Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Larry Zimberg
Are you STRUGGLING in your MLM, Network Marketing, or Home Based Biz? What's stopping you from reaching your goals or moving from where you are to where you want to go? This article could be the key in helping you TAKE ACTION and GET RESULTS!
IF you are like most people today, you are overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time. There just isn't enough time for everything on our "To Do" list - and odds are there never will be. You will never be caught up. Here are some tips to help you MOVE FORWARD!
1. Managing Your Time:
Successful people don't try to do everything. Successful people are those who are willing to delay gratification and make sacrifices in the short term so that they can enjoy far greater rewards in the long term. For some reason, too many people believe the process is supposed to be easy, and when they find out that achievement takes effort, they give up! However success takes some work. The only place wealth comes before work is in the dictionary. But the time is going to pass anyway. The only question is how you will use it and where you are going to end up at the end of the months and years that lie ahead.
Resist the temptation to clear up the small things first. Prioritize! Do the first things first and the second things not at all. There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always time to do the most important thing.
THE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST MUST NEVER BE AT THE MERCY OF THE THINGS THAT MATTER LEAST!
The key to success is ACTION! Do not wait: the time will never be "just right". If you wait for perfect timing, you'll wait forever! Procrastination is the cornerstone of poverty. Since you can't do everything, you must learn to put off those tasks that are of low value so that you have enough time to do the few things that really count.
2. The Attitude Adjustment:
A man (or woman) is defeated not by his opponents but by himself. The greatest battle you wage against failure occurs on the inside, not the outside. Failure is an inside job...So is success. If you want to achieve, you have to win the war in your thinking first. How do you win that battle? You start by cultivating the right attitude. Your Attitude will determine your Altitude!
"Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing." - Abraham Lincoln
So what is holding you back? What determines how fast you move from where you are to where you want to go? What stops you or holds you back from reaching your goals?
The road to the next level is always uphill. But achieving success is not a secret, it's not a mystery. There's a formula to it. I used to ask myself, "Why is it that other people are doing better than I am?" I had fallen into the trap of assuming that people who were doing better than me might actually be better or more fortunate than me. What I learned was this was not necessarily true, and what they had learned to do I could do as well. I am still amazed at how simple and obvious it is. Just find out what successful people do and do the same things until you get the same results. Wow! What a concept!
3. The Formula:
Simply put, some people are doing better than others because they are doing certain things differently; especially because they use their time far, far better than the average person.
Let me relate it to you this way: If you put $10,000 in an account for 4 years that got you back $1,000 or could put that same $10,000 in an account that got you back $100,000 which would you choose? No brainer, right? You're making the same deposit but you're getting a different return. Well, you're going to work anyway over the next few years. Why not spend your time more wisely and build your dream instead of someone else's. The time investment is the same, you're just working smarter, not harder. Again, you're making the same deposit but you'll get a much better return. This is what wealthy people know and do!
They know that it's nearly impossible to get the life you truly desire working your whole life for someone else, so they choose to spend their time going in a different direction so that they can have a different outcome. That's all it is!
4. Why Network Marketing:
I love this business. I love it because anyone with a dream and the will to work half as hard for themselves as they have for someone else can reach any goal they desire. I love it because, in network marketing, the brass ring is out there for anyone to grab, so long as you are willing to reach for it. We are a free people. We are free to succeed or fail. We can make excuses or progress. We can hide behind the challenges and obstacles each of us have and will continue to have, or march right through them so that we can live a life based on what we want to do with our time rather than what we have to do to survive.
Sadly though, most people will wait; wait and hope that they'll wake up someday and find themselves rich. Actually, they've got it half right, because eventually they do wake up. And while it's true that you may risk failure if you try something bold, it's even truer that you'll most certainly risk failure if you stand still.
"The greater danger in life is not that we aim too high and miss it, but that we aim too low and reach it!" - Michelangelo
All one has to do is believe in themselves and TAKE ACTION. That's what I did, and I'm so excited every day to see more and more people creating financial freedom through our industry.
It's a choice, a choice that we are all free to make. What choice will you make? And remember, if you need a helping hand, I've got two!
To your success!
Copyright (c) 2008 Larry Zimberg
About the Author:
Larry Zimberg is an accomplished Network Marketer and Success Coach. He has trained tens of thousands of individuals, and built massive organizations. "The key to financial success is to have a simple automated system that drives 1000's of real prospects to your website, without spending a dime on leads!" Build your team 10x as fast with half the effort. Discover what really works RIGHT NOW! Get my Free Report at http://www.YouDontHavetoSell.com "Let me know how I might help you build your dream instead of someone else's!"
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Search Engine Optimization Secrets Of A 1 Google Ranking
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Willie Crawford
It doesn't matter how great your product is, what a bargain your price is, or how beautiful your website is - Without traffic none of that matters.
So at its most basic, the biggest determinant of your web businesses success is "getting eyeballs looking at your webpages."
When looking at where the traffic comes from, it begins with others linking (or pointing the way) to your site. Since most people automatically turn to the search engines when looking for something online, that naturally tells me that the most important links that you can easily get are probably from the search engines.
Since Google is currently the search engine getting the most use online, and therefore the one that generates the most traffic, that also means that you need to focus on getting a front page, or ideally a number 1 listing, at Google.
However, your search engine optimization efforts should involve structuring your site, and your other search engine magnets, so that it bring in BUYERS from Google.
At its most basic, and simplest, getting a number 1 ranking at Google that leads to an endless stream of sales boils down to three parts. They are:
1) Targeting The Correct Keywords
2) Optimizing A Page For Those Keywords
3) Getting Links From Sites That Google Loves
Let's look at each of these.
First, you absolutely have to target the correct keyword. Your webpages and everything that you do needs to incorporate the keywords that your buying customers are actually typing into the search engines.
You don't want to target the phrase digital camera, or printer cartridge. Instead you want to target a specific model of digital camera or printer cartridge, and you may even want to target people in a specific location looking for a specific model of printer cartridge.
That kind of targeting means that the people who find you are searching for something very specific, and when they find you by typing in that very specific search term, they click through and buy.
Next, you need to optimize your webpages for those keyword phrases. That generally means that you need the target keyword phrases sprinkled throughout your webpages. It also means that you want to use your target keyword phrases in your title and description "metatags." You also want to include your keyword phrases in anchor text on your webpages (the blue underlined text in hyperlinks). You basically want to include your keyword phrases in all of the parts of your webpages that tells the search engines what your webpage is about. This includes places such as italicized or bolded text, your menu items, and even alt image tags.
Finally, you need to get sites that Google thinks are important to link to you. Ideally, these sites include your keyword phrases in the anchor text when they link to you.
Many who study search engine optimization full-time are convinced that the external links pointing to your website are THE part that makes the biggest difference in most cases.
Having an authority site link to you is like having a respected authority in your community give you an endorsement. They are telling the search engines, and the rest of the world, that they recommend you. By using your keywords in the anchor text, authority sites are also telling Google (and other less important search engines) that that is what they consider your site to be about.
This factor is so powerful that I have personally often gotten a number 1 position on Google for my most important keywords by just tapping into one free website optimization tool... one authority site!
In fact, I recently did an interview with David Preston, an expert at teaching offline businesses to tap into the web in ways that most of their competitors never even dreamed of. In the interview with David, we discussed in-depth, how I easily get free front-page listings at Google in a day, and how I often get #1 listing for my ideal keywords in just hours. You can get the MP3 audio of the interview that I did with David at: http://WebsiteSearchEngineOptimizationSecrets.com
I mention David and that interview because he taught me another CRITICAL part of effective search engine optimization. He taught
me how to focus my efforts on the buyers with lots of money to spend... customers who have already budgeted that money for what I have to offer.
So there you have my very simple three-part search engine optimization formula for getting a free number one ranking in Google in as little as a few hours. That fourth part, focusing on the buyers actively looking to spend money is a bonus :-)
About the Author:
Willie Crawford is an Internet marketer with over 12 years of experience at generating massive website traffic, and sales using viral marketing techniques. One of his favorite traffic generation tools is rebrandable PDF's which he creates using the software at: http://ViralDocumentToolkits.com
Copyright © 2008 Willie Crawford
It doesn't matter how great your product is, what a bargain your price is, or how beautiful your website is - Without traffic none of that matters.
