve written, and other blogs (linking out is a must!).

Grievance #3: You have too many ads

Monetizing your blog is one thing. Cramming it so full of distracting ads that it interferes with reading your content is another. If you do allow advertising on your blog, make sure you present it cleanly so that it doesn’t overwhelm visitors and make your blog look like a NASCAR jacket.

Grievance #4: You treat headlines as an afterthought

People like to say that quality post content is the key to building a successful blog. And while that’s partly true, it’s not completely accurate. See, you can write the best posts in your niche, but if they don’t have headlines that make people click, you’ll never get the full attention of your audience. Stop treating the headline as an afterthought. It should be treated as the most important part of every post you write. Otherwise, your email subscribers won’t open your messages, and the users on Digg, ReddIt, Sphinn, etc. won’t take the time to visit your post or vote it up.

Grievance #5: You write misleading headlines

Is there a cheaper trick in the book than lying in your headline just to get people to read your post? Seriously, if you tell me you’re going to give me “10 Tips for Increasing My Conversion Rate”, don’t give me 2 tips and ask me to buy your eBook for the other 8 tips. I remember seeing a post one time that had a headline along the lines of “How I Bought a Flat Screen TV for $50!” Right off the bat, the blogger confessed that he didn’t really buy the TV for $50, but that he’s only making $50 per month payments on his credit card for it. Needless to say, I automatically stop reading blogs that try to mislead readers, and you can be sure I’m not the only one.

Well, those are my grievances with other bloggers. What are yours?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go prepare for the Festivus Feats of Strength.

1. Write the way you talk
2. Don’t just copy what everyone else in your niche is doing
3. Always proofread your posts
4. Do your best to respond to comments in a timely manner
5. Don’t fight with commenters who disagree with you. Respect their opinions.
6. Optimize your posts for maximum search engine performance
7. Create a strong internal linking structure
8. Link to other blogs as well
9. Focus on writing headlines that beg to be clicked
10. Always deliver on the promise of your headline
11. Hold reader interest by posting on a regular basis
12. Have a place where you jot down ideas for new posts so you never suffer from writer’s block
13. Make sure every post is the best work you’re capable of producing
14. Don’t ignore proven formulas like top 10 lists and how-to posts
15. Make your posts easy to scan by using bullet points and numbered lists
16. Fact check your content before posting. Failure to do so could cause a permanent loss of credibility.
17. Spend time promoting your blog. Just because you build it doesn’t mean they will automatically come.
18. Give and receive guest posts
19. Don’t overlook the design of your blog. People do judge a book (your blog) by its cover (its design).
20. Place a subscribe link above the fold to attract more blog subscribers
21. Use pictures to spice up your posts
22. Break really long posts into a blog series whenever possible
23. Never stop trying to improve your blogging skills

As a freelance copywriter, I’ve worked on several projects where I was hired to clean up the mess left by the last copywriter. For one reason or another, the copy they wrote wasn’t working, and of course, the client wasn’t happy with it.

Most times, this happened because the client tried to save money on hiring a copywriter. They hired the cheapest copywriter they could find, and as a result, they got what they paid for.

When cleaning up the mess left by rookie copywriters, I’ve noticed there are 3 common mistakes they tend to make. 

• Rookie Mistake #1: Focusing on the wrong benefits—My good friends over at The Write Blog, wrote a post a while back titled “Don’t sell the car. Sell the Nissan.” The title sums it up perfectly. You need to write copy that focuses on the benefits specific to your products and services. It’s all about identifying your unique selling point. Like Wintress says in her post, you wouldn’t sell a car by telling the reader that “it’s a faster way to get around town than riding a bicycle.” Instead, you would probably focus on the miles per gallon the vehicle gets and the unique features specific to the vehicle (and more importantly, the benefits of said features).

• Rookie Mistake #2: Not asking the reader to take action—At the end of the day, the success of the copy depends on whether or not the reader takes action. All copy has a purpose. It could be to close the sale on the spot or to get an email address to gather leads. Identify the purpose of your copy, and ask the reader to take the action you desire. If you don’t ask for an action, your readers will never snap out of their passivity.

