Tue - June 19, 2007
Wifi Hotspot Finder - IMS #125
If you're going for coffee, or a
business lunch, and you're bringing your laptop, you might as well choose a
place that includes wifi, or internet access as part of the deal. The JiWire web
site will help you do just that.
If you're going for coffee, or a business lunch,
and you're bringing your laptop, you might as well choose a place that includes
wifi, or internet access as part of the deal. The JiWire web site will help you
do just that.
In addition to listing all the wifi access points, they include downloadable widgets, so you can see all the routers within range of your laptop. Very often - in crowded urban areas - there's many routers to choose from.
You can also use the widget as a quick diagnostic tool. Which is very handy, if you live in a condo, or work in a high-rise office building.
It shows which network, is broadcasting on what channel. You can tune your router to a channel that's not in use, and minimize any interference from your neighbors and coworkers.
So if you want get caught up on work while taking a break, or out for lunch, check JiWire.com before you leave. Your wifi access just might be included as a little unadvertised bonus.
Find WiFi Hotspots ==> http://www.jiwire.com
In addition to listing all the wifi access points, they include downloadable widgets, so you can see all the routers within range of your laptop. Very often - in crowded urban areas - there's many routers to choose from.
You can also use the widget as a quick diagnostic tool. Which is very handy, if you live in a condo, or work in a high-rise office building.
It shows which network, is broadcasting on what channel. You can tune your router to a channel that's not in use, and minimize any interference from your neighbors and coworkers.
So if you want get caught up on work while taking a break, or out for lunch, check JiWire.com before you leave. Your wifi access just might be included as a little unadvertised bonus.
Find WiFi Hotspots ==> http://www.jiwire.com
Posted at 01:27 PM
Thu - May 31, 2007
Best Way to Monetize Type-In Traffic - IMS #124
Type-in traffic happens when people
type your website address into their browser, instead of going to a search
engine. If you have a really good name and it gets typed in a lot, what's the
best way to monetize the traffic?
(You can find good domain names using
psychicwhois.com or with a desktop app like Rod Beckwith's Domain Suggestion
Tool ==> http://www.cdzn.com/dst
)
The same domain name was used for all tests.
The first test involved a smArticle AdSense template. These are different than other templates, because they have a minimal footprint. You must provide your own articles or modified PLR articles. I ran the 10 page site for two months. It averaged around 80 dollars per month.
For the second test I partnered with one of the largest Domain Registrars. (Putting AdSense on a parked page is against Google's TOS, unless you're a Registrar.) In the revenue sharing agreement, I get 80% of the take from the parked page. The site (my share) averaged only 30 dollars per month.
In the third test, I used the same set of modified Article Underground PLR articles as the first test. Except this time I used affiliate programs instead of AdSense ads. The site averaged 145 dollars per month.
The final test was almost identical to the third, except this time I used CPA (cost per action) affiliate programs. In this type of program, the customer doesn't have to buy anything. I can get paid for something as simple as a zip code or some other action. The site averaged 160 dollars per month.
My conclusion is the same as my earlier hunch, except now I have over six months of test data to back it up. Affiliate programs are a little more work to implement, but they always have, and probably always will... earn more than running passive PPC ads on your site.
The same domain name was used for all tests.
The first test involved a smArticle AdSense template. These are different than other templates, because they have a minimal footprint. You must provide your own articles or modified PLR articles. I ran the 10 page site for two months. It averaged around 80 dollars per month.
For the second test I partnered with one of the largest Domain Registrars. (Putting AdSense on a parked page is against Google's TOS, unless you're a Registrar.) In the revenue sharing agreement, I get 80% of the take from the parked page. The site (my share) averaged only 30 dollars per month.
In the third test, I used the same set of modified Article Underground PLR articles as the first test. Except this time I used affiliate programs instead of AdSense ads. The site averaged 145 dollars per month.
The final test was almost identical to the third, except this time I used CPA (cost per action) affiliate programs. In this type of program, the customer doesn't have to buy anything. I can get paid for something as simple as a zip code or some other action. The site averaged 160 dollars per month.
My conclusion is the same as my earlier hunch, except now I have over six months of test data to back it up. Affiliate programs are a little more work to implement, but they always have, and probably always will... earn more than running passive PPC ads on your site.
Posted at 04:41 PM
Thu - May 10, 2007
Learn to Earn... It's Who and What You Know - IMS #123
Question: I have a top ranked
authority site, I make a living on the net, but have never made the amount that
I should be. I do JVs, have tons of affiliates, email marketing, autoresponders,
PPC, etc.
Given my 7 years on the net, what do you think a private site like StomperNet can do for me? I realize that if I join, you would get a nice affiliate commission every month, so I am hoping to receive a concrete response, to help make my decision.
Given my 7 years on the net, what do you think a private site like StomperNet can do for me? I realize that if I join, you would get a nice affiliate commission every month, so I am hoping to receive a concrete response, to help make my decision.
Answer: I refuse to be baited by affiliate
commissions. Just FYI, I'm a nice guy that answers emails and don't give a rats
asterisk if you buy through me or not. ;-) In fact, once you read my answer, you
might even think I'm a bit of a jerk. But I'm going to tell you the way it
is.
First of all, there's a fundamental flaw in your thinking. You say "make" instead of "earn" what you have. The greatest abundance will always come when you "serve" your market and customers, as opposed to "make" or trying get something from them.
You need to offer value. The more value you give, the more you'll get in return. Ok, that said...
You are probably making what you earn, because of who you hang around with. Make friends with people who are 10 times smarter, more experienced, and more prosperous than you. Then emulate what they do. You'll find people like that in private sites like StomperNet, Article Underground and Keyword Avalanche.
Most people with breakout success are in markets other than direct response. Both StomperNet founders - Brad Fallon and Andy Jenkins - succeeded in markets serving everyday needs.
Brad was wildly successful not only because he's smart, he learned SEO from the best, Leslie Rohde - now a faculty member - and practiced it in very common market... wedding favors.
Then after he achieved success outside of the "internet marketing" community, he started SEO Radio and the original StomperNet Audio series with Andy.
