The Best Email Site: "Gmail" or "Yahoo!"?

  

     From the time I was around ten years old, I've had various email addresses I've used for signing up for profiles and other things. My first email address was made using Yahoo!, but this was before I even knew what Gmail was. My parents had Yahoo! email addresses and I followed suit.

       Years later, after having two Yahoo! emails for a few years, I kept hearing about Gmail. I was wondering more and more what it was, so I made an account, and let it sit for a while. My Yahoo! emails had been compromised after a few months, and I was forced to go back to Gmail.

       To this day, Gmail is the only email provider I'll ever use. Gmail is faster in loading and uploading than Yahoo!, integrated into YouTube and Google+ accounts, and is right on the most popular search engine's website. I love how quickly Gmail updated instantly and automatically scans emails to see if they should be included in Spam filtered folders, thereby clearing up you're inbox on it's own.

       If you don't have a Gmail email address, I recommend trying it out. It's free, easy to sign up for, and quite beneficial. Gmail seems to be a step ahead of other providers like AOL, Hotmail (does anyone still use this?), and Yahoo!. It's definitely on the cutting edge, and sure to please you as it does many of it's other hundred-thousands of users.

How To Get More Traffic To Your Blog: Craigslist

Okay, I discovered something last night, and I just had to share it. While trying to think about ways to promote my blog and advertise, somehow this idea popped into my head, and I'm so glad it did.

Last evening I went onto Craigslist, and went to my town's Computer Gigs section. I typed up a quick ad, and posted it to the site. I'm not sure if advertising on Craigslist is allowed, or white hat, or anything, but all I know is it worked extremely well.

I went to all the big towns (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc) and posted on their page. I put the exact same ad for each one. After ten minutes, and five posts, I checked my page views for the day.

They had tripled. And it wasn't just quick click, then leaving. People were staying, people were commenting. I was shocked.

Here's a picture of what my ad looked like:

I placed this ad on multiple "Computer Gigs" post lists on Craigslist.

So before writing this post today, I check my feeds subscribers. They were increased 110%. I was again shocked that so little work had such great results. I realized then it's all about getting your name out there.

So here's how I did it, step by step:

Step One: Pick a Town's Craigslist Posting Page
You can do that by going to Craigslist here and picking a town.

Step Two: Click on anything under "Gigs"
I picked "Computer Gigs", since it seemed fitting.

Step Three: Pick "I Need To Hire".
It really doesn't matter, but you'll get more views that way.

Step Four: Finish that, and enter in your information. 
I picked a title saying "Blog Readers Needed" and put the location as "Anywhere".

Step Five: Type Up a Quick Ad.
Fill in your email, and click "No Pay" (Unless you're paying people to read your blog).

Step Six: Submit It and Confirm by Email
Once you do, it'll be live on the site.

I'm not sure if Craigslist will keep these ads up or take them down for spam. I didn't do it on my account so I'm not worried about being banned or anything, so if you are I wouldn't recommend this. This is just a way to get your blog's name out there, and maybe gain some readers or subscriptions from it.

If you're worried about Craigslist getting upset or something horrific happens from Google because of this, this is my warning (and way of not getting angry comments from it). I don't know if it will work for sure, but it definitely worked for me, and I want to share my success.

What was your biggest advertisement success?

Also, a great site to view for a plethora of advertising ideas is SEOMOZ, it's a great site and has helped me out a lot.

Happy Blogging!

Your URL... Live It, Love It, Promote It.

Getting more viewers is easy when you know how.

How many of you caught my slight “The Game Plan” reference? Great Movie. Anyways, an idea for a post came to me while checking up on my favorite blogs today.

How Do You Feel About Your Brand’s Name?

How many of you love your URL?

You may be thinking how strange of a question that is, but really think about it. What do you think when you hear your brands name? What made you pick the brand name you did?

Once you pick a name for your blog, and you start promoting it, there’s usually no going back. If you really wanted to change it, you could, but it would result in confusion and a noticeable loss of viewership. 

That’s why picking a name is so important. It’s like naming your child; once you pick it, it usually sticks.

Live It

What I mean by “Live It” is that you need to incorporate your blog’s name into your every day life. Whether it’s checking your blogs social media pages daily, or replying to emails it’s generated, it needs to become a part of your routine for it to have the success you desire.

Love It

If you cringe every time you hear your brand’s name, you might have to change it. Even if you’ve done a lot of promoting, you can’t truly give it your all to a blog with a name you hate.

You need to love the name; love saying the name, love writing the name, love posting the name. The quicker you learn that, the quicker you’ll be able to move on to the next step.

Promote It

Whatever advice people have given you on promoting, take it and put it aside. Don’t get rid of it, but always be willing to let more come in and to give the new ideas a chance.

You never know what will bring in subscribers. Put a hyperlinked version of your blog name in your email signature. Mention it during a lull in conversation. 

If you feel like you talk about your blog more than anything else, this can either be a great thing, or a not-so-great thing. Great if you’re promoting it on social media, mentioning it once in a conversation, attaching it on an email; but bad if you’re over doing it.

Over-doing it can be as simple as mentioning it more than one time ever in a conversation with a person. People don’t want to hear about the same thing over and over. They get bored. Once you’ve said your piece, step down and let the seeds you’ve planted grow.

What have you done recently to noticeably gain readers? Have you ever had to change your brand’s name? Join the discussion in the box below.