Attacking the Myths of Social Media: An Interview With Jason Falls
I recently met with Jason Falls, the founder of Social Media Explorer and co-author of the hot new book, No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing (Jason co-authored this great new book with Erik Deckers).
Jason also has a past with Social Media Examiner. He was one of our founding contributors.
Mike: Some might think the title of your book is a little edgy for the business world. Share how you came up with it and what you are setting out to accomplish with this new book.
@JasonFalls
Jason: Well, when Erik and I sat down last December and started talking about the concept for the book, I was really dead set and determined that we needed to write the “No Bullshit” guide to social media marketing.
The reason that I came up with that concept is that over the past few years, as I was giving talks around the country about social media, I’ve always tried to be very simple and plainspoken in how I explained social media, social media marketing and technology to people.
I’ve also tried to be very sensitive to the fact that businesspeople don’t have time to mess around on social networks. They need to know: “How do I get in? How do I set it up? How do I start using it so that it shows me some results?”, because they’re trying to run their businesses. If we as social media consultants and practitioners and advisors say, “We just want you to experiment and play for six months,” nobody is going to give us the time of day.
I’ve always had that sort of no-nonsense attitude. I would come offstage from talking at conferences and whatnot and people would say, “I really appreciate the fact that you’ve got a really no-bullshit style—that you just get right to the point and tell it how it is and don’t make any apologies for it.” So I listened to my audience. They said, “You’re the no-bullshit guy,” so that’s how the title of the book came about.
Mike: Let’s talk a little bit about the implication of the title, which is that there’s a lot of crap—misinformation—out there. Maybe you can share a little about why you felt the need to cut straight to the problem that’s going on right now with social media.
Jason: I guess we should take a step back a little bit. We’re calling “bullshit” on what I call the “social media purists” who have been preaching at us for however long this industry has been an industry.
They’ve been preaching to us that social media is all about joining the conversation, it’s all about engaging with your customers, it’s all about listening first and it’s all about providing value to your audience.
Now, this is where we need to draw a very firm line. Erik and I agree with all of those points and pieces of advice. I consider myself to be a social media purist in line with that philosophical thinking. And I have said those things before, and Erik has too, and we believe in them.
But that’s where the social media purists stop. And if you add the word “marketing” to the phrase “social media,” you’re talking about business. You’re talking about making money. You’re talking about driving business. You’re talking about revenue. So where the social media purists stop, we have to take a step further and say, “No, no, no. There’s a lot more to it.”
There are some social media purists over the years who have said things like, “You cannot or should not sell using social media channels.” We’ve got a couple of case studies in the book showing they’ve said things like, “Well, you shouldn’t be pushing marketing messages on your personal Facebook profile because that’s an inappropriate place for that to happen.”
So we went out looking for stories of people who had gone against this social media puritanical advice and had been successful in doing so—to illustrate the point that if all you think social media is about is joining the conversation, engaging, holding hands in a circle and singing “Kumbaya,” then you’re not going to be in business very long. Because if you’re not thinking about revenue, if you’re not thinking about approaching it strategically, if you’re not thinking about measuring it, then you’re probably going to fail.
Mike: You and I have had multiple discussions about this over the years, and I’m very glad that you’re addressing this. I believe 100% that there is a place for business, marketing and sales specifically in social media. I think that, hopefully, a lot of those purists will eventually wake up and see that there’s a place for that.
You mentioned “Kumbaya,” and in your book you mentioned the Kumbaya Effect. Can you define what that is and maybe we can dig a little deeper into what we need to know about it?
Jason: The Kumbaya Effect is where a person or company gets lost in the warm-and-fuzzy of social media: “Oh, we love engaging with our customers, and we love sitting on Facebook and Twitter and chitter-chattering all day.” That’s fine—there’s nothing wrong with enjoying it. Part of what makes social media fun is that you’re having one-to-one conversations and you’re engaging with your customers.
But if you get lost in the euphoria of being social and forget to be aware of your business, then you lose traction, you lose market share and you lose the opportunity to make money.
Every single business owner out there will tell you, if they know anything at all about their own business, “If I’m not doing something every moment of the day that’s going to lead to revenue, then I’m failing myself. I’m failing my business.”
So in terms of providing content and having conversations with people online as business folks, we need to make sure that we are consumer-centric. I’m not saying that we need to immediately just start dropping links to buy our stuff all the time. That’s not the point.
The point is we need to continue to be social, we need to continue to join the conversation and we need to continue to be consumer-centric. But we have to be business-aware—because if we’re not and we get lost in the euphoria, if we fall victim to the Kumbaya Effect, then we lose sight of our goals and we lose sight of what we need to do to drive our businesses.
Mike: You and Erik have done some research and discovered some businesses that are doing things that go against the grain of the purists. Can you mention one example of a business, big or small, that you think is doing something positive that’s actually generating results?