So at its most basic, the biggest determinant of your web businesses success is "getting eyeballs looking at your webpages."
When looking at where the traffic comes from, it begins with others linking (or pointing the way) to your site. Since most people automatically turn to the search engines when looking for something online, that naturally tells me that the most important links that you can easily get are probably from the search engines.
Since Google is currently the search engine getting the most use online, and therefore the one that generates the most traffic, that also means that you need to focus on getting a front page, or ideally a number 1 listing, at Google.
However, your search engine optimization efforts should involve structuring your site, and your other search engine magnets, so that it bring in BUYERS from Google.
At its most basic, and simplest, getting a number 1 ranking at Google that leads to an endless stream of sales boils down to three parts. They are:
1) Targeting The Correct Keywords
2) Optimizing A Page For Those Keywords
3) Getting Links From Sites That Google Loves
Let's look at each of these.
First, you absolutely have to target the correct keyword. Your webpages and everything that you do needs to incorporate the keywords that your buying customers are actually typing into the search engines.
You don't want to target the phrase digital camera, or printer cartridge. Instead you want to target a specific model of digital camera or printer cartridge, and you may even want to target people in a specific location looking for a specific model of printer cartridge.
That kind of targeting means that the people who find you are searching for something very specific, and when they find you by typing in that very specific search term, they click through and buy.
Next, you need to optimize your webpages for those keyword phrases. That generally means that you need the target keyword phrases sprinkled throughout your webpages. It also means that you want to use your target keyword phrases in your title and description "metatags." You also want to include your keyword phrases in anchor text on your webpages (the blue underlined text in hyperlinks). You basically want to include your keyword phrases in all of the parts of your webpages that tells the search engines what your webpage is about. This includes places such as italicized or bolded text, your menu items, and even alt image tags.
Finally, you need to get sites that Google thinks are important to link to you. Ideally, these sites include your keyword phrases in the anchor text when they link to you.
Many who study search engine optimization full-time are convinced that the external links pointing to your website are THE part that makes the biggest difference in most cases.
Having an authority site link to you is like having a respected authority in your community give you an endorsement. They are telling the search engines, and the rest of the world, that they recommend you. By using your keywords in the anchor text, authority sites are also telling Google (and other less important search engines) that that is what they consider your site to be about.
This factor is so powerful that I have personally often gotten a number 1 position on Google for my most important keywords by just tapping into one free website optimization tool... one authority site!
In fact, I recently did an interview with David Preston, an expert at teaching offline businesses to tap into the web in ways that most of their competitors never even dreamed of. In the interview with David, we discussed in-depth, how I easily get free front-page listings at Google in a day, and how I often get #1 listing for my ideal keywords in just hours. You can get the MP3 audio of the interview that I did with David at: http://WebsiteSearchEngineOptimizationSecrets.com
I mention David and that interview because he taught me another CRITICAL part of effective search engine optimization. He taught
me how to focus my efforts on the buyers with lots of money to spend... customers who have already budgeted that money for what I have to offer.
So there you have my very simple three-part search engine optimization formula for getting a free number one ranking in Google in as little as a few hours. That fourth part, focusing on the buyers actively looking to spend money is a bonus :-)
About the Author:
Willie Crawford is an Internet marketer with over 12 years of experience at generating massive website traffic, and sales using viral marketing techniques. One of his favorite traffic generation tools is rebrandable PDF's which he creates using the software at: http://ViralDocumentToolkits.com
Article Marketing Success Secret: Give Them What They Want
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Bill Platt
Some people find great success with article marketing, while others think its proponents are full of bull. The difference between the winners and the losers in article marketing is most frequently defined when the writer sits down and begins to write. That is right. Success and failure is most often determined by the writers' motivation, and more importantly, by the writers' commitment to the reader.
Flawed Strategies
In 2005, a few of the Internet Marketing gurus took notice of the success people were having with article marketing, and they passed this news to the Internet Marketing newbies of the world. But, there was something missing from the advice given.
In a lot of cases, the people preaching the power of article marketing had never used the technique themselves. Even today, few of my article distribution competitors utilize reprint articles to promote their own businesses. Most of my competitors rely upon affiliate marketing to promote their websites.
Unfortunately, the Internet Marketing newbies of the world were given a lot of bad advice. It was said that:
The only purpose of article marketing was to build links, and link popularity for search engine rankings;
The writer only needed to write enough words to meet the minimum word count requirements of publishers;
It wasn't necessary for the content to be well-written, since the publishers do not read the articles they approve for publication;
Anything that can be done to reduce the time/cost of article writing would benefit the marketer.
The only suggestion that bore any resemblance to the truth was the first item about "building links for link popularity", but the error in this statement was to assume that there was no other purpose for article marketing.
The Bigger Picture
I have been using article marketing to promote my own websites since 1999, and I have offered article-marketing services professionally since 2000 and under my current domain since 2001. I had been using article marketing and providing services for at least five years, before the gurus started leading the uninitiated Internet Marketers astray in 2005.
As one of the pioneers in this industry, I have always attributed three benefits to article marketing, in this order:
1. Publication in a newsletter ensures that thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of readers, can read ones' article when it is published. (Frequently, publication day for my articles will generate phone calls from many potential customers and multiple sales, sometimes thousands in sales.)
2. Publication on a website increases the likelihood that your article will be found and read on websites that have targeted and loyal visitors.
3. Building links for link popularity and improved search rankings.
I have never denied the ability to use articles to build ones' link popularity and to increase ones' ranking in the search engines. In fact, my website ranks in the top 20 results in Google for hundreds of keywords.
But in my experience, using articles to increase search rankings is something that is ranked at #3 in my list, because it is a long-term play. Your ability to rank in Google for specific keywords is influenced significantly by what your competitors have done before you. I have used this example many times before, but if you want to rank for the keyword "travel" against such websites as: Expedia, Yahoo, Orbitz, The Travel Channel, CNN, Travelocity, Lonely Planet, USA Today, the New York Times, and the U.S. Government; then you better bring a huge budget to the contest.
Once the newbie in Internet Marketing is aware of the challenges of the search rankings game, then the newbie is better prepared to target and get realistic results from an article marketing campaign.
What Newsletter Publishers Require From Their Writers
While it may be true that a few article directory managers do not review articles before publication, it is not true of all article directories. Directories such as http://www.EzineArticles.com, http://www.IdeaMarketers.com, http://www.Website-Articles.net, http://www.InvisibleMBA.com, http://www.ArticleStars.com, http://www.ArticleDashboard.com, and http://www.Isnare.com have editors who personally review each and every article posted to their directories, to ensure that the articles meet the directory's editorial guidelines.
And, newsletter publishers personally read and approve every single article they publish. Why? In order for a publisher to be able to sell high-dollar advertising, the newsletter must attract and retain loyal readers. In order to get and keep readers, the newsletter must "absolutely" publish content that its readers appreciate receiving and want to read.
Herein lies "the secret to success" in article marketing. Not only do newsletter publishers read articles, seeking to find the content that will ensure the loyalty of their readers, the website publishers who have served loyal audiences for several years also strive to provide their readers only the best content available.
Article Spinner Software Stops Short Of Serving The Reader
No matter how well the Content Spinner software sellers may write their sales copy, one would be a fool to trust computers to write the kind of articles that people want to read.
Remember, the newsletter publisher and the successful webmaster are solely focused on finding content that will keep their readers loyal to them. Also remember that the "link building game for link popularity" is a long-term play that could take years to see fruition.
Given this knowledge, why would someone who is truly seeking success online be willing to trust that the article spinners are able to develop articles that would pass the "human eye test" or even the "smell test"?
What The Article Marketing Professionals Have To Say
I know that I have always suggested that one should take into account what someone is selling, before taking his or her word at face value. Since I sell ghostwriting services, it is absolutely in your best interests to take my words with much skepticism. BUT... I am not the only professional Internet Marketer with this viewpoint. Following are quotes by people whose names you may recognize.