And it was the same deal with Andy. He learned ecommerce by reading Nothing but 'Net and then ran with it. He set up Yahoo stores selling memorabilia and tapestries. Then he wrote a book on how he did it.
The amount of testing Brad and Andy have done is astounding. Just their conversion techniques alone pay for the cost of the membership for most people.
StomperNet One Dollar Trial ==> http://www.cdzn.com/sn1
Oh... another reason why you might be stuck, is that you're probably not delegating tasks like accounting, taxes, investments, annual reports, etc. You don't need employees, but you do need to form long term relationships with professionals to do these tasks. Then you'll have more time to work on strategies that will build your business.
Or - come to think of it - maybe it's your overall strategy. Take a look at someone like Gauher Chaudhry, he does PPC to CPA and doesn't even worry about SEO or organic search. His course Pay Per Click Formula costs about the same as one month in StomperNet, yet he's on his way to over a million in revenue this year.
Get the Per Per Click Formula ==> http://www.cdzn.com/ppc
So long story short, there are many paths to success, but it all boils down to self-belief, positive attitude, being of service, and the old... who and what you know. Every who brings more what. And "the what" comes from your own personal experience, the books you read, the seminars you attend, and the people you hang around with.
First of all, there's a fundamental flaw in your thinking. You say "make" instead of "earn" what you have. The greatest abundance will always come when you "serve" your market and customers, as opposed to "make" or trying get something from them.
You need to offer value. The more value you give, the more you'll get in return. Ok, that said...
You are probably making what you earn, because of who you hang around with. Make friends with people who are 10 times smarter, more experienced, and more prosperous than you. Then emulate what they do. You'll find people like that in private sites like StomperNet, Article Underground and Keyword Avalanche.
Most people with breakout success are in markets other than direct response. Both StomperNet founders - Brad Fallon and Andy Jenkins - succeeded in markets serving everyday needs.
Brad was wildly successful not only because he's smart, he learned SEO from the best, Leslie Rohde - now a faculty member - and practiced it in very common market... wedding favors.
Then after he achieved success outside of the "internet marketing" community, he started SEO Radio and the original StomperNet Audio series with Andy.
And it was the same deal with Andy. He learned ecommerce by reading Nothing but 'Net and then ran with it. He set up Yahoo stores selling memorabilia and tapestries. Then he wrote a book on how he did it.
The amount of testing Brad and Andy have done is astounding. Just their conversion techniques alone pay for the cost of the membership for most people.
StomperNet One Dollar Trial ==> http://www.cdzn.com/sn1
Oh... another reason why you might be stuck, is that you're probably not delegating tasks like accounting, taxes, investments, annual reports, etc. You don't need employees, but you do need to form long term relationships with professionals to do these tasks. Then you'll have more time to work on strategies that will build your business.
Or - come to think of it - maybe it's your overall strategy. Take a look at someone like Gauher Chaudhry, he does PPC to CPA and doesn't even worry about SEO or organic search. His course Pay Per Click Formula costs about the same as one month in StomperNet, yet he's on his way to over a million in revenue this year.
Get the Per Per Click Formula ==> http://www.cdzn.com/ppc
So long story short, there are many paths to success, but it all boils down to self-belief, positive attitude, being of service, and the old... who and what you know. Every who brings more what. And "the what" comes from your own personal experience, the books you read, the seminars you attend, and the people you hang around with.
Posted at 12:53 PM
Wed - May 9, 2007
Just What is FreeIQ and Why Should You Care? - IMS #123
Question: I took a look at FreeIQ. It
looks like a search engine for info products. There's organic content on the
left and paid ads on the right. What's so great about it? Is it a Clickbank
replacement? I don't get it.
Answer: There have been lots of questions about
FreeIQ. The first thing you'll want to do, is visit the site and click the
"learn more" link at the top of the
page.
If you still don't "get it" and want to learn more, try the "Help" link in the upper right corner. It will reveal the FAQs. You'll learn about creating and uploading content, secure transactions and how to use FreeIQ.
Once you join, and if you have your own products, you can upload them. You get to create your own web page. Upload your content. They will even stream it and host it for you.
They have a two tier affiliate program. Cookies last for a year. They pay recurring commission on additional sales.
So in a nutshell, they become your business partner and become not only the payment processor and affiliate program, they host and stream the content, and act as a digital delivery system. Physical products are also welcomed.
To quote Brad Fallon, "You can sell almost any type of information product, such as audio and videos, webinars and teleseminars, subscription newsletters, coaching and training programs, registrations for live events, etc. Plus, you can get paid as an affiliate for referring customers, content providers, and other affiliates to FreeIQ."
Yep, even if you're a coach or consultant and all you offer is time, FreeIQ can help you there too. Affiliates can sell the time for you, they get a commission, you get the remaining funds, and take the gig.
The early adopters get the advantage, as they upload their content and assign them tags. Then the membership starts voting on who they like the best by their viewing habits and writing reviews. The people that become favorites climb to the top of the search results using a patent pending ReviewRank formula.
So if you are selling any kind of info, even if it's coaching, webinars or subscription newsletters, get in early before it becomes too crowded. Stake your claim to fame and let the rest of the world know about - and vote on - your expertise.
Try the FreeIQ Beta ==> http://www.cdzn.com/fiq
If you still don't "get it" and want to learn more, try the "Help" link in the upper right corner. It will reveal the FAQs. You'll learn about creating and uploading content, secure transactions and how to use FreeIQ.
Once you join, and if you have your own products, you can upload them. You get to create your own web page. Upload your content. They will even stream it and host it for you.
They have a two tier affiliate program. Cookies last for a year. They pay recurring commission on additional sales.
So in a nutshell, they become your business partner and become not only the payment processor and affiliate program, they host and stream the content, and act as a digital delivery system. Physical products are also welcomed.
To quote Brad Fallon, "You can sell almost any type of information product, such as audio and videos, webinars and teleseminars, subscription newsletters, coaching and training programs, registrations for live events, etc. Plus, you can get paid as an affiliate for referring customers, content providers, and other affiliates to FreeIQ."
