Wed - June 6, 2007

Practicing the Fundamentals Leads to Success - IMS #124


Question: Michael, you seem to stick to the basics, the fundamentals. We've subscribed to your newsletter for years. We keep venturing off and trying new things. But we always seem to keep coming back to your advice. Is it just my imagination, or do the fundamentals seem to work better than all the new stuff?

Answer: I'd say that 98.6% of success is achieved through the fundamentals. It doesn't matter if it's marketing or football. The legendary football coach Vince Lombardi, said that they won the championship by sticking to blocking and tackling. The fundamentals of the game.

The true definition of marketing is bringing a product to market. It's about finding a market with an unmet need or want. Creating or sourcing a product to fill that need, and selling the product to that market, including after sale service and relationship building.

You're simply bringing the buyer and seller together. You're bringing together two people, who needed to find each other.

That's the reason why I wrote the 200 Page Challenge and the Keyword Marketing Report, because both papers teach the fundamentals.

Download the Free Marketing eBooks and Courses ==> http://www.cdzn.com/fun

Both are doable in a relatively short period of time. They'll also help you get good organic search positioning, without a whole lot of incoming links.

While everyone is off chasing the latest web two point oh... oohs and aahs... spending hundreds of man-hours spamming the social bookmarking sites, MySpace, Squidoo and the like, they could have spent the same effort on the fundamentals of SEO and PPC, and had three to ten times the traffic.

My advice? Get back to work and stop checking the inbox every five minutes. Once a day is enough.

(Trust me. The conflicting sales pitches and slick ads will still be there at the end of the day. Read them only when you feel like getting totally distracted and pulled in 50 different directions, and then get paralyzed by information overload and making yourself feel better by buying a bunch of carp that you're never going to use. ;-)

All kidding aside... Stick to the fundamentals like the 200 Page Challenge, and you'll be surprised how easy it is, to have a successful, scaleable, and sustainable business model.

Posted at 04:36 PM    

Fri - February 2, 2007

A Big Mistake - IMS #117


Looking for products is a big mistake. Do it the other way round. Look for a problem. Find a product to solve the problem. Then market the product to an existing market, as a solution to the problem. That's the key to success.


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Looking for Products is a Big Mistake

Dear Michael, ""My biggest concern is trying to find WHAT to promote. Clickbank is saturated with competition. Everything with a good sales letter, already has a lot of competition on AdWords.

I was hoping to blast out some campaigns using the direct linking method. To find some winners (where I would then develop landing pages and expand my keywords lists) and delete the losers.

But with Google's one URL per ad policy, I'm not going to have any chance to investigate the idea. So I have all the knowledge, but finding the products is my biggest challenge.""


Yeesh! Dude! Repeat after me... do NOT look for products.

What you want to do is look for markets. Look for the unsatisfied need or want. Look for problems. Find or create a product that solves the problems, or meets the needs and wants. That's the key to success.

To find hot markets, be sure to study the Clickin Action Plan, Keyword Hotlist and the recent Keyword Marketing report. In them, I show you exactly how to use Nichebot's keyword research service to find markets that are starving for product. Get your free internet marketing ebook downloads here:

Free ebooks ==> http://www.internetmarketingsecrets.com/downloads/

You might want to stay away from Clickbank... at least at first. True, lots of marketers go there. But they are experts at preselling and persuading. And yes, it's also true that the profits are bigger on digital products...

But the bigger truth of the matter is, 65% the general public still doesn't get it. They don't know what an ebook is... and you can't sell 'em one. If you're a beginner, you'd have better luck joining the Sears affiliate program and trying to sell treadmills.

It's sad but true, traditional publishers don't understand ebooks... yet. They continue dragging their heals and are entrenched in the battle with Google and others, that would love to digitize the world's content.

The book toting boneheads don't realize the massive "long-tail" inventory of out-of-print books that could be revitalized. People would buy the books. Google could put ads on the search. Advertisers could buy those ads and reach a bigger audience. Sigh!

They seem oblivious to the fact that Google video and YouTube have taken off. So has audio with podcasting. But the dirt world publishers have their sphincters wound tighter than the binding on a hard cover novel. I digress... but I think you see the point.

I also wouldn't bother with the direct to merchant linking. You're handing most of the revenue to the advertiser. Even worse, you don't end up building a business that way. ALWAYS use landing pages to presell the visitor.

