The 10 Commandments for Online Marketing Success

Just like there are reckless and foolhardy methods you can use that will absolutely guarantee marketing failure, conversely, there are sound, proven, time-tested techniques that will greatly enhance your chance for marketing success.

Following are The 10 Commandments for Online Marketing Success...

1. Thou Shall Have a Clear Vision and Goal

There's an age old proverb by Thomas Edison that famously states:

"He who fails to plan, plans to fail. "

Truer words have never been spoken. You need to have a plan before you start a business. Why is a business plan so important? Because a properly constructed business plan is like a roadmap to your goals - a GPS if you will.

Having a business plan will give you a much clearer vision of your goals and objectives, and will keep you on track and enable you to operate more efficiently, and achieve your goals more expeditiously.

One important caveat about business plans: They aren't written in stone, and more than likely, you will have to change or adjust your plan multiple times along the way to keep yourself on track. That's just part of the process.

If you need help writing a business plan, you can obtain a free business plan template from BPlans.com.

2. Thou Shall Educate Thyself on the Fundamentals of Marketing

Take time to educate yourself. Does it really matter if you build that website now, or a few months from now when you're more prepared? Of course it doesn't.

Starting a business is like building a house. You start with a strong foundation, and then you build on it. Well,in business, being knowledgeable about basic marketing fundamentals is your strong foundation. You just have to build on it.

That means taking the time to learn how to do things the right way. Be patient, and prepare yourself for success. By "failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Study and apply basic marketing fundamentals.

Slow down, and read a few marketing books. To get started, I highly recommend Web Marketing All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies. It's actually eight books in one, and is written by multiple authors. It's perfect for newbies, and touches all the bases including...

* Establishing a Web Presence
* Search Engine Optimization
* Web Analytics
* E-Mail Marketing
* Blogging and Podcasting
* Social Media Marketing
* Online Advertising & Pay-Per-Click
* Mobile Web Marketing

3. Thou Shall Learn and Implement Basic SEO Techniques

I don't consider myself an SEO expert by any means. But I've taught myself enough basic SEO, so that I can at least optimize my own website well enough to generate a decent amount of organic (free) traffic. Learning how to optimize your website should be one of the very first things you do. You don't need to become an expert. Simply focus your attention on basic SEO techniques. For example, make sure your title tags contain your primary keywords.

Also, make sure your description tags are properly optimized. And don't cram your web pages with keywords. Sprinkle them in intermittently...naturally. A web page stuffed with keywords will be interpreted as spamming by the search engines, and your pages WILL be penalized as a result. And don't keep using the same keywords over and over again. Using different variations of your keywords is the best approach. It looks more natural to the search engines and will give you a much larger keyword footprint.

Believe it or not, these simple but basic steps really do make a difference. One of my favorite resources for learning basic search engine optimization techniques is Jill Whalen's, HighRankings.com

4. Thou Shall Advertise and Promote Thy Business Consistently

Free advertising methods such as article marketing, forum marketing, social media marketing, etc., are all proven traffic generators - provided they're properly executed. But it's also important to have a sufficient amount of money set aside for paid advertising. You will have much better sales conversions if you combine proven, free advertising methods like the aforementioned, with laser-targeted, paid advertising, such as pay-per-click, ezine advertisng, text link advertising, etc.

And don't overlook offline advertising methods either. For example, college newspapers, community shopper newspapers, car magnets, local business journals and flyers. The most important thing is to advertise and promote your business consistently.

5. Thou Shall Give Customers Easy and Convenient Payment Options

Believe it or not, as popular as it may be, not everyone likes PayPal. So be sure to give your customers alternative payment options.

In addition, make it easy for customers to get from the product page to the checkout page. Don't make your customers jump through hoops, clicking thru page after page after page to give you their money. If you do, they will become frustrated and abandon your shopping cart. It's estimated that 71% of shoppers abandon shopping carts in the middle of a purchase.

How easy is the buying process on your site? How easy is it for customers to quickly find what they need and checkout? More importantly, could you make the process even easier?

To find out, have a few of your friends test your website for shopping user-friendliness. Have them make a small purchase as a simple test. (Don't worry, you can cancel the transaction on your end later).

Getting some honest feedback on the user-friendliness of your website's buying process is a win-win situation for everyone. You make shopping on your website easier and more pleasant for your customers. And improvements you make in that regard will increase your sales conversions.

Like I said, it's a win-win situation for everyone!

6. Thou Shall Have a Clean, Easy to Navigate Website

Have a clean, user-friendly site that makes it easy for visitors to find what they're looking for. Don't be afraid of a little white space...it's a good thing. Also, if your website has a lot of content and/or pages, add a search box to make it easier for your visitors to find what they're looking for.

In addition, if you don't already have one, install a sitemap. A sitemap is collection of hyperlinks that outlines a website's structure. These links allow visitors to quickly navigate to any section of a website listed in the sitemap. If you don't have a sitemap, the easiest way to create one is with XML Sitemaps Generator.