• Rookie Mistake #3: Using too much fluff—I’ve seen some copywriters make a living out of saying nothing at all. Oh, they write a lot of words, but they aren’t actually saying anything. Their copy is nothing more than a bunch of fluff that takes up space but never gets results. Here’s a tip. Print out your copy, and cross out non-essential content that doesn’t add to your main message. Just be careful not to go overboard as you don’t want to strip the personality and conversational tone from your copy.

Which rookie copywriting mistakes would you add to this list? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Routine website maintenance is essential for making sure your website is up to date and functioning properly. Unfortunately, website maintenance is something that often gets overlooked, and as a result, companies aren’t getting everything they should be out of their website. Here are 8 essential website maintenance tasks you should perform on a regular basis.

1. Test your forms—Contact forms have a nasty tendency to suddenly stop working. That’s why it’s important that you test them out as often as possible. If you notice a sudden drop in email list subscribers or other conversions, immediately test out all contact forms to ensure they’re working as they should.

2. Check all links—Check out all of your navigation links as well as internal links throughout the body of your website copy and blog posts. This will help to make certain your visitors are able to go down the path through your website that you want them to travel.

3. Ensure contact info is up to date—Over time, phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses might change. Visit your contact page to double check that all info is accurate.

4. Make certain the search function works—Today’s internet users are in a hurry. That’s why many people immediately use a website’s search function as soon as they land on the page. This allows them to find the info they’re looking for as quickly as possible. Use your website’s search function just as a normal visitor would to make sure it works properly.

5. Update your copyright—Your copyright should technically be updated any time new content is added to your website. Beyond protecting your content, updating your copyright lets your visitors know that your website is current and active.

6. Keep product descriptions and prices accurate—Have you changed your products or services in any way? Have your prices been altered? If so, update your website to reflect these changes.

7. Test your checkout process—The worst possible scenario is for a visitor on your website to decide to become a customer only to be denied by a shopping cart that doesn’t work. Check your shopping cart and overall checkout process regularly to make certain your customers are able to get in and out quickly.

8. Check your search engine rankings—It’s a good idea to check your website’s search rankings at least once a month. Don’t panic over tiny month-to-month fluctuations, but be on the lookout for developing trends. The sooner you can act on drops in search rankings, the less damaging they will be.

Would you add any tasks to this list? Share your thoughts in the replies.

Getting interviewed on a blog, podcast, radio show, or even TV show is an excellent way to gain exposure and to build your authority. But being a great interviewee is often easier said than done. I listen to talk radio quite a bit (mostly sports talk), and I’ve heard my fair share of interviews that made me cringe for the person being interviewed. Nervousness and unpreparedness can turn this golden opportunity into a damaging situation for your company.
Thankfully, there are several things you can do to prepare for a media interview. Here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Know your s*#!—Showing up to your interview unprepared reflects poorly on you and your business. You need to be ready to answer every question the reporter throws your way, but at the same time, if you truly don’t have an answer for a question, don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know.” Do your research and have some statistics and facts ready to support your answers.

2. Learn about the interviewer—First, learning about the interviewer is important because you don’t want to call the host Jim when his name is Tom. But that’s not the only reason it’s important. You need to understand what type of podcast, blog, or show the interviewer runs. Who is his target audience? What do they care about? What’s the tone of his content? The more you know about the interviewer, the better you’ll fit in.

3. Practice key points of your message—Make a list of a few (3-5) key points you want to address during your interview. Simplify them as much as possible, and practice talking about them so that you’ll be comfortable addressing them. Crafting your message can help you stay in control of the interview, making you appear calm and confident.

4. Beware of over preparing—Of course, there are two people involved in an interview, so you can’t control every aspect of it. While being prepared is a top priority, you don’t want to be so prepared that you’re incapable of handling any curveballs that might be thrown your way. If you’re over prepared, not only can you get blindsided by unexpected questions, but you can also end up sounding like a robot with your prepared answers.

5. Go beyond “yes” or “no” answers—If you want to tick an interviewer and his audience off, give short “yes” or “no” type answers to every question you’re asked. Or, deliver a bunch of old, tired, meaningless lines (like the athlete who says “We have to take it one game at a time”). However, if you want to be remembered, give thoughtful answers that incorporate your unique point of view and personal anecdotes. This engages the audience and helps you look your best.

How do you prepare for media interviews? Leave a comment with your best tip.

A growing number of businesses are using podcasting as a means to increase brand awareness, to connect with their target audience, and to grow their online presence. But to get the most out of podcasting, you need to make sure you’re doing all of the right things to give your audience a professional show every time. Here are some easy things you can do to improve your podcast.

