On the Internet you want to be connected, especially if you own an online business.  One way to build that connection with others is through links.  Link building is a popular way to increase traffic to your website and therefore your business.

What are links?  They are the website addresses that you click on that carry you to another page.  Links are found in content, in advertising banners, and in resource boxes.  There are links everywhere. 

As an online business owner, building links that lead back to your website is important.  Everyone doesn’t click on all links.  If they are visiting a reputable site that has links to other helpful sites, most people will click on them.  This is your way in.

So, how do you build links?  There are several ways to get your links seen all across the web:
* E-zines
* Content directories
* Search engines
* Reciprocal links

Publish an online magazine or write for one.  At the end of each column or article, the writer gets a resource box.  This is where you tell all about yourself and provide a link to your website, where readers can learn more about you.  The main purpose here is to write good stuff so that someone will want to click on your link.

Distribute newsletters to your customers and potential customers.  Using an email campaign, send out newsletters that feature what’s new on your site as well as links to these exciting new features.  The links provide easy access for the customer so they don’t have to type in your site address and then click around to find what you want them to see.  That is a great way to lose a customer.

Writing and distributing content to various directories also gets you noticed.  Within the resource box is the link to your website.  Become an expert on your subject of interest and more people will want to click on your website link to see what you have to say.

Register your site with search engines.  When you produce quality content that is search engine optimized, your content is ranked high.  Interested viewers can click on the link to your webpage for more information. 

Building partnerships with similar website businesses also increases your quality link building.  Agree to list each other’s links on your sites for more visibility.  With link building it is the quality more than the quantity of the links you are building that counts.  No one wants to have their link associated with a disreputable site or one that is not very good.

Be sure that your links are static.  This means that once someone clicks on your website link, they will arrive at the proper page you want them to see.  Always linking to homepages when the information is on another page is inefficient.  The customer still has to go in search of what they need.  Make it easy for them and for you with precise links.

Link building gets the word out about your business.  It takes time to build quality links, but the benefits are well worth the work.

Hotel Traffic Builders

www.HotelTrafficBuilders.com

Hotel & Resort Internet Marketing & Website Development by Hotel Traffic Builders

If you are in charge of people it doesn’t look good to have issues with your time.  A manager who spends most of their time putting out fires, needs a timeout to get things together.  You might be that manager.  If so, here is some advice that will help.

What are your managerial duties?  If you are a project manager, then you oversee all of the projects (or a portion of them) in the office.  That could be five or it could be thirty.  Part of getting the job done is being able to meet the needs of the clients and the teams on all those projects.  That takes organization and some forward thinking. 

The big part of being an effective manager is constantly analyzing how your time is spent.  If you seem to be behind the eighth ball all the time, maybe a few time management skills can help you out.  At the very least, it will keep a bad headache at bay.

1.  Do away with unnecessary meetings.  Many managers meet with their team to discuss projects.  Maybe you have a weekly meeting scheduled to give and hear updates.  You have a weekly time slot - but the meeting doesn’t have to take place if there is nothing to discuss.  Send out an email to your employees midweek (for end of the week meetings) to see if there are any new topics to discuss.  If not, table the meeting for another week.  That half hour or hour you save can be devoted to more project work.

2.  Provide feedback.  Is someone doing exceptional work?  Let them know how they are doing.  Feedback is important for everyone.  An employee that missed the mark with a project could use your comments to do a better job the next time.  Employees work better when they know how they are doing.

3.  Use software to make your job easier.  Are there fifteen employees and thirty projects that you have to manage?  Use computer software to keep track of who is working on what, and any deadlines.  A chart of employee strengths and weaknesses (for your eyes only) helps with assigning projects so each time it is a good fit.  Sometimes, the problem is not being able to get your hands on the information you need when you need it.  Knowing who does what saves you time.

4.  Share the wealth.  If you have found a new technique or software program that helps you stay organized, share it with others in the office.  It could boost their productivity as well.  Being a good manager means helping others manage their time as well.
 
5.  Shred unneeded paperwork.  Your desk will overflow in an instant if you don’t get this piece under control.  Keep what you need and get rid of the rest.  When you can, scan documents or transfer information to digital format.

Managers become better when they analyze their own work as well as their employee’s work.  We can always find new ways to be efficient.

Hotel Traffic Builders

www.HotelTrafficBuilders.com

Hotel & Resort Internet Marketing & Website Development by Hotel Traffic Builders

Audio book: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
Where to buy: www.amazon.com
Stress-Free Productivity – wouldn’t that be great? If you feel overwhelmed with your daily tasks and seem to have too little time to do them and are always afraid that there was something important that you forgot, David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” Audio CD might just be the right CD for you.

David Allen is a Management Consultant with over 20 years of experience. He founded a coaching, training and consulting company, the David Allen Company.  He is also a well-known and popular speaker on time and stress management.

In his audio CD he talks about taking back control of your time management and productivity. His GTD (Getting Things Done) principle relies on the fact that everybody needs to get tasks out of the mind and record them externally in an organised way. By doing that, the mind is free to “forget” about the jobs that need to be done for a while and can focus on performing the task at hand.

His time management/productivity system is based on a reliable and easy system to store, control and retrieve the information that are needed to get the jobs done. The user feels more in control and accomplishes more while the stress to accomplish subsides. His system works in various steps:

1) Collect, where you free your mind of things you need to do and write them on pieces of paper
2) Process, where you process your inbox (pieces of paper) into folders, following his two-minute rule 3) Organize into simple or complex jobs
4) Decide
5 Act and review weekly.

If you want to learn how to manage your time better, get more jobs done in less time, this Audio CD is worth the money.

Hotel Traffic Builders

www.HotelTrafficBuilders.com

Hotel & Resort Internet Marketing & Website Development by Hotel Traffic Builders