By the way, in addition to making it easier for your visitors to navigate their way around your site, sitemaps make it easier for search engine spiders to crawl your site as well.

7. Thou Shall Monitor and Track All Advertising

In order to ensure that you're not throwing your money down the drain when it comes to your marketing campaigns, it's important to track your advertising. Always make sure to carefully track all of your direct mail, pay-per-click, ezine, banner ads, etc.

These are measurable by the amount of responses you get per dollar spent, and you can quickly analyze results to determine whether or not to continue using a particular method of advertising, or if you need to make any adjustments.

Google Analytics allows you to accurately track your advertising for free.

8. Thou Shall Adapt to Changing Marketplace Environment and/or Trends

I'm sure you've heard the saying...

"Adapt or fail."

Its meaning is self-explanatory. Either adapt to your current surroundings or perish! Not only is this true in life, it's true in business as well. Events and circumstances change at warp in the business world. That's even more true today with the advent of the Internet. And businesses that recognize and adapt to changes the quickest are like the proverbial early bird that gets the worm.

Keep a sharp eye on the media for changes and trends in the marketplace. In addition, tools like Google Trends and Yahoo's Buzz Index help make identifying trends a snap.

9. Thou Shall Listen to Customer Complaints, Suggestions and/or Feedback

Does your business have procedures in place to listen to and follow-up on customer complaints, suggestions and/or feedback? If not, why? Here are 4 good reasons why you should have effective customer follow-up procedures in place:

1. Respect. They're your customers for Pete's sake! It's the right thing to do.

2. Repeat Business. Your best customers can save you money on advertising with repeat business. The money you save on advertising can be used in other areas to help grow and strengthen your business. Always reward your best customers with "special" deals that aren't available to anyone else.

3. Word-of-Mouth Advertising. If you keep your customers happy, they can help grow your business with critical word-of-mouth-advertising (referrals) to friends and family, as well as complete strangers. Word-of-mouth advertising is critical to any business.

4. Market Research. Your customers can help you with market research by giving you valuable feedback on ways you can improve your products and services. All you have to do is give them the opportunity to do so. Ask them questions via surveys and questionaires.

10. Thou Shall Follow-Up With Customers

When was the last time you communicated with your customers without asking them to buy something? If you have to search your memory banks for the answer, then "Houston we have a problem!"

You see, as human beings, we all like to feel wanted and appreciated. It's in our DNA, and when we don't feel wanted and appreciated it upsets us.

Think about it. Doesn't it upset you when you don't feel appreciated?

Of course it does. Well, your customers feel the same way. And here's something very important you need to keep in mind:

The only reason your business even exists is because of YOUR customers. Don't ever forget that. Without them, you have no business. So take them for granted and risk losing them to your competition at your own peril.

Remember, you're not the only game in town. And if your customers feel unloved by you and decide to run away from home, there will always be another company waiting with open arms to take them in.

That's why, instead of always sending your customers a sales pitch, every once in a while, you should reach out and send your customers a "thank you" note, thanking them for their business, and telling them how much you appreciate them.

It will pay huge dividends...I promise you!

Pinterest: What’s It All About?

I must admit to only becoming aware of this new social media phenomenon fairly recently and, having done a bit of research, I thought I’d write about it in case any of you also fall outside the 11M+ registered subscribers it has up to now.

How Does Pinterest Work?

Pinterest is essentially a picture sharing site where subscribers ‘pin’ images to their own ‘pin board.’ This can be anything you like – it can be random stuff that you just have an interest in and want to share with others or it can be multiple images relating to a passion you have. For instance you may have a love for 60′s British roadsters, old business logo’s, antique men’s watches, or even a holiday home you really need to rent out. As a user you can easily browse topics and if you discover something you’ve got an interest in you can ‘follow’ it just as you do in Twitter and you’ll be notified when any new images are added to that board. You can also leave comments and join in discussions on each of the images that appear on the site.

How Will It Help My Business?

Well if you own a business that is selling or producing something which will benefit from good images (which is pretty much anything) i.e. clothes, photography, accommodation, artwork etc, this looks like it’s a very good opportunity to setup some boards to promote your products and services because your pictures can have links to your own web site’s sales pages. The most beneficial long term technique from a sales angle would be to be a part of the community spirit for a few weeks before ‘hard-selling’ your products. For instance ‘pin’ some personal images and then slowly add your products. This approach is possibly not absolutely essential, but it’s just my own choice when I join something which isn’t initially designed to be a sales platform.

In the holiday cottage hire example previously mentioned, it could be somebody has a cottage they want to let in Wales for the nine months of the year they don’t use it. They struggle on Google because the first four or five pages are dominated by the big holiday letting agents and so they get a board on Pinterest and fill it up with images of the cottage itself. They also upload photographs of the surrounding countryside, local places of interest etc. etc. and then wait for other Pinterest subscribers to find the board, follow them and, perhaps, hire the cottage.

Why Haven’t I Heard Of It And Will It Be Around Long Term?

