I want to discuss Squidoo as a tool for generating traffic to your site. Squidoo, created by Seth Godin, is a Web 2.0 website, which means the majority of its content is created by its users - people like you and me. Its an online social encyclopedia, with tens of thousands of user-generated pages called lenses on a vast range of topics.

A Squidoo lens is a user-created resource webpage thats focused on a specific topic.

Building a consistent customer base through strong relationships with your clients is the foundation of all relationship marketing plans. Focusing on understanding the customer's perspective, as well as delivering products and services that address a client's specific needs, will help give your company an edge in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

In my "book reports," I cut through the fluff, and outline only the most useful ideas and information from the book, so that you can put them to use right away, without reading the book. In this book report, I will share some tips and strategies I learned, for promoting and marketing a small business or organization, even on the tiniest of budgets.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the nature of publicity and how to go about getting it. Here are 7 myths that may keep you from getting the free publicity you deserve.

Myth 1. Publicity and advertising are the same. Advertising is exposure that you pay for. You control the exact message and, if you're willing to pay extra, the placement of the ad.

So why do it? There are obvious benefits to doing book-signings, such as meeting prospective book-buyers in person; the market research that can only come from talking directly to your audience; the local exposure you'll experience and the overall promotion that's part of this entire activity, but there are hidden benefits in doing book signings that are even more valuable than everything I've just mentioned!

HIDDEN VALUE #1 - EFFECTIVE DISTRIBUTION
It's a known fact that distribution is a problem for publishers of all sizes.

"If I was down to my last dollar, I'd spend it on public relations."

-- Bill Gates

As unlikely as it is that Bill Gates would ever be down to his last million dollars, let alone a single George Washington, the fact remains that it's a powerful endorsement of the power of PR.

Still, when the economy is tight and corporations yank hard to get their belts down to that last notch, PR is usually one of the first few items on the budget that's frozen or cut completely.

In working with clients for nearly 20 years (from almost every industry possible) I can tell you that TV is an especially powerful medium when it serves as a marketing vehicle for your products or services.

Why? Because of the power of the visual! TV viewers not only hear you; they see you; they see your product; they see a graph or power point that defines your service.

Without getting into deep research, it seems to me that the average marketing manager should be able to put together a sensible survey simply by using some common sense. Somehow, this is not happening as often as I would expect. My speculation is that people are so hungry for feedback on so many items that they can't resist asking their customers for feedback on all of them.

That great idea has hatched, it feels good, it smells good and you believe it could be hugely successful but you dont know how to market it. What do you do?

The potential of your idea excites you until you hit the streets wanting to promote it. The glare of the neon which represents all the other wannabe great ideas is blinding and confusing and could easily dampen your spirits were you not convinced of the power of your product.

Getting free publicity can be considered both an art and a science. It is an art because those who are most successful at it use their imaginations to create media interest. it is also a science in that there are certain specific steps that you can take that will dramatically increase your chances.

Here are 10 keys to creating a successful publicity program.