Jason: Last year for Christmas, my mother, Sara George, wanted a remote car starter, so she wouldn’t have to go out and sit in the car for 10 minutes on cold mornings. So my wife and I sent her a check and said, “It would be better if you have it installed where you live as opposed to us doing it here in Louisville,” which is three and a half hours away. “So here’s your check. Go and get your remote car starter.”
A few weeks after Christmas, she wakes up one morning—it’s really cold—and she goes on Facebook to check what’s going on before she goes to work.
She sees a message from a gentleman by the name of Greg Tackett. Now, she and Greg Tackett are acquaintances probably at best, but they live in a small town in eastern Kentucky. So in a small town, the context is a little different. They probably would say hello to each other walking down the street. They know each other well enough to do that, and so they’re connected as friends on Facebook.
Well, Greg Tackett posts a message on his personal Facebook wall, not on a brand page or anything like that, that says something along the lines of, “Come and get your remote car starter for these cold mornings at Tackett’s Custom Audio Car Stereo Place.” I can’t remember the exact name of the business.
Immediately, social media purists who had seen that flipped out: “Oh, you can’t sell via social media. You can’t put marketing messages on your Facebook personal profile. That’s against the rules. That’s wrong. You can’t do that. You’re a spammer!”
How would you think she responded to that message?
Mike: I think she probably would have said, “Wow, that’s exactly what I need!”
Jason: Exactly! She responded to the message with: “Can I make an appointment for Thursday?”
Even better, the viral nature of Facebook (and this is what you have to really think about) and the context of this man, Greg Tackett, putting that post on his personal wall, increases his likelihood of generating business.
Most of his personal friends live in the same small town. They know him, they know he has children to feed and they know he runs an auto aftermarket shop. And they know it’s cold outside, right? They saw his post and they saw my mother’s activity, and I think there were 12 or 13 people in that conversation thread who said, “I want one too.”
We did the math on that one Facebook wall post on Greg Tackett’s personal page, which was against all the rules of the social media purists. If all of those people had come and purchased a remote car starter that week—which I know my mother did, and several others probably did too—that one wall post generated about $ 4,000 in revenue for him.
Mike: That’s cool. You mentioned one of the myths earlier: that you can’t sell and you can’t make money with social media. Give me another big myth that you see businesses falling prey to when it comes to social media.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf7neIONxVs
Watch this video from the authors
Jason: I think that probably the biggest myth of them all is that you can’t measure it.
Despite the fact that there are a number of people out there now finally talking about the measurement, quantification and qualification of what all of this means, you still have businesses out there asking, “How can I measure how much I’m getting out of Twitter or Facebook? I don’t control those websites. I’m not selling anything there. I’m just having my employees spend time there. What does it all mean?”
I think that obviously asking the measurement question first is missing the point because typically you don’t measure what you don’t have. So you have to start out by saying, “First of all, what do we want to accomplish?” You need to set your goals first.
In the book, we talk about that myth of not being able to measure social media return.
The case study that we use in the book is actually about a brand that people have maybe heard about, but it’s a different scenario. Some folks have maybe heard of the Fiskateers website, which is a scrapbooking online community for the Fiskars brand of scissors.
Without going into too much detail, basically it’s a community of scrapbookers, a branded community, by invitation only. They have about 8,000 members who are avid scrapbookers. Fiskars, the scissors company, sends them samples and gets feedback from them, and so on.
Fiskars developed an 8,000-member community of people passionate about scrapbooking and almost equally as passionate about Fiskars scissors because Fiskars was providing this community for them. Fiskars thought, “We’ve got 8,000 people online who will do anything we ask them to do. Let’s send prototypes and have the community test them. Let’s get product and feature adjustment ideas from them, and let’s let the community decide what the next version of our scissors is going to look like.”
Because they have an 8,000-member focus group at their fingertips, they’ve cut and trimmed their research and development budget. They no longer have to go out and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with intricate market research focus groups and whatnot, figuring out what people want out of their scissors, because they have those people right there.
So, you can measure it. You just have to have a plan first. You have to know what you’re trying to accomplish so that you can then say, “Okay, how much money did we make? How much money did we save? Are our customers happy?” Those are the three things that CEOs really care about.
Mike: You mentioned earlier selling with social media, and you made it very clear through your examples and discussion that yes, businesses can sell with social media. What I’d like you to do is share a tip or two about how to sell with social media.
Jason: The first thing you need to think about and understand is that when you’re selling things, you’re not just selling through social media, so you want to make sure that you have a comprehensive go-to-market sales strategy. Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar store, you sell virtual products, you sell things online or whatever, you need to think of this not in terms of a social media strategy, but also as a sales strategy overall.
Within the confines of social media, as it were, what you need to think about is that you want to have a point to every communication. The point is always: what is your call to action? What are you trying to get people to do?
When you’re in an informal conversation with a customer, it doesn’t mean you need to drop a link, “Click this and buy,” on everything you say. But you need to make sure that throughout your day, you are constantly following through with the point of your communication.
