The Holiday Season is upon us and, unfortunately, it is also a time where scams are more prevalent.  Here at IMReportCard.com, we know scammers will stop at nothing to get your money any way they know how to, so it is a good idea to remain vigilant during this time of year.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind the entire year in order to help remain scam-free!

• Never click on attachments in an email unless it is something you are expecting to receive.  This is especially true of .EXE files which can immediately start running and installing programs on your computer you won’t even know are running.  Emails of zip files, .EXE files, etc. can claim to hold holiday photos to entice you to download the attachments.  If you have doubts about any attachments, it’s better to make a quick phone call or text message to confirm that the sender really emailed it to you.
• Daily I receive at least a few shipment related scam emails.  These emails claim that a package is either waiting for you or that a package you sent can’t be delivered.  However, these emails are just a way for scammers to get you to hand over your information to them.
• Online banking, PayPal and wire transfer is also a hot area for scammers right now.  Emails claim that your transaction has failed or your account has been canceled or placed on hold, but when you click on any link in the email you are taken to a different site and your information has been compromised.
• IMReportCard.com has over 4,600 websites reviewed, with new reviews added frequently.  We provide detailed reviews covering each website from many angles.  Our reviews give an honest look at the quality of a website and we encourage our members to provide reviews and grades based on their own experiences.  Looking up a website on IM Report Card is a terrific way to ensure you are not getting scammed online.  We also have a toolbar which installs in seconds and will provide you with the grade and reviews our members have given any site you surf to which is in our database.

Guest Posts!?  I hardly have time to write for my own blog, we hear you cry!

But before you dismiss this idea, let us tell you, guest blogging has some serious advantages!

Don’t be fooled into thinking that writing guest posts is simply a way to increase website traffic temporarily or just a strategy to get loads of backlinks!

Guest posting has many other benefits and here are our Top 3!

Top 3 Guest Posting Benefits

1. Build online presence: If you’re an expert at a subject then the best way to spread your expertise is by guest posting on popular blogs. When several posts written by you on the same subject appear on top blogs people will get to know that you’re an expert on that subject and they will want to work with you. It will also make it easy for people to find out more about you, as you will turn up in search engine results when they search for information on that subject.

2.  Build online relationships: After you write a guest post for someone, your relationship with this person doesn’t just end there – it’s actually the beginning. When you write a post for someone you start a relationship with them. This could lead to a lot of help from this person in the future – this could be in promoting you, sharing your content, etc. I have written a lot of guest posts on several blogs and this has helped me build many relationships which have led to better opportunities.

3. Use as samples: If you’re a writer the best way to get better writing opportunities is to have samples of posts you have written for the top blogs. If you have several posts you have written published on top blogs it can help you land high paying writing opportunities as you will be able to demonstrate that you have written at the highest level.

So these are our top 3 benefits. We suggest if you haven’t already started writing guest posts, start writing them TODAY!

Do you write guest posts? How has this benefited you? Please leave your comments in the comments box below.

Posted March 14th 2012 to Uncategorized • Comments (1)

What is link bait?

“Link bait is any content or feature, within a website, designed specifically to gain attention or encourage others to link to the website. Matt Cutts defines link bait as anything “interesting enough to catch people’s attention.” Link bait can be an extremely powerful form of marketing as it is viral in nature. The term often has a negative or dismissive connotation. The content for link baiting would be a text, image, audio or video clip and it interesting enough to catch the people’s attention.”

Source – Wikipedia

Link bait has been long associated with black hat SEO methods. Why? Mainly because opportunity seekers have used and abused the term / strategy to help improve their search engine rankings!

Used properly though, all link bait is, as Matt Cutts says so succinctly is creating content “interesting enough to catch people’s attention!”

Why is this important?

I know that seems obvious, but it’s to get people to share, comment and of course link back to your site!

Just this morning I was so taken with an article about Pinterests copyright laws, I immediately placed a link to the article on my facebook page – that is great link bait!

Getting links will help improve your website traffic and your search engine visibility. It will also help in making your website really popular as other people are writing / talking about it. Believe me, people are always looking for great content to share on Social Media sites, so create interesting information = get lots of links!

How to create outstanding link bait?

You need to be unique / original and very topical. It will be something that people are reading about / interested in right now! Ideally it will be something that hasn’t been highlighted or reported on before or you’re right at the forefront.

You’ll need to focus on writing powerful and unique content everyday, which other websites will want to refer to.  Phew that can get tough!

So, you can supplement your regular content with outstanding content occasionally. Just focus on creating interesting tips and articles about your niche and every so often you’ll fall on a golden nugget that everyone will want to share!

Create Infographics (like the one above courtesy of Mashable!)