I’m not sure why its had such a low profile so far since there are 11 millions plus people already registered – (although it seems the majority are based in the United States). Just like Facebook & Twitter before them though, if they carry on at this pace of growth it’s only a matter time before everyone will be talking about Pinterest. You would probably question whether we have time to log onto another social media site, but Pinterest is clearly different & it’s very simple to use so it might fill a gap we didn’t know we had.

From a business perspective it’s another no-brainer – if your company has a product or service which would potentially benefit from a lot of visitors seeing photographs of what you have for sale you need to be on Pinterest. Its free to join and many millions of people go to it every day. One slight negative at the moment is that it’s invitation only. I’m not sure why this is but it’s a strategy which has been used to generate interest in joining an ‘exclusive club’ before (remember Gmail invites?) which I think will change in time.

About the author
Paul Cunningham has 11 years experience in website design & for the past five years has specialized in search engine optimization,in Stockport, UK. The team at http://www.websitedesignlab.co.uk have helped hundreds of small & medium sized local business maximize their revenues via cost effective SEO in Manchester and all over the UK.

Video: How the Panda Update Changes the Game for E commerce Sites

YouTube: 17 Useful Marketing Channels That You Should Bookmark

If you enjoy learning new marketing strategies via video, following are 17 useful marketing channels that you should definitely bookmark:

1. Web Marketing Today's Channel

Web Marketing Today's®, Dr. Ralph Wilson is considered by many to be the "grandfather of Internet Marketing" and is widely recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on web marketing and e-commerce. Web Marketing Today's® channel features outstanding video tutorials, as well as interviews with industry experts.

2. Fabienne Fredrickson's Channel

Fabienne Fredrickson, founder of ClientAttraction.com, channel is geared toward women entreprenuers who are interested in growing their small business and attracting more high-paying clients. But be forewarned ladies...This is "where women entrepreneurs play a bigger game!"

3. Joel Comm's Channel

Online for over 20 years, Joel Comm has been teaching people how to make money in the digital age. The recognized authority on Google AdSense, Joel teaches people how to multiply their AdSense income. On Joel's channel, you'll find all kinds of videos. The Joel Comm Show, his media appearances, product reviews, iPhone apps, it's all there.

4. Jack Humphrey's Channel

Jack Humphrey is a self-described Internet marketing consultant, blogger, podcaster, entrepreneur, and social media freak. He's also the author of the most widely-downloaded and respected book on link building called "Power Linking." So he clearly knows his stuff.

5. SEO Copywriting's Channel

Heather Lloyd-Martin, founder of SuccessWorks is considered the pioneer of SEO copywriting. She's also one of the world's foremost SEO copywriting teachers, and that's exactly what her channel does better than anything else...teach you about SEO copywriting.

6. 2 Create A Website's Channel

Lisa Irby, founder of 2CreateAWebsite.com, channel is for beginner webmasters and bloggers who need help with basic Photoshop tasks, WordPress, using various web tools and programs (FTP, etc.), writing HTML and CSS code, web design, etc.

7. Social Marketing TV's Channel

Video marketing experts Pam & Steve Brossman's channel takes the mystery out of social marketing and serves it up in easy to understand bite-sized nuggets.

8. Pinterest's Channel

While not technically a marketing channel per se, Pinterest does have strong retail and social marketing potential if used the right way. In case you aren't familiar with Pinterest, it's a virtual bulletin board that allows you to organize and share beautiful things you find on the web. For example, people use the virtual bulletin boards to to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. You can also browse bulletin boards created by other people. Currently, Pinterest is only open to invited users. You can request an invite at Pinterest.com

9. Junta 42's Channel

Joe Pulizzi's Junta42 is a content marketing and custom publishing resource center and social bookmarking site. Junta 42's Channel teaches you how to attract and grow customers through the use of content.

10. SEOBooks's Channel

Aaron Wall's SEOBook is the #1 SEO training program on the planet. SEOBook's techniques & strategies are not based on abstract theory, but rather, years of hard work & education. SEOBook's channel features a wealth of valuable information not found anywhere else on the Internet.

11. Four Blogger's Channel

Fourblogger's channel is the best place to find Thesis customization tutorials. They feature two premium Thesis resources. One is a free Thesis theme guide which has many PHP & CSS codes directly to apply in your blog and tweak it. The second one is a Thesis Designer Guide to learn Thesis Theme fast and become a Thesis design expert. Or you can easily design your site using Thesis Skins.

12. Mashable’s Channel
If you're familiar with Mashable's extremely popular blog, you know that it features a variety of high-quality information in the industries of technology, social media, entertainment and business. Mashable's channel is an outstanding video extension of its blog - including interviews of well-known techies.

13. Affiliate Starting Line's Channel

AffiliateStartingLine's Claude Pelanne channel specializes in affiliate marketing for beginners. The channel has lots of basic information to help you get you started, including Search engine optimization, Wordpress, Youtube marketing as well as affiliate marketing tools.

14. The Google Channel

If you're going to promote your products and/or services on the planet's #1 search engine, you'd better damn well understand how it works. The more you can learn about how to use Google and all of its innovative products to your advantage, the greater advantage you will have over your competitors.