Maybe that’s to register for an upcoming webinar, download a white paper or sign up for your e-newsletter. It’s moving the consumer further down into the marketing funnel.
You have to think about a point that drives people to action—to buy, download, reserve, call or something of that nature. I think that you can do that both in calls to action on your blog and calls to action on Facebook posts.
A perfect example is Dell Outlet, the Twitter account for Dell’s overstock situations. They’ve treated that account differently over the years, but at times, it’s just been a never-ending stream of links for you to click on and get discounts on products. But they have enough people out there who are interested in their products that they can do that. If you have an audience that says, “Pizza joint, I just want coupons and that’s all I want,” then just make your Twitter stream coupons.
Mike: Jason, it’s been a very interesting discussion, to say the least. Where can folks go to learn more about your new book, No Bullshit Social Media, and to learn more about you?
Jason: The book website is www.NoBullshitSocialMedia.com. We tried to make that pretty easy for people to remember. There, you’ve got links to where you can purchase it at Que Publishing, Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
You can also get a free sample chapter as well, so if you read the first chapter and decide that it’s not for you, then you can save a little money and not buy the book. But I think most people will probably find it appealing and will want to buy it.
Kindle and Nook versions are out as well. The electronic versions can be purchased on various websites and apps where you get those. And it should be in most bookstores across the country now as well.
Then as far as I go, I’m @JasonFalls on Twitter. I’m typically Jason Falls on most social networks. I’m happy to connect with folks there. And then www.SocialMediaExplorer.com is my blog and company website where a couple of other writers and I try to keep us all on our toes thinking about the issues of the day in the social media world.
Mike: I encourage everyone to go out there and read the sample chapter of Jason’s book and pick up a copy.
Jason, thank you so much for making time for me today. I really appreciate this interview.
Jason: Anytime, Michael. I love you, and it was great being a part of helping www.SocialMediaExaminer.com get off and running a couple of years ago and I love coming back.
Listen to our complete extended interview below to hear more about Jason’s experience writing the book and his thoughts on Google+ and Facebook competition.
What do you think about Jason’s no-nonsense attitude? What are your thoughts on his “No Bullshit” guide to social media? Leave your comments in the box below.
Read MoreChecking Out Traffic Exchanges And Whether Or Not They Are Worth Your Time?
One thing that people do is make use of targeted traffic exchanges as a way to drive targeted traffic to their internet sites. You’ll discover that there are different opinions when it comes to site visitors exchanges, and this causes people to question regardless of whether they ought to make use of them or not. While the basics of a traffic exchange are fairly straightforward one thing you’ll realize is that the majority of people who use them don’t know how to get the most from them. Without the appropriate information there’s no cause for anybody to use visitors exchanges, but when employed appropriately they can be advantageous. In The Following Paragraphs we are discussing the distinct strategies involved in operating with visitors exchanges and no matter whether it is worth it in the lengthy run.
If you don’t begin creating a down line in these site visitors exchanges that you are a member of you would probably just be wasting your time. On the other hand if you invest just a little time surfing everyday and spend a lot far more time developing a down line, in time you will come across that targeted traffic exchanges can be lucrative. You ought to fully grasp that having a huge down line can mean the distinction among you finding results as well as wasting your time.
The major reason it’s so crucial about creating a down line is that you’ll be earning views of your World wide web internet site when your down line uses the exchanges. The credits which you generate from your down line isn’t huge, which is why you must have a massive down line earning you credits.
This is exactly why it is crucial to build an huge down line, simply because unless you have a massive down line the added credits you earn may well not be worth it. When you get a lot of males and girls in your down line and they are surfing constantly, you can finish up earning loads of additional credits.
The internet page that you promote in the targeted traffic exchanges will likely be another reason that you may be wasting your time like so several other people. What you ought to be advertising is some type of lead capture page that has your opt-in form on it so you can begin constructing an e-mail list. You are able to do this by offering the men and ladies a cost-free download of an e-book or software plan when they join your list. Marketing an Net website like this will get you a far better response than if you had been to just attempt to sell something right via the traffic exchanges. By utilizing a squeeze page and you get peoples email addresses you’ll locate that you will be able to industry to these individuals whenever you want.
When it comes appropriate down to it you are going to discover that if you truly want to get very good outcomes from the targeted traffic exchanges you’ll discover that a squeeze page and an huge down line is essential. Nonetheless if you just plan on using these sites yourself with out a down line and without having marketing a lead capture page you may recognize that you are wasting your time. So in case you are still questioning if traffic exchanges are really worth your time and effort you’ll come across that they can be, but they can furthermore be a waste of time. It all depends on precisely how you’re going to use them.
Search engine optimization Ideas
Read MoreDoes Facebook Fan-Gating Hurt Facebook Engagement?
Fan-gating or Like-gating is the practice of displaying certain content only to users who Like your Facebook page.
It’s an increasingly common practice and something I discuss with clients almost daily. But is it a good idea?
What is Fan-Gating?
