Online Leads: How to get them, convert them, and give them what they want

One of the most useful areas of the Cool Site blog is the Great Resources section in the right panel.

I'm constantly updating and refining this list based on my own experience as well as suggestions made by my readers and listeners during Cool Talk (hint: you'll want to bookmark www.coolsite.com and review the Resources section at least once a month).

In case you haven't already discovered these truly great resources, here they are (grab a coffee, fire up your Diigo toolbar and start tagging).

• Action Pop


• ActiveWords


• AdImpact


• AffSpy


• Aweber EMail Autoresponder


• Become a Top Story


• Bubbl (process maps)


• CGIconnection (scripts-cheap and easy!)


• ChoiceMail (stop SPAM!)


• Ebook Gold


• Formspring


• GetResponse Autoresponder


• GoldbarOne (tools, tools, tools!)


• Google Adwords


• Internet Business Manifesto


• Internet Marketing Monthly


• Keywordtopia


• Product Launch Formula
  
  
• PRWeb
  
  
• PRWizard
  


• Rewardscan


• ScribeFire (Firefox Blog Tool)
  
  
• SEOmoz.org
  
  
• Site Build It!


• Split Test Accelerator


• Step by Step Profit


• StomperNet


• StumpMarkus


• TalkStream


• Traffic Geyser


• Web Marketing Concepts


• Website Wizard
  

Please share this post by clicking on the ShareThis button below...and tell-a-friend about it.

Cheers,

Mike

Who's walking on my screen?!

Every week I sit in amazement over how much is available to all of us who live and breathe online marketing. Just as impressive are all the web addicts out there who are willing to freely share their expertise and knowledge with anyone who asks.

I'm proud to be a part of a select group of true webmasters who come together every Thursday during my live call-in webcast, Cool Talk, to answer questions and share their best online tips and strategies.

The most recent episode of Cool Talk was not short on good ideas and great advice. Here are some useful links from our conversation (if you find these useful, please click the 'sharethis' button below. Also, you can add your favorite links by adding a 'Comment' at the end of this post. I look forward to seeing whatever you contribute).

Again, Cool Talk is live every Thursday at 1:30PM EST. Mark your calendars and join us to have your questions answered.


Generating leads and customers

There's no doubt that video has become a big plus in creating stickiness for a site. Well, how about virtual spokespersons or online video spokespersons? You know, you visit a site and a person starts walking and talking across your screen to drive your attention towards something (like an email sign-up form or a product features page).

If done right, this tool can be VERY effective. HumansOnline seems to have produced a features-packed variation of this animal that leaves competitors in the dust. I've invited the President of HumansOnline, Greg Sheppard, to join us this Thursday on CoolTalk--there are way too many cool features for me to cover in this short post.

Speaking of video, check out Seesmic. It's not a bulletin board, it's a video board...with a very entertaining intro. Bottom line, just another cool way to reach out to prospects.

How about press releases? You sending them? You should. You've probably heard about PRWeb but one of my readers, Cliff from OPC Marketing, swears by PRWizard.


Converting your traffic

Thanks to Markus Allen for this link to Michel Fortin's CopywritersBoard re: Top 12 Reasons Web Sites Fail To....


Great marketing advice and tools

A recent add to this blog's 'Great Resources' section (right panel) is GoldbarOne. If you can find a better suite of tools for the price, please e-mail me. No matter where you are in your web experience, GoldbarOne has at least a handful of tools that you must be using (and they're all under one roof).

In case you're wondering, GoldbarOne has been around for nearly 10 years and they just keep over delivering on what they offer (I'm currently using a handful of their tools and plan on reviewing the whole package in a future post. In the meantime, I recommend visiting GoldbarOne and click on the linked text that reads:

See how businesses just like yours are using GoldbarOne to Get More Traffic, More Leads & More Sales everyday.

Another awesome resource is CGIconnection where, for a ridiculously low price, you can have access to thousands of useful scripts for your site (and it includes automatic installation so anyone can benefit from them).

Thinking about starting an online store? In addition to GoldbarOne , check out Volusion.


Miscellaneous

Shop5 (the Cool Site of the Day on June 19th)

You twitter? Try Plurk.

Have SEO envy? Check out the many free tools (like this one) at SEOmoz...and read some of the many useful articles to quickly advance your knowledge of the search engine universe.

Got an RSS Feed? Every now and then you may need to give it a quick maintenance check with FeedValidator.

Thanks to Keith H. for recommending Defensive Design for the Web, an excellent book on web design with plenty of examples (good and bad).

Finally, here's a cute digital post-it notes generator.

Until next time,

Mike

Cool Talk audio file

Today's episode of Cool Talk is ready for your ears.

Another week of essential online marketing tips and strategies...

Hit the 'Play' button below and get out a pad and pen!

57 mind blowing links just for you...

My head is spinning.

I just reviewed the transcripts of the last 3 episodes of Cool Talk and was blown away by the huge volume of super useful killer information that has been shared (not only by me but by all of those who participate in my weekly LIVE call-in webcast).