There’s been a recent surge of Infographics being shared all over Social Media platforms and the web. That’s because people love images!

In fact photo sharing is now the No 1 sharing activity online!

Infographics are studies of interesting topics presented in the form of images. The great thing about them is they relay great info, quickly and easily in a pleasing aesthetic easy to understand way.

It’s all about speed these days!

Your infograph can be just a statement of a few well known stats presented in a creative way or it can contain brand new information which you can obtain through extensive research and experiments.

So if you want to create good link baits (great content) you need to focus on creating powerful and unique content your audience will find very helpful and totally shareable!

Have you ever created a golden nugget? How did this benefit you? Please leave your comments in the comments box below.

Getting lots of comments on your blog posts is a wonderful feeling and also great for business!

Not only do you feel good when someone writes an appreciative note, but having comments on your blog can also add credibility as it represents engagement, community and social proof.

Don’t be afraid of people commenting on your blog either, unless you have a complete troll who simply needs deleting, intelligent arguments can be a fantastic source of traffic and conversation!

Would you like to learn how to get more comments on your blog?

Then read the following 7 tips:-

1. Write thought provoking and helpful content:

If you get people thinking or in some way solve their problems, generally they will feel compelled to comment! Sometimes the more controversial you are, the more comments you’ll get, though please always be constructive and remember to Add Value!

2. Ask people questions at the end of blog posts:

Ask people if they found your post helpful?  Have they got any other tips they would like to share with you? A call to action at the bottom of a blog post, similar to this one will increase your comments no end. People like direction so give it to them!

3. Make it easy to comment:

Sometimes people need to fill in a lot of details like, name, email, website address, etc. to leave comments. This is a big No No! Make it easy for people to respond to you! Use easy commenting software like DISQUS or CommentLuv.

4. Respond to comments:

We touched on engagement above, this is hugely important. The more you build a relationship with your commenters, the more they’ll come back to comment! Always respond when someone comments on your blog. People don’t have to read your information, there’s more than enough out there, so let them know how much you appreciate them!

5. Comment on other blogs:

If you comment on other blogs and let the blogger know that you like their website and their content, they will want to return the favour by commenting on your blog. The beautiful human law of reciprocity! So take just a few minutes every day to comment on other blogs that you find useful / helpful.

These are just a few tips to get you going. If you stick to them regularly, you should start seeing a lot of genuine people commenting on your blog posts.

Now it’s your turn. Do you get a lot of comments on your blog posts? Are there any tips on you would like to share with us? Please leave your comments in the comments box below.

The Online Traffic Revolution Is Here!  And trust us, you definitely want to be a part of it!

Tonight, February 13th at 8pm EST, online traffic generation expert and top rated Internet Marketer, Daegan Smith is going to expose the TRUTH behind the online traffic conspiracy hiding right under your nose.

If you know where to look, there’s an UNLIMITED supply of traffic to support your online business extremely profitably, but you’ve got to know where
to look.

Tonight at 8pm EST, and for a select few …

Daegan Smith will open up the backed of his business and show you exactly where he’s generating 300 to 1,200 leads per day online that’s already made him $109,322.12 this month – February 2012.

The PROOF is in the numbers!

Just imagine knowing exactly where to the kind of traffic that produces that type of income yourself.

Well, you’re going to know, tomorrow night live.

>>Register here<<

The full transparent details will be revealed to you live February 13th at 8pm EST.

Registration for this live event is free.

In fact, the ONLY situation where you pay for anything, is if you absolutely LOVE the content.

We’ve got our ticket.

>>Secure your spot!<<

Sincerely,

IMReportCard.com Team

P.S. Not convinced? Check out this behind the scenes video of Daegan’s business.

He’ll show you his daily leads, daily income, and traffic stats in complete and shocking detail.

Just that video alone blew us away.

We were just notified of an amazing deal from one of our FAVORITE SEO SERVICES and believe us, you don’t want to miss out on this one!  Imagine getting 400 high quality permanent links that can take your site to the 1st page in all major search engines, all for only $1 a link?!

LinkWheeler (B+ Rating, 19 Grades) is offering a HUGE discount (over 50% off regular pricing!) on the brand new Booster Package service for the next 4 days ONLY- that’s through Friday 11/11/11.  After that date, this deal will be gone.

To get this deal, you must use this special offer link!

How can LinkWheeler’s link wheels benefit your site?

1)    They have developed the ultimate link wheel strategy that combines Web 2.0 Properties, Article Submissions, Blog Posts and a You Tube Video that can get your URL to the first page of all major search engines.