Avoid "expanding your keyword list" and using the same landing page for a whole bunch of ads. Customize your landing pages to match the tone and language of a tight little group of PPC ads. That way, your ADLAN (ad & landing page combo) can increase conversions by over 380%. Your milage may vary ;-)

And one more thing, always TRY to capture the visitor's contact info before they leave your site. I use the AWeber system to do this. It's the most reliable, easiest, cost effective tool to capture visitor sign ups and send unlimited follow ups.

Aweber Emailer System ==> http://www.cdzn.com/aws

All it takes, is to cut and paste two lines of html code. What you end up with is a two line form, similar to the one on the Internet Marketing Secrets (IMS) home page. Study this one... it gets a 63% conversion.

Then as I wrote in the 200 Page Challenge, "Send your readers 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."

Download the free report: ==> The 200 Page WebSite Challenge

Internet Marketing Secret: Every four to six months, poll your customers. They'll tell you what they want. These are the easiest sales that you'll ever make.

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

Posted at 12:52 PM    

Wed - November 22, 2006

Keyword Marketing Part #1 - Niche Research - IMS #110


In next few issues, you'll discover everything you need to know about keyword marketing. How to find a niche and dominate it with little effort and a handful of websites. It's also the fundamentals of SEO and getting organic search traffic.

And the best part? This mini course is free for all to learn and benefit from. All you need to do is read the next couple of newsletters.

The first thing everyone wants is a profitable web site. Then two, maybe three, or even a dozen sites, earning revenue on autopilot.

The fastest way to find a profitable niche is to use the Keyword Hotlist.

Keyword Hotlist ==> http://www.cdzn.com/keywordhotlist.pdf

The trick is to look for causes and motivations instead of actual products.

For example, if we research on the keyword word "stop." We let the millions of internet users tell us what they want "stopped."

We can do the same for other words like start, prevent, increase, fix, replacement, lose, help, remedy, relief and so on. We don't look for a product, we look for what people "want."

The first thing we need to do, is click over to Nichebot and enter the word "stop" into the "Quick-Digging Tools." These tools are used for preliminary research and do not use any of your paid credits.

Get Nichebot for 1 Dollar ==> http://www.cdzn.com/nb2

Not surprisingly, some of the first things that come up are stop smoking, stop foreclosure and stop spyware. We don't want to duke it out at the "head of the search" for popular phrases like stop smoking. It's too crowded, with over 12,000 other pages that have that exact phrase in their title tags.

We want to go down the list and find a sweet spot, with lots of traffic and little competition. Here's one, "stop smoking product." Only 40 other pages have that exact phrase in the title, and it still gets over 5,800 searches per month.

We decide to make "stop smoking product" our head keyword phrase, and make it the focus of our home page.

True we're not going to get as much traffic as the phrase "stop smoking," but that's not what minisites and mininets are all about. We don't want a giant site that takes months to build. We want to dominate a profitable niche, with a few websites, that we can craft in a couple of days.

Besides, people who are looking for a "stop smoking product" have already decided to quit. Now they're looking for help. And they're ready to pay for it. That's the traffic that I want.

Now try doing the same thing with some of the other motivational words, like prevent, replacement or relief. You'll find things like "scooter replacement parts" is a good niche.

Or you might discover that "replacement windows" are really hot. Now what if you partnered an affiliate program with a local company, and focused on one geographical area? Niche domination perhaps?

Then other times, when it comes to finding a profitable niche, all it takes is a single clue. I try keep my eyes and ears open, for anything to do with cooking, technology, or the music business.

(Having spent a decade - prior to my 20 years in marketing - as a chef by day and musician by night, I have an some interest and knowledge in those areas.) And chances are, if you can talk about something off the top of your head for at least 20 minutes, you can create a totally original, 5-10 page website on the topic.

Take for example beef jerky. (Vegetarians close your eyes. ;-)

I was waiting for someone in a doctors office or something, when a three week old USA Today caught my eye. The sales of meat snacks rose 75% last year, when they reached 2.7 billion in sales. That's a really big number.

Even Harley-Davidson (the motorcycle dudes) are getting in on the act, with their own line of smoked steak. It's the first time ever, that they've given their logo to a food product. Interesting.

Big numbers like that always catch my eye, especially when associated with a food product. Not only would this make a good affiliate site, it would make a good online business, shipping the physical product to consumers.

Jerky is easy to ship and store. It has a long shelf life. Doesn't need refrigeration. Takes up minimal space. And it comes in varieties like buffalo, venison and turkey.

If you find a wholesaler, manufacturer, or buy it in bulk from a distributor, you could have a decent markup, and a profitable business.