15. ReelSEO's Channel

ReelSEO.com describes itself as "The Online Video Marketing Guide -- The world's go-to destination for the growing interactive video community and the leading resource for news, research, analysis, tips and trends for the online video and internet marketing industries." I think that sums up what REELSEO is all about nicely.

16. Top Rank Result's Channel

TopRank Online Marketing, Lee Odden's Internet Marketing channel is dedicated to interviews conducted by TopRank Online Marketing with digital marketing professionals on topics ranging from Content Marketing to SEO to Social Media to Online Public Relations.

17. Stacia Hopkin's Channel

Stacia Hopkin's Video Marketing For Beginners channel provies the most cutting-edge video tips and tricks that will allow you to take your business to the next level, including video tutorials on how to best utilize video on YouTube, Wordpress and Google.

Conclusion

There are, of course, many, many more outstanding YouTube Marketing Channels that I could list, but the one's listed above are the one's I consider the most useful to my readers at this particular point and time. I've tried to include something for everyone's taste and interest. Hopefully, I've succeeded in that regard.

That being said, as you know, things change quickly on the Internet. So as I discover more interesting and useful new marketing channels, I'll add them to my favorites file and write a sequel to this article with a brand new list.

Stay tuned.

Branding and Marketing Expert, Patrice Rhoades-Baum Interview

In continuing with my interview series, it is my great pleasure to bring to you Branding and Marketing expert, Patrice Rhoades-Baum, owner of BrandingAndWebsites.com.

Backed by more than 30 years of strategic marketing and expert copywriting, Patrice’s experience includes 25 years of high-tech corporate marketing. In her corporate career, she strategized, wrote, and managed dozens of websites, including 2 Hewlett-Packard websites with $250,000 budgets.

In addition, she has managed big-budget advertising campaigns, direct-mail programs, and $100,000 tradeshow events. One of her articles, a technical case study, was published by Fortune magazine. In her seven years as a marketing consultant, she has teamed with hundreds of solopreneurs and micro-business owners to create their brands, write their website copy, and facilitate the creation of hardworking websites and other strategic marketing tools.

David Jackson: Hi Patrice, how are you?

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: Hi David, I'm doing great!

David Jackson: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this interview. I really appreciate it.

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: You're very welcome. It's a pleasure to be here. As you know, I'm passionate about educating small business owners on the importance of having an on-target brand and hardworking website to grow their business, so this is a wonderful opportunity to get on my soapbox, so to speak.

David Jackson: Speaking of soapbox, Patrice, tell my readers about your expertise. What makes you different from other branding experts?

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: My branding expertise is specifically geared to solopreneurs and micro-businesses. My process is 100% "home grown" ... it grew out of my need to brand myself as a marketing consultant and solopreneur. (Of course, I drew from my 25 years of marketing experience in high-tech corporations.) My branding approach is simple and goes "straight to the heart of the matter." It is not a compilation of ideas from other branding experts who, for the most part, focus on either corporate branding or personal branding for executives and employees.

Examples of my solopreneur clients include successful corporate consultants, professional speakers, business coaches, sales coaches, etc. Example micro-business clients include dentists, a cardiologist, high-end building companies, and so forth.

I also have significant experience strategizing websites and writing the website copy for small businesses. I love how on the website -- especially the Home page -- so many branding, messaging, features, and functionality all come crashing together!

Clearly, these elements need to dovetail together in an elegant, powerful way. A strategic, hardworking website is the business owner's most important marketing and sales tool. As you know, a hardworking website goes well beyond having an online presence ... it helps to position the business owner as an expert or thought leader. It invites prospects to learn more about the products and services, and empowers them to self-qualify. It enables conversion, by selling products and services directly. Very exciting!

David Jackson: Patrice, how do you define the term "brand"?

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: Unfortunately, corporate branding consultants have made the concept of "brand" extremely vague and mercurial. To a business owner, creating a brand feels like a massive undertaking, a project that will demand huge amounts of time and money. My view of branding is much simpler. I define a brand as simply a foundation to clearly communicate who you are, what you do, and the benefits (or results) your clients get. It's that simple. Once you have a foundation with those clear concepts -- who you are, what you do, what your clients get -- then you can build on that foundation with a tagline, logo, and other elements that help you communicate your brand.

David Jackson: We live in a time when people are absolutely overwhelmed with information. Why is branding important? Doesn’t it just add more noise into the system?

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: I believe a clear, on-target brand helps you quickly tell your prospects what they get. Imagine someone lands at your website home page, David, and they see your name, your photo or video, a great tagline that essentially says "here's what you get," and a professionally designed logo that visually supports this key message. I call these pieces the Brand Elements, and I love how the Brand Elements dovetail to quickly tell the story. When someone lands at your website, they immediately see key messages that let them know they're in the right place -- that they'll get the help they're looking for. Your prospects won't need to read 3 pages of website copy to discern whether you're the right service provider for them. On the other hand, if your brand is confusing, if prospects can't immediately see that they're in the right place, then "CLICK" they're gone!