For last week's replay, hit the 'Play' button below and get ready to take notes!

If you've been on the call (it's free and it takes place Thursdays at 1:30PM EST here) you've probably noticed a nice pattern starting to develop:

1. We cover three themes:
• generating leads or customers
• converting those leads
• creating content
  
  
2. We share a lot of great links with each other
   
   
3. We dissect web pages and marketing strategies in a collaborative effort (think 'sandbox')
   

Our 'playtime' usually begins with me presenting a page or site on which I'm working. From there we discuss various elements of page building and online marketing that attracts many great contributions (via chat and call-ins) from you.

The goal is for us to truly collaborate and build sites together, track the results, and end up with a template (and process) that can be used over and over for all kinds of sites and businesses.

The first two sites in our sandbox are:

Stop The Pitch Count

and...

How to Search The Web

I'll introduce a third project this Thursday (inspired by the link tonnage gathered from the first 3 shows and shared below)

Every week, I'm joined by Markus Allen of Stump Markus, a veritable reservoir of cool marketing tips.

This week, I anticipate the return of Ian Lurie of Conversation Marketing to our panel.

Again, Cool Talk goes live at 1:30PM EST on Thursday. Mark your calendars and join us to have your questions answered.

OK, following is a list of the resources and links discussed during the last three episodes of Cool Talk. You can share your favs by adding a 'Comment' at the end of this post (and I look forward to seeing whatever you contribute)


Generating leads and customers

Social bookmarking sites are getting quite a bit of attention on Cool Talk, of the 40 or so sites, these are the ones to hit first: DIGG, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, Ma.gnolia. Want to explore more of the web 2.0 universe? Start clicking on these sites. And I hear Orkut is great. Also, building a profile on a site like 9rules can lead to lots of secondary links. Friendfeed is a good resource to keep up with all your friends on different social networks, lets you add 3 video sites and anything you post to any of them in your FriendFeed stream. Finally, when you post to your blog (or find anything that you'd like to share far and wide), spread the love using Socialmarker and Shareaholic (it's an add-on for the Firefox browser--the only browser I recommend)

BTW, just when I was feeling really good about del.icio.us, Ian Lurie had to turn me onto Diigo....WOW!


Converting your traffic

Try this pop up creator...or this one.

The most important tool you possess in your online marketing arsenal is an e-mail list builder/autoresponder. I currently use Aweber although I recommend that you also take a look at GoldbarOne (this is a crazy great suite of tools at an unbeatable price)

Here's a great screen capture and browser recorder. Ideal for creating simple tutorials and demonstrations (from the maker of Camtasia). If you're a Mac person, for full length, try Snapz Pro.

Video captures attention and converts traffic. If you're creating videos, submit them to the many video directories out there using TubeMogul (free) and Traffic Geyser (not free but loaded--use it, don't abuse it)

Here is a neat attention grabber that you can slap onto the upper right corner of your web page. And here's another more elaborate one.


Content

If you're looking for stock photos to add to your website or marketing materials, check out Dreamstime and Stock.xchng. Also, for as little as a $1.00 you can find very rare medical images here.


Great marketing advice and tools

Create a user-friendly '404 Error' page

For tips to promote your blog, check out these points on Webreference. And, of course, spread the word with Google's BlogSearch. Also, put an RSS feed on your blog using Feedburner and then sell ads via your RSS feed using Feedvertising from Text Link Ads

TitleZ makes it easy to see how a book or group of books has performed over time, relative to other books on the market. Useful when trying to come up with a title for your publication

Here's a great tool from UPS to capture someone's attention (click on the 'control pad' in the lower left corner, visit the 'Break Room' and then 'Create Your Own Whiteboard')

Tracewatch, the best FREE analytics program (just type 'tracewatch' in the search bar, upper right)

Andrew Lock is one of those online marketing experts with great character and a very polished presentation.

David Bullock, a master marketer, appeared on Stump Markus a few weeks ago and inspired the How to Search project.

Here's (another :) ) great blog for online marketers.


Productivity and time management tips

You've seen it before and it's worth repeating--this post I recently created highlighting my absolute favorite productivity aids (read it monthly)

Create process maps for everything you do. I use bubbl.us (allows for collaboration). Here's a map I created to help me plow through my daily checks before hitting the 'big pickles' (remember this post?). Here's another map I created for the How to Search project. Thinkature is another neat collaborative tool.


Miscellaneous

Rich Schefren's Internet Business Manifesto (a must read for all online entrepreneurs...and a free download. Incredible.)

Here's a great tool for converting one file format into another

Here's a good website for design ideas and (getting) design jobs. Also, if you need a logo at a great price, visit GotLogos

To have your site reviewed by Cool Site of the Day, go here.

You can find me on Twitter although I'm now also Plurking.

For project management and collaboration, play with Basecamp. Same company created Highrise, an excellent CRM tool

Until the next Cool Talk,

Mike