Yep, even if you're a coach or consultant and all you offer is time, FreeIQ can help you there too. Affiliates can sell the time for you, they get a commission, you get the remaining funds, and take the gig.
The early adopters get the advantage, as they upload their content and assign them tags. Then the membership starts voting on who they like the best by their viewing habits and writing reviews. The people that become favorites climb to the top of the search results using a patent pending ReviewRank formula.
So if you are selling any kind of info, even if it's coaching, webinars or subscription newsletters, get in early before it becomes too crowded. Stake your claim to fame and let the rest of the world know about - and vote on - your expertise.
Try the FreeIQ Beta ==> http://www.cdzn.com/fiq
Posted at 01:36 PM
Tue - May 1, 2007
Giving Back to the Community
Question: I've been reading your
newsletter and following your advice for years. I've recently had some success
promoting bankcards and bankloans. Now I'm considering writing an Internet
Marketing ebook on how to make six figures like I do. Would you consider
reviewing and promoting it to your list?
Answer: The key to real success lies in getting
outside the realm of internet marketing. Sure it's nice that you may have
achieved a degree of success, and that you want to share it with the marketing
community, but the reality is... its not very likely to
succeed.
It's an issue of trust, or lack thereof in the community these days. No one knows you. And emailing "gurus" asking them to promote you is not likely to help. It takes personal experience, or a really strong referral from a close friend for me to get behind anything.
It's sad, but the internet marketing space has largely degraded into opportunists with lists. They have no training in marketing, except ancient direct response techniques that hype scarcity, doom and gloom reminiscent of late night commercials. They'll even call you an idiot if you don't buy from them.
(It's one of the main reasons I took my products off the market... because people thought I was "obligated" to push their product, after they promoted mine. But hey, I never asked them to do it. Why promote something you've never seen, or used, or don't believe in?)
It's true... ever notice how (fictional names) Mike and Joe, sell Bob's stuff, then Bob returns the favor a couple weeks later by selling Mike and Joe. Round and round it goes.
They just try to whip you into a frenzy, so you go chasing the next holy grail, when all the while the treasure chest was at your feet. I'm talking about the marketing fundamentals like those found in membership sites like Article Underground, Keyword Avalanche, or the StomperNet University.
Any one of those memberships will have you on your way to success in no time. You'll have a network of support from very helpful people. They all want to see you achieve success and they help each other do it.
(Or if you're on a really tight budget, don't overlook the ebooks and whitepapers - which work and will continue to work into the foreseeable future - that I've provided for you in the download area.)
Free Downloadable Internet Marketing eBooks
==> http://www.internetmarketingsecrets.com/downloads/index.html
Don't get me wrong, I think it's really admirable that want to create another, "How to Become Successful in Internet Marketing" ebook. But the truth of the matter is, you'd be better off finding a secondary passion, focusing on it, and contributing to it instead.
It could be pet care, baseball, gardening, baking, BBQ, health, fitness, babies, coffee, silverware, knitting, pottery... it really doesn't matter.
To become successful, really successful, you need to stop selling marketing to this tiny group of marketers, and focus on everyday activities. The bigger the market, the more potential for success. The more you contribute, the more you'll receive.
You mentioned the bankloan business is where you made your success. Why not think in terms of contribution back to that market? Your marketing expertise would go a lot further and you could help a lot more people.
So if you want to "give back" to the community that made you, how about... instead of writing another ebook on marketing, why not write an ebook on telling people how to qualify for those bankloans. How to prepare themselves. Tips on what lenders are looking for. Things they need to know before they even approach a lender.
Stick to the good old fashioned fundamentals like providing an abundance of value first, without expecting a whole lot in return. Think in terms of a long-term relationship with your readers.
Listen to the size of the interval, between where they are now, and where they want to be. Then... if you can honestly help them bridge that gap, provide solutions to their problems with a product, or affiliate links in context with the content. That is the answer. That's where the real abundance lies.
It's an issue of trust, or lack thereof in the community these days. No one knows you. And emailing "gurus" asking them to promote you is not likely to help. It takes personal experience, or a really strong referral from a close friend for me to get behind anything.
It's sad, but the internet marketing space has largely degraded into opportunists with lists. They have no training in marketing, except ancient direct response techniques that hype scarcity, doom and gloom reminiscent of late night commercials. They'll even call you an idiot if you don't buy from them.
(It's one of the main reasons I took my products off the market... because people thought I was "obligated" to push their product, after they promoted mine. But hey, I never asked them to do it. Why promote something you've never seen, or used, or don't believe in?)
It's true... ever notice how (fictional names) Mike and Joe, sell Bob's stuff, then Bob returns the favor a couple weeks later by selling Mike and Joe. Round and round it goes.
They just try to whip you into a frenzy, so you go chasing the next holy grail, when all the while the treasure chest was at your feet. I'm talking about the marketing fundamentals like those found in membership sites like Article Underground, Keyword Avalanche, or the StomperNet University.
Any one of those memberships will have you on your way to success in no time. You'll have a network of support from very helpful people. They all want to see you achieve success and they help each other do it.
(Or if you're on a really tight budget, don't overlook the ebooks and whitepapers - which work and will continue to work into the foreseeable future - that I've provided for you in the download area.)
Free Downloadable Internet Marketing eBooks
==> http://www.internetmarketingsecrets.com/downloads/index.html
Don't get me wrong, I think it's really admirable that want to create another, "How to Become Successful in Internet Marketing" ebook. But the truth of the matter is, you'd be better off finding a secondary passion, focusing on it, and contributing to it instead.
It could be pet care, baseball, gardening, baking, BBQ, health, fitness, babies, coffee, silverware, knitting, pottery... it really doesn't matter.
To become successful, really successful, you need to stop selling marketing to this tiny group of marketers, and focus on everyday activities. The bigger the market, the more potential for success. The more you contribute, the more you'll receive.
You mentioned the bankloan business is where you made your success. Why not think in terms of contribution back to that market? Your marketing expertise would go a lot further and you could help a lot more people.