David Jackson: Patrice, I couldn't agree more. In your opinion, what is most misunderstood about branding?

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: That it's hard. It's expensive. And it's overwhelming. With a bit of guidance, branding for a solopreneur or small business can be surprisingly fast, easy, and affordable. Oh, one more point: Many small business owners don't think they need a brand, but this is a mistake. A clear, on-target brand empowers them to promote and grow their business.

David Jackson: Many consultants are uncomfortable promoting themselves, either because they're introverted personalities, or some other reason. What would be your advice to those consultants?

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: Excellent question! This can be a real challenge for solopreneurs and small business owners. I live in Colorado now, but I was raised in the Midwest. I was raised to embrace humility as a wonderful personality trait. And it is. But something odd happens when you own your own business, especially if you're a service provider. You must be able to clearly communicate the value you offer and the benefits your clients receive. You can't beat around the bush. You can't look down at your feet, kick the dirt, and say, "Well, gosh, gee whiz, I guess I'm pretty good at such-and-such." No one is going to beat a path to your door if you don't clearly promote your products or services. And if you're not selling anything, how will you pay your bills? How will you save for retirement? How will your take that dream vacation with your spouse?

The wonderful thing about creating a clear, on-target brand is that you can easily build on it to create a clear, on-target business card, website, brochure, ad campaign, and other marketing tools. Now you can promote and grow your business.

Also, you can build on your brand to develop a clear, on-target elevator pitch. Whether you're an introvert or extrovert, you'll want to practice your elevator pitch so it's flawless. And don't script an elevator pitch that is meant to impress someone. Remember, if you're at a networking event and someone asks, "What do you do?" your goal is to connect, not impress.

David Jackson: What are a few strategies someone can use to differentiate herself from others in the same field?

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: Many of my clients will ask about strategies to differentiate themselves from their competitors, and I tell them, "Don't worry about it." If you're a corporate media trainer, you have competitors. If you're a sales trainer, you have competitors -- LOTS of competitors. In my view, the best approach is to gain a crystal-clear picture of what you offer that's unique to you. In my branding process, I like to look for that "gem," polish it, and make it central to my client's brand, website, and marketing materials. Instead of worrying about competitive differentiators, we make sure the gem shines and that it's extremely attractive to prospective clients.

David Jackson: With the advent of the Internet, do you think it's easier for a company to brand itself today or harder?

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: Well, I guess it's a double-edged sword. Just 10 or 15 years ago, branding was simpler, almost one-dimensional. It was central to advertising, direct mail, tradeshows, and other marketing and promotional activities. Today, the Internet offers extraordinary opportunities for interactive websites, YouTube channels, pay-per-click advertising campaigns, social media marketing, and much, much more. All these opportunities make it more complex to promote your business. A clear, consistent brand is more important than ever, because you need consistent messages and a consistent, professional look-and-feel throughout all your marketing channels.

Again, I believe branding for a solopreneur and micro-business owner can be fast, simple, and affordable. The fact that the Internet exists doesn't make any difference when we're drilling down to your core concepts: who you are, what you do, what your clients get.

David Jackson: I've always felt that pictures of the people behind the company were an important part of branding, especially for small businesses. But there are a lot of small business owners that, for whatever reason, choose not to show their face to the public. I think that's a mistake. What are your thoughts on that?

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: I agree with you, David. If you are a solopreneur or own a very small business, I believe your photo is an extremely important Brand Element because YOU are your business. Remember the saying, "A picture's worth a thousand words"? Your picture can convey trust, confidence, and much more. As a point of clarification, you must hire a professional photographer -- don't use a handy-dandy snapshot. Tell your photographer about your brand and discuss what you want to convey. Your photo must support your brand. For example, if you're a sales coach who promises to turnaround lackluster sales groups, you may want a high-energy photo -- you don't want a photo that looks like a librarian.

David Jackson: Patrice, as individuals, we evolve over time. Companies evolve over time. Should a brand also evolve over time?

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: I love that you asked this question. I work with business owners who are experts in their field. In fact, many are thought leaders. These are dynamic people who don't sit still! You can bet that, within 5 or 10 years, their businesses will be quite different. So you're right: As they evolve, their companies will evolve, and their brand will need to evolve as well. Again, that doesn't mean it's a huge, expensive, time-consuming effort. When I consult with solopreneurs and micro-business owners, we strive for a branding process that is fast and affordable.

In fact, David, I'd like to extend an offer to your readers for my new product, which is hot off the press: "Nail Your Brand: A 5-Step System to Brand Your Business." Folks can learn more about it here: http://www.brandingandwebsites.com/products.htm. With this do-it-yourself system, my audio CDs and workbook guide you through 5 simple steps to create an on-target brand for your business. This brand-new product will be priced at $495, but I'll give your readers $200 off. They simply need to email me at Patrice@BrandingAndWebsites.com and mention your name, David Jackson, to get the discount.

David Jackson: Patrice, that's very generous of you. I'd like to once again thank you for taking the time to do this interview.

Patrice Rhoades-Baum: It was my pleasure, David. Thank you so much!