Christopher Knight of Ezine Articles was asked, "How much must I change or rewrite my article so that your content filters won't reject it or suspend my account?" Chris responded, "The answer is all of it. Seriously, don't rewrite your own articles. Just create new ones. It's not that hard." Chris added that derivative content adds no value to his website. (http://blog.ezinearticles.com/2008/07/content-filtering.html)
Chris McElroy from http://www.ArticleContentProvider.com says, "Computer-generated articles can never replace hand-written original content. Just getting articles into article directories does not help your link popularity, so submitting garbage will get you nothing in return. Only when your articles are reprinted in newsletters, ezines, websites, and blogs that are related to your topic do you get any value from article marketing. Those who think otherwise don't understand the first thing about article marketing or SEO."
Allen Taylor, who contributes to the article marketing blog at http://articlecontentprovider.com/article-marketing-blog/ was asked to review someone's article spinner software. I am sure the guy who requested the review is kicking himself in the butt right now; since Allen proceeded to show his readers exactly how worthless the software is in the real world.
Allen concluded his review with the following words: "I would not recommend rewriting your articles. Just write fresh articles that don't threaten to have problems like the ones noted above. Really, it doesn't take long to write a 500-word article that can be used for article marketing or other online marketing purposes. If you're going to do something, why not do it right?" (http://articlecontentprovider.com/article-marketing-blog/2008/07/09/)
Willie Crawford (http://TIMIC.ORG/) is not an article-marketing professional. Instead, he is a professional marketer, who uses article marketing to promote the many websites that make up his online empire. Willie is a seven-figure earner, and yet, he continues writing new articles whenever he has the time to do so.
Willie said: "I've looked a numerous 'article spinners' and seen that the output from them was generally so incoherent that it would have been an insult to my readers."
"I respect my readers and realize that writing is communicating one human to another. That's why all of the articles that I publish are unique and not software generated variations of my work."
Communicating One Human To Another
Those people who have found the greatest success utilizing article marketing as a promotional tool are those who understand that article marketing is best-used as a tool to communicate "one human to another."
At the beginning of this article, I suggested, "Success and failure is determined by the writers' motivation, and more importantly, by the writers' commitment to the reader."
Successful newsletter publishers are those who have made a commitment to keep their readers interested and reading every issue. Successful webmasters and bloggers are those who have made a commitment to keeping their readers satisfied and coming back to their websites frequently. All are looking for article content that will attract readers to their publications and ensure reader loyalty.
The successful article marketer is the person who understands his or her audience and gives his or her audience exactly what they want.
The article must convince the newsletter publisher that his or her subscribers will value the message in the article enough to read the next issue. The article must convince the Webmaster and Bloggers that the article will keep a reader on his or her website for a while longer. And finally, the reader must be thankful for having been given the opportunity to read the article.
In the end, the decision is yours. Are you simply happy complaining about what could have, should have been with the articles you have written. Or, do you want to invest what will be required to make sure your article marketing campaigns are successful?
About the Author:
Bill Platt has been helping online marketers with article ghostwriting and article distribution services since 2001, through his website: http://www.thephantomwriters.com If your small business finances are being pinched during this era of high gasoline prices, get your own copy of the ebook, "How To Increase The Fuel Mileage Of Any Vehicle" to learn how to improve gas mileage by 30% or better: http://www.automotivewebmasters.com/ebooks/increase-mpg.php
Copyright © 2008 Bill Platt
Some people find great success with article marketing, while others think its proponents are full of bull. The difference between the winners and the losers in article marketing is most frequently defined when the writer sits down and begins to write. That is right. Success and failure is most often determined by the writers' motivation, and more importantly, by the writers' commitment to the reader.
Flawed Strategies
In 2005, a few of the Internet Marketing gurus took notice of the success people were having with article marketing, and they passed this news to the Internet Marketing newbies of the world. But, there was something missing from the advice given.
In a lot of cases, the people preaching the power of article marketing had never used the technique themselves. Even today, few of my article distribution competitors utilize reprint articles to promote their own businesses. Most of my competitors rely upon affiliate marketing to promote their websites.
Unfortunately, the Internet Marketing newbies of the world were given a lot of bad advice. It was said that:
The only suggestion that bore any resemblance to the truth was the first item about "building links for link popularity", but the error in this statement was to assume that there was no other purpose for article marketing.
The Bigger Picture
I have been using article marketing to promote my own websites since 1999, and I have offered article-marketing services professionally since 2000 and under my current domain since 2001. I had been using article marketing and providing services for at least five years, before the gurus started leading the uninitiated Internet Marketers astray in 2005.
As one of the pioneers in this industry, I have always attributed three benefits to article marketing, in this order:
1. Publication in a newsletter ensures that thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of readers, can read ones' article when it is published. (Frequently, publication day for my articles will generate phone calls from many potential customers and multiple sales, sometimes thousands in sales.)
2. Publication on a website increases the likelihood that your article will be found and read on websites that have targeted and loyal visitors.
3. Building links for link popularity and improved search rankings.
I have never denied the ability to use articles to build ones' link popularity and to increase ones' ranking in the search engines. In fact, my website ranks in the top 20 results in Google for hundreds of keywords.
But in my experience, using articles to increase search rankings is something that is ranked at #3 in my list, because it is a long-term play. Your ability to rank in Google for specific keywords is influenced significantly by what your competitors have done before you. I have used this example many times before, but if you want to rank for the keyword "travel" against such websites as: Expedia, Yahoo, Orbitz, The Travel Channel, CNN, Travelocity, Lonely Planet, USA Today, the New York Times, and the U.S. Government; then you better bring a huge budget to the contest.
Once the newbie in Internet Marketing is aware of the challenges of the search rankings game, then the newbie is better prepared to target and get realistic results from an article marketing campaign.
What Newsletter Publishers Require From Their Writers
While it may be true that a few article directory managers do not review articles before publication, it is not true of all article directories. Directories such as http://www.EzineArticles.com, http://www.IdeaMarketers.com, http://www.Website-Articles.net, http://www.InvisibleMBA.com, http://www.ArticleStars.com, http://www.ArticleDashboard.com, and http://www.Isnare.com have editors who personally review each and every article posted to their directories, to ensure that the articles meet the directory's editorial guidelines.
And, newsletter publishers personally read and approve every single article they publish. Why? In order for a publisher to be able to sell high-dollar advertising, the newsletter must attract and retain loyal readers. In order to get and keep readers, the newsletter must "absolutely" publish content that its readers appreciate receiving and want to read.
Herein lies "the secret to success" in article marketing. Not only do newsletter publishers read articles, seeking to find the content that will ensure the loyalty of their readers, the website publishers who have served loyal audiences for several years also strive to provide their readers only the best content available.
Article Spinner Software Stops Short Of Serving The Reader
No matter how well the Content Spinner software sellers may write their sales copy, one would be a fool to trust computers to write the kind of articles that people want to read.
Remember, the newsletter publisher and the successful webmaster are solely focused on finding content that will keep their readers loyal to them. Also remember that the "link building game for link popularity" is a long-term play that could take years to see fruition.
Given this knowledge, why would someone who is truly seeking success online be willing to trust that the article spinners are able to develop articles that would pass the "human eye test" or even the "smell test"?
What The Article Marketing Professionals Have To Say
I know that I have always suggested that one should take into account what someone is selling, before taking his or her word at face value. Since I sell ghostwriting services, it is absolutely in your best interests to take my words with much skepticism. BUT... I am not the only professional Internet Marketer with this viewpoint. Following are quotes by people whose names you may recognize.
Christopher Knight of Ezine Articles was asked, "How much must I change or rewrite my article so that your content filters won't reject it or suspend my account?" Chris responded, "The answer is all of it. Seriously, don't rewrite your own articles. Just create new ones. It's not that hard." Chris added that derivative content adds no value to his website. (http://blog.ezinearticles.com/2008/07/content-filtering.html)
Chris McElroy from http://www.ArticleContentProvider.com says, "Computer-generated articles can never replace hand-written original content. Just getting articles into article directories does not help your link popularity, so submitting garbage will get you nothing in return. Only when your articles are reprinted in newsletters, ezines, websites, and blogs that are related to your topic do you get any value from article marketing. Those who think otherwise don't understand the first thing about article marketing or SEO."
Allen Taylor, who contributes to the article marketing blog at http://articlecontentprovider.com/article-marketing-blog/ was asked to review someone's article spinner software. I am sure the guy who requested the review is kicking himself in the butt right now; since Allen proceeded to show his readers exactly how worthless the software is in the real world.
