Archive for category marketing sense

When credibility matters…

As a ghostwriter, I’ve created hundreds of top quality online marketing products for some of the biggest names in the business. This is not a boast, merely a fact – if they weren’t top quality, they would have been slung back at me.

Hasn’t happened yet, hence my confidence…

And one of the things that I’ve learned during this time is that consistency is massively important no matter what it is you’re doing on the net.

A couple of examples will explain why.

If you use Facebook or Twitter to market a product or service, the site users that you are promoting to must trust you. If you are not consistent, how can they?

Even if you are not promoting or marketing, your ‘followers’ need to trust and respect you. Again, if they do not, how can you expect them to believe a word you say?

So it’s been quite unnerving recently that so many marketers seem to be forgetting this.

For my sins, I am on almost every mailing list you can think of. This is not because I’m a masochist, or at least I don’t think so. But I do need to keep up with what is going on to make sure that today’s new product is not based on yesterday’s ideas and concepts.

And what I am seeing is information that is becoming less and less consistent (and therefore believable) by the day.

As an example, a few days ago, I received a video where a marketer I have actually worked for was pushing this great new ‘technique’ for making money using AdWords (a product that costs $49). Not a week later, I get another video for the same guy’s latest product which absolutely pans AdWords as the worst thing ever!

Total (almost moronic) inconsistency = complete lack of credibility from this point on…

It’s an object lesson in how not to ‘sell’ anything (a product, service or even yourself) on the net. What you post online is the only point of contact your readers have with you, hence, this is the ‘you’ that they know.

If you want to lose your credibility, changing your stance from ‘white’ to ‘black’ and back again is just about one of the quickest ways I know of doing so.

When credibility is important, you must be consistent, it’s as simple as that.

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What do you think?

Agree? Disagree? Think that I must be a masochist?

Let me know – I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Hey, thanks for stopping by once again! But, why not let me make life easier for you by sending every update by RSS? Just click the link, and it shall be done...

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Build one way links with .edu and .gov sites the easy way…

Almost every site that you see nowadays is talking about links and especially about how to generate them.  But, did you know that some links seem to have more value attached to them than others?

More specifically, were you aware that links from .edu and .gov site seem to have more importance attached to them than links from ‘ordinary’ .com, .net and .org sites.

As with most things to do with Google, then only people who really know how true this notion s are the Google folks themselves, but there is certainly a logic to the idea.

After all, it is possible to manipulate links from ordinary domain names, but far harder to do so with links from educational and government establishments, and you would naturally assume that those links should carry more weight too.

But, how do you find sites like these, .edu and .gov domain sites that are willing to link to sites in your niche?  Here’s how…
Run a standard Yahoo! search using your main niche keyword.

This will produce the top ten sites in your niche, so you then take the first domain name and type it into Yahoo! in exactly this format:

‘linkdomain:competingsite.com inurl:.edu’

And, hey presto, you’ll have a list of .edu sites that are carrying links to your competitor.

Now all you need to do is follow up and request a link for your own site from the same .edu establishment. Alternatively, check the site to see whether you are able to ‘register’, in which case you can probably create the link yourself from within your profile.

And of course, exactly the same works with .gov sites as well, so give it a shot and let me know how you get on by leaving a comment.

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Dramatic Shift in Marketing Reality

ScholzundFriends asked:

Companies, marketers and advertising agencies are facing a dramatic shift in marketing realitiy – and are increasingly failing to connect with consumers.
The big challenge in times of exchangeable products, the rise of social media and mature and rather brand sceptic consumers:
To find new ways how to get people engaged again in products, advertising and in brands.

Don´t you have something interesting to say? Mailto:engage@s-f.com

Website content

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Videoblogging – coming to your blog soon!

Videoblogging is the next generation of posting ideas and products over the internet. Everybody knows about textblogging. Now they use videos for a better way of expression. This form of communication may entail a lot of resources, but it is all worth it. If pictures say a thousand words, videoblogging exceeds that by far.