But before we get too excited, it's time to fire up Nichebot and find out two things. What the competition is like, and what the market is like.

The first thing we need to do, is to type the word "jerky" into the Quick Digging Tools. Within seconds, Keyword Discovery shows well over half a million searches per year on just "beef jerky" and "beef jerky recipes" alone. Now there's a hungry market!

Now I'm going to use one Nichebot credit, and use the Deep Digging Tool for further market intelligence. This time I'm after Google competition and my potential success ratios. I set Nichebot to go out and do in-depth analysis of the top 500 jerky keywords.

Cool... sometimes you don't have to go very far down the list.

The phrase "beef jerky recipe" gets almost the same amount of searches as the phrase "beef jerky." Only 2% less, at a whopping 253,000 searches per year.

Now here's the really important statistic... There's 76,000 pages in Google with the exact phrase "beef jerky" in their titles, but only 1,600 with the phrase "beef jerky recipe" in their titles.

Hmmm... 98% of the traffic... but only 2% of the competition. Now that's a sweet spot. This is the very essence of what keyword marketing is all about. A niche that's half an inch wide, by file miles deep.

(And no... I'm not going to spend a lot of time on jerky recipes. I'll formulate one from my research and test it. All the rest of the content on my site will be focused on convincing people that it's hard to make. The point is to sell them on jerky wholesale, and ordering the products advertised on the pages.)

The next step in our keyword research, is to click on the words "beef jerky recipes" and drill down in the results. I want to be sure there are enough topics to fill out my minisite with ancillary pages and the long search tail.

If you're not familiar with the search tail, it's all the keywords way down the list. It's not our first or second choice. But these "tail" keywords or ancillary search phrases - often three or four words long - are excellent for internal pages on minisites and article sites.

First off, you have to decide which keywords will start your site, bearing in mind that your search "head" may be someone else's tail. In our case, we decided our head keyword phrase would be, "beef jerky recipe."

It's the phrase that we want our home page be known and found for.

The secondary set of keywords known as the middle, body or torso search phrase, leads to our directory page. This directory (as shown in the Revenge of the Mininet diagrams) is on the second level, or one level down from our home page.

In our case, the link from our home page to the directory, might just be the plural form of the head phrase. We could link to the directory with keyword phrases like "beef jerky recipes" or "make beef jerky" or "jerky recipes."

Finally the tertiary level of pages focuses on the long tail of the search for our site. These are the three and four word searches that people perform late in the buying cycle.

Sure enough, this niche is deep. We have tail search phrases on either side of our search term like, teriyaki, homemade, best, seasonings, marinade, spicy, oven, dehydrator and more. Sweet!

Finally, I want to use Nichebot's Keyword Analysis Tool. I want to see the PageRank, Saturation (how many pages are indexed) and backlinks that the top 10 results have for my head phrase, "beef jerky recipe." All it takes is a single click and a few seconds for Nichebot to return the results.

Pfft... I can bump these guys off no sweat! A mix of PR2s to PR4s. Half a dozen back links and only a handful of pages indexed. These dudes are sitting ducks... easy pickings. How? I'll tell you in the next issue of IMS.

In the mean time, get your homework done. Get your Nichebot account and start searching out a niche, with motivational phrases like stop, start, relief and others according to the Keyword Hotlist. Or if you hear about something like beef jerky, that is worth billions and rising in market share, better run Nichebot on that one as well.

Get Nichebot for Research ==> http://www.cdzn.com/nb2

In the next issue, I'll show you how we create the structure for a minisite and link it all together. If all goes well, who knows... maybe you'll bump off one of the sites in the top 10 search results. That means you have the first chance to make the sale.

Ka... ching! What's that? The sound of a sale confirmation arriving in your mailbox. It's affiliate revenue arriving daily. It's closer than you realize and it's heading this way. Will you run out to meet it? Or do what you've always done? We'll chat next week.

Posted at 05:20 PM    

Tue - October 3, 2006

Rumor Mill has Google Base set to Launch


Slowly and quietly under the radar... is Google ready to integrate Google Base into their main search results? Looks like it.

Seems as though no one was using Froogle. So Google needed a way to integrate everyone's eBay auctions, Amazon zShops, Yahoo Stores and other products into their search. The answer is called the Google Base Store Connector.

According to Google, "This utility will help online sellers drive more traffic to items without the trouble of manually re-entering inventory on Google Base." In other words, it's an API that you can use to get your products listed on Google, just in time for the fourth quarter holiday season.

