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Newbutlearning
Member
Joined: 2 Apr 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 25 Jun 2009 12:15
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Hi All,
I am new to internet marketing and new to posting on forums. I'd like to let you know a little about me and my reasons for writing this post. Bear with me, if you don't mind while I attempt to explain things. My husband and I started a website a few months ago. It is our first attempt and we are trying hard to learn all we can. We started this site as a means of being able to work together. This is our ultimate goal.
The site is geared towards women and family. From all I have read and learned along the way it is not a true "niche" site because there is a broad spectrum of categories. I know that one problem is that the site lacks "theme". It doesn't seem to flow well and I am looking for suggestions on how to get that process going.
My background is in education, but as a woman I also have thoughts and ideas on my mind that go beyond the classroom. I love to write and like many other women I have many varied interests so it was hard for me to narrow down to just one topic.
My vision for this site is a place where women feel comfortable when visiting. I want the site to be both informative and helpful. I'd like to share things with other like minded women. Does my site seem to accomplish this?
I welcome any feedback that you all may offer about my site and the direction I should take now. Many of you have been doing this for a lot longer than I and your insights would be most appreciated.
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mountainmom5
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 1634
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# Posted: 25 Jun 2009 15:53
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Welcome Christine. Looks like you have been busy.
I don't really have any theme tips as I am usually more concerned about content than theme although maybe you could somehow add more pictures or graphics??
Have you studied keywords at all or read any training materials on that? Keywords are huge if you want people to be able to find you thru the search engines.
I learned a lot about keywords with both the OWM and also SBI which is what I am using to build my site on survival stuff... I noticed you have a variety of topics on your site and that is okay if you are writing articles and using that to to drive traffic to your site.
Let us know what you are doing to get traffic to your site other than just posting to it or adding pages and maybe we can give you some advice or tips...
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Hemjoe
Member
Joined: 6 Feb 2007
Posts: 544
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# Posted: 25 Jun 2009 16:34 · Edited by: Hemjoe
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A quick tip for posting in forums.....
Paste this code into your signature and replace the XXXXX with your url (including the http:// part) and the YYYYYYYY with the text you want to be clickable. Eg Look at Mountainmom5......she has replaced here YYYYYYY with "My SBI Progress"
[url=XXXXXXXXXXXX] YYYYYYYYYYY[/url]
That will make it clickable 
I hope you got that...
I dont think I explained it that well
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 1929
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# Posted: 25 Jun 2009 16:49
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Hi Christine,
Welcome to the forum.
One thing I can tell right off the bat is that you write well. That's a major plus. Another thing I've noticed is that you seem determined to make it work. That's great!
I haven't looked at your site but it sounds to me like you might want to think about a small handful of things you'd really like to focus on. Lots of "women site" type blogs out there that are far too broad to ever make a decent dollar.
I might suggest that you drill down into the niche a bit and specialize on one, two, or three focused sub-niches. What do you have to offer specifically that readers would appreciate?
Additionally, as M5 suggested, learn everything you can about making money online before you take another step else your time will be wasted and full of frustration (never mind if you already know about it - then go ahead).
You might start with the free 30 Day Challenge:
www.thirtydaychallenge.com
It's still in pre-season but some of our members like to take it each year because there are new and up2date things in each new 30 Day Challenge. I think the season usually starts in August. We discuss it on our forum here:
http://www.work-at-home-forum.com/43_0.html
Read some of the earlier threads in our forum, read from make money online blogs and online marketing blogs.
When you've done this for about three months you'll be in a better position to buy some premium stuff to bring your knowledge to a higher ground.
You can ask about the premium stuff then.
Best of luck,
~Newbie Shield~
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Newbutlearning
Member
Joined: 2 Apr 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 25 Jun 2009 19:26
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Hello All,
First let me say thanks to each of you for replying to my post.
I think it only proper to address each of you individually but note that the responses are not in any particular order.
@Hemjoe- I appreciate your tip. Being a newbie I did not realize that my link was not showing up until you pointed that out so I really thank you very much for helping me with that.