Allen concluded his review with the following words: "I would not recommend rewriting your articles. Just write fresh articles that don't threaten to have problems like the ones noted above. Really, it doesn't take long to write a 500-word article that can be used for article marketing or other online marketing purposes. If you're going to do something, why not do it right?" (http://articlecontentprovider.com/article-marketing-blog/2008/07/09/)
Willie Crawford (http://TIMIC.ORG/) is not an article-marketing professional. Instead, he is a professional marketer, who uses article marketing to promote the many websites that make up his online empire. Willie is a seven-figure earner, and yet, he continues writing new articles whenever he has the time to do so.
Willie said: "I've looked a numerous 'article spinners' and seen that the output from them was generally so incoherent that it would have been an insult to my readers."
"I respect my readers and realize that writing is communicating one human to another. That's why all of the articles that I publish are unique and not software generated variations of my work."
Communicating One Human To Another
Those people who have found the greatest success utilizing article marketing as a promotional tool are those who understand that article marketing is best-used as a tool to communicate "one human to another."
At the beginning of this article, I suggested, "Success and failure is determined by the writers' motivation, and more importantly, by the writers' commitment to the reader."
Successful newsletter publishers are those who have made a commitment to keep their readers interested and reading every issue. Successful webmasters and bloggers are those who have made a commitment to keeping their readers satisfied and coming back to their websites frequently. All are looking for article content that will attract readers to their publications and ensure reader loyalty.
The successful article marketer is the person who understands his or her audience and gives his or her audience exactly what they want.
The article must convince the newsletter publisher that his or her subscribers will value the message in the article enough to read the next issue. The article must convince the Webmaster and Bloggers that the article will keep a reader on his or her website for a while longer. And finally, the reader must be thankful for having been given the opportunity to read the article.
In the end, the decision is yours. Are you simply happy complaining about what could have, should have been with the articles you have written. Or, do you want to invest what will be required to make sure your article marketing campaigns are successful?
About the Author:
Bill Platt has been helping online marketers with article ghostwriting and article distribution services since 2001, through his website: http://www.thephantomwriters.com If your small business finances are being pinched during this era of high gasoline prices, get your own copy of the ebook, "How To Increase The Fuel Mileage Of Any Vehicle" to learn how to improve gas mileage by 30% or better: http://www.automotivewebmasters.com/ebooks/increase-mpg.php
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Six Keys to Creating a Successful and Profitable Ezine
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Bill Platt
Fortunes are made on the Internet by people who have built solid mailing lists for the promotion of their online businesses. But the question many publishers face is how to turn their ezine (aka: online newsletter or electronic magazines) subscribers into buyers?
Let me be honest with you. Your mailing list is only as valuable as your subscriber's willingness to purchase your products and services, or the products and services of your advertisers.
Until your subscribers begin to buy what you offer, your mailing list is not worth a plug nickel!
This article has been derived in essence from another article written in 2004. It has been updated to represent current programs and resources for this marketplace.
Here are the six ingredients that you need for creating a successful and profitable ezine:
Advertising Your Newsletter
Successful ezines are the ones that continue to grow, from week-to-week and month-to-month. With every publication, there is an attrition factor where subscribers just fall by the wayside for whatever reason. The successful ezine publisher is the one whose growth will always out pace its attrition rate.
The publishers who are able to consistently grow their mailing list are those who frequently utilize one or many of the following advertising formats.
While often expensive, paid brokers can actually get readers to subscribe to your ezine.
Yet in my own personal experience, buying subscribers did put a large number of email addresses on my list, but it provided little value to my list since most subscribers never opened my ezine.
To be honest, my venture into list building was flawed. My partner chose to use a list broker who specialized in getting subscribers from college campuses, yet our ezine was targeted to the online business person. Our new subscribers very literally did not care about what we were writing about. The lesson here is to always target the correct audience for your ezine.
A friend of mine uses list brokers almost exclusively, and he swears by the Co-Registration Lead Generation system offered by ArcaMax Publishing Co-Registration.
Ezine advertising programs are available through a number of websites, but this one is among the most respectable of such programs: Ezine Advertising com.
I have generated some very solid advertising results using Publisher Ad Swaps.
By setting up private advertising arrangements with other ezine publishers, you can get your advertisement in another ezine in exchange for an advertisement in your ezine. To find other ezine publishers, review the Ezine Hub directory.
To locate like-minded publishers seeking beneficial ad swaps, there is a website dedicated to this task called Ezine Ads Net.
Paid Search Engine placement can be another solid method for attracting new subscribers to your ezine:
- Google Adwords
- Yahoo Search Marketing
- Exact Seek Featured Listings
- Pay Per Ranking (a 7search company)
For more help in promoting your ezine, check out the tutorial called "How to Publicize Your E-Zine".
Develop A Standardized Template For Your Newsletter
Your readers want a specific structure for your ezine. They want to be able to learn your structure and to be able to quickly follow your structure to get to the meat and potatoes of every issue. Your readers are pressed for time in the same way that you are, so they want you to enable them to get what they want from you in a quick and orderly fashion.
Provide Exceptional And Targeted Content
When you develop your ezine, you know in principle what type of content that you want to bring to your readers.
But, unless you have the financial ability to work your ezine on a full-time basis, finding the time to create all of your own content is a challenge that every publisher faces.
Fortunately, there are writers who have the time to create the content you can use, and they make their content available for publication so long as their terms of reprint are honored.
These writers cover a wide range of subject materials that enable publishers in nearly every genre find a ready supply of content that they can include in their publications.
To learn how you can find articles that can be used for reprint in your publication, you should explore the following resources:
Niche Content Finder
The Article Depot
The Phantom Writers Articles Archive
Website Articles Net
Article Stars
Ezine Articles
Go Articles
Invisible MBA
Articles 4 Reprint
Cyber Media 101
Free-Reprint Article and Content Providers Webring
Personalize And Brand Your Newsletter
In order to separate your ezine from the thousands of other online magazines, you must create a solid brand for your ezine.
What I mean by this is that you should always strive to make your ezine stand well above the crowd and to give your ezine its own personal identity. You want your ezine to be the one that your subscribers will read religiously and intently.
The way to establish a brand and identity for your ezine is to give it a personality, and then do not deviate from its defined personality or target audience.
Some ezine publishers define their brand as an extension of the publisher's personality. They are not afraid to talk to their readers as if they were talking with their friends or colleagues. One such ezine in this standard is the Daily Dose Of Happiness. Another great one is the Monday Morning Memo by Roy H. Williams, the Wizard Of Ads.
Other ezines like the ones found at SiteProNews or Seo-News have a corporate philosophy that drives their publication style and guidelines.
The personality that you build into your ezine will help you to develop a solid ezine brand that your readers will read religiously and trust absolutely.
Create Reader Interaction
The greatest challenge in publishing an ezine is ALWAYS getting your subscribers to continue reading.
One method that many publishers employ is to provide methods to enable reader interaction.
The one ezine that I know that has done the best job of this is Your Membership Exchange.
In this ezine, readers submit questions, and other readers answer the questions. Their unique selling proposition is "Newsletters for Our Members, By Our Members."
In each issue, a new question is posted, and then the publisher takes the best answers to a previous question and publishes them in the ezine. I read this frequently.
In my ezine, I had accomplished a strong level of interaction with my readers by running a contest. In every issue, I posed a brain teaser question and published the names of the first three people who in the previous issue got the answer right.
Ask For The Sale
I mention this only because I know someone who is making this mistake right now. I am sure a lot of other publishers are making this mistake as well.
Many people begin the process of publishing an ezine for the explicit purpose of selling their own wares. They follow the advice of the guru's about developing a mailing list and publishing their ezine on a regular basis. A lot of work is put into the ezine to develop a loyal base of subscribers who read each and every issue delivered.
And when all is said and done, the publisher fails to ask their readers to consider or purchase the wares that their e-zine was designed to promote. How does one actually expect their readers to buy their wares if they do not ask their readers to buy what is being offered?
You are the expert in charge of your publication, so you should not be afraid to ask your readers the hard questions. You must explain to your readers what you are selling, and you must ask your readers to actually consider or even purchase what you are selling! Don't be afraid of your readers. Take care to do what is necessary to help your ezine to generate the profits it was designed to create.