• Get a decent microphone—Let me first say that I’m not an audio geek by any means. However, I will say that a cheap mic can make your entire podcast sound unprofessional and difficult to listen to. You want to find a microphone that cuts out a lot of background noise and eliminates static. In short, you want your listeners to be able to clearly hear you without getting distracted by other noises. Visit your local music shop or electronics store to find a good microphone for your podcasting needs.

• Add intro and outro music—Whenever you listen to a talk show on the radio, each segment always begins and ends with about 10 seconds of music. This is called bumper music, and it can add a professional, finished touch to your podcasts. You can easily find royalty free music online that you can use in your podcasts.

• Speak clearly—Recording a podcast isn’t as simple as plugging in a microphone and blabbing away. There’s something known as “proper microphone technique.” This includes everything from properly positioning the microphone to speaking clearly. Speak slowly, and make sure not to mumble. Enunciate every word properly, and always have water on hand so that you can stay hydrated. Always go back and listen to your podcasts before publishing them to make sure every word can be clearly heard.

• Eliminate the noise—You might not normally notice it, but there is always noise all around us. From the sound of the air conditioner to the humming of the refrigerator, these little noises that you might normally overlook can easily become annoying background tracks on your podcast. Record in the quietest place you can find. Place pillows or clothes around windows and doors to block out sound. If you live in the city, you can also try recording at night when traffic has died down some.

• Make your listeners a part of the show—The main difference between podcasts and radio shows is that podcasts are typically prerecorded while radio shows are live. As a result, many podcasters lose the interactive element of the show. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Your listeners can still have a key role in your show. Dedicate a portion of your show to answering listener’s emails. You could even setup a voicemail system that allows listeners to leave messages with questions and comments.

• Always be prepared—Preparation is a podcaster’s best friend. You don’t want to be recording your podcast on the fly. Everything should be planned out properly so that your content comes across smoothly and naturally. Just be sure not to script your show too much as you’ll end up sounding like a robot.
Which podcasting tips would you add to this list? Share your thoughts in the replies.

In addition to the official blog, Google has a lot of other blogs they maintain. For a long time I’ve been wondering how many blogs they operated. I have RSS subscriptions to a few of them, but every day it seems like a new blog surfaces. And that’s ok, but it’s just a little difficult to keep up. However, if you’re interested in learning more about Google and keeping up with what’s going on, reading and discovering as many of their blogs is important. That said, here are a few of the Google blogs that I enjoy reading.

First one is obvious, it’s the main blog. Everyone should read and subscribe to The Official Google Blog. This blog does a great job at bringing forward some of the most eventful news pertaining to Google. It acts as the main channel and many times is used to tell people about the many other secondary channels of communication available.

The next blog I recommend reading and subscribing to the Google Webmaster Central Blog. This blog is essential to read if you’re trying to keep up to speed with Goolge SEO. In fact, I wrote and published an article on SeoHosting.com yesterday based of information discovered on Google Webmaster Central.

Are you crazy about Mac Computers? If so, then Google wants to engage with you on their official Google Mac Blog. On the Google Mac Blog you can keep up news about Mac computers and even learn about and download Google software specifically made for Mac computers. All in all, if you enjoy Google and Mac computers, subscribing to the Official Google Mac Blog is a must.

Another blog that I place a lot of value in is the Google Online Security Blog. This blog keeps people up to date and provides them with breaking news regarding viruses and online security. This blog provides information such as how to improve browser security, which then points to their Browser Secuirty HandBook, and the Top 10 Malware Sites. You can’t go wrong with subscribing to this blog. The information published is geared towards helping keep your online experience more secure.

To learn about all of Google’s blogs, they have a complete Google Blog Directory available. The directory is broken down into five sections: Google-wide, Product, Ads, Developer, and Region. You can easily search their directory to find additional blogs that interest you. The more blogs that you subscribe to, obviously the more you can learn about Google.

In addition to the Google Blog Directory, Google has made reading their entire line up of blogs easy by also creating a very handy iGoogle Gadget and Tab for your personalized iGoogle homepage.

What Google blogs do you enjoy reading and why? Share these blogs in the comments below.

P.S. What kind of SEO articles do you like to read? Contact Me with your article ideas.