Fan-gating is accomplished by creating two versions of a tab on your page—one that’s shown to users who already Like your page and one to those who have not Liked the page.
The non-fans are encouraged to Like in order to “unlock” the content behind the tab. Because information about whether a user has Liked your page is easily accessible through Facebook’s Graph API, it is relatively easy to implement a gate, or “reveal tab” as it is sometimes called. There are many companies that provide tools to do this and a list of some of them can be found here.
The reason to fan-gate is fairly obvious: to increase the number of Likes by making it a requirement to access something that is presumably desirable to your fans. This could mean access to download a white paper, receive a coupon or participate in a contest.
However, this begs the question of the value of a required Like. Should this individual be considered a true fan? Is he or she likely to remain engaged with your brand after accessing whatever content you have gated?
In this example of fan-gating, users must Like the page to learn more about the new TV show, "The X Factor."
All Likes May Not Be Created Equal
Various sources have put forth estimates for the value of a Like, ranging from $ 3.60 (Vitrue) to $ 136.38 (Syncapse). But I think most people would agree that just as in the offline world, different customers have different lifetime values.
Common sense would dictate that people who choose to Like your page on their own rather than being required to do so may have a greater affinity toward your brand. That isn’t to say that someone who Likes your page for the purpose of receiving a promotional offer won’t become a valuable fan.
The key is what you do to build a relationship with new fans after they have Liked your page. If you have provided access to something truly valuable, that person very well may stay engaged. But as soon as your posts begin appearing in the user’s news feed, if you aren’t continuing to share something relevant, he or she may quickly tune you out, hide your posts or even un-Like your page.
Liking “in real life”
It is difficult to find a true comparison to a fan-gate in the offline world. The closest thing might be a membership rewards program that provides access to special offers. But while enrollment in a loyalty program may provide certain perks, it is rarely a requirement to access basic information or services.
Imagine if you had to join a frequent-flyer program in order to get access to in-flight entertainment. Would you do it? If it was as easy as the click of a (Like) button, you probably would.
Taking some sort of equivalent action to the Like button in the offline context inherently has more friction. There is no way for companies to get consumers to opt-in to receive communications and indicate their support for a brand publicly in one easy step. That is what makes the Like button so powerful, but also so ripe for potential overuse.
The risks of required liking
One concern I have with the overuse of gated content is that it will ultimately reduce the value of a fan.
Others have written about the idea of “Like fatigue“—the idea that people will get tired of constantly being asked to click a Like button and may eventually stop. But I think a bigger concern is that users will keep on clicking until the click becomes meaningless. Once everyone has Liked just about everything, you will have greatly devalued the currency of the Like.
If your goal is simply to generate more fans for your page in the short-term, perhaps this concern may seem too distant to worry about. However, there are other risks to consider: The biggest is that Facebook is increasingly relying on data about how users interact with content to determine what gets visibility in the news feed. So if you have a large number of people who hide or block your posts it may have the effect of reducing your exposure to others.
Facebook is currently applying this filtering to apps that publish stories and it’s not hard to imagine them applying it to pages as well in the overall EdgeRank algorithm. This is a real concern if you have added lots of fans through required Liking but failed to nurture the relationships.
OK, But You Still Want Likes
Maybe you’ve decided that you aren’t going to require users to Like your page, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want them to Like it.
The act of Liking is easy, but sometimes people need a little encouragement. I appreciate how Mari Smith and Coca-Cola approach this on their pages. Each encourages people to Like but it is not a requirement.
On the surface, this may look similar to the fan-gating example above, but in this case, the content areas are all clickable without having to Like the page first.
I work with clients who run promotions on Facebook and many debate whether to fan-gate the promotional application. I always encourage clients to think about the trade-off of having people access a promotion and interact with the brand versus potentially discouraging people by putting it behind a fan-gate.
While it is impossible to do a controlled experiment to assess the impact of fan-gating, we do have data to support the argument that if you offer a fun and engaging experience, many people will Like your page on their own.
We recently ran a promotion on the Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism Facebook page where they gave away a free flight every half hour for an entire day. Participants were not required to Like, but Like buttons for both Newfoundland Tourism and WestJet (the promotion’s sponsor) were included prominently.
The result? 80% of people who entered the promotion Liked the Newfoundland Tourism page. In addition, 30% of the participants also Liked the WestJet page.
On the entry form above, users had the option to Like both pages when submitting their entry.
In another example, Social Media Examiner’s Mike Stelzner ran a contest to support the release of his book Launch. In this case, those who wished to submit an entry were required to Like the page as part of the entry process. However, the app itself was not fan-gated and this allowed anyone to view and vote on contest entries. What we saw is that nearly 80% of voters in the contest also chose to Like the page.
Anyone could access the contest and the prominent Like button at the top helped convert voters and casual observers into fans.