About the Author:
Bill Platt published his newsletter for two years, and then set up http://www.thephantomwriters.com to supply reprint content specifically to ezine publishers and webmasters. He offers article ghost writing and article distribution services to his clients, many of whom have been with him for years. In 2007, Bill wrote an ebook to teach people how to be as successful with article marketing as he has been. Bill's Article Writing Tips ebook has received many excellent reviews.
Copyright © 2008 Bill Platt
Fortunes are made on the Internet by people who have built solid mailing lists for the promotion of their online businesses. But the question many publishers face is how to turn their ezine (aka: online newsletter or electronic magazines) subscribers into buyers?
Let me be honest with you. Your mailing list is only as valuable as your subscriber's willingness to purchase your products and services, or the products and services of your advertisers.
Until your subscribers begin to buy what you offer, your mailing list is not worth a plug nickel!
This article has been derived in essence from another article written in 2004. It has been updated to represent current programs and resources for this marketplace.
Here are the six ingredients that you need for creating a successful and profitable ezine:
Advertising Your Newsletter
Successful ezines are the ones that continue to grow, from week-to-week and month-to-month. With every publication, there is an attrition factor where subscribers just fall by the wayside for whatever reason. The successful ezine publisher is the one whose growth will always out pace its attrition rate.
The publishers who are able to consistently grow their mailing list are those who frequently utilize one or many of the following advertising formats.
Yet in my own personal experience, buying subscribers did put a large number of email addresses on my list, but it provided little value to my list since most subscribers never opened my ezine.
To be honest, my venture into list building was flawed. My partner chose to use a list broker who specialized in getting subscribers from college campuses, yet our ezine was targeted to the online business person. Our new subscribers very literally did not care about what we were writing about. The lesson here is to always target the correct audience for your ezine.
A friend of mine uses list brokers almost exclusively, and he swears by the Co-Registration Lead Generation system offered by ArcaMax Publishing Co-Registration.
By setting up private advertising arrangements with other ezine publishers, you can get your advertisement in another ezine in exchange for an advertisement in your ezine. To find other ezine publishers, review the Ezine Hub directory.
To locate like-minded publishers seeking beneficial ad swaps, there is a website dedicated to this task called Ezine Ads Net.
- Google Adwords
- Yahoo Search Marketing
- Exact Seek Featured Listings
- Pay Per Ranking (a 7search company)
Develop A Standardized Template For Your Newsletter
Your readers want a specific structure for your ezine. They want to be able to learn your structure and to be able to quickly follow your structure to get to the meat and potatoes of every issue. Your readers are pressed for time in the same way that you are, so they want you to enable them to get what they want from you in a quick and orderly fashion.
Provide Exceptional And Targeted Content
When you develop your ezine, you know in principle what type of content that you want to bring to your readers.
But, unless you have the financial ability to work your ezine on a full-time basis, finding the time to create all of your own content is a challenge that every publisher faces.
Fortunately, there are writers who have the time to create the content you can use, and they make their content available for publication so long as their terms of reprint are honored.
These writers cover a wide range of subject materials that enable publishers in nearly every genre find a ready supply of content that they can include in their publications.
To learn how you can find articles that can be used for reprint in your publication, you should explore the following resources:
Personalize And Brand Your Newsletter
In order to separate your ezine from the thousands of other online magazines, you must create a solid brand for your ezine.
What I mean by this is that you should always strive to make your ezine stand well above the crowd and to give your ezine its own personal identity. You want your ezine to be the one that your subscribers will read religiously and intently.
The way to establish a brand and identity for your ezine is to give it a personality, and then do not deviate from its defined personality or target audience.
Some ezine publishers define their brand as an extension of the publisher's personality. They are not afraid to talk to their readers as if they were talking with their friends or colleagues. One such ezine in this standard is the Daily Dose Of Happiness. Another great one is the Monday Morning Memo by Roy H. Williams, the Wizard Of Ads.
Other ezines like the ones found at SiteProNews or Seo-News have a corporate philosophy that drives their publication style and guidelines.
The personality that you build into your ezine will help you to develop a solid ezine brand that your readers will read religiously and trust absolutely.
Create Reader Interaction
The greatest challenge in publishing an ezine is ALWAYS getting your subscribers to continue reading.
One method that many publishers employ is to provide methods to enable reader interaction.
The one ezine that I know that has done the best job of this is Your Membership Exchange.
In this ezine, readers submit questions, and other readers answer the questions. Their unique selling proposition is "Newsletters for Our Members, By Our Members."
In each issue, a new question is posted, and then the publisher takes the best answers to a previous question and publishes them in the ezine. I read this frequently.
In my ezine, I had accomplished a strong level of interaction with my readers by running a contest. In every issue, I posed a brain teaser question and published the names of the first three people who in the previous issue got the answer right.
Ask For The Sale
I mention this only because I know someone who is making this mistake right now. I am sure a lot of other publishers are making this mistake as well.
Many people begin the process of publishing an ezine for the explicit purpose of selling their own wares. They follow the advice of the guru's about developing a mailing list and publishing their ezine on a regular basis. A lot of work is put into the ezine to develop a loyal base of subscribers who read each and every issue delivered.
And when all is said and done, the publisher fails to ask their readers to consider or purchase the wares that their e-zine was designed to promote. How does one actually expect their readers to buy their wares if they do not ask their readers to buy what is being offered?
You are the expert in charge of your publication, so you should not be afraid to ask your readers the hard questions. You must explain to your readers what you are selling, and you must ask your readers to actually consider or even purchase what you are selling! Don't be afraid of your readers. Take care to do what is necessary to help your ezine to generate the profits it was designed to create.
About the Author:
Bill Platt published his newsletter for two years, and then set up http://www.thephantomwriters.com to supply reprint content specifically to ezine publishers and webmasters. He offers article ghost writing and article distribution services to his clients, many of whom have been with him for years. In 2007, Bill wrote an ebook to teach people how to be as successful with article marketing as he has been. Bill's Article Writing Tips ebook has received many excellent reviews.
How To Write A 300 Page Book In Four Months
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2007-2008 Mark Silver
There's a lot of hoopla about becoming an author of your very own business book. The promise of fame and fortune is very alluring. Yet your book remains perpetually 'about to be' written. Or, you've sequestered yourself for weeks or months to write your book, only to come out with something you feel luke-warm about.
Meanwhile your business has ground to a halt.
Hmmm.... might there be a better way to get a book written?
Immersion is needed.
The purpose of a novel is to entertain. The author takes you out of your reality into a world they've constructed or described. To do that, many fiction authors do go on retreat, or sequester themselves in some way in order to immerse themselves in their created world.
The purpose of your business' book is... why do you want to write a book, really? Besides the fame and fortune ;), I mean...
Why you need to write your book.
You need it for many of the same reasons you need a website. It allows people to enter into the world of your solution, without betting the farm.
Never mind if they're too shy to make your workshop, or not ready to hire you for whatever it is you do. They can, and will, get your book.
And, once they read your book, if it's good, they'll come back for more.
But what about the 'if it's good' piece? How do you write a good book?
The secret: You're not writing a book.
Stop thinking of your project as a 'book.' What you're really doing is writing a workbook. Or an instruction manual. A how-to guide.
Your business solves a problem of some sort. Your product or service helps them solve this problem. Your 'book' should tell them how to do it.
Your book gives your readers and customers what they need in order to solve the problem on their own. It gives them an accurate description of the problem. It gives them the process of how to face and solve the problem. It gives the philosophical foundation, if necessary.
How I wrote a 300 page book in four months.
Here's the secret: it actually took four years. I gave my very first workshops. Then, participants asked if I could 'write up these exercises' for them. So I did.
Those exercises evolved into handouts. Which evolved into multiple handouts. Which evolved into workbooks.
Then I taught several different workshops, and with each one I went through the process of handouts to workbooks. Then I beefed up each of the workbooks a bit, in response to folks who weren't clear about what I had written.
After a few years it dawned on me: hmmm, I have about 150 pages in five different workbooks. Over about four months, with the support of my wife and my master mind group, I went through those workbooks so they could stand alone, and added an introduction and a conclusion.
