Email Marketing

Email Marketing is an effective online marketing tool. It is being used from a very a long time to market any company's product/service/offer by email. There are numerous email marketing firms in whole world also a large numbers of freelancers/contractors are working independently on various freelancing platforms in E-Marketing field. Anyone can learn E-Marketing with some basic knowledge about internet and it takes patience, dedication and constant learning to curve a niche in this profession. A few very popular email marketing tools and software providing websites are: Constant Contact, Aweber and Mailchimp.

Independent Consultancy

                                                             
Independent consultancy is becoming a popular career choice for many who want to take greater control of their future; being your own boss is an attractive proposition and in today’s economy where ‘knowledge is king’ there are many individuals who feel that they can make a very good living by selling their particular knowledge specialism.

Consulting is a viable and growing option, More than half of consulting firms are businesses operated on a sole trader basis. Moving away from a corporate environment, giving up full-time paid employment for an alternative lifestyle will present challenges but with careful thought and planning you can build a successful consulting business. Keys to success lie in having the right personal qualities and skills as well as an understanding of management practices. Consultancy may be defined as ‘ providing independent services to meet clients’ needs in exchange for a fee’. The fee element is important, there are plenty of people willing to take advice but making sure that you get paid for your consulting expertise is key.

Some major benefits of Independent Consultancy:

1. Independence, getting out of corporate life, leaving behind office politics.

2. Job satisfaction – wanting to set up your own business in your in your own way and style .

3. Achievement and success – There is a real sense of achievement attached to running your own successful business but be prepared to deal with the challenges this brings and equip yourself as best as you possibly can to deal with any difficulties.

4.  Money – Starting and running your own consultancy does not guarantee wealth. It can be a very good source of income, but income generation can be erratic so you do need to start off with a financial cushion to ensure that you can pay the bills whilst you start generating consultancy income.
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As a consultant you will need an area of expertise – your services will be bought when what you offer is not available internally to a client. Think about what it is that you are selling – clients are busy people so you need to make it quite clear at the outset what it is you can deliver and how it will benefit them. Having an area of expertise may mean that you want to concentrate on a specific discipline or in a specific sector. If you limit yourself to a particular sector then do consider how the impact of any industry downturn might affect your own business.

Some consultants prefer to market themselves as generalists, selling a range of skills/services across the market. A word of warning - clients may be suspicious of someone who purports to be able to solve all their issues. If you feel that you are more likely to succeed as a generalist then I’d advise you to sell your services as an expert in the area that you consider a priority for the client then introduce other generalist skills as assignments develop.

Self-audit:

It is advisable to undertake some self-assessment and analysis before embarking on a new consultancy venture. Firstly assess your skills, undertake a self audit exercise - detail your skills (technical, business, leadership, selling, organisational) and attributes; consider how you might apply these in consultancy work. Be honest and objective; ask friends, colleagues and family members their opinion.

Undertake a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. This will help you to get an overview of what is working for and against your consulting business and will also help you to plan your strategy.

Selling yourself:

Consultants need to be able to promote and market themselves. You will be responsible for your own marketing and although it is relatively straightforward to set up as an independent consultant, establishing, sustaining and growing your business requires marketing and promotion. Promoting yourself, persuading people to support you and winning clients is key.

Statistics and Analysis Web Tools

Statistics and Analysis Web Tools:

Keeping track of where your traffic is coming from and how much you are getting can be an integral part of helping you market and optimize your blog. These are a few resources to get you started.

1. StatCounter — StatCounter is a free statistics and analysis tool for keeping track of your blog’s traffic numbers.

2. Site Meter — Site Meter is available in Premium and Basic versions, and can offer more advanced analysis of your site.


3. Alexa — Alexa is a great tool for comparing your blog’s performance to other blogs on the internet.

4. Google Analytics — Google provides a free and full-featured tool for determining where your visitors are coming from and how they use your site.

5. Measure Map — Measure Map is a free tool to track your visitors’ habits.

6. AWStats — AWStats is an open source tool that you can use to track your blog’s statistics.

7. Feedburner — Feedburner provides a wide range of tools to help improve your blog’s RSS feed as well as statistic tracking.
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8. MyBlogLog — MyBlogLog is both a community building tool and a simple blog analytics tool.

Some very popular blogging platforms

Blogging Platforms:

The internet is full of sites that can provide a platform for your blog. There are advantages and disadvantages to all of them, so research carefully before deciding which will work best for you.

1.WordPress — WordPress can either be a hosted platform or one you use on your own server. Basic access to Wordpress is free of charge and there are a wide variety of templates available for customization. It also comes with some attractive features like spam blocking and integrated stats as well as numerous plugins you can add yourself.

2.Blogger — Blogger is a free, hosted blogging platform. While Blogger might lack some of the usability that other platforms have, it makes up for it with features like the Audioblogger service which allows you to create audio recordings for your blog using your phone. Blogger is also useful in that you can upload it to your own website, meaning visitors to your site won’t even know you’re using it as a platform.

3. Movable Type — Movable Type is a powerful blogging tool, but perhaps not the easiest to set up and use. It does, however, offer pretty much every feature you could want.

4. TypePad — TypePad is a more user-friendly version of Movable Type, with many of the same bells and whistles but in a much easier to use format. The functionality of your TypePad blog will likely depend on how much you’re willing to invest.

5.Vox — Vox is a bit of a mix between a social networking site and a weblogging service.

6.Text Pattern — Text Pattern is another self-hosted blogging system. It comes with valuable tools like Textile and Sections which allow users that may not be familiar with html to easily format web content. Textpattern also is great at blocking spam, but it lacks features commonly found on other blogging sites.

7.Boast Machine — A free blog publishing tool, BoastMachine is mostly template driven, but allows for HTML customization. It has some notable security features like IP blocking and banning and has automatic backup and restore systems.

8.Blog.com — For beginners, Blog.com might be a good place to start. With easy-to-use templates and setup, you can begin blogging within a few minutes. This ease doesn’t come without a price, however, as you are limited in the amount of storage and advanced features.

9.B2evolution — B2evolution is one of the most fully-featured blog tools out there to use. Because of this, it can be a bit overwhelming for the new user. While there are a number of themes available, real customization can be difficult without some technical know-how. Still,
the numerous features can make up for some initial difficulties with the learning curve.

10.ExpressionEngine — ExpressionEngine is a blogging tool with some attractive extras. Aside from the usual blogging tools, it provides integrated image galleries and mailing lists. It comes with a variety of templates, but customizing them may prove to have a bit of a learning curve.