Final Thoughts
The topic of this post is likely to generate some strong feelings. For those in the business of selling the metric of Likes (to some extent I am one), this may border on heresy. My theory is not that trying to generate Likes is a bad thing, but rather that it is important to think about how you are accomplishing this goal and what it ultimately means for the relationship between organizations and those who Like them.
What do you think? I look forward to your thoughts and discussion. Please leave your comments in the box below.
Read MoreIntroduction to Web Video Production – The Only Way to Drive Traffic, Capture Leads, and Make Sales
by aokkone
Introduction to Web Video Production – The Only Way to Drive Traffic, Capture Leads, and Make Sales
Article by Jimmy Smith
There is perhaps no more compelling reason to learn and use web video production than to ensure that by using web videos you can greatly increase the value of your website. And, at the same time, you will also be able to have a competitive edge in your business. Research shows that website visitors, when exposed to web videos, will be more likely to buy products or services than if they were not exposed to video content.
Therefore, in order to succeed with web video production, it is important to first of all know your goals and then create a customized solution to help you achieve your goals. The good news is that there are numerous service companies out there that are willing and able to create the best videos to suit a client’s particular needs whatever your product or service may be.
To succeed in creating the right kind of web videos, it is necessary that you take few essential steps that include planning, preparing and even developing a suitable ad copy. It is also possible to create web videos that can be optimized for use with YouTube or which can also be used in commercials as well as uploading to a website.
With the help of such videos, you will succeed in extending your reach and so will be exposed to a whole new and broader audience. These solutions are also very affordable and are highly effective.
Web videos are also useful in helping to launch a business as well as websites and in addition they can also help you to take your business or website to a whole new level. At the same time, there are various stages of production that have to be understood and which often even require expert handling.
To begin with, the video should make a brief introduction to help you capture the attention of the viewer. Next, the presentation should make the viewer feel that you are relating to them and in addition the video should also go on to show how your products or services will help provide a competitive edge over the existing competition.
In addition, the video should also provide a strong message that must be able to compel you, the viewer, to take action such as calling specific phone numbers, or even make you take a free trial of your product/service. Furthermore, the video should also compel a viewer to forward your presentation to friends. As long as your web videos are created along these lines there is a good chance that you will benefit tremendously from using this means of promotion.
About the Author
Affordable video creation and submission http://www.onlinevideosubmission.com“>Get FREE video submissions Let Online Video Submission do the work for you. http://www.onlinevideosubmission.com
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Attracting Advertisers to Your Website
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Regardless of your niche, advertising is one of the most common ways to monetize a website. There are many samples of how websites have made it big in the online world. Do you have a certain target that you need traffic for, there are many great oriented websites that prove to be great for advertisers. However, unless and until you’re going to show them how to approach you and more importantly give them a reason to, you can’t expect your advertising revenues to start. Do you know what to do next to ensure that your targeted advertisers read your website?You can use Internet Marketing to promote new product launches such as Forex Automoney Review.
Professional Design: It’s really important that you have a good design for your website if you want to make it appealing to your advertisers. As potential advertisers visit your site they will first analyze how professional you present yourself by looking at your sites design. Advertisers who visit and find that your graphics are poor or sales letters are out of place will want to continue looking instead of investing in you. Your first impressions is after all your last impression.
Give Discounts: If you would like your advertisers to stay attached for quite a bit of time, provide them with money off in the instance they choose an extended contract. However, before you do so, make the payments terms as clear as possible so that nothing goes un-noticed. The cut rate that you put forward shouldn’t be too much, but as an alternative sufficient enough to grab the attention of the advertisement. Seeing as your possible advertisers would desire to get the most ideal bargain, they wouldn’t think twice prior to picking the discount offer if they truly believe your site is worth it.You will find new product launches happening constantly such as Forex Automoney Review, and nearly them all will take advantage of Internet Marketing.
Be sure you have everything lined up and in good working order for the payment process. It is simple to do, and you should set it up so they can click on a link on your site. You probably do not have a merchant account, and so just simply use something from Paypal and that will be fine. You really should avoid doing the contact me for payment thing. If there was any area where you need to be professional it is the area of money transactions.
There is a lot you can do to increase your success with landing advertising clients. You will have the best luck when your site and all processes are in place and in good working order.
If you wish to use Internet Marketing to its full effect ensure that you utilize it to promote new service launches such as Forex Automoney.
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Read MoreTips for Finding a Great Aged Domain
With the Domains module now available in both Market Samurai AND Domain Samurai /a>, we’ve had a lot of questions about the best way to go about finding domains inside the Aged Domains tool.
The Trouble With Finding a Great Aged Domain
Usually, the reason we miss the best Aged Domain opportunities comes down to simple percentages…
Aged Domains are much fewer in number than New Domains.
At any time – only a percentage of all Aged Domains will be available for sale, for auction, or expiring;
A percentage of those soon-to-be-available domains will carry a strong PageRank, Domain Age or backlinks;
And a percentage of those high quality soon-to-be-available domains will ALSO be relevant to your niche.
