I think it really goes without saying that a newsletter is a POWERFUL MARKETING TOOL. Any promotions that you send to your customers and subscribers in the future will be that much more successful because with your newsletter, you will have...

- established your credibility, - developed a reputation as an industry expert, - cultivated a relationship with your subscribers, - inspired customer loyalty, - and maintained regular contact.

Regularly give your subscribers useful or entertaining information that they will benefit from, and they will come to trust you, respect you, AND BUY FROM YOU!

Sounds great, right?

From the e-mail I've been receiving lately, it's clear there is a lot of confusion surrounding the topic of online branding.

Nike, Coke-Cola, Budweiser, McDonalds, Levi's, Amazon.com... these are the branding masters. Now the question is, HOW CAN YOU MODEL THEIR SUCCESS?

These days, online branding is being preached as one of the big "Do or Die" marketing strategies. So everyone wants to brand their e-business -- but no one is exactly sure what branding is, how it's done, or where to start.

What is branding, anyway?

Late last night I turned on my television and discovered a used car salesman trying to sell this cheap clunker of a car to recently pink-slipped and bankrupt dot-com unfortunates.

Apparently if you want to trade in your luxury sports car, these guys would be "happy" to give you a great deal on something more "economical."

I saw this and I started to laugh. I mean, you have to give these guys credit. They're pursuing a niche. But it also convinced me that it's time to publicly address some of the rumors that have been flying around.

If you want your online business to be successful, it's a good idea to optimize your site on a regular basis to make sure it's got a good position in the Web's top search engines. However, in order to maintain your ranking, you have to keep on top of what's happening in the rapidly changing search engine industry. The rules that affected your ranking yesterday may be meaningless tomorrow.

Read on to learn more about the latest developments in the search engine industry and what key tactics you should—and shouldn't—use to optimize your site to make sure it gets a high ranking with all the major search engines. Plus we'll show you the tools and resources you can use to keep it there.

One of the most important elements of your web site is the "call to action." Your site may have a compelling headline that grabs your visitors' attention. It may have well-written salescopy, great graphics, awesome navigation, fantastic testimonials, and an unbelievable opt-in offer.

But all these things aren't going to mean squat if you don't include a clear call to action!