A videoblog requires larger disk spaces on websites, a faster server, and a whole new set of programs to support it. Videoblogs can be fed through RSS. This is technology of syndicating your website to other RSS aggregators.

Videoblogging works with people on the internet expressing their selves. Now if you put this on a business prospective, you are up to a lot of benefits. Think of it as a powerful tool in making showing your prospective customers your line of products or your services. It’s just like showing a commercial all for free. And if you videoblog through RSS, then most probably you are getting your target market.

People like to see what they are going to buy. Some would like to see proof and be sure that they are getting their money’s worth before shelving their dimes on it. All of us know the influence of a thirty second commercial. The effect of videoblogging is similar to that. You show your product, people watch it. If they like it, they buy it. If you present it good enough, they’ll buy the product even if they don’t need it.

Now on the web, things are pretty much static, unlike in television in which all are moving. If you post something that is mobile, it would most likely catch attention. Now imaging your product parading in all it’s royalty through videoblog. You’ll get phone call orders in no time.

If your business is just starting up, you can create a videoblog right at your own home. All you need is your web camera, microphone, video software, and lights. For as long as you know how to use your camera, then you can create a videoblog.

Invest in a good web camera. The higher its resolution is the better the output. And you like to present your goods in the optimum way so get the best one possible. Make a short story, or just capture your goods in one go. Just make sure you are getting the best profile for each. Get those creativity juices flowing.

Lights are important in a production. Make sure you illuminate entirely the area you are going to use to create videoblog. The brighter the area, the crispier the images will be. You can also use lighting effects for added appeal to the presentation.

Should you require sounds for your videoblog, you need a microphone. Record you voice as a voice over for promoting the product and its benefit to consumers. Sounds are as important as videos on a videoblog. It is advisable to make your sound effects as enticing as the video.

Your video editing software can be any program. You need this to finalize your work. You can add sounds, delete some bad angles, or insert some still pictures in there too. Some programs are user-friendly and can be used even with zero knowledge on video editing. Even simple video editing programs should do the trick. Select your background carefully too. The light affects the presentation so make sure that the background and the light complements each other.

Videoblogging is a great tool but it also has it downside. It may slow down the computer so other may steer clear of it. Download time may also be time consuming especially if customer is still on a dial- up connection.

But don’t let those stop you. Let videoblogging be an alternative for you, though it is best to still keep the text and pictures present in your presentation to accommodate all possible viewers of your site.

Nowadays, the more creative you are in presenting your product to the market, they more you are likely to succeed. Videoblogging offers an interactive way of selling. You involve the customers. You instill in them the advantage of your goods. And at times, those are enough to make a sale.

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“All Marketers are Liars” – Seth Godin speaks at Google

Google asked:

Caffeinated Content

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Read & Watch

January 1st, so HAPPY NEW YEAR!

An excellent and thought provoking read:

http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html

And a must watch video if you do not like wasting 25% of your website traffic

http://www.stompernet.net/goingnatural2/

Enjoy and think……

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Improve Your Guarantee, Make More Sales!

One of the simplest ways that I know of increasing sales is increasing your guarantee! Many marketers seem worried that by having a generous guarantee, people will take advantage of them, but in my experience that just does not happen, and, anyway, thinking like this is really missing the point.

Here’s an example. Everyone is doing a 30 day money back guarantee, so why don’t you do a 6 month guarantee?

A 6 month guarantee will almost certainly increase your conversions and your refunds will probably not increase a whole lot either.

I know that the longer and stronger the guarantee is, the more likely I am to pull out my wallet and let my credit card see the light of day, and I am fairly sure that I am not alone in this.

And in any event, we all know that there are many people who are serial refunders but they generally ask for their refund within the first few days anyway, and I think that most folks have better things to do with their lives than wait around 6 months to try and rip you off for a refund.

So, don’t be mean with your refunds policy. Be generous, and I am willing to bet that it will increase conversions and you will make much more money off of the extra conversions than you will lose in those handful of extra refunds.