So if you want to "give back" to the community that made you, how about... instead of writing another ebook on marketing, why not write an ebook on telling people how to qualify for those bankloans. How to prepare themselves. Tips on what lenders are looking for. Things they need to know before they even approach a lender.
Stick to the good old fashioned fundamentals like providing an abundance of value first, without expecting a whole lot in return. Think in terms of a long-term relationship with your readers.
Listen to the size of the interval, between where they are now, and where they want to be. Then... if you can honestly help them bridge that gap, provide solutions to their problems with a product, or affiliate links in context with the content. That is the answer. That's where the real abundance lies.
Posted at 03:01 PM
Wed - April 18, 2007
The FreeIQ Beta... You Have to See to Believe - IMS #122
Brad Fallon is the CEO of FreeIQ. It's
the new marketplace for ideas and Smart Marketing, which includes a network of
wholesale and retail internet businesses." It will transform your approach to
business and the internet.
"You can sell almost any type of information
product, such as audio and videos, webinars and teleseminars, subscription
newsletters, coaching and training programs, registrations for live events, etc.
Plus, you can get paid as an affiliate for referring customers, content
providers, and other affiliates to
FreeIQ."
Try out the FreeIQ Beta ==> http://www.cdzn.com/fiq
Try out the FreeIQ Beta ==> http://www.cdzn.com/fiq
Posted at 01:44 PM
Mon - March 19, 2007
How to Make People Click on Your Listings - IMS #120
Imagine that you've just done a search
at Google. Would you click on a site with this
description?
"We have the largest of have the most on the selection store."
Gee... it doesn't exactly flow or inspire confidence. In fact, it's complete nonsense.
I spotted that one the other day while doing a website review for a client. No wonder sales were down since they "edited the page" three months ago.
"We have the largest of have the most on the selection store."
Gee... it doesn't exactly flow or inspire confidence. In fact, it's complete nonsense.
I spotted that one the other day while doing a website review for a client. No wonder sales were down since they "edited the page" three months ago.
To quote my friend and SEO specialist Jerry West,
"Search engines don't buy anything, people do." That's why you need to write
compelling site titles and descriptions for your sites, spell check after minor
changes and - if nothing else - read your page titles and descriptions out
loud.
If you've seen your own work many times, you don't really "see" it or "read" it anymore. If you read it out loud, you're forced to actually read it. Better yet, get a friend or spouse to take a quick peek. You'll be surprised at the amount of grammatical errors that pop up.
Think of your site titles and descriptions like a classified ad. Getting a high ranking is only half the battle. Enticing the click and getting the visitor to your site, is the other - and more important - half.
Keep the title to 60 characters or less. Keep the description meta tag to 200 characters or less. Include your keywords in the title, but write and rewrite, to make the title and description as compelling as possible. The amount of clicks and unique visitors you get, depends on it.
(You can test various titles and descriptions by setting up an AdWords account and driving PPC traffic to your own pages. In as little as 30 clicks you'll know which copy performs better. The top results make excellent titles and descriptions for your web pages... And - as a bonus - you'll get better at writing PPC ads. ;-)
If you've seen your own work many times, you don't really "see" it or "read" it anymore. If you read it out loud, you're forced to actually read it. Better yet, get a friend or spouse to take a quick peek. You'll be surprised at the amount of grammatical errors that pop up.
Think of your site titles and descriptions like a classified ad. Getting a high ranking is only half the battle. Enticing the click and getting the visitor to your site, is the other - and more important - half.
Keep the title to 60 characters or less. Keep the description meta tag to 200 characters or less. Include your keywords in the title, but write and rewrite, to make the title and description as compelling as possible. The amount of clicks and unique visitors you get, depends on it.
(You can test various titles and descriptions by setting up an AdWords account and driving PPC traffic to your own pages. In as little as 30 clicks you'll know which copy performs better. The top results make excellent titles and descriptions for your web pages... And - as a bonus - you'll get better at writing PPC ads. ;-)
Posted at 07:26 PM
Hidden Profits in Gift Cards - IMS #120
This year, there will be around five
billion dollars in unused gift cards. Most expire in three months. So if you
received a gift card recently, you may want to use it up, before it's
worthless.
Other cards charge a monthly fee. So be sure to
read the fine print on the back of the card, so there's no surprise at the
till.
Gift cards are great for the consumer. They are easy to buy and gift to others.
The real winners though are the retailers. Imagine five billion extra dollars? And that's just the US alone. In Canada, it's 500 million. The report didn't mention the UK, but the unredeemed Pounds must be huge.
So if you have a retail site, you might want to look into providing gift cards. They might just increase your bottom line.
Gift cards are great for the consumer. They are easy to buy and gift to others.
The real winners though are the retailers. Imagine five billion extra dollars? And that's just the US alone. In Canada, it's 500 million. The report didn't mention the UK, but the unredeemed Pounds must be huge.
So if you have a retail site, you might want to look into providing gift cards. They might just increase your bottom line.
Posted at 07:12 PM
Fri - February 16, 2007
Three Steps to Resolving Complaints - IMS #118
Listen to this... an unhappy customer
just phoned. You don't want them to lose them. So what can you do? Ask and then
listen...
Ask, "What happened?" At this point the customer
may rant a bit. It's ok. Let them go on. Let them know you are listening, by
saying that's terrible, or what rotten
luck.
Don't blame yourself or your organization, unless you were clearly at fault. Don't be sorry. Sorry is a state of being. It's a a penitent expression that reeks of incompetence. So it's way better to say "thank you" any time you feel inclined to say sorry to a customer.
You could say thank you for letting me know about this. It's ok to say you apologize, if you want to express regret for someone's actions, or think it would help the situation. An apology is simply an acknowledgment of a offense or failure. You don't dwell on it.
Ask, "What should have happened?" At this point, the customer will tell you what's missing. They'll tell you the difference between what was promised and what they got.
Repeat what they said in their own words. Repeat "what should have happened" back to the customer. Let them know that you heard them, and that you understand what they expected.