The more specific your keyword is, the lower that final percentage is, and the less likely you’ll find a high-value domain relevant to that keyword.
This is why the Domains module plugs into elf">DomainFace in the first place – a 3rd party domains service – because finding the few domains that might fit this criteria is literally like finding a needle in a haystack if you’re doing it manually. By connecting to DomainFace’s database, we can tap into the 100,000’s of aged domain auctions, sales and expiries that DomainFace is finding every day – helping you to find the golden needles in the haystack.
It’s also why finding a the best Aged Domains sometimes requires new tactics – particularly if you’re working in niche markets… Because even if you’ve found a high traffic gold nugget keyword, if your keyword “too specific” when trying to find an Aged Domain then you will likely turn up empty handed.
So, What Is The Best Strategy for Finding Aged Domains?
How do you find great high-value Aged Domains that are relevant to your market – which you can use as your main site, or as a feeder site
?
The solution is simple:
Try broader, more generic keywords.
I hear you saying “Whoa, wait a moment Alex! Isn’t it easier to optimize for a highly specific niche keyword?”
Yes, that’s still true for all SEO.
But if you’re hunting for Aged Domains, there are 3 “bonus benefits” you get when you branch out and include some more generic keywords in your search…
1. More Results means More Choice
Simply put, you’re going to get a lot more matches when searching for “dog collars” than when you’re searcing for “big dog collars”; or when you’re searching for “investments” rather than “stock market investments”.
The more matches you get, the more choice you have.
In SEO, there are often dozens of combinations of keywords that “fit” your niche.
If your Aged Domain search is too tight or too limited, you could miss out on a similar match that fits your niche perfectly.
(Perhaps you’ll find a domain that is perfectly targeted to a keyword that just missed your keyword filtering criteria. With a highly targeted domain for this keyword, and the Google-boost that comes with it, perhaps you can afford to compete in a slightly more competitive market…)
Including relevant broad keywords in your search will reveal options you might not have even considered before.
Which brings us to the next benefit…
2. More Results means More Opportunities
There’s more to Aged Domains than simply using them as your main site URL.
Often you’ll come across high-value Aged Domains that are perfect to use as feeder sites – driving traffic and “link juice” to your main “money” site.
If you’re like me, sometimes you’ll just choose to register these domains to keep potential competitors from using them against you.
Or, if you’re like Kenny, sometimes (because you’ve done your keyword research and you know the SEO value of a keyword) you’ll come across opportunities to buy Aged Domains at a fraction of their true value, “renovate” them, and resell them for big profits.
3. Broader Keywords have More Traffic
As a general rule, a broader keyword is going to have more traffic than a more specific one.
Going back to our “dog collars” example, a quick comparison of Searches data from the Keyword Research module shows us:
Keyword – “big dog collars” gets about 150 daily searches
Keyword – “dog collars” gets about 32,000 daily searches
An Aged Domains search for “dog collars” would still find domains like “bigdogcollars.com”, but would also give you the chance at finding golden opportunities like “dogcollars.com” – a more valuable domain asset, and a domain that stands to give you a bigger ranking boost for the more generic higher traffic keyword “dog collars”.
Now you know the best tactics for finding domains like these…
Remember, Aged Domains are a finite resource.
On any given day, there will only be a handful of relevant, high-quality Aged Domains available in your niche – and it’s usually a ‘first in/first served’ game.
Now that you know the best way to find great Aged Domains, it’s up to you to find the best ones… Before someone else does.
Good hunting!
Alex Green
Noble Samurai p>
P.S. If you’re an avid follower of the blog, you’ll know that the Domains Module is now also available inside both Market Samurai and Domain Samurai /a>.
Make sure you’re using the latest version of Market Samurai so that you can access the Domains module and the Aged Domain search tool.
The latest version of Market Samurai is always available to download from your unique download page. And remember: to search for aged domains, you’ll need a free DomainFace account (or a paid one) to access their Aged Domain databases.
P.P.S. If you’re new here, and you don’t have Market Samurai yet, you can download a free 12-day trial of Market Samurai here.
Read MoreHakukoneoptimointi
HAKUKONEOPTIMOINTI SEO
(Search Engine Optimization)
If You’ve beeen wondering.. – Why has he been doing this Hakukoneoptimointi SEO -test
for the last couple of weeks? - Hakukoneoptimointi -
Let me try to explain why it’s so damned important to improve Your Online efforts, especially
when it comes to SEO – Hakukoneoptimointi! The reason is pretty obvious:
Improving Your Positions in search engine results page (SERP), the listing of web pages
returned by a search engine in response to a keyword query, is what SEO – Hakukoneoptimointi
is all about.
The Image below shows You why the Best Organic Listings are Vital for Your Web Performance.
Have a close look to the image, below!
Hakukoneoptimointi - SEO is Vital for Your Online Success...
Hakukoneoptimointi SEO
Screenshot inside Google showing percentages of clicks based on position.