The result: 300 pages and tens of thousands of dollars in sales, because the book is solid, and actually applies to real life. I didn't dream it up on retreat, far from the people who would be using it.
Are you getting the drift here? Your book should be written while immersed in your business, with your customers, with the problems they face, and the questions they ask you.
There must be more to it than that, eh? Well, yes, a few things. Keep reading:
Keys to Writing Your Book
It can be short, to begin with.
I wrote a 300 page book, but, in retrospect, it could've been shorter. If the first thing you write is a 20 page workbook, and it's useful and works for your customers, then go with it!
You can keep expanding it later as you need to.
You don't need a publisher.
For your business, forget about a publisher. Even if a publisher picked you up, what would happen? They would leave you the responsibility of doing 95% of the marketing anyway.
This is a bigger subject to be addressed, but believe me when I say that you can be very successful without a publisher, going the self-published route. Check out:
http://www.lulu.com
or
http://www.cafepress.com
It's not your book, it's your FIRST book.
You might be tempted to never finish your book, because you keep learning and growing, and thinking of things to add in.
Use your heart, and look at it from your reader's perspective. Where is a natural stopping point? Then, you can save the rest of your material for your second book. And your third. Believe me, once your finish your first book, it's addictive, and you'll start writing others.
Getting a book written doesn't need to be a mysterious or artificial process. Let your work with your customers organically pull it out of you, then polish it off. Then write your next one.
The best to you and your business,
Mark Silver
About the Author:
Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line. He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the globe succeed in business without losing their hearts. Get three free chapters of the book online: http://www.heartofbusiness.com
Copyright © 2007-2008 Mark Silver
There's a lot of hoopla about becoming an author of your very own business book. The promise of fame and fortune is very alluring. Yet your book remains perpetually 'about to be' written. Or, you've sequestered yourself for weeks or months to write your book, only to come out with something you feel luke-warm about.
Meanwhile your business has ground to a halt.
Hmmm.... might there be a better way to get a book written?
Immersion is needed.
The purpose of a novel is to entertain. The author takes you out of your reality into a world they've constructed or described. To do that, many fiction authors do go on retreat, or sequester themselves in some way in order to immerse themselves in their created world.
The purpose of your business' book is... why do you want to write a book, really? Besides the fame and fortune ;), I mean...
Why you need to write your book.
You need it for many of the same reasons you need a website. It allows people to enter into the world of your solution, without betting the farm.
Never mind if they're too shy to make your workshop, or not ready to hire you for whatever it is you do. They can, and will, get your book.
And, once they read your book, if it's good, they'll come back for more.
But what about the 'if it's good' piece? How do you write a good book?
The secret: You're not writing a book.
Stop thinking of your project as a 'book.' What you're really doing is writing a workbook. Or an instruction manual. A how-to guide.
Your business solves a problem of some sort. Your product or service helps them solve this problem. Your 'book' should tell them how to do it.
Your book gives your readers and customers what they need in order to solve the problem on their own. It gives them an accurate description of the problem. It gives them the process of how to face and solve the problem. It gives the philosophical foundation, if necessary.
How I wrote a 300 page book in four months.
Here's the secret: it actually took four years. I gave my very first workshops. Then, participants asked if I could 'write up these exercises' for them. So I did.
Those exercises evolved into handouts. Which evolved into multiple handouts. Which evolved into workbooks.
Then I taught several different workshops, and with each one I went through the process of handouts to workbooks. Then I beefed up each of the workbooks a bit, in response to folks who weren't clear about what I had written.
After a few years it dawned on me: hmmm, I have about 150 pages in five different workbooks. Over about four months, with the support of my wife and my master mind group, I went through those workbooks so they could stand alone, and added an introduction and a conclusion.
The result: 300 pages and tens of thousands of dollars in sales, because the book is solid, and actually applies to real life. I didn't dream it up on retreat, far from the people who would be using it.
Are you getting the drift here? Your book should be written while immersed in your business, with your customers, with the problems they face, and the questions they ask you.
There must be more to it than that, eh? Well, yes, a few things. Keep reading:
Keys to Writing Your Book
I wrote a 300 page book, but, in retrospect, it could've been shorter. If the first thing you write is a 20 page workbook, and it's useful and works for your customers, then go with it!
You can keep expanding it later as you need to.
For your business, forget about a publisher. Even if a publisher picked you up, what would happen? They would leave you the responsibility of doing 95% of the marketing anyway.
This is a bigger subject to be addressed, but believe me when I say that you can be very successful without a publisher, going the self-published route. Check out:
http://www.lulu.com
or
http://www.cafepress.com
You might be tempted to never finish your book, because you keep learning and growing, and thinking of things to add in.
Use your heart, and look at it from your reader's perspective. Where is a natural stopping point? Then, you can save the rest of your material for your second book. And your third. Believe me, once your finish your first book, it's addictive, and you'll start writing others.
Getting a book written doesn't need to be a mysterious or artificial process. Let your work with your customers organically pull it out of you, then polish it off. Then write your next one.
The best to you and your business,
Mark Silver
About the Author:
Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line. He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the globe succeed in business without losing their hearts. Get three free chapters of the book online: http://www.heartofbusiness.com
Guaranteed Search Engine Rankings: Busting The Myth
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Bill Platt
There are many companies on the Internet, who are promising that if you give them lots of money, they will guarantee you top rankings in the search engines. Buyer Beware!!!
Let Me Cut To The Chase
We all want to be on page one of Google's search engine results (SERPs). After all, the higher our websites rank in Google, the more money we will make. Every single one of us who have built commercial websites are looking to make money and perhaps even to get rich doing whatever it is we do at our websites.
But just because you and I both want to be on page one of Google's SERPs, does not mean you or I will be on page one of the results. Think about this objectively: no matter who we are or what we do, we are typically challenging thousands or millions of other web pages in our niche, for the keywords that we hope will make us rich.
Understanding Search Engine Results
There are actually two sets of listings in the search engines.
On the left, you will see the "organic listings", which by definition are free;
On the right hand side of the page in the search engine results, you will find the "Pay-Per-Click listings" (PPC). Placement in the PPC listings is an auction environment. The highest bidder on a keyword will be in the top spot in the PPC results. The second highest bid will hold the second spot, etc.
Comparing Organic and Pay-Per-Click Listings
Those who wish to rank in the organic search results will need to employ Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques to improve his or her rankings. There are literally hundreds of SEO companies, who specialize in helping its clients climb in the "organic" search result listings. But, SEO is a time-consuming process that requires the efforts of specialists, who have actual knowledge and skills in manipulating the search engine results. Here is what Google has to say about this practice and its accompanying industry.
Those who wish to employ paid search listings (PPC), which can frequently be much cheaper than getting to the top of the organic listings, will utilize one of the following services:
Google Adwords (http://adwords.google.com)
Yahoo Search Marketing (http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com)
7 Search (http://7search.com/advertise/)
ISEDN is a bit different than the other search advertising networks. First off, they do not charge a fee for each click. Instead, they charge a quarterly placement fee. Also, instead of representing one large search engine, their ads appear on 225+ smaller search engines. (http://www.isedn.org/)
Organic listings are best if you can get them, because they will deliver free traffic to your website, sometimes for years. On the other hand, given the cost of developing organic rankings, it often makes more sense to pay a little bit each month for PPC search traffic, rather than to pay thousands per month, sometimes for years, just to break into the top few pages of the organic search results.
Some Real-World Perspective
To get your website into page one of the organic search results, can be a daunting process. To put this into perspective, I ran some popular keywords through Google to see how many search results would be found. Here we go:
travel - 1,410,000,000 results
HDTV televisions - 2,310,000
hybrid cars - 15,700,000
homes for sale - 96,000,000
real estate agents - 72,100,000
divorce attorneys - 1,640,000
cancer treatments - 3,610,000
credit card applications - 7,520,000
credit report - 51,700,000
With 1.4 Billion (with a "B", not a "M") pages vying for page one results in Google for the word "travel", and 72 million pages struggling to be seen in Google for the search term "real estate agents", is it any wonder that the people in many industries are struggling to be seen online?