Video: How Risky Linking Can Hurt Your Rankings - with Todd Friesen

How Much Do Clicks and Article Popularity Mean?

There are so many statistics available to the person who is submitting articles that it can be a little confusing as to what the purpose is and how to measure your progress.

There are a couple of really obvious stats that it may be tempting to pay too much attention to. They are clicks on the link in your resource box and the number of times each article is viewed on an article directory.

It’s always gratifying to see that people are clicking the links in your resource box. That’s one of the purposes for the link in the resource box, and it lets you know that at least some people have read your article, looked at your resource box, and have been inspired by what you said to the point where they want to visit your website.

That’s great, and it may give you an indication that you’ve done a good job in writing a helpful article and in creating a compelling resource box. How many people click the link in your resource box is not, however, an indication of your progress or success with article marketing.

It’s a similar situation with article popularity – the number of times your article is viewed on a particular article directory. It’s always great to see that an article has a lot of people viewing it, and if you look at your list of articles on that directory and notice that there are some articles that have vastly more views than the others, you can take some things away from that which can help you write more popular articles.

Maybe the subject matter that you covered in those super popular articles is more in demand, and you can figure out a way to cover that topic in more detail in future articles.

Perhaps it was the title that drew people in. Maybe it was a title that was in the form of a question, or a title that had your keywords at the beginning, or a title that gives a command or one that indicates that the article is a “how to” article. Whatever type of title you had, it might be worth your effort to use that same format again.

The article popularity can be helpful in letting you know when a topic has “struck home” with your readers and to help you know which topics to explore further, but again, the popularity of an article is not a good way to determine your article marketing success.

What is then?

The absolute definitive way to measure your progress with article marketing is to keep track of where your website is ranking in Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. for specific keyword terms that are associated with your niche.

Obviously in order to track this, you first need to figure out what your keyword terms are. This actually isn’t as hard as it may sound. You can use a free tool to research keywords like the one that Google offers, or you can use a paid service. When you’re doing your keyword research you’ll be looking for two things: the supply and the demand.

The demand is how many searches are being done for a particular phrase each month. You can find this information by using a keyword research tool.

The supply is how many web pages are competing for that particular keyword term. Your keyword research tool may provide this info, but if it doesn’t it’s easy enough to find it on your own. Just type the keyword phrase into Google’s search box, and it will tell you how many results are listed. The number of results are the number of web pages that are competing for that term.

You have to consider if the supply and demand for the term is worth your effort in trying to compete. For example, there may be a very large demand for a certain term, but if there are already loads of web pages competing for the term, the phrase may be already saturated and not worth your effort. The more saturated a phrase is, the more competition. The more competition, the more challenging it will be to rank highly for that phrase. You just have to weigh the potential reward against the effort you’d have to invest.

Compile a list of keyword phrases that are related to your niche, and you might also want to make a note of the traffic potential – that would be the demand for that keyword term. Do a search for each of those key phrases and make a note of where your own website is ranked. Update this every month to keep track of where your site is positioned in the rankings. This is the primary statistic that you’ll keep track of when measuring your progress with article marketing.

I hope this helps explain what to look for when trying to determine your article marketing success. I know it’s tempting to look to the articles for validation. The stats that the articles provide can be very helpful to you in creating new articles, but really the definitive measurement of progress is your website ranking for your keyword terms.

The ultimate goal is for your website to reach the #1 spot. The closer you get to that goal, the more targeted traffic will be funneled into your website from the search engines.

About the author
Steve Shaw is a content syndication specialist. Do you own a blog? Need content? Join thousands of other blogs and get free high-quality, niche-focused, human-reviewed content from quality authors sent on auto-pilot – and it’s all 100% free! Go to http://www.autoblogit.com for more information.

Article Source: SiteProNews.com

Money Pit Bing Surpasses Dysfunctional Yahoo to Become #2 Search Engine

In case you missed it, according to data from Comscore, Bing has become the second most popular search engine in the world, surpassing perennial bridesmaid Yahoo, which falls to #3.

Bing, which launched June 3, 2009, amid much fanfare, and a 8.4 percent search engine market share, now accounts for 15.1 percent of searches, compared to 14.5 percent for Yahoo.

Google remains far and away the search engine leader Google with 65.9 percent of search engine market share.

While on the surface, surpassing Yahoo so quickly might seem like an impressive feat by Microsoft, the truth of the matter is Bing's growth has been almost exclusively at the expense of Yahoo and search cellar-dwellers Ask.com and AOL, rather than Google.

More ominously, Bing is in dire need of a financial tourniquet, losing nearly a $1 billion a quarter, and $5.5 billion since its launch. Why? Because despite Microsoft's "decision engine" differentiation campaign, it really isn't doing anything that's drastically different from Google in search.

Not only that, Yahoo has always been a contender with a glass jaw, and a dysfunctional mess for years - and quite frankly, was ripe for the picking. Last month, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang resigned from the company’s board of directors and from all other positions with the company, potentially appeasing unhappy shareholders who blamed Yang for impeding efforts to breathe new life into the struggling company. Yang's abrupt departure came just two weeks after Yahoo appointed Scott Thompson its new CEO.