Source: Perpetual Traffic by Ryan Deiss
I’d like You to notice HOW?…
of the available traffic, and the second ORGANIC result receives 11 – 18%
of the available traffic…
ay from Google AdWords, your competitor
who’s ranking #1 organically is getting 1000 – 2000 clicks a day!
The first ORGANIC (i.e. non-sponsored listing) receives 41 – 45% of the available traffic,
and the second ORGANIC result receives 11 – 18% of the available traffic…… 10 – 20 TIMES the amount
of clicks as the first PAID listing.I’ll say that again…10 – 20 TIMES more traffic than the top paid listing!
To watch the video on YouTube,com, click: HAKUKONEOPTIMOINTI
HAKUKONEOPTIMOINTI SEO for
TARGETED RESULTS!!!
)
ONCE MORE!!!!
…If you’re getting 100 clicks a day
from Google AdWords,
…your competitor who’s
ranking #1 organically
is getting 1000 – 2000 clicks a day!
There will be more… —
Read MoreThe Best Internet Marketing Tool is a Keyword Tool
The best internet marketing tool is a keyword tool. A keyword tool is really helpful if you are an internet marketing, and if you have dabbled with one before, then you’ll know exactly how powerful they are and what they can be used for. I admit I steered clear of keyword tools when first beginning my affiliate marketing experience, mainly because I had no idea what they were, or how they could benefit my campaigns. This article will explain that the best internet marketing tool that you can use is the keyword tool.
Imagine that you are in the ‘dog training’ market as an affiliate.
You are looking for some keywords that you want to promote, and you decide to head over to a keyword tool, such as Google’s excellent free offering. You then enter in the search terms ‘dog training’, and straight away, you have many, many more keywords that are related to dog training, keywords that you can use to get the edge on your campaign.
Because, that is that the best internet marketing tool that you can get as an affiliate marketer. Regardless of if you mainly use free techniques such as article marketing and clever SEO to boost your website and your traffic, or you use PPC marketing, a great keyword tool will be top of your priority listings.
The reason that many affiliates like keyword tools so much is not just they give them keywords and ideas galore, but for the fact that most keyword tools (Google’s does contain this feature) features a guesstimate of what the traffic for that keyword might be. Google does not know exactly what keywords are being searched for – it does have tracking on its web searching tool but of course it can’t keep track of everything – but it does have a fair idea. The reason that this is such a great tool then, is that it can give affiliate marketers and internet marketers a very quick and a brief glimpse to see if that keyword might be profitable.
I know now whenever I register a domain name, I try to include a keyword with a high traffic rank, to try and get traffic through that alone (Google and the other search engines likes a domain name which is a keyword. You can see this everywhere, websites which almost nothing on them at all have very high rankings for searches that have a lot of competition – but do have a keyword optimized domain name).
This article was never intended to turn into a discussion of keywords and how they are used to maximum effect, instead, it was to take a quick and a brief look a the king of internet marketing tools, the best internet marketing tool around is the lowly keyword tool. Even though it may be outstripped and outrun by many other flashy gimmicky toys around today, a great affiliate marketing with a keyword tool can do great things. Name another tool out there today that can do that.
My name is Mark, and I have a free guide at my website which offers information on the best way to discover affiliate marketing. Click Here to download it for free today!
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_R_Hamilton
Read this article: The Best Internet Marketing Tool is a Keyword Tool
Read MoreTips for Finding a Great Aged Domain
With the Domains module now available in both Market Samurai AND Domain Samurai /a>, we’ve had a lot of questions about the best way to go about finding domains inside the Aged Domains tool.
The Trouble With Finding a Great Aged Domain
Usually, the reason we miss the best Aged Domain opportunities comes down to simple percentages…
Aged Domains are much fewer in number than New Domains.
At any time – only a percentage of all Aged Domains will be available for sale, for auction, or expiring;
A percentage of those soon-to-be-available domains will carry a strong PageRank, Domain Age or backlinks;
And a percentage of those high quality soon-to-be-available domains will ALSO be relevant to your niche.
The more specific your keyword is, the lower that final percentage is, and the l ess likely you’ll find a high-value domain relevant to that keyword.
This is why the Domains module plugs into DomainFace in the first place – a 3rd party domains service – because finding the few domains that might fit this criteria is literally like finding a needle in a haystack if you’re doing it manually. By connecting to DomainFace’s database, we can tap into the 100,000’s of aged domain auctions, sales and expiries that DomainFace is finding every day – helping you to find the golden needles in the haystack.
It’s also why finding a the best Aged Domains sometimes requires new tactics – particularly if you’re working in niche markets… Because even if you’ve found a high traffic gold nugget keyword, if your keyword “too specific” when trying to find an Aged Domain then you will likely turn up empty handed.
So, What Is The Best Strategy for Finding Aged Domains?
How do you find great high-value Aged Domains that are relevant to your market – which you can use as your main site, or as a feeder site?
The solution is simple:
Try broader, more generic keywords.
