What’s Your Biggest Question About Online Marketing?
June 30, 2007
I want to know what the #1 question about driving traffic to your site is right now.
I am a bit overwhelmed with the amount of website or blog promotion topics that I could write about, have written about, or started to write about but haven’t finished.
It’s time I hear from you!
I want to know what’s on your mind, what you’ve been trying to do but haven’t succeeded with yet, and/or any blog marketing or link building questions you have that haven’t been answered to your satisfaction by me or any other experts out there.
Need An Answer For Questions Like These?
- Have you read the Authority Black Book and have a question about a tactic introduced in it?
- Did you read something about link building and want to know if the technique is something I’d recommend?
- Do you want to know something about search engine marketing or getting higher rankings with a specific tactic?
- Have you discovered a new Web 2.0 site and wonder if it is worth spending time on for backlinks and traffic?
- Do you want to know how, if I only have a PR 4, I get anywhere between 2600 and 5000+ visitors per day?
Well here’s your chance to get some free answers without a consulting fee and without having to buy the course someone just sent you an email about. I’m not going to write an ebook as an answer, but I’ll try hard to steer you and other readers in the right direction.
Rather than making this an anonymous survey I want to get these questions out in the open for all FTR readers to benefit from. So please take a moment to ask your burning online marketing, search engine optimization, link building, social marketing or any other question dealing with growing the traffic of your site below.
I want readers to learn from my answers, but also from the questions other readers submit. There’s a lot to learn from questions alone, and I aim to make this post and resulting questions and answers a very educational read.
I will answer questions in comments if they are short answers. I will make posts out of the bigger questions that demand more attention.
The result, I hope, will be a database of extremely valuable content that is free to access, hype-free, honest and to the point. Something you should be able to turn into real measurable results in your quest to become the authority in your niche.
The only thing I ask is that you take part in this exercise and not just lurk. The more questions, the better!
Ask away! Submit your question below in the comments area…
Tags: how do i, how do you, how to, link building, marketing questions, website promotion
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Link Building On Steroids! Do This And Increase Your Traffic…
June 28, 2007
I got a note today to check out a different kind of web 2.0 link building technique started by Alex over at HowtoSpoter.com. This tactic will absolutely blow your incoming links up to A List proportions if you use it.
Follow the directions below and make sure you do it right. Might take a minute to see what’s going on, but when you do, BAM! it’s gonna hit ya like a Mack truck at 90 miles an hour!
Check out how this started (opens in a new window) then come back here and see what has changed on the review list below and you will see how this works immediately.
Thanks to Alex for starting this genius link building campaign!
— copy and paste the Reciprocal Review Carousel and instructions below this line —
Reciprocal Review Carousel idea is based on a few simple yet effective link-building and blogging techniques I have learned:
- Build value of the blog by creating a helpful link from within content.
- Provide value to community by doing a review on a blog you personally like.
- Link to YOUR blog has exact anchor text you want and helps you boost Google Rankings.
- No more than 30 outbound links from any page to prevent penalties for link farming.
- Viral effect of the link – as more bloggers participate, link to your blog with YOUR anchor text, coming from quality content post will spread.
Here is How to participate:
- Copy the entire text between the specified lines.
- Create a post on your site and put at least one paragraph explaining how you joined the Reciprocal Review Carousel.
- Paste the text you copied into your post.