If your competitors are struggling to be at the top of the search results, so will you, unless you have extremely deep pockets. With that having been said, there are some industries where getting to page one will take an investment of millions, and then there still are No Guarantees that you will succeed in your endeavor.
There Is More Than One Way To Skin A Cat
At the end of each day, only ten websites will ever be on page one of the organic search results. But, pay-per-click lets anyone who has some money to spend, to break into page one of the search results.
Depending on your bank account and your business model, SEO or PPC may be the answer to getting people to visit your website and to buy what you are selling. Depending on your keywords, the ISEDN advertising opportunity may make more sense. I have used the ISEDN network (http://www.isedb.org), and I still do use them for some of my own advertising.
But when all is said and done, what matters is for you to get your advertising message in front of the people most likely to buy what you are selling.
My Advertising Model Of Choice
In my years online, I have always turned to article marketing to get my sales message in front of the people most likely to buy my products or services.
Case in point. You are reading an article that I have written, to speak to those people who are looking for ways to advertise their business online. And at the end of this article, you will see what is called a "resource box" or the "about the author information". The resource box, at the end of this article, is my advertisement for my business.
If you reach the end of this article and you read my resource box, then I will have succeeded in getting you (someone in my target audience) to read my advertisement. If you click the link in the resource box, then I will have succeeded in getting a potential client to visit my website. And finally, if you buy my products or services, then my website will have accomplished its purpose - to turn its visitors into buyers.
The interesting truth is - and few people will point this out to you - if you click the link below and visit my website, then you will have reached my website without actually passing through a search engine to get to it. That is the beauty of article marketing - you can use this advertising model to reach your target audience, regardless of how well or how badly you rank in the search engines.
In Conclusion
There is only one company who can guarantee you top rankings in Google, and that company is Google. Although Google could guarantee you top rankings in their search results, they won't do it; not for any amount of money.
So when you see some other company making pie-in-the-sky promises about how they can "guarantee your search engine rankings", get a solid grasp on your wallet and run... the other way... fast...
About the Author:
Bill Platt has written 100+ articles to promote his business online... Why? Because article marketing works miracles, for those people who actually seek to educate their readers. Bill has provided ghost writing and article distribution services to his clients, since 2001, at: http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ In 2007, Bill wrote an ebook to teach people how to duplicate his article writing success, by teaching folks how to write articles that attract publishers and readers, traffic, sales and profits: http://thephantomwriters.com/ebooks/article-marketing-traffic.html
Copyright © 2008 Bill Platt
There are many companies on the Internet, who are promising that if you give them lots of money, they will guarantee you top rankings in the search engines. Buyer Beware!!!
Let Me Cut To The Chase
We all want to be on page one of Google's search engine results (SERPs). After all, the higher our websites rank in Google, the more money we will make. Every single one of us who have built commercial websites are looking to make money and perhaps even to get rich doing whatever it is we do at our websites.
But just because you and I both want to be on page one of Google's SERPs, does not mean you or I will be on page one of the results. Think about this objectively: no matter who we are or what we do, we are typically challenging thousands or millions of other web pages in our niche, for the keywords that we hope will make us rich.
Understanding Search Engine Results
There are actually two sets of listings in the search engines.
Comparing Organic and Pay-Per-Click Listings
Those who wish to rank in the organic search results will need to employ Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques to improve his or her rankings. There are literally hundreds of SEO companies, who specialize in helping its clients climb in the "organic" search result listings. But, SEO is a time-consuming process that requires the efforts of specialists, who have actual knowledge and skills in manipulating the search engine results. Here is what Google has to say about this practice and its accompanying industry.
Those who wish to employ paid search listings (PPC), which can frequently be much cheaper than getting to the top of the organic listings, will utilize one of the following services:
Organic listings are best if you can get them, because they will deliver free traffic to your website, sometimes for years. On the other hand, given the cost of developing organic rankings, it often makes more sense to pay a little bit each month for PPC search traffic, rather than to pay thousands per month, sometimes for years, just to break into the top few pages of the organic search results.
Some Real-World Perspective
To get your website into page one of the organic search results, can be a daunting process. To put this into perspective, I ran some popular keywords through Google to see how many search results would be found. Here we go:
With 1.4 Billion (with a "B", not a "M") pages vying for page one results in Google for the word "travel", and 72 million pages struggling to be seen in Google for the search term "real estate agents", is it any wonder that the people in many industries are struggling to be seen online?
If your competitors are struggling to be at the top of the search results, so will you, unless you have extremely deep pockets. With that having been said, there are some industries where getting to page one will take an investment of millions, and then there still are No Guarantees that you will succeed in your endeavor.
There Is More Than One Way To Skin A Cat
At the end of each day, only ten websites will ever be on page one of the organic search results. But, pay-per-click lets anyone who has some money to spend, to break into page one of the search results.
Depending on your bank account and your business model, SEO or PPC may be the answer to getting people to visit your website and to buy what you are selling. Depending on your keywords, the ISEDN advertising opportunity may make more sense. I have used the ISEDN network (http://www.isedb.org), and I still do use them for some of my own advertising.
But when all is said and done, what matters is for you to get your advertising message in front of the people most likely to buy what you are selling.
My Advertising Model Of Choice
In my years online, I have always turned to article marketing to get my sales message in front of the people most likely to buy my products or services.
Case in point. You are reading an article that I have written, to speak to those people who are looking for ways to advertise their business online. And at the end of this article, you will see what is called a "resource box" or the "about the author information". The resource box, at the end of this article, is my advertisement for my business.
If you reach the end of this article and you read my resource box, then I will have succeeded in getting you (someone in my target audience) to read my advertisement. If you click the link in the resource box, then I will have succeeded in getting a potential client to visit my website. And finally, if you buy my products or services, then my website will have accomplished its purpose - to turn its visitors into buyers.
The interesting truth is - and few people will point this out to you - if you click the link below and visit my website, then you will have reached my website without actually passing through a search engine to get to it. That is the beauty of article marketing - you can use this advertising model to reach your target audience, regardless of how well or how badly you rank in the search engines.
In Conclusion
There is only one company who can guarantee you top rankings in Google, and that company is Google. Although Google could guarantee you top rankings in their search results, they won't do it; not for any amount of money.
So when you see some other company making pie-in-the-sky promises about how they can "guarantee your search engine rankings", get a solid grasp on your wallet and run... the other way... fast...
About the Author:
Bill Platt has written 100+ articles to promote his business online... Why? Because article marketing works miracles, for those people who actually seek to educate their readers. Bill has provided ghost writing and article distribution services to his clients, since 2001, at: http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ In 2007, Bill wrote an ebook to teach people how to duplicate his article writing success, by teaching folks how to write articles that attract publishers and readers, traffic, sales and profits: http://thephantomwriters.com/ebooks/article-marketing-traffic.html
Blackhat SEO: Protect Yourself by Recognizing The Bad Guys
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Bill Platt
Over the years, webmasters have been told that they should want to avoid Blackhat SEO techniques in connection with their own websites. In general, I agree with this statement. But, by obtaining a deeper understanding of Blackhat search engine optimization, one could actually learn a bit about how to better his or her own positioning in the search engine results.
White Hat vs. Black Hat Search Optimization
Whitehat and Blackhat SEO is a comparison that is a take-off from the old cowboy westerns, where the good guys always wore white hats and the bad guys always wore black hats. So, in theory, we can assume that Whitehat practitioners are the good guys of SEO, and Blackhat practitioners are the bad guys of the industry.
But, the truth is a little bit more opaque than this. SEO is never a pure "white vs. black" issue. Just as in Mad Magazine's "Spy vs. Spy" series, sometimes the white spy whipped the black spy, and vice versa, sometimes the black spy was victorious.
In theory, Blackhat SEO is the type of search optimization that will eventually get your website banned in the search engines. And sometimes it will.
But, it is truly fascinating to me when I visit a website such as http://www.blackhatseo.com/ and discover the world-renowned SEO expert Aaron Wall owns the website. In case you were not aware of it, Aaron Wall is the owner of the SEO Book and is recognized as one of the world's foremost leaders in SEO technique.
Blackhat SEO Is A Learning Opportunity
To me, the study of opposites offers a greater understanding to mankind.
One cannot know "altruism", until one learns about "selfishness".
One cannot truly appreciate "wealth", until they have experienced "poverty".