And at the time of writing this article, The Huffington Post is reporting that Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and three longtime board members are stepping down, submitting to the demands of many frustrated shareholders who blame them for contributing to the follies that have dragged down the Internet company's revenue and stock price. And the beat goes on...

This is what Alexander Chepakovich, CFA of iStockResearch.com wrote back in September, 2011:

Yahoo is a Mess

"Apparently, the company is in a mess. Just look at the assembly of sites Yahoo is today. True, many of the services and information provided by the company are still in demand. However, there has been very little progress in the company's development over the past ten years. At the turn of the century, Yahoo was a flagship internet company. Today it is still big in terms of size, but relatively mediocre compared to the current innovators.

Size should be an advantage (because economies of scale, bargaining power, etc.), but, apparently, not at Yahoo. Instead of growing its empire, it should have rather concentrated on innovation and perfection of existing services. They have many things but do not seem to be an undisputed leader in any of them. What is troubling even more is the bugs and glitches you see in their applications. That means that they do no have time or desire (or both) to perfect their products. With such attitude, they risk disappearing from the internet landscape, which changes very rapidly.

Being one the first internet pioneers, Yahoo had immense opportunities to make new things that change the world. But the company just blew it. It relies exclusively on internet advertising to make money. But its audience is pulled away by the internet champions of today – the likes of Google, Twitter, Facebook and many others. Very soon this will show in the company's financial statements. And I am afraid this process is irreversible.

Yahoo just does not seem to have the talent or right incentives for its employees to come up with new and amazing products. In the internet world this is still a prerequisite for being relevant. Others catch up very quickly. If an internet company cannot differentiate itself in any substantial way from the rest, it is destined to disappear. My advice: if you still hold shares of Yahoo sell them. $15 per share is better than nothing."

Is Bing Cheating?

Since Yahoo is my default home page, I use its search on a daily basis. In fact, I alternate back and forth between Google and Yahoo when I search for something. I've only used Bing two or three times since its launch. However, when I did use Bing, I noticed the results I got back were almost identical to Google's.

Coincidence? I don't think so, and Google doesn't think so either. In fact, Google has publicly accused Bing of cheating. Google says it ran a sting operation that proves Bing has been cheating. How? According to Google, Bing analyzes what people search for on Google - sites Bing selects from Google’s search results. Bing then uses that information to improve its own search listings.

Like I said earlier, when I did use Bing, I noticed the results I got back were almost identical to Google's. So you can take that for what it's worth.

Bing Rebuts Google's Cheating Claims

In Bing's defense, it has strongly rebutted Google's assertions. Bing's Harry Shum states...

"Bing does NOT do this. there is no Google specific search signal that it being used, no list of all the popular pages as selected just by Google users. Instead, it has a 'search signal' based on searching activity observed across a range of sites.

We aggregate the information. The entire clickstream gets weighted along with different signals. For head queries, we have more signals. For tail queries, we have less. For the Google ‘synthetic’ queries [done for the Google sting operation], we have nothing." (Source: SearchEngineLand.com)

What Is Bing's Future?

So what exactly is Bing's future? Your guess is as good as mine, but like I stated earlier, Bing is hemorrhaging money. Will Bing ever overtake Google? That's highly unlikely, but then again, it was highly unlikely that 13 years ago a small search engine out of Stanford University would topple the mighty Yahoo. So anything is possible.

But my guess is the company that eventually knocks Google off its throne is an entity we haven't yet heard of.

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Guru Kool-Aid: Are You Drinking It?

What is a guru?

Literally, a guru is a teacher. The word guru means "heavy" or "deep," thus a guru is a person "heavy" or "deep" in knowledge. In this sense, a school-teacher is a guru, a coach or athletic instructor is a guru, a fine-arts, or even a dance teacher is a guru. One’s parents are also gurus. In the religious field, where the word is most commonly used, a guru is a Hindu religious teacher. So a priest or any person learned in Hindu lore may be a guru. The main purpose of the guru is to teach. (Source: What is a Guru? )

Personally, I don't believe in so-called "gurus" - whether they're self-proclaimed or anointed. Never have. But I do believe in teachers and mentors. And I'm all for free enterprise - for everyone making as much money as they possibly can, with this caveat: Not off the backs of the desperate, naive and people who can least afford it.

That's taking advantage of people. I have a problem with that.

They're Like Vampires

And that's why I have a problem with some Internet Marketing gurus. Not all, but some. They're like vampires...They stick their fangs into your neck, with no concern for your regard, and they just keep sucking your blood (i.e., money), until there's nothing left but a trail of bodies of the broke, wounded and disenfranchised.

That being said, if you have disposable income and want to give it to some guru, I don't have a problem with that, as long as you're not taking food off your family's table.

Guru Groupies

Marketers who are gurus - self-proclaimed or anointed, often wear the label "guru" like it's a badge of honor. That's their prerogative, of course. And while I'm an expert in my field, as well as a teacher, I don't consider myself a guru, and I don't consider it an honor to be called one. I just don't like the term "guru." Despite my business success, and years of marketing knowledge and expertise, I don't place myself above other people. I'm not better than you or anyone else.