I hear you saying “Whoa, wait a moment Alex! Isn’t it easier to optimize for a highly specific niche keyword?”
Yes, that’s still true for all SEO.
But if you’re hunting for Aged Domains, there are 3 “bonus benefits” you get when you branch out and include some more generic keywords in your search…
1. More Results means More Choice
Simply put, you’re going to get a lot more matches when searching for “dog collars” than when you’re searcing for “big dog collars”; or when you’re searching for “investments” rather than “stock market investments”.
The more matches you get, the more choice you have.
In SEO, there are often dozens of combinations of keywords that “fit” your niche.
If your Aged Domain search is too tight or too limited, you could miss out on a similar match that fits your niche perfectly.
(Perhaps you’ll find a domain that is perfectly targeted to a keyword that just missed your keyword filtering criteria. With a highly targeted domain for this keyword, and the Google-boost that comes with it, perhaps you can afford to compete in a slightly more competitive market…)
Including relevant broad keywords in your search will reveal options you might not have even considered before.
Which brings us to the next benefit…
2. More Results means More Opportunities
There’s more to Aged Domains than simply using them as your main site URL.
Often you’ll come across high-value Aged Domains that are perfect to use as feeder sites – driving traffic and “link juice” to your main “money” site.
If you’re like me, sometimes you’ll just choose to register these domains to keep potential competitors from using them against you.
Or, if you’re like Kenny, sometimes (because you’ve done your keyword research and you know the SEO value of a keyword) you’ll come across opportunities to buy Aged Domains at a fraction of their true value, “renovate” them, and resell them for big profits.
3. Broader Keywords have More Traffic
As a general rule, a broader keyword is going to have more traffic than a more specific one.
Going back to our “dog collars” example, a quick comparison of Searches data from the Keyword Research module shows us:
Keyword – “big dog collars” gets about 150 daily searches
Keyword – “dog collars” gets about 32,000 daily searches
An Aged Domains search for “dog collars” would still find domains like “bigdogcollars.com”, but would also give you the chance at finding golden opportunities like “dogcollars.com” – a more valuable domain asset, and a domain that stands to give you a bigger ranking boost for the more generic higher traffic keyword “dog collars”.
Now you know the best tactics for finding domains like these…
Remember, Aged Domains are a finite resource.
On any given day, there will only be a handful of relevant, high-quality Aged Domains available in your niche – and it’s usually a ‘first in/first served’ game.
Now that you know the best way to find great Aged Domains, it’s up to you to find the best ones… Before someone else does.
Good hunting!
Alex Green
Noble Samurai p>
P.S. If you’re an avid follower of the blog, you’ll know that the Domains Module is now also available inside both Market Samurai and Domain Samurai.
Make sure you’re using the latest version of Market Samurai so that you can access the Domains module and the Aged Domain search tool.
The latest version of Market Samurai is always available to download from your unique download page. And remember: to search for aged domains, you’ll need a free DomainFace account (or a paid one) to access their Aged Domain databases.
P.P.S. If you’re new here, and you don’t have Market Samurai yet, you can download a free 12-day trial of Market Samurai here.
Read MoreHow to Outsource Your Online Marketing
The real key with Odesk is that you can get the same "caliber" employee for half the price, or less. This doesn’t always mean you have to go outside the country to find this employee either. Many times the reason you have to pay more for employees, or accept less than steller ones, is because you are limited geographically. Odesk provides you the opportunity to use the services of people from anywhere.
Think about being able to take applications from people all over the world for your online marketing needs….Heck, you can outsource many other things as well: online shopping, email sorting, receptionist, preparing powerpoint presentations.
Of course you need to know how to hire or you will waste a lot of time. Here are the 7 steps you need to make you’re hiring go as smoothly as possible:
- Create an account on Odesk
- Go to ‘My Jobs’, ‘Post a Job’ and enter a specific title and description
- Choose "Hourly" unless you already know how much it should cost (with Hourly you will find out how much that type of work should be done for, but in the future you may want to hire at a Fixed amount until you are familiar with the employee)
- Fill out the rest as you see fit, post the job and then go to "Find Providers"
- Choose about 5 providers by using the search criteria provided and invite them to your job by clicking on the "Interview" button and sending them a short message ( you will get bids from many other providers, and not all of those you invite will bid)
- Give yourself about week to get in bids then choose the best 3-5 candidates and give them a "trial job" – this is very important – don’t expect them all to work out; you should be sure that they are easy to work with and that they work to your standards
- For all employees keep a spreadsheet with their contact info and details about how much they charge, what work they claim to do, what work they’ve done for you and how you liked them, etc. – this makes choosing which ones to keep and which ones to fire much easier
There you have it! It’s not rocket science, but you do have to go through several layers of qualifying to get good people. Just like any employee, you don’t know what you have until you see their work.
Our step-by-step, ‘outsource-ready’, online marketing free website traffic-generating system is available at
Guaranteed Web Traffic and Lead Generation System Outsourcing Blueprint
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