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10 More Simple Traffic Tips

11. Add a link in your email signature to your website. It’s a free and easy way to get a little more traffic.

12. Make a custom 404 error page for your website redirecting people to your home page.

13. Use PPC search engine advertising.

14. Add a “bookmark this site” link to your webpages.

15. Have a tell-a-friend form on your site.

16. Send articles to ezine publishers that includes a link to your website.

17. Hold a crazy content and make it go viral.

18. Give away a freebie (ebook, report, e-course) to keep people coming back to your site.

19. Add an RSS feed to your blog.

20. Submit your site to any related niche directories on the net.

And, in case you are wondering about what happened to #1-10, you will find them HERE

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Making PLR Work Now..

PLR Now

Using Private Label Rights materials is something that we are constantly told is a good thing, something that ‘works’ for internet marketers and online entrepreneurs.

But, did you ever wonder why?

Here’s the answer, and I’m willing to bet that you’ve never thought of it like this before.

PLR works, quite simply, because it leverages your time.

You’re no longer tied to researching, producing, editing, drafting, re-editing, redrafting, laying out, and then polishing the content you need in any niche, and even more importantly, you’re not even tied to niches you have more than a passing knowledge in.

Before, to credibly produce content for any site, you’d either need to BE an expert or HIRE an expert.

The ‘be or hire’ mentality soon pervaded every niche, simply because it was easy to spot who was putting up research and who had passion. To see just who was throwing up Adsense sites to make money, and who was monetizing their hobby.

Who was using Adsense to support their interest – and who were simply feigning interest?

And, on top of that, those that WERE experts were finding themselves being overlooked, ignored or even ripped off, and their content appearing on other sites. Things got ugly on the web, and to combat that, writers began charging more for their work.

Which, of course, was also a good thing because quality writing became harder to find as more and more people began to think that all it took to make money was to put up a couple of sites and wait.

PLR broke that mould very quickly. People could be instant experts – in fact, as long as you’ve got some editing skills, and can afford to spend a little time adding your own slant to the content, and understanding what the niche was, you could become the expert, and also make money.

The problem now?

People don’t use PLR properly.

They put it up, and follow the paths of gurus that barely understand what they are supposed to be doing with the content, without understanding the Google Slap, and then wonder why they aren’t even making pennies in Adsense.

Yet, it’s possible to make so much more with PLR, and we’re going to walk you through how, because when used properly the reason WHY PLR works is because it makes the author of the site, or the website itself a credible source of quality information, written well.

Using and editing PLR is essential because without making the content unique, you’ll actually lose standing as an expert – in the search engines AND with your readers.

The secret to making content unique is to edit it in your own style – its not simply about replacing a percentage of the words and tidying it up simply to make it fit – the best edited PLR uses the PLR as a starting point and converts it into something that speaks to your readers in a personality that’s all you, and still contains the information in the starter article.

Most people don’t do that though, and by and large, it’s why PLR ‘fails’.

They take no time out to fix the content up to make it unique. If you can make the content work for you, you’re less likely to get caught by Google’s rules.

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Using Bidvertiser

If you have a website or a blog that you are trying to make money from, then perhaps you use contextual advertising?

If so, I have news for you that is probably not news at all!

AdSense is not as effective as it used to be.

So, I’ve been looking at all of the viable alternatives (see the most recent posts) because I am getting a bit fed up of just watching my earnings fall.

Bidvertiser is one such service that I have heard great things about, and it is thus one that I am going to try on this site.

Here’s why:

Advertisers that use Bidvertiser bid against one another to appear on a publisher’s site. So, it stands to reason that if your site or blog is popular, then the bids to appear thereon will be higher, and so will your earnings.

You will always be showing the highest paid ads on your site, thus your earnings are maximized.

You only have to earn $10 before they pay out and it goes straight to PayPal – no waiting around for the check from ‘Big G’ to arrive!

So, I can see a lot of advantages to using Bidvertiser and, of course, it’s free to sign up. So, thats what I have done, and we’ll see how it goes…..

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