I do have to admit that it was a little confusing, but I went back to my profile and there is a section there that explained it too. Between what you told me and the other part I read I think that I have corrected that little problem now.
@Mom5- I agree with you about adding pictures and graphics. I am in the process of learning how to do just that. Any suggestions or sites that you know of for pictures and graphics would be greatly appreciated. I also have some pictures of my own that I am trying to learn how to add to my site. It is a WordPress.org theme and I am not sure exactly how to add the pictures yet, but as my name suggests I may be new at this but I am learning. So eventually I will figure this part out too.
Yes we have been busy trying to figure all of this out. My husband is my keyword research man, as I said we are working on this site together. We study and try to learn all we can each day to help us grow in this venture. He also helps me with post ideas and even writes a few of them himself, which I definitely appreciate. We are very like-minded so this helps a great deal.
We are attempting various traffic driving methods. I have articles on ezine (my favorite) and some other article directories. I have also submitted the site to several blog directories. I have a facebook page, my husband is on twitter, I posted on Digg, and now I am working on posting on forums (as you can see ) I joined this site and some others back in April but I have mainly been reading and observing in the background so that I could learn a little more before posting a lot.
Thanks again Mom5 for your thoughts and I welcome any tips or advice that you might have for us.
@Newbie Shield- Let me just say that I feel very honored to receive your compliment on my writing. I love to write and having your stamp of approval means a lot to me, so thank you very much!
You are correct in your assumption that both my husband and I are very determined to make this work. It means a lot to both of us. We truly enjoy each others company and we can find no better field than IM to help us achieve our goal.
I also agree with you about the "drilling down" to sub-niches. My husband and I have discussed this and are currently working right along those lines.
I am glad that you mentioned the 30 Day Challenge. When we first started out our adventure we heard a lot about that. We were soooo new then that our minds were completely bogged down with all that we were trying to absorb. You have reminded me that now is a good time to go back and revisit the information that we gathered from the 30D challenge and look at it with fresh and more knowledgeable eyes this time.
I have read through many posts on this site and will continue to so that they can help us learn and grow. I just wanted to thank you personally for your considerate instructions. I will take your advice and look into the "premium stuff" a little later. I also read many of the comments and suggestions that you have made to other "newbies" and they have been both full of wisdom and thoughtfulness. You have inspired many behind the scenes that you didn't even know about. Again many thanks to you.
In closing I'd just like to add that around our house we
have a saying that we try to live by: "Any day of learning something new is a good day". So by that you can tell that today has been a VERY good day.
Blessings to all,
Christine
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mountainmom5
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 1634
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# Posted: 25 Jun 2009 22:36
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wow - you ARE a great writer! It sounds like you guys have it going on and what a blessing to be working on it together! I wish you both much success and many happy learnings.
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GerryWalter
Member
Joined: 10 Jun 2009
Posts: 5
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# Posted: 26 Jun 2009 07:53
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Your site looks good - but one thing that struck me straight away - there are no images apart from the banner at the top!
Having no images means it lacks the personal feel a site like yours should have. Maybe you could tweak the layout?
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Newbutlearning
Member
Joined: 2 Apr 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 26 Jun 2009 10:19
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Thanks Mom5, I appreciate your compliments and yes we are blessed.
I too wish you much success, you are definitely an inspiration with your own "stick-with-itness" attitude. You have given me a lot to think about and I value what you have told me and others in this forum. You are always so upbeat and hopeful in your answers to people. That in itself is something to aspire to.
Thanks Gerry for looking at our site. Yes, I agree with you about adding images. I am new to all of this and trying to learn that part now. Any suggestions for sites with images to use would be greatly appreciated. Also if you have tips on placement or uploading of the images I could sure use the help.
This is such a wonderful, informative and helpful site. I'd also like to thank Vishal for creating this gathering place so that we can share our thoughts and ideas. The members here are top-notch!
Blessing to all,
Christine
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