Ask, "What can we do, to make this right?" This question is designed to try and save the sale. To make an attempt at satisfying the customer.
The customer may demand a refund or exchange. Give it to them without question. They might want free shipping. Give it to them anyways as a bonus.
Sometimes you might need to ship a new item, before the old one gets returned. Tell them what you are going to do for them. Tell them that you trust them to return the broken or defective item.
Thank them for their business. Tell them you look forward to serving them again. Send them the replacement item and include a hand written note, card, gift certificate, or little bonus item, that they weren't expecting.
Three little questions... What happened? What should have happened? And what can we do, to make this right? ...will resolve complaints and lead to satisfied customers.
And chances are... if you listen without interrupting, smile and remain friendly throughout the conversation, you'll have gained positive word of mouth advertising, and a loyal customer for life.
Don't blame yourself or your organization, unless you were clearly at fault. Don't be sorry. Sorry is a state of being. It's a a penitent expression that reeks of incompetence. So it's way better to say "thank you" any time you feel inclined to say sorry to a customer.
You could say thank you for letting me know about this. It's ok to say you apologize, if you want to express regret for someone's actions, or think it would help the situation. An apology is simply an acknowledgment of a offense or failure. You don't dwell on it.
Ask, "What should have happened?" At this point, the customer will tell you what's missing. They'll tell you the difference between what was promised and what they got.
Repeat what they said in their own words. Repeat "what should have happened" back to the customer. Let them know that you heard them, and that you understand what they expected.
Ask, "What can we do, to make this right?" This question is designed to try and save the sale. To make an attempt at satisfying the customer.
The customer may demand a refund or exchange. Give it to them without question. They might want free shipping. Give it to them anyways as a bonus.
Sometimes you might need to ship a new item, before the old one gets returned. Tell them what you are going to do for them. Tell them that you trust them to return the broken or defective item.
Thank them for their business. Tell them you look forward to serving them again. Send them the replacement item and include a hand written note, card, gift certificate, or little bonus item, that they weren't expecting.
Three little questions... What happened? What should have happened? And what can we do, to make this right? ...will resolve complaints and lead to satisfied customers.
And chances are... if you listen without interrupting, smile and remain friendly throughout the conversation, you'll have gained positive word of mouth advertising, and a loyal customer for life.
Posted at 07:14 PM
Wed - February 7, 2007
Google Search History - IMS #118
If you set up a new Google account for
AdWords, Gmail or AdSense, the search history is turned on by default. You'll
need to uncheck the tiny box at the bottom to prevent, "more personalized
experience and recommendations."
If you already have an account and are logged in,
you can turn on the personalized search by clicking near the bottom of the
results page, where it says, "Get the search results most relevant to you.
Enable Personalized Search." (Note that you must be logged into your account for
this to take effect.)
Whether you choose to use search history or not is up to you. But do be aware that they are collecting data on you every time you use it. (Remember the AOL leak last year?)
If you think the Search History feature would help you personally, go ahead and use it. If you have sensitive client data, or have been researching that new job, or looking for a new spouse... it's probably better to shut it off. Click the link in your search history that says "Pause" and then click Remove Items.
Whether you choose to use search history or not is up to you. But do be aware that they are collecting data on you every time you use it. (Remember the AOL leak last year?)
If you think the Search History feature would help you personally, go ahead and use it. If you have sensitive client data, or have been researching that new job, or looking for a new spouse... it's probably better to shut it off. Click the link in your search history that says "Pause" and then click Remove Items.
Posted at 10:15 AM
Mon - January 29, 2007
Stick to the Fundamentals - IMS #116
You may have heard that Wikipedia
added nofollow to outbound links. Like any web property that gives up the "Green
Gold" known as PageRank, it got mined by the SEO community until it went
dry.
What we need to do, is top chasing fads and quick fixes. Stop the distractions. Think in the long term. Think strategies. And focus on building our business.
What we need to do, is top chasing fads and quick fixes. Stop the distractions. Think in the long term. Think strategies. And focus on building our business.
- - - - - - Sponsor - - - - - -
NicheBot Adds Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI)
What are they are searching for? What keywords do they use? What's the competition like? How many incoming links do they have? These are the foundation to success.
The niche marketing formula is simple. Go for the lowest competition and the highest traffic. Are you ready to discover the easy pickings? The low hanging fruit? The long tail of the search?
Now NicheBot comes with SEO videos, keyword density checker, instant keyword filtering, custom CSV export, and latent semantic indexing. It just keeps getting better all the time... Mass Marketing is Dead. Long Live the Niche!
Get the NicheBot LSI Report ==> http://www.cdzn.com/lsi
Ready to Dominate a Niche? ==> http://www.cdzn.com/nb2
- - - - - - /Sponsor - - - - - -
Wikipedia Adds Nofollow To Outbound Links
Just like any web property that gives up the "Green Gold" known as PageRank, it will get mined by the SEO community until it caves in or goes dry.
It happened to blog comments. It happened to the big social bookmarking sites. One little snippet of html code, rel=nofollow, stops the big three spiders from crawling and Google's PageRank from spreading.
According to Matt Cutts, Google's most widely known engineer, "I think it's the right call: the incentive to create spammy links on Wikipedia has been massively reduced. Over time, I believe Wikipedia will probably find ways to remove nofollow from links that are more trusted."
In addition, "I don t expect this change to affect Google's rankings very much, but its good to see the Wikipedia folks paying close attention to link spam (and open to refining their trust for external links)."
Maybe the next time someone discovers a way to get "cheap" PageRank to their sites, they'll keep it under their hat, and not write about it, or blog about it, or even worse... charge 50 bucks and slather it all over the internet marketing community.
Wikipedia is latest casualty, because a popular newsletter said that, Wiki links are one of the easiest ways to get more PageRank to your site. Then people started spreading the word, quietly whispering it in podcasts at first.
Then all of a sudden, it hits critical mass and every second journalist wannabe copycats the story. Then it spread, until some knob decided to make a contest of it.
