1. ePrompter
ePrompter will check up to 16 of your password protected email accounts automatically as well as reply to, compose and even forward messages. Depending how many accounts you have, and how often you check them, this little tool could easily save you hours a day.
2. Vista Print
A lot of people already know about this site, but it's certainly worth mentioning again, just in case. I don't know how they can afford to do it, but Vista Print will give you 250 free, color business cards.
3. Click Tracker
This web site offers a free link and click tracking services, and even the pro version is ridiculously cheap. I especially like the fact that their software allows you to have your own domain in tracking URLs instead of the link tracker's URL.
4. PageSucker.com
This product will "suck" an entire webpage on to your hard drive so you can read it off-line. It's great for people who use dial-up connections, and best of all it's totally free.
5. RefDesk.com
This site will help you find anything from people, to your local weather, to just about any other random fact that you could find the answer to anywhere else. Check it out if you need to do some product research.
6. FILExt
How many times have you downloaded something only to have your computer tell you that it didn't recognize the file type? You then try to open it using the "Open As" feature, but even you don't know what the file extension stands for. That's where a site like FILExt comes in hand. FILExt has just about every software extension listed so you can easily do a search on your "mystery file".
7. MailWasher
Block spam for ever.
8. Ezine Ad Auction
Ezine advertising is one of the cheapest and quickest ways to get the word out about a product or service. This site allows you to bid for ultra-cheap ad rates in a wide assortment of newsletters.
9. Site Viewer
Sites created for one browser type can very often look horrible when viewed through other browsers. This site allows you to avoid such embarrassment by "viewing your own site as your visitors do." I'd make it a point of testing out your website using this tool before launching any new sites.
10. WebAssist
Give your ecommerce site PayPal functionality without having to touch a line of code. PayPal is one of the most popular payment processors online so by including them as a method of payment could very well increase your sales in and of itself.
10 Sites You Should Visit
Go viral with Twitter ReTweets
Retweet or RT is when someone takes your Twitter message and tweets that same message to all followers in their own Twitter network. Getting readers to retweet your content allows the power of your network to take over and spread your message in the Twittersphere.
In other words: viral marketing.
Word of mouth or viral marketing is when your content is spread from person to person. Retweeting is the most powerful factor in something going viral on Twitter. It helps spread your message from one community to the next and has the ability to spread messages much faster than any other viral marketing tool.
It is free advertising and bloggers and business owners should do anything they can to encourage readers to retweet their content. Following steps can be taken to get more readers to tweet your content.
Announce your latest content
Always make sure to announce your latest content in a tweet, as that will make it easy for someone to “retweet” your message to their own network.
Make it easy for your readers to share
Remind your readers about Twitter on your site and make it easy for them to share your content on Twitter. You can use retweet plugin like TwitThis for this or you can create a simple link yourself. Use the following HTML link on your sitet:
http://twitter.com/home?status=
Put your tweet text after the equals sign. Remember to replace each space with “%20″.
When a reader clicks on this link, it will forward him/her to the Twitter home page
with the “What are you doing?” text box pre-filled with your message.
Start a Twitter competition
Two top-bloggers Shoemoney and John Chow have recently started Twitter competitions, where in order to enter a chance to win some prizes, you must retweet a message they have chosen. Looking at my own Twitter stream and searching the Twittersphere, it seems to be a very efficient way to spread your message and your link.
Be active on Twitter
Spend time on Twitter. The more active you are and the more followers you have, the more exposure your tweets will get and there will be a higher chance that someone will retweet your content.
Build relationships
You will never go wrong by talking to your target audience, other bloggers, and other power users on Twitter. By building relationships with people interested in your subject, you stand a better chance of getting your messages retweeted.
Write quality content
When someone retweets your tweet or your content it shows a high degree of content approval. Your tweet and your content was of such great quality and was so valuable to the person, that they decided to share it with their own Twitter network.
You must have useful, original and quality content. It is impossible to attract people to read your articles, if your articles are not useful. The same way, it is hard to get anyone to spread your link and retweet your message, if they do not enjoy and find your content valuable.
How do I track my retweets?
Simple! Use Twitter Search and search for the URL you have tweeted in your original tweet. This will show you all the retweets that used the same URL. Look at the number of followers for each person that has retweeted your link to get the number of the total exposure.
27 Self-Promotion Tips
Overcoming Self-Promotion Obstacles and Retuning Your Brain
1. If you have negative associations to sales and marketing, get busy curing yourself of “antimarketing-itis.”
2. Create new associations to self-promotion if the old ones don’t work for you.
3. Your brain is your greatest asset, so use it to adjust and fine-tune the way you think about and approach self-promotion.
Laying the Foundation and Offering Value
4. Realize that your music is a special gift that should be shared with the world.
5. Be driven by a burning desire to reach as many people as possible with your musical gift.
6. You have musical integrity because you are spreading the word about something you’ve created yourself that touches people and enriches their lives.
7. Self-promotion starts and ends with YOU. No one else understands your music and passion
more.
Understanding the ArtistArtist-Fan Relationship / Focusing on Fans
8. The artist-fan relationship is a two-way transaction. You get recognition, satisfaction and money. They get a valuable physical and emotional payoff.
9. You must understand how your music positively affects your fans – or what’s in it for them.
10. Focus on the benefit your music offers fans, not the category of music you play.
11. Avoid “middleman-atosis.” Focus on getting and keeping fans – not on the media, the industry, record labels, retail stores, distributors, etc.
12. Every morning, ask yourself: “What can I do today to connect with more fans?”
Reaching and Attracting Fans
13. Motivate fans to identify themselves and give you permission to show them more.
14. Create a brand identity by clearly communicating who you are, what you do and the unique
way you do it.
15. Use the VFW Hall Principle: Find at least one fan out of every thousand people.
16. Know who you are as a musician.
17. Be able to clearly describe your music in asfew words as possible.
18. Know who your fans are - based on the benefit you offer them.
19. Determine the best avenues to reach people most likely to become your fans.
Using Additional Fan-Building Tactics
20. You don’t have to be a household name to be successful.
21. Understand that fame and fortune are merely byproducts of being a good self-promoter consistently over the long haul.
22. Be consistent with your identity and selfpromotion message. Changing them too often will
confuse people.
23. Obliterate the “local” and “starving artist” mentality.
24. Cross-promote with other artists and combine your marketing impact.
25. Use testimonials and guarantees to help firsttime buyers give your music a try.
26. Exploit talk shows and position yourself as an expert related to your musical niche.
27. Do something every day to promote yourself and connect with fans.