One can never declare something "easy", until they have faced something truly "difficult".
A "slow" driver will seldom be noticed, until which time the "fast" driver passes them by.
These are the philosophical ramblings of Bill. ;-)
I have always argued that in order to see the light, one must be able to recognize the darkness. And that is why when I am told to avoid something; I go right to it, so that I can see what it looks like, for the sake of being able to recognize it.
So, whenever I am in the mood to learn more about SEO, I search out Black Hat SEO forums and websites to learn how to recognize the dark, when I am in the light.
After all, if you cannot recognize the dark side, how do you expect that can you protect yourself from it?
There Are Always Two Sides To Every Story
Remember when your grandmother always told you that there were always two sides to every story? Well, my grandmother did, and I like to believe that everyone had a wise old grandma to help them find their way in life.
White Hatters teach us how to do things the right way. Black Hatters teach us the wrong way to do things. And as my grandmother used to be fond of saying, "the truth is somewhere in the middle."
For example, White Hat web programmers teach us how to install Captcha scripts on our websites to keep the spammers at bay. Then the Black Hat web programmers come along and teach the spammers how to break Captcha software (http://www.blackhat-seo.com/). And as Grandma used to say, the truth is somewhere in the middle.
The White Hatters try to teach us good programming technique and to present us with safe protection from spammers. And the Black Hatters teach us how to break the coding. You and I are in the middle, and by seeing the world through two sets of eyes (white and black); we can find better ways to protect our websites. Our websites are only as safe as the intelligence level of the programmers who try to protect us. If the bad guys are smarter, we lose. If the good guys are smarter, we rest safe in our protection schemes.
Some Black Hatters even call what they do Grey Hat SEO. One that I really like is called Slightly Shady SEO. They did a post about the little fun pill and the folks who push it. They referred to it as a keyword that will give a lot of insight into how Google is combating the spammers online: Click here to read the little pill post.
The previously mentioned post spoke at great length about the people who spam forums. We all despise these guys who trash up our favorite forums, and Slightly Shady exposes why our forums are always on the spammer's target list.
As my grandmother said, "the truth is somewhere in the middle." The little pill Black Hatters play an expensive game with the Google results, but at $2 commission per little pill, no wonder. But now that we understand what is going on, we know that we need to make sure that we keep our own forums clean of this trash, to protect our Trust Rank. We also know that one slam is not the end of the world for us, if we are quick to clean our own houses. But, if we cannot keep our houses clean, the Google will stop coming by to visit, for the exact same reasons why most girls avoid visiting bachelor pads.
Light Sources Are Always Brighter When We Stand In The Dark
One of my favorite television personalities, Carl Sagan said, "The exploration of the cosmos is a voyage of self discovery."
This quote reflects the reason for my voyages into the light side and dark side of SEO. I study Whitehat SEO and practice the same. I also study Blackhat SEO to understand what is defined as the opposite of Whitehat SEO practices. By seeing what is dark, I can better see what is in the light.
I am comforted in knowing that I will never be pulled blindly into the dark side with Darth Vader. ;-) To quote from the Bible, "The blind will lead the blind into a ditch." Now that my eyes have been opened to Blackhat SEO, I will never stumble and fall as I fish for better rankings in Google and the other primary search engines.
About the Author:
Bill Platt has written an ebook to share the secrets of his article writing success, after seven years of using article marketing for his own promotion and helping his clients to be successful with their own article marketing at: http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ On his article marketing blog, he talks about how to write better articles, how to use articles for SEO, and even about the Blackhat Fish SEO Contest.
Copyright © 2008 Bill Platt
Over the years, webmasters have been told that they should want to avoid Blackhat SEO techniques in connection with their own websites. In general, I agree with this statement. But, by obtaining a deeper understanding of Blackhat search engine optimization, one could actually learn a bit about how to better his or her own positioning in the search engine results.
White Hat vs. Black Hat Search Optimization
Whitehat and Blackhat SEO is a comparison that is a take-off from the old cowboy westerns, where the good guys always wore white hats and the bad guys always wore black hats. So, in theory, we can assume that Whitehat practitioners are the good guys of SEO, and Blackhat practitioners are the bad guys of the industry.
But, the truth is a little bit more opaque than this. SEO is never a pure "white vs. black" issue. Just as in Mad Magazine's "Spy vs. Spy" series, sometimes the white spy whipped the black spy, and vice versa, sometimes the black spy was victorious.
In theory, Blackhat SEO is the type of search optimization that will eventually get your website banned in the search engines. And sometimes it will.
But, it is truly fascinating to me when I visit a website such as http://www.blackhatseo.com/ and discover the world-renowned SEO expert Aaron Wall owns the website. In case you were not aware of it, Aaron Wall is the owner of the SEO Book and is recognized as one of the world's foremost leaders in SEO technique.
Blackhat SEO Is A Learning Opportunity
To me, the study of opposites offers a greater understanding to mankind.
These are the philosophical ramblings of Bill. ;-)
I have always argued that in order to see the light, one must be able to recognize the darkness. And that is why when I am told to avoid something; I go right to it, so that I can see what it looks like, for the sake of being able to recognize it.
So, whenever I am in the mood to learn more about SEO, I search out Black Hat SEO forums and websites to learn how to recognize the dark, when I am in the light.
After all, if you cannot recognize the dark side, how do you expect that can you protect yourself from it?
There Are Always Two Sides To Every Story
Remember when your grandmother always told you that there were always two sides to every story? Well, my grandmother did, and I like to believe that everyone had a wise old grandma to help them find their way in life.
White Hatters teach us how to do things the right way. Black Hatters teach us the wrong way to do things. And as my grandmother used to be fond of saying, "the truth is somewhere in the middle."
For example, White Hat web programmers teach us how to install Captcha scripts on our websites to keep the spammers at bay. Then the Black Hat web programmers come along and teach the spammers how to break Captcha software (http://www.blackhat-seo.com/). And as Grandma used to say, the truth is somewhere in the middle.
The White Hatters try to teach us good programming technique and to present us with safe protection from spammers. And the Black Hatters teach us how to break the coding. You and I are in the middle, and by seeing the world through two sets of eyes (white and black); we can find better ways to protect our websites. Our websites are only as safe as the intelligence level of the programmers who try to protect us. If the bad guys are smarter, we lose. If the good guys are smarter, we rest safe in our protection schemes.
Some Black Hatters even call what they do Grey Hat SEO. One that I really like is called Slightly Shady SEO. They did a post about the little fun pill and the folks who push it. They referred to it as a keyword that will give a lot of insight into how Google is combating the spammers online: Click here to read the little pill post.
The previously mentioned post spoke at great length about the people who spam forums. We all despise these guys who trash up our favorite forums, and Slightly Shady exposes why our forums are always on the spammer's target list.
As my grandmother said, "the truth is somewhere in the middle." The little pill Black Hatters play an expensive game with the Google results, but at $2 commission per little pill, no wonder. But now that we understand what is going on, we know that we need to make sure that we keep our own forums clean of this trash, to protect our Trust Rank. We also know that one slam is not the end of the world for us, if we are quick to clean our own houses. But, if we cannot keep our houses clean, the Google will stop coming by to visit, for the exact same reasons why most girls avoid visiting bachelor pads.
Light Sources Are Always Brighter When We Stand In The Dark
One of my favorite television personalities, Carl Sagan said, "The exploration of the cosmos is a voyage of self discovery."
This quote reflects the reason for my voyages into the light side and dark side of SEO. I study Whitehat SEO and practice the same. I also study Blackhat SEO to understand what is defined as the opposite of Whitehat SEO practices. By seeing what is dark, I can better see what is in the light.
I am comforted in knowing that I will never be pulled blindly into the dark side with Darth Vader. ;-) To quote from the Bible, "The blind will lead the blind into a ditch." Now that my eyes have been opened to Blackhat SEO, I will never stumble and fall as I fish for better rankings in Google and the other primary search engines.
About the Author:
Bill Platt has written an ebook to share the secrets of his article writing success, after seven years of using article marketing for his own promotion and helping his clients to be successful with their own article marketing at: http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ On his article marketing blog, he talks about how to write better articles, how to use articles for SEO, and even about the Blackhat Fish SEO Contest.
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