2)    The have a team of 25 link wheel and SEO experts that know exactly how to get YOUR site ranked.  The link wheels are created by real SEO experts, no automated programming.

Check out the amazing results other IMRC members have have with LinkWheeler and take advantage of this super limited-time offer today!

Remember, this offer is only good through Friday 11/11/11, so act now!

Holiday season is officially here and there isn’t a better time to promote physical products. Last year, U.S. online holiday sales increased by 15% from October 31 to December 22 (over $36 billion).  Amazon Associates Program is one of the best places to capitalize on promoting physical product.  In 2010 alone, Amazon paid affiliate commissions of almost $2 billion.

Below are 3 hot Amazon niches to promote this holiday season:

1) Healthy and Beauty- While there is a lot of focus on the obvious purchases like clothing, jewelry and toys around the holidays, sales of personal care item (make-up, skin, hair care, etc.) skyrocket during this time of year.

2) Cameras- With the high price points, the opportunity to earn large commissions on camera sales is huge. People will do their comparison research before taking the plunge and making a camera purchase, therefore the best POA (plan of action) would be to create in-depth and helpful reviews that focus on a few hot products and make sure that the brand and model information are in your title tags.

3) Tablet Computers and Kindles- With the upcoming release of Amazon’s Kindle Fire (currently available for pre-order, official release November 15th), this niche will be booming this season. A shopping comparison site comparing the Amazon Kindle with the Apple iPad is a great way to generate traffic and sales!

If you are interested in getting into promoting Amazon products as an affiliate, now is the time to start.  After all, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner!  AMZ Training Academy is an excellent site that will teach you the ins and outs of making money through physical affiliate marketing- selling physical products (as compared to digital/downloadable products). A 7-day trial is only $4.95 and definitely worth checking out!

Posted November 05th 2011 to Uncategorized • Comments (3)

Have you had success using Twitter to grow your business?  We want to hear about it!  IMReportCard and Twidium (A Rating, 6 Grades) are giving away 5 half year Twidium licenses to the winners of the IMReportCard Twitter Success Tips Contest!  Below are the contest rules:

1) Contest runs from Tuesday July 19 through midnight (MST) Monday August 1st.

2) To enter, share a short story or quick tip on how you have used Twitter to help grow/establish/build your business.  This can include a Twitter success tip, using Twitter for SEO, how you grew your followers, used Twitter for affiliate marketing, customer relationship building, anything!

3) Submit entries to support@imreportcard.com.  Please use subject line:  Here’s My Twitter Success Tip/Story- Enter me to Win Twidium!

4) Once the contest ends, our panel of judges with select 5 winners to each receive a half year license of the popular mass targeted following software Twidium.  The 5 winners will be contacted in a reply e-mail to their contest submission e-mail.

5) We are all about sharing good Internet marketing information, so your winning Twitter tips will be shared with the IMRC community.

Please submit any questions in a comment on this blog post.  Good luck everyone!  We cannot wait to hear your Twitter success tips!

Banner ads can be an effective advertising option to draw potential customers to your website.  The first obstacle you will face as an advertiser is optimizing your banner ads for attracting attention from visitors.  Most likely, your ads are competing with surrounding ads and content.  Help your banner ads break through the noise by keeping the following factors in mind when creating your ad:

1) Use bold contrasting colors- think about the site you’re advertising on and try to stand out.

2) Size matters- keep in mind not only the size of the banner ad itself, but the size of the design details in your ad (text, images, etc).  Instead of making everything big and oversized, make the important details stand out.

3) Motion- animated banners receive 30-40% more attention than standard text ads.

4) Text- You only have so much space to grab visitor attention and your ad needs to be immediately understandable.  Always include a clear call to action.

Posted May 03rd 2011 to Uncategorized • Comments (3)

You’ve driven the traffic to your site.  Now that you have the visitors, are you getting those conversions?  Below are 5 factors to keep in mind for optimizing your homepage for conversions:

1.      Page Flow: Help direct the user through the page in a logical fashion.  Provide visual clues, such as sections, links, etc., so that users know where to find the information and how the information is meant to be digested.

2.      Call-to-Action:  Many times, there is more than one CTA on your homepage, so you must clearly identify the differences between each CTA to minimize customer’s decision making process.

3.      Express Value:  To keep user moving through the decision making process, be sure to highlight the value of each offer.

4.      Use of Color: Color is a great way to highlight important parts of your site and creating brightly colored CTA buttons can have a huge effect on conversions.  Consider split testing different color schemes to see which convert best.

5.      Images:  Using images is a great way to break up the monotony of a text/content based site.  Make sure that the images you display support the content and try to avoid using generic graphics.

Posted April 25th 2011 to Uncategorized • Comments (1)