Yep, you heard that right. Some dudes made a contest out of who could get the most PR from Wikipedia. One guy I know made career choice out of it.
Needless to say, all the Green Gold is gone, and he's standing there covered in sweat from hard labor, with pick and shovel in hand, standing over a barren claim.
The moral of the story? Stop chasing fads and quick fixes. Stop the distractions. Choose not to be caught in the sales funnel for the next greatest traffic generator, Green Gold miner, or SEO tactic.
Think in the long term. Think strategies. Focus on building your business by putting value ahead of everything else. Add content to your site on a regular basis. Make sure it's content worth linking to. Try to get deep links down into your internal pages.
Internet Marketing Secret: Focus on your daily goals. Reward yourself for yesterdays achievements. Stick to the fundamentals. Study your mentors. Practice hard. Work smart. That's how you become the winner.
That's it for this issue my friend. Thank you for reading. We'll chat again soon. Until then, here's wishing you all the best for online success.
Michael Campbell
P.S.
I set up a special "free internet marketing ebook downloads" page that I'll be adding to on a consistent basis. Look for the Revenge of the Mininet and Clickin' it Rich audio files to be added some time this week.
Downloads ==> http://www.InternetMarketingSecrets.com/downloads/
Posted at 01:55 PM
Thu - January 18, 2007
Build a 200 Page Site in 30 Minutes Per Day or Less - IMS #115
The 200 Page Challenge... Here's how
to build a 200 page site, in just 30 minutes per day. You don't have to work
weekends or holidays. Just five days per week, 30 minutes per day.
Go to Yahoo and look at their top level categories.
You'll find things like autos, tech, travel, games, personals and shopping.
Click on the shopping link and look at the categories. Pick one that you are
passionate about, or at least have some interest
in.
Drilling down I chose "Sports and Outdoors." Going further into the subcategories I selected "Exercise and Fitness." Now I can see what my web site should be about... yoga, pilates, treadmills, heart rate monitors, home gyms and other gear.
Next I need content. Sure I'll write some of it myself. But if I'm only going to devote 30 minutes a day, I'll need to jumpstart the content. The best source for this is the Article Underground.
Get 400 Articles per Month ==> http://www.cdzn.com/au
The articles from the Underground are PLR content, which means private label rights. You can do anything you want to these articles except resell them. Change them, slice them, dice them into whatever concoction you desire.
Having been a member for over a year, there's more than 5,000 articles sitting on my hard drive. A search for "treadmill" revealed 26 articles with the word treadmill in them.
There were two drool-worthy ones, Buying a Treadmill for the Home and The Benefits of a Treadmill. A quick copy & paste got them into my web page editor.
The next step is to swap out synonymous words, replacing words like gym with fitness club, exercise with sweat, lose weight with melt fat. I try to use better verbs and action words whenever possible.
Now comes an introduction to the article. I'll often go to Amazon to pull quotes from leading authorities. Yes, copying a quote or a brief passage is permitted under copyright law. Just don't overdo it.
I might glean something like, According to fitness authority Dr. Bob Smith, "Treadmills are no longer the big, ugly, loud and clunky beasts they once were. Now they are smooth and easy to run on."
And then interject my own comments like, "Ask any personal trainer, and they'll tell you that a treadmill will have you in the best shape of your life, in as little as nine weeks."
Better yet, read three sources. Include things like comments and safety concerns from popular magazines and independent research organizations. That's called research. Now put what they said into your own words. Just like when you did a book report back in grade six.
Limit this entire process of modifying the article to 20 minutes. Set a timer if you have to. You'll be surprised at how fast you'll get at this. Especially if you've taken the time to make a web page template page for the content.
Now it's time for photos. You could snag a quick image from Amazon, if it's the make and model that you're trying to sell. But chances are, it's just a static product shot, of a cold, hard, lifeless machine. Yea... like that'll make 'em wanna buy one. ;-)
I click over to iStockPhoto and search for treadmill. Now I've got 64 high quality photos to choose from. Action shots of people sweating and smiling about it. Now that's the mental image I WANT to project.
Remember, the most missing element on any web page is the human element. If you want to sell products to people, you need pictures of happy people.
Not just people using a product, but showing the end result that you want them to achieve. A thinner, more attractive, more healthy looking body.
In fact, that would make an excellent headline. In H1 tags across the top of the page put "Fitness Equipment: Treadmills" then in H2 tags right underneath that, "Have a thinner more attractive looking body with a treadmill."
Now drop a photo reinforcing that headline at the top left hand corner of the page. Drop another one half way down the article and flush it to the right.
The end of the article is a good place to conclude with the "most popular" or "highest rated" treadmills. These are your affiliate links that lead to the sale of the products.
(Everything you need to know about linking to - and earning revenue from - affiliate programs is in the free downloadable ebook, Clickin' it Rich.)
Get Clickin' it Rich ==> http://www.cdzn.com/cir
Ok... now it's time to silence the skeptics. I followed this exact same formula and have a site that's netting over 15,000 dollars per year in front end sales. But that's not enough. We need to scale the business upwards.
If you've heard it said that the affiliate revenue model is not scalable... Don't pay any attention to them. They didn't think it through.
You must try and capture the visitor's contact information before they leave your site. If your sites are related, one newsletter can cover all of your sites.
If you stick to health and fitness related sites, then everything from pure bottled water to the latest running shoe, becomes potential news and revenue for you. Send a little something, a short note or newsletter, at least once every two weeks.
The revenue from these back end sales, can be 400% more than the initial front end sale. As you communicate with your readers, you build trust and friendship. Respect the relationship and they'll continue to buy through your links.
Keep adding related sites and keep building the readership. This will scale your affiliate revenue model. You are building a real business with web properties and a readership. You still don't need employees, or to handle any physical products.
Take it... the 200 page challenge. Commit 30 minutes per day, to adding one new page to your authority site. At the end of a year, you'll have that 200 page site. Chances are... if you were to make a handful of these sites, they would generate more than your day job.
And when you take away the commute time, gas, maintenance, car insurance, bag lunches, office clothes, and the time it takes to shop for these things, you'll probably have an extra 20,000 per year, in your pocket, on top of the affiliate revenue.
