Go Syndicate Yourself!

Not getting the attention you deserve? Need to get a new product in front of a crowd? Have something to say but don't know how to tell the world?

Want to increase your website traffic and back links?

Three little letters, with a huge impact: RSS. Really Simple Syndication. RSS Feeds take the content of your website, turn it into data and transmit it all over the Internet. FOR FREE. This data goes directly to various social bookmarking sites in the form of keywords (or Tags). (Thanks to Steve Renner for the clearest definition I've found to date.) People subscribe to your feed by clicking an icon on your site and they are notified each time you have something new to say. Personally I love Google Reader and have all my subscriptions going there. It's easy to set up and super-easy to manage; it has a straight-forward interface, which is fantastic if you struggle with time-management: it takes you no time to learn this particular application. Ok, there's my Google love for the day....

The 2nd quick and easy way to syndicate yourself is by submitting articles. The longest part of this aspect is actually writing the article! I'm using http://www.ezinearticles.com/ (according to their site, the have hundreds of thousands of visitors a day, and millions of unique visitors every month), and am about to try out two others that Twitter followers have recommended.

Here's the power of article marketing: I've only submitted one article to date (to three different sites), but have seen a spike in website traffic and have received (more than expected) comments, emails, requests to network, and have two more potential clients. All in 2 days. All from one article. And all viable leads. Can you imagine when I submit more, and to more sites?

Sounds simple? It is! It's easy. It's smart. It's Web 2.0. It's global access, literally at your fingertips.

Give us a call today for your free 30-minute consultation!

Let's get you syndicated!

The day Google saved my life.

I love Google. I mean I love Google. Did I tell you I love Google?

What's kind of funny though, is up until the end of 2007 whenever I heard various business owners and executives quote Google as their essential website, I never really got it.

Until I totally got it.

I've wasted so much time flipping from one Google application to another. From Google search, to Gmail, to Google Calendar, to Google Reader.. the list goes on. And having so many screens open! It was confusing and incredibly time consuming. And as a virtual assistant, I don't have the time! I'm busy helping you get your time back!

And then I discovered iGoogle. You can completely customize the page to suit your needs and wants. It's fantastic! I have everything I need in one place (now, if they only had a Google Submit to get my articles and blog posts directly to syndication with the simplest click of the mouse. Speaking of which, perhaps I should check out Google Labs to see if they have that up their sleeve.)

So, back to iGoogle. I have Google Reader up front and centre. This saves me probably 30 to 40 minutes a day right there. I no longer have to search my favourites for, well, my favourites. Techcrunch, Duct Tape Marketing, Seth's Blog, Entrepreneur.com, etc etc; I've set up Google reader to automatically show these sites when they're updated. I can quickly zip through for headlines that interest me. My finger is, literally, on the pulse.

Gmail: I've added Gmail to my iGoogle homepage. It saves me from trying to remember to check twice a day. It automatically shows me when I have new mail; I have it right in front of me. Same goes for Google Calendar. I simply click the link and it pops open for me. No more having to log in, open more windows, etc. It's right there.

I have some fun stuff to: local weather, local news, Facebook. There are so many widgets you can add to your iGoogle homepage, I'm still discovering them. It does take a while to set up, to get everything you want on your homepage, but boy, it's worth it! You get that time back in the first day.

How are you managing your time? Or is your time managing you?

This is just one small service that Scratchpad Secretaries can provide to help you get your valuable time back. Check out our list of services for further ways to help you ease your workload overwhelm!