Here's what Google has to say about base.google.com, "Post it on Base. Find it on Google. Google Base is a place where you can post all types of content and have it show up on Google."

Get more info from the Official Google Base Blog: http://googlebase.blogspot.com/

Or if you want to start posting items one at a time, you can start right away. All you need is your Google ID, which can be the same one you use for your AdWords account.

Post products to Google Base ==> http://base.google.com/

Posted at 06:52 PM    

Sun - August 6, 2006

Free Business Cards


Just a reminder, as I've mentioned this before. If you're headed to a seminar and you need business cards in a hurry, you can get them online from a company called VistaPrint.com.

They have plenty of good-looking templates to choose from. Go to the site, enter your data and proof the look of your card while online. Click a few buttons and your business cards will be delivered in a couple of weeks. You only pay for the shipping.

There is a little ad on the back of the card for the Vista Print service. But you can have the ad removed and get a greater choice in template design, if you are willing to spend a few dollars.

I've used Vista Print for all my business cards in the past years, along with return mailing labels and other goodies. If you find yourself - all of a sudden - needing some business cards, it's hard to beat the price and convenience of Vista Print.

Vista Print for Free Business Cards ==> http://www.vistaprint.com

Posted at 09:00 AM    

Sat - July 22, 2006

Marketing Virtual Stores to the Dirt World


If you ship any physical products, you get to use one of my favorite things... stickers.

You can stick them on postcards, envelopes and boxes. Everyone along the shipping chain will see the ads for your web site.

You can stick them on all products and bags leaving your store. You can give them away to customers to stick where they want. If you give them to kids, the stickers will often end up on lunch boxes, hats and clothing.

Then there's my favorite use... the warranty sticker. If you get the small, thin, metal stickers, you can put them on something as small as a cell phone battery. The wording is very simple, yet critical. "Warranty void if removed." Followed by the domain name for your website. Sneaky huh?

The sticker will stay on, at least as long as the warranty. You get advertising exposure for the entire period. Then when the customer - or any of their friends - need a new battery, the info is right there on the sticker.

Stickers are one the easiest yet most effective methods of advertising. If you use them liberally and give them away, you'll find that your stickers end up just about everywhere. Then when someone asks, "Hey... where did you get that?" They can simply look for the sticker.

Posted at 01:48 PM    

Tue - April 11, 2006

How to Write Effective Advertising that Gets Results


AKA... How to Avoid Words that Click Off Your Readers [Part 2]

In the last edition of the Internet Marketing Secrets newsletter, we talked about tired selling phrases that don't work anymore. We also learned why many marketers still use these phrases. But the truth is, what used to work in direct response marketing doesn't work on the internet. The audience is immune to hype. So as promised for this edition, a special report on the health of advertising and some specific remedies for getting smart, educated, well connected people to buy your products.

Skyrocket, through the roof, powerful, reveal, exposed... the reason you're told to use tired old phrases like these, is because once upon a time... they worked. Just like stuffing keywords on a web page for SEO. But this is not your Daddy's internet.

You're a lot smarter than your parents, simply because - thanks to the internet - you have more access to information in one day, that your parents did in their entire lifetime... Let me tell you a little story.

Traditional ad agency advertising and focus groups are dead. Or least they're gasping for last breaths as far as corporate America is concerned. Now it's all about telling a story, celebrity endorsement, product placement, event sponsorship, audience participation aka reality shows, public relations and article writing.

Years ago, if you wanted to find out which advertising was effective, you'd hire a focus group for tens of thousands of dollars. Then you'd wind up with skewed results, as opinions traditionally got swayed to the most dominant and vocal people in the group.

Nowadays, you can simply pay per click and test a dozen different ads on Google AdWords. For under ten dollars you can usually tell what type of ad and tone of language works best for any type of product category.

So why do companies keep hiring ad agencies and spending all that money on advertising? Simple. If the marketing department doesn't use up the budget, they won't get any more next year. Why do you think there's so much mediocre advertising out there?

Think about that car commercial for a second. You know the one. The one where the car is going down the winding mountain road. (Closed course do not attempt flashes on the screen.)

Then the car comes into focus and whizzes past with the wheels looking like they're spinning backwards. Finally it skids sideways past the camera as they announce the name. Sound familiar? I just described 85% of all car commercials.