Can you spare 30 minutes a day? How about turning off the TV? And instead of "spending" time, you "invest" that same time back into your future, for yourself, your friends and your family.
Drilling down I chose "Sports and Outdoors." Going further into the subcategories I selected "Exercise and Fitness." Now I can see what my web site should be about... yoga, pilates, treadmills, heart rate monitors, home gyms and other gear.
Next I need content. Sure I'll write some of it myself. But if I'm only going to devote 30 minutes a day, I'll need to jumpstart the content. The best source for this is the Article Underground.
Get 400 Articles per Month ==> http://www.cdzn.com/au
The articles from the Underground are PLR content, which means private label rights. You can do anything you want to these articles except resell them. Change them, slice them, dice them into whatever concoction you desire.
Having been a member for over a year, there's more than 5,000 articles sitting on my hard drive. A search for "treadmill" revealed 26 articles with the word treadmill in them.
There were two drool-worthy ones, Buying a Treadmill for the Home and The Benefits of a Treadmill. A quick copy & paste got them into my web page editor.
The next step is to swap out synonymous words, replacing words like gym with fitness club, exercise with sweat, lose weight with melt fat. I try to use better verbs and action words whenever possible.
Now comes an introduction to the article. I'll often go to Amazon to pull quotes from leading authorities. Yes, copying a quote or a brief passage is permitted under copyright law. Just don't overdo it.
I might glean something like, According to fitness authority Dr. Bob Smith, "Treadmills are no longer the big, ugly, loud and clunky beasts they once were. Now they are smooth and easy to run on."
And then interject my own comments like, "Ask any personal trainer, and they'll tell you that a treadmill will have you in the best shape of your life, in as little as nine weeks."
Better yet, read three sources. Include things like comments and safety concerns from popular magazines and independent research organizations. That's called research. Now put what they said into your own words. Just like when you did a book report back in grade six.
Limit this entire process of modifying the article to 20 minutes. Set a timer if you have to. You'll be surprised at how fast you'll get at this. Especially if you've taken the time to make a web page template page for the content.
Now it's time for photos. You could snag a quick image from Amazon, if it's the make and model that you're trying to sell. But chances are, it's just a static product shot, of a cold, hard, lifeless machine. Yea... like that'll make 'em wanna buy one. ;-)
I click over to iStockPhoto and search for treadmill. Now I've got 64 high quality photos to choose from. Action shots of people sweating and smiling about it. Now that's the mental image I WANT to project.
Remember, the most missing element on any web page is the human element. If you want to sell products to people, you need pictures of happy people.
Not just people using a product, but showing the end result that you want them to achieve. A thinner, more attractive, more healthy looking body.
In fact, that would make an excellent headline. In H1 tags across the top of the page put "Fitness Equipment: Treadmills" then in H2 tags right underneath that, "Have a thinner more attractive looking body with a treadmill."
Now drop a photo reinforcing that headline at the top left hand corner of the page. Drop another one half way down the article and flush it to the right.
The end of the article is a good place to conclude with the "most popular" or "highest rated" treadmills. These are your affiliate links that lead to the sale of the products.
(Everything you need to know about linking to - and earning revenue from - affiliate programs is in the free downloadable ebook, Clickin' it Rich.)
Get Clickin' it Rich ==> http://www.cdzn.com/cir
Ok... now it's time to silence the skeptics. I followed this exact same formula and have a site that's netting over 15,000 dollars per year in front end sales. But that's not enough. We need to scale the business upwards.
If you've heard it said that the affiliate revenue model is not scalable... Don't pay any attention to them. They didn't think it through.
You must try and capture the visitor's contact information before they leave your site. If your sites are related, one newsletter can cover all of your sites.
If you stick to health and fitness related sites, then everything from pure bottled water to the latest running shoe, becomes potential news and revenue for you. Send a little something, a short note or newsletter, at least once every two weeks.
The revenue from these back end sales, can be 400% more than the initial front end sale. As you communicate with your readers, you build trust and friendship. Respect the relationship and they'll continue to buy through your links.
Keep adding related sites and keep building the readership. This will scale your affiliate revenue model. You are building a real business with web properties and a readership. You still don't need employees, or to handle any physical products.
Take it... the 200 page challenge. Commit 30 minutes per day, to adding one new page to your authority site. At the end of a year, you'll have that 200 page site. Chances are... if you were to make a handful of these sites, they would generate more than your day job.
And when you take away the commute time, gas, maintenance, car insurance, bag lunches, office clothes, and the time it takes to shop for these things, you'll probably have an extra 20,000 per year, in your pocket, on top of the affiliate revenue.
Can you spare 30 minutes a day? How about turning off the TV? And instead of "spending" time, you "invest" that same time back into your future, for yourself, your friends and your family.
Posted at 04:34 PM
Fri - December 8, 2006
Add Social Bookmarking to Your Marketing
Social Bookmarking and tagging, is
becoming a popular marketing tactic. But if it's not done right, you can get
into trouble.
Just last week I received a new report on social
bookmarking by Gregg Hall. And Gregg has allowed me to share it with all of
you.
In case you don't know Gregg, he's currently the #3 author at Ezine Articles, and has been marketing online for over 10 years. He spends most of his time, studying traffic generation strategies. He tells me that he's been, "Employing tagging and social bookmarking over the past year with great results."
So if you've been wondering what all the fuss is about, and want to learn more about social bookmarking, then this report is for you. It offers an excellent introduction and overview, on this new way to promote your websites.
Get the Free Social Bookmarking Report ==> http://www.cdzn.com/Tagging2007.pdf
In case you don't know Gregg, he's currently the #3 author at Ezine Articles, and has been marketing online for over 10 years. He spends most of his time, studying traffic generation strategies. He tells me that he's been, "Employing tagging and social bookmarking over the past year with great results."
So if you've been wondering what all the fuss is about, and want to learn more about social bookmarking, then this report is for you. It offers an excellent introduction and overview, on this new way to promote your websites.