- Remove the Bottom Review and At the Top add your own review with a link to a site reviewed, at least 2 sentences about the site and a note – Reviewed by: Your Anchor Text. Link your anchor text to your site. Here is an example:
WordPress Web 2.0 Guide is a blog providing very useful information on building your very own Web 2.0 portal based on WordPress. Detailed instructions and howto guides make it possible for anyone to create a sparkling and engaging blog and join the community of like-minded individuals. Reviewed by: WordPress Web 2.0 Spot-er
Sites Reviewed:
- Peter Lenkefi writes about Web 2.0 marketing strategies at Web2Center.com. He has some killer videos over there you should check out along with a ton of good information on blog marketing and various “new media” promotion tactics. Reviewed by: Link Building Maniac, Jack Humphrey, for the Friday Traffic Report
- Andy-Coates.com is an original creator of Viralink concept and a blog publishing information on Magic, Personal development and blog development. I have found a wealth of information on getting your blog noticed and generating the traffic for free. Reviewed by: WordPress Web 2.0 Guide
- FitForFreedom is well-established blog where you can find multitude of information on achieving financial freedom. Blog is run by Marco Righter and his writing style greatly adds to the value of information he provides. Reviewed by: Alex
- Secure Your PC For Internet blog run by Colin and provides essential information everyone accessing internet should know. Identity theft is becoming more and more of an issue and by visiting his blog you can minimize the risk of being compromised. Reviewed by: Alex
- VI-SU blog is all about WordPress, AdSense, SEO and Internet Marketing. Although mostly written in German I have found that using Google translate is worth the effort for his posts. Reviewed by: Alex
- Home With Heather is a great informative blog targeting WAHM (Work At Home Moms) and run by … you guessed it – Heather Masson. Information on what works for her in Internet Business written is very easy to read and comes from her personal experience. Reviewed by: Alex
- A Copywriter’s Blues blog published by Alex Badalic, a veteran of advertising turned musician gives you great food for soul. I have found some nice old videos of Johnny Cash performance and he has a lot more of vintage videos to satisfy fans. Reviewed by: Alex
- Did You Smell That blog authored by one of the veterans on network marketing filled with business ideas you can use. David Ledoux is well known and respected in online community and now he makes his experience available via blog posts. Reviewed by: Alex
- Best Damn Blog run by Richard Wing is all about Internet Marketing. Your visit will be rewarded by honest reviews, freebies and information you need to succeed in this cut-throat business without sacrificing your integrity. Reviewed by: Alex
- PlugIM Blog is a support portal for a new post voting system and a contender that has gained popularity among bloggers. Active community that lets you promote your blog and spread your message. Reviewed by: Alex
— copy and paste the Reciprocal Review Carousel and instructions above this line —
To recap - just take the whole thing above including the lines –copy and paste…etc–, do an opening paragraph like the one I started this post with, paste what you just copied, take the bottom review in the review list off and add a review like I did for Peter Lenkefi’s site with a “Reviewed by:” link back to your site.
Post it and watch your fellow bloggers go absolutely nuts over it! Bada bing, bada bam!
Tags: authority links, blog meme, getting links, link building, link train
How Do You Eat An Elephant? 7 Tricks to Getting More Done
June 27, 2007
Guest Article by Barbara Drazga, owner of WealthPromotion.com and a great speaker lined up for our upcoming conference, the Authority Summit.
Do you have more “To Do” list at the end of the day than when you started? With all you have to accomplish, it seems like there’s never enough time for the important things, much less the things you want to do. Wouldn’t it be great if life were like TiVo? If only we could pause, rewind, playback, and record life’s moments to access later, when we had the time.
Well, I’ve got some sad news for you: we ALL have the very same 24 hours in a day. So how is it that some people seem to be so productive, while you feel like you’re just spinning your wheels?
I don’t believe we can “manage” time. We can only manage the tasks we do in the time that is available to us. You’d be surprised at how much time you waste each day—and those extra minutes can really add up.
So, how can you get more done? Here are 7 ways to stop time drains in your life and accomplish what you need to do, so you can get to the things you want.
Let it Go
For one week, carry a diary with you and jot down all the recurring, administrative, or chore-related tasks you do daily. At the end of the week, identify the tasks that you can get someone else to do. Let’s do the math here for a second. Here’s a sample list of things you might do during the week:
3 Hours - food shopping (includes driving, shopping, standing in line, putting groceries away)
1 hour - post office run, pick up mail, open and sort
2 hours - straighten and clean house
1/2 hour - change litter
1/2 hour - dry cleaner run
1 hour - laundry, wash, fold, put away
8 Hours - TOTAL (That’s a full work day gone!)
Have you ever driven across town to save a few cents when filling up your gas tank? Think about it: a five-cent difference in the price per gallon of gas will save you a whopping dollar for a 20-gallon fill-up. Isn’t an extra half-hour of your time worth a dollar? Let it go.
Now let’s say you find someone to work for $8 an hour to do these tasks for you. That’s about $64 a week (or about $250 a month). Now with that extra 32 (!) hours a month, could you generate that $250 back plus some if you focused on your business? The answer is a resounding “Yes!”
I have a post-it on my computer monitor that asks me every time I start a task:
“Does this Action bring you toward or away from your target?” If my target is to increase sales by 20% by the end of the month, does doing the laundry bring me closer to that goal?
Set Goals and Prioritize
What do you want out of your life? In order to determine the most effective use of your time, you need to know what you want to do with it! It’s important to have both long- and short-term plans for accomplishing your goals, and equally important to understand what is most important to you.
Long-term goals: Whether you’re dreaming of becoming a superstar or opening your own business, keep this in mind: a goal is a dream with a deadline. You can achieve anything if you plan it out. Whatever your goal, find out what you must do to make it happen, and then break it into manageable chunks and work toward it every day. Make your priorities clear: do you want financial success? Is