What about the shampoo commercial where the model is tossing her hair about, then running her fingers through it. It leaves your hair silky smooth and shiny. It's even safe on colored hair. Pft, that's like what... 97% of shampoo commercials? Give me a break.

Many of the people who work in ad agencies are failed or mediocre designers. They work so hard to recreate the predictable rather than risk creating effective advertising. They worry more about getting "industry awards" than they do about providing real solutions for their clients.

The reason why traditional advertising and hype doesn't work anymore, is because we've been bombarded with it since the late 1950's and the advent of the black and white television. True it's become more politically correct and people can't advertise smoking while taking a puff. But for the most part, it's grown stagnant.

No matter where we go we're bombarded with ads from TV, radio, print, internet, while driving, on the phone, or in the grocery store line... suddenly the P/A crackles... hello shoppers. I hate that. I'm not a "shopper." They should be grateful that I patronize them... and why haven't they bothered to learn my name after all these years?

If they had a clue, they'd say something along the lines of... "Hello friends. Thanks for stopping in today. We have specials in several departments including etc, etc, etc.. We hope you enjoy your time with us today and thanks again for choosing brandname."

Adjectives and verbs like amazing, incredible, supercharge, fantastic, extraordinary provoke yawns. Superlatives like, best, highest, fastest, (which you've not even allowed to use on Google AdWords) mean nothing unless you can prove it.

Phrases like, time limited offer, through the roof, in it's class, skyrocket your sales, etc, are used so predictably, because the copy writer is too lazy to come up with anything creative. As a result, readers simply filter them out as blah, blah and blah.

In fact, using phrases like "skyrocket" will click off more people that it will attract. And not only that, most email containing those tired worn out phrases will get filtered out as spam.

No one is hearing the message anymore. It's the same old drivel. That's why hype, full of superlatives and adjectives doesn't work. It's boring to today's audience. There's nothing new or surprising in the old school verbiage.

So what works? Honest, down to earth, realistic, and to the point. Tell... don't sell. People love to buy, but they hate to be sold.

More and more, people are wanting to be part of the brand, to build it into something they want to buy. Very often its the brand that sponsors an event, which allows the consumer to provide a feedback loop on what they want from the brand.

Instead of a car manufacturer making 70% of their inventory blue, let their internet research prove what color car the customers will buy. Let people vote on their favorite color for that particular model, and the car company will know exactly what color to paint the cars before they even leave the factory.

In another example of misdirected efforts, the theatre chains started advertising on television, about how they've added QuickPay options at the box office. Judging by the size of the line ups, no one saw the expensive TV ads.

What makes more sense? To run 10 ads on prime time TV. Or to hire someone for a month, to tell the people standing in line, if they're not paying cash, they can use one of the four - ATM like - QuickPay machines to buy a ticket, and not have to stand in line.

It's the ad agencies that are misdiagnosing the problem, not hitting the right audience, saying the wrong things, and not providing effective solutions. They are trapped in old school predictability and need to be replaced by "Idea Agencies."

Face it, the traditional ad agency produces 30 second spots because that's what they like to do. In reality, they just needed to tell the people waiting in line that evening, that if you use the machine, you don't have to wait in line. It's called... just in time solutions or JITS for short.

In fact, that's why we have search engines, so we can search for just in time solutions to problems. That's why PPC ads are so powerful. You can appear at the top of the search results, without months of SEO work in-behind the scenes. You can turn the ads on and off at the click of a button and only have them running on weekends if you choose to do so.

Sorry to ramble on about the state of advertising in this country, but I'd like to cap it off and tell you plainly. To free you from the ineffective and embarrassing land of hype, to keep from falling into the trap of accepting mediocre advertising, I'll leave you with three sources, which I consider essential study for any serious student of marketing, who wants to learn how to advertise.

To learn effective PPC advertising, Perry Marshall is the undisputed champion. His research - thanks to the feedback of a large client base - is extensive. Simply put, if you want to write effective PPC ads, that get very high clickthrough ratios, get Perry's Definitive Guide to Google Advertising and savor every drop of knowledge.

Perry's AdWords Guide ==> http://www.cdzn.com/pmg

When it comes to TV, radio and internet, the best work on modern advertising is Roy Williams aka "The Wizard of Ads." I am an avid fan and practice everything the Wizard has been telling me for the past 10 years.

Roy also has this uncanny ability to predict the future of advertising. Go to his website Wizard of Ads and subscribe to his Monday Morning Memo. If you're like me, you'll end up buying every book and DVD produced by the Wizard Academy.