Get the Free Social Bookmarking Report ==> http://www.cdzn.com/Tagging2007.pdf
Posted at 06:10 PM
Sat - December 2, 2006
10 Minute Email Kills Squeeze Pages
Giving your email address just to get
access to a crummy sales page, may be a thing of the past. A brand new service
that just launched, offers an email address that expires after just 10
minutes.
Similar to a web-based mail service, any email sent
to that address can be read on the screen. You can reply and click on links.
It's just like having a regular email
account.
Use this service any time that you don't want to give out a real email address. You'll get a lot less spam and offers from being on lists. It's quick, easy and disposable.
Now you can get access beyond the sign-up page, to see if an offer is worthwhile or not. Then if you liked what was behind the squeeze page, you can always sign up a second time, with a real email address.
10 Minute eMail Address ==> http://www.10minutemail.com
Use this service any time that you don't want to give out a real email address. You'll get a lot less spam and offers from being on lists. It's quick, easy and disposable.
Now you can get access beyond the sign-up page, to see if an offer is worthwhile or not. Then if you liked what was behind the squeeze page, you can always sign up a second time, with a real email address.
10 Minute eMail Address ==> http://www.10minutemail.com
Posted at 10:54 AM
Sun - November 26, 2006
PPC vs. Organic... Two Paths... Same Destination
I looked up the phrase "help" at
Nichebot and found "divorce help" with a low competition ratio. If I come up
with a good catch phrase like "I Need Divorce Help Now!" could I get top spot on
the list for .49 cents? My thought being that, even though the bid is kind of
high, could I beat the other competition and make it go? ~ Ron
Whoa... hold on a second, I think you're confusing
PPC with organic search. Nichebot is not for determining PPC bids or paid ad
positioning, you can use a tool like Keyword Elite to do that, or you could get
a free Google AdWords account.
If you choose Keyword Elite, watch the videos on how to use the tool. It automates the process for you, so you don't need to log into a Google account for your PPC research.
Keyword Elite ==> http://www.cdzn.com/ke
If you use Google's free Keyword Tool, enter your keyword phrase. In your case "divorce help" into the field, without the quotes.
Google Tool ==> https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordTool
Under the "Choose data to display" select "Cost and Position" estimates. Under the Calculate Estimates Max CPC, enter some big number like 100, because you want to see what the highest bids are. Then click the "Get more Keywords" button.
Ta Da... you'll discover that the top 1-3 positions for an AdWords ad for "divorce help" will cost $3.81 per click. If you go down the list a bit, you'll see that you can get top spot for "divorce help for women" or "divorce legal assistance" for a mere .08 each. Big difference huh?
So if you're playing the PPC game, you'll want to use Google's tool, or something like Keyword Elite, to show you what to expect. Then send that PPC traffic to a landing page and try to convince them to buy an ebook, that will help them either get, or avoid getting a divorce.
When you're talking about Competition, Ratios, KEI and all that, it refers to organic search results. That's where you optimize pages for the search engines, and those same pages come up in the search results, without paying for it.
That's what Nichebot is for. Doing research to come up with a niche, and pursuing that niche with Keyword Marketing. In this case, you want high KEI, a low Ratio, and few competing pages as shown in Nichebot's Competition column.
Get Nichebot ==> http://www.cdzn.com/nb2
But to get really accurate readings, you'll need to get two things. One, a Google API key, which will let you search Google up to 1,000 times per day (the link is inside Nichebot). And two, set your Nichebot account to show Google counts and intitle:"keyword" competition data.
Then if you're trying to set up websites, or a mininet for capturing organic search traffic, you'd discover - using Nichebot - that "divorce help" is way too competitive. The phrase "help with a divorce" on the other hand, is a relatively easy one to dominate.
Organic SEO or PPC... either way can make you money. They are two paths to the same destination.
Just be sure to use the right tools for the job, and either way will get you traffic. Then it's up to what you say, and how you say it, that will determine if you make the sale.
If you choose Keyword Elite, watch the videos on how to use the tool. It automates the process for you, so you don't need to log into a Google account for your PPC research.
Keyword Elite ==> http://www.cdzn.com/ke
If you use Google's free Keyword Tool, enter your keyword phrase. In your case "divorce help" into the field, without the quotes.
Google Tool ==> https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordTool
Under the "Choose data to display" select "Cost and Position" estimates. Under the Calculate Estimates Max CPC, enter some big number like 100, because you want to see what the highest bids are. Then click the "Get more Keywords" button.
Ta Da... you'll discover that the top 1-3 positions for an AdWords ad for "divorce help" will cost $3.81 per click. If you go down the list a bit, you'll see that you can get top spot for "divorce help for women" or "divorce legal assistance" for a mere .08 each. Big difference huh?
So if you're playing the PPC game, you'll want to use Google's tool, or something like Keyword Elite, to show you what to expect. Then send that PPC traffic to a landing page and try to convince them to buy an ebook, that will help them either get, or avoid getting a divorce.
When you're talking about Competition, Ratios, KEI and all that, it refers to organic search results. That's where you optimize pages for the search engines, and those same pages come up in the search results, without paying for it.
That's what Nichebot is for. Doing research to come up with a niche, and pursuing that niche with Keyword Marketing. In this case, you want high KEI, a low Ratio, and few competing pages as shown in Nichebot's Competition column.
Get Nichebot ==> http://www.cdzn.com/nb2
But to get really accurate readings, you'll need to get two things. One, a Google API key, which will let you search Google up to 1,000 times per day (the link is inside Nichebot). And two, set your Nichebot account to show Google counts and intitle:"keyword" competition data.
Then if you're trying to set up websites, or a mininet for capturing organic search traffic, you'd discover - using Nichebot - that "divorce help" is way too competitive. The phrase "help with a divorce" on the other hand, is a relatively easy one to dominate.
Organic SEO or PPC... either way can make you money. They are two paths to the same destination.
Just be sure to use the right tools for the job, and either way will get you traffic. Then it's up to what you say, and how you say it, that will determine if you make the sale.
Posted at 07:07 PM
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