Conversely, I don't place anyone else on a pedestal either. I've never been into hero worship. For example, I've always been a huge Michael Jackson fan - all the way back to the days when he was "Little" Michael Jackson of the Jackson 5.

I have every single one of his albums/CD's. But there was always a limit to my devotion - a reasonableness, if you will. I did not spend thousands of dollars to go see him in concert. I did not follow him around like a groupie, and I did not stand in line clamoring for his autograph, or bid outrageous sums of money for his sequined gloves.

This is the kind of irrational behavior I see exhibited toward IM gurus. They are treated like rock stars. Their fans follow them around like groupies, spending thousands of dollars on endless new product launches and expensive seminars. It's beyond insane.

My Experience With Gurus

Let me tell you about my own personal experience with gurus. A few years ago, I purchased a couple of e-books and a software product from three different IM gurus.

The blood-sucking started almost immediately. Non-stop e-mails...one right after the other. Welcome e-mails, tutorial e-mails, new products launches, past seminars, upcoming seminars, etc., etc., etc.

I received over twenty e-mails from these guys in a period of only 48 hours. It was extremely irritating, to say the least.

Anyway, to make a long story short, that experience so disgusted me, I unsubscribed from their lists, and I actually requested a refund on two of the three products that I ordered.

I requested a refund because the products didn't come close to living up to the hype - and that's exactly the point: More often than not, gurus' products DON'T live up to the considerable hype.

Don't Believe The Hype

Gurus make everything sound so easy, don't they? Just follow their "magic" blueprint, and you will "get rich in 90 days!" As a result of these outrageous and unrealistic claims, too many people approach IM thinking that it's easy and doesn't require any effort - other than to place a few Adwords ads, kick back, relax, and watch the money roll into their PayPal account. And while a rare few realize success quickly, the vast majority get hit with a brutal dose of reality. That's right, the vast majority fail. What a surprise.

Let me tell you something, despite what some gurus tell you, success in IM is neither quick or easy. It requires time, patience, discipline and hard work. There are no shortcuts. Or, in the words of famous philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie...

"Anything in life worth having is worth working for."

Hard work starts with education - learning your craft. If you're truly serious about succeeding in IM, put in the work. In addition to reading articles like this one, read as many quality, online and offline small business publications as you possibly can.

A few of my online favorites include SiteProNews, WebProNews, ClickZ and MarketingProfs. My favorite offline small business publication is Entrepreneur. Buy books. Buy lots and lots of books. Learn as much as you can about sales and marketing. More importantly, apply what you learn. It can make all the difference in the world to your success or lack thereof.

10 of My All-Time Favorite Marketing Books

1. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word by Joe Sugarman

2. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

3. Cash Copy by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

4. Cashvertising by Drew Eric Whitman

5. Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples

6. Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

7. Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins

8. The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy

9. How to Write a Good Advertisement by Victor Schwab

10. Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz

There are, of course, many, many more outstanding marketing books that I could name, but the one's listed above are classics and should be part of every serious marketer's library.

Good Gurus, Bad Gurus

Despite my rant, I want to strongly emphasize, I'm not painting all gurus with one broad brush. Like with everything in life, there is good and bad. That applies to gurus as well. There are good gurus and bad gurus. There are some good, responsible gurus out there who give back generously - who aren't taking advantage of people - who provide excellent value for the dollar - who don't promise results that they know they can't possibly deliver. They are conscientious, honest and responsible marketers.

And then there are the bad gurus who rip people off by selling over-priced, inferior products, and promising "pie-in-the-sky" results that they can't possibly deliver. They never give back, they just take and take and take. They give IM and gurus a bad name.

I'll say it again. Success takes time, and it requires hard work. Always has, always will. There are no shortcuts, and if someone tells you otherwise...they're probably trying to sell you something.

The Tortoise and the Hare

Are you familiar with the story "The Tortoise and the Hare?"

It's a classic Aesop fable about a hare who one day ridiculed a slow-moving tortoise. In response, the prideful tortoise challenged his much faster mocker to a race.

Not unexpectedly, the hare soon left the tortoise in the dust. In fact, the hare was so far ahead and confident of winning, he decided to take a nap halfway to the finish line.

Alas, when he awoke, however, he found that the competitor he had mocked, crawling slowly but steadily, had already won the race.

The moral of the story is...

"Slow and steady wins the race."

Conclusion

I learned a long time ago that you can give people advice that's in their best interest, but invariably, they're going to do what they want to do. But do yourself a favor. If you're a guru groupie - if you've been drinking the kool-aid, as it were, take a discerning look at the amount of money you've invested in guru e-books, courses and seminars, then look at the amount of your return and ask yourself...has the money that you've spent been worth the investment?...Or anywhere close?

If you're honest with yourself - really honest, more often than not, I think you'll discover that it hasn't.

Then the question becomes, what are you going to do about it?

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