Then finally a classic work - which is essential for all marketers - is Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples, readily available through Amazon.com. In this timeless wisdom you'll learn that, "You can assume nothing is true about what works best, until it has been objectively tested."

For example, after 500 clicks, one of my PPC ads got a 1.7% clickthrough ratio. The other got 2.3%. Can you tell which one just by looking?

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Here's another example. One ad gets a 3.4% clickthrough. The other a mere .6% but can you tell which one, or do you know why?

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Should you overstate or understate the product in the sales message? That depends on the type of prospect you are trying to reach. You need to learn and adapt as you go along.

You build on that testing to create an ever stronger system of return with each new project. When something doesn't work, find out why, and don't do it next time. In other words, keep what works, trash the rest and don't reinvent the wheel with every bit of ad copy.

So the bottom line? Test, learn and adapt. It's what Perry, Roy and John have been telling us all along. And if you're not taking their advice... just who have you been listening to?

Posted at 09:27 PM    

How to Avoid Words that Click Off Your Readers


I've got just one question. You wrote, "Don't use tired selling phrases that everyone else is using. They don't work anymore. Words and phrases like; skyrocket, through the roof, ground breaking, powerful, reveal, exposed, fortune, profit, etc."

I m wondering whether this statement really holds true. I've seen many marketers including (big list of names was here), who are creating salescopy "products" which are based around these phrases. Some of them have even compiled the so-called juicy "skyrocketing" words into ebooks and sell them off the internet. What say you Mike?

The reason you are told to use those phrases is because they used to work in the late 50's and early 1960's in direct response marketing pieces that were sent by mail. They have largely been replaced by infomercials, shopping channels and the internet.

Yep, a whole generation of suckers got hyped into buying things they really didn't need. And that's why direct response marketers have such a bad rap.

Most stuff sold by direct response - directly between the customer and advertiser - ends up in the trash because either the product is low quality, or the buyer really didn't need it anyways. They were just temporarily weak willed, desperate for a solution, got caught up in a moment and were persuaded by a slick sales pitch. (I keep a list of the best internet marketing tools for my serious customers.)

As for the list of names of marketers you sent me... Hate to say it, but most of them are juniors with no formal training in marketing. All they are doing is copy and pasting the words of a famous marketer, who always had a famous ghost writer writing his copy for him.

So most of the marketers write the way they do because they heard it from a guy, who heard it from a guy, who never actually wrote his own stuff, but hired a guy, who read a book in the 1950's that said, here is how you can skyrocket your sales in direct response advertising.

In fact, just this week alone, I received no less than a dozen email communications promising to skyrocket my sales, my business, and just about everything else. None of them got read past the first paragraph.

Hello... earth to copywriters... your customers are not morons and promising to "skyrocket" anything is like telling them to click off, tune out and get lost.

So what can you do about intelligent buyers and how should you write for today's discerning audience? Well, you'll have to wait about a month. In the next edition of my Internet Marketing Secrets newsletter, look for a special report on the health of advertising and some specific remedies for getting smart, educated, well connected people to buy your products.

Posted at 09:07 PM    

Tue - July 26, 2005

Internet Marketing Alert - What You Absolutely Must Know if You Produce MP3 Files


There's a lot of stink lately about unlicensed MP3 files in the internet marketing community. Why? Because certain parts of the MP3 process are patented and the commercial distribution of MP3 files requires a yearly licensing fee, plus royalties. Find out if you are at risk of getting fined.

Have you seen these headlines?

* 1.4 Million Internet Marketers Risk Massive Fines
* Publishers at Risk of Getting Sued Over Unpaid MP3 Royalties
* MP3 Patent Owners Clamp Down on Info Publishers
* Info Publishers Must Pay MP3 Royalties or Risk Stiff Fines

There's a lot of stink lately about unlicensed MP3 files. Why? Because certain parts of the MP3 process are patented and the commercial distribution of MP3 files requires a yearly licensing fee, plus royalties.

While usually under the radar, a recent press release, which just happens to be tied into a product release, has come to the surface and provides some disturbing language for info publishers that rely on MP3.

It's no longer just music distribution that they're targeting. The press release states, "The products in question are such things as interviews of business experts, tutorials, talking ebooks, teleseminar recordings, live streaming audio messages, audio postcards - and lots more besides."

In somewhat strong language, a certain Mr. Joe Clayton Jr. warned, "The Internet marketing community is about to be shaken to its roots, because thousands of existing audio products are not licensed. And if you don't have a license you are in violation - period!"

Then later in the press release comes the pitch.... "Fortunately there is now inexpensive software that is licensed, which will quickly convert and re-package those 'offending' files into a suitable licence-free format" he added. "But the Internet community must act very quickly to help reduce their chances of being hit."

Ok, stop worrying and don't freak out about this. You don't need to go buy their product, I have far superior one that you can download for free. I'll also tell you exactly who they are targeting and what you need to do.

If you make MP3 files, or make income from selling any products that contain MP3 files, this is critical information that you need to know. Here is a seven page special report called "Goodbye MP3", which you can download for free and distribute as you see fit.

Posted at 05:22 PM    

Fri - April 8, 2005

80 Web Site Reviews Uncover Two Recurring Problems


I've performed over 80+ web site reviews in the past six weeks and noticed two recurring problems. They are problems that most web site owners seem to have. Fortunately they are also easy to fix.

One of the biggest problems facing corporate America today, is lack of focus on the brand, vision, mission statement, unique selling proposition, or whatever you want to call it. It's especially problematic for big companies or those with employees spread across the globe.

Yet one of the best uses of internet technology, is to bring an entire company and all its employees into a common understanding, of what the company is all about. Everyone from the production people, to the sales people should have the same primal thought, ideas and conception, of what the company is, does, and provides the customer.

The closer you can bring your salespeople, to your service and technology people, the more focused your company can be on what it is trying to achieve.

One of my clients was going to hire a public relations firm, to help them come up with a mission statement. My question was, why hire an outside organization for a few thousand dollars, when you can do your market research in house?

My advice was to go around the office and ask each individual to describe in three sentences or less, what the company was all about. Just a few words that would describe clear benefits to any prospective customer, why they should do business with you.

What is it you provide? Is it really, "Blue widgets, delivered on time, for the lowest possible prices?"

Or, do you provide... "Emergency color widget replacement, overnight, worldwide, no ifs, ands, or buts. When it comes to your keeping your business running, you can depend on us."

Big difference huh?

Or how about this recently found gem? Generic Big Corp provides applications for enterprise wide and private solutions including corporate and government installations.... Snore.... please wake me when it's over. What the heck do they even mean?

Wouldn't it be better to say this? "We listen to your needs and program easy to use software that does exactly what you want it to do. It doesn't matter if your company is big or small, let us know how we can help you." Again, another big difference, huh?

What are you saying in your opening headline? Is it a compelling emotion or are you putting people to sleep?

In performing 80+ web site reviews for no less than 30 new coaching clients, and 30 attendees of the Search Engine Workshop last month, a weak opening headline was the biggest recurring problem. Time and time again, there was no clear direct benefit of what people could expect from the site.

Also found in the opening headline were too many big words. Research has shown that the average American reads at grade six to eight level. Even most business communications are at the grade nine to ten level.

Never use a big word when a small one will do. Especially in a mission statement like the one above. Don't puff your company up. Just tell people in plain language what it is, what they can get from you, and let them know they'll be dealing with humans, not a faceless corporation.

That's the other major problem. A lack of photos of real people, especially on the home page.

Photos of real people, especially the human face convey emotions to the reader far faster than words ever will. The moment we see a face on a site, we are immediately drawn to the eyes of the person.

What emotions are being portrayed? The happy couple relaxing on vacation? The confident home builder. The eureka of someone that finally gets it. Deep concentration and study of a classroom?

If you think about it, one photo of one human face, could do more to put the reader in the right frame of mind, than any other single element on a web page.

You basically have three to ten seconds to appeal to your visitor. Don't believe me? Think about the radio in your car.

How fast can you decide if you like a song or not, then push a button for the next radio station? Research has shown an average person can do it in less than three seconds. Count 'em, one, two, three. Gone!

Think about that next time you load up your web site. Do you show photos of real people experiencing the end result of what you sell? The happiness, the joy, satisfaction, love, resolve, confidence, relaxed piece of mind?

Then look at your opening headline. Does it look like it was written by an MBA with nothing to say, except usual corporate yadda, or is it telling people clearly and concisely what it is they'll get from you, what's in for them, and why they should do business with you.

If you don't have employees, ask your clients. Ask them why they do business with you. If three or four out of ten say the same thing about you, let that become your brand, your niche, your mission statement. Focus on it, market it, use it to your advantage.

Whatever you do in the next hour, take another good hard look at your home page. What do you notice in the first ten seconds? Those first few seconds can make the difference between an anonymous click or a customer for life.

Posted at 01:38 PM    

Sat - April 2, 2005

The Best Promotional Products and Gifts


When it comes to promotional product advertising, forget the mugs, pens and traditional items. Here's the best gift that actually gets used and seen by thousands of people.

Promotional gifts are not ads like you hear on the radio or tv. They are not follow up tools like postcards, or sale announcements like flyers. The are however "advertising" and depending on the nature of the gift, can be very effective at keeping your business name out there, along with a logo for brand recognition.

Unlike many forms of traditional advertising, where you pay every time the ad is run or clicked, with promotional gifts you pay once, and every time the gift gets used, the advertising message gets repeated.

So what are the most "given" business promotional items? Well, according to Counselor Magazine, "Wearables rank first, followed by writing instruments, business accessories for the desk and office, ceramics, glassware and calendars."

Ok, so those are the most given items... but what are the most "used" and best promotional items for brand exposure?

Most promotional gifts like pens, calendars, mugs, golf balls and key fobs are seen by only one person, and usually end up in the back of a drawer somewhere. Hats, while popular give people... well, hat hair. And only certain types of people like to wear hats.

Plastic bags - while good - have a very short exposure time. Things like water bottles and gym bags are a little better as they last longer. They might get actually get used and seen by a few people.

Fun things like balls and puzzles are very popular. But because of wear and tear, the advertising - the printed message - usually wears off quite quickly.

But no matter which promotional product advertising you choose, quality is more important than quantity over the long run. Usually the higher quality item will last longer, providing more return on your advertising dollars.

So what is the number one "head and shoulders" above the rest promotional idea... the most useful gift in terms of advertising? The one offering the most visibility and exposure? It's the humble t-shirt.

Yes... according to Blue Sky Inc, "One t-shirt worn by one person in one average-sized city can be seen by over 100,000 people in its lifetime." Yes, that's not a typo, I checked the numbers twice, over 100,000 people! Although that number seems very high to me, if even one tenth of the number holds true, it's still a lot of exposure.

A word of caution though, when it comes to buying the t-shirts, don't rely on one size fits all or unisex sizing. If you want your t-shirts to be worn and get seen, be sure to get appropriate sizing.

Find t-shirts that are available in both men's and women's sizes, and never give mens clothing to women. Doing so will ensure that for every t-shirt you give out as a gift, a good portion of those 100,000 people will see your advertising message.

Hmmm, now if I get 10 high quality Michael Campbell t-shirts made for $25 each and give them as gifts for people to wear, that's a potential one million people that will see my ad over the next couple of years. I don't know about you, but it seems like promotional gifts - especially high quality t-shirts - can be advertising dollars well spent.

Posted at 07:43 PM    

Wed - March 30, 2005

Designing a Logo (Branding 101)


Two questions that keep popping up about logos are; What makes a good logo? And, do you need one? The answer to both is yes.

A logo makes your company look more professional to the consumer. It immediately identifies your brand. And over time, it establishes a sense of quality and confidence people can expect whenever they see it.

Here are my top 10 tips when it comes to designing and creating a logo (which can also be applied to designing an ebook cover, or software box).

1) Avoid simple logo symbols and use a word, or logotype. If your product is an original or made up word, it will be easier to brand and remember.

2) Stay away from stock photography or canned looking images. You want to look different. Get it custom made, create it or make it yourself.

3) Select a color which is opposite from your major competititors.

4) Make sure the typeface is very legible, easy to read from a distance.

5) According to a recent survey by Xerox (yes the photocopier dudes) the logo colors most associated with success are red and blue.

6) If red and blue are taken by the competition, consider orange, yellow, green or purple, rather than a mixed color, or hue of red or blue.

7) If no solid color remains, choose two very contrasting colors, like blue with orange.

8) Standardize your logo color on all communications and media. (Studies have shown, if the color on box of cereal or soda is even slightly off, consumers won't by it. It just sites there with shelf rot.)

9) Keep your logo consistent, not changing it every year or two. Logo recognition - like success - is built over time.

10) According to Al Ries, (the original branding expert) "Logos should be designed to fit the eyes. Both eyes. For maximum visual impact, a logotype should have the same shape as a windshield of an automobile, roughly two and one-fourth units wide by one unit high." (2.25x1)

Take these 10 tips into consideration before you design your logo, or hand them to your graphic designer, and build that logo. Stake your claim in your category, along with the competition. Your marketshare will grow, and so will your brand awareness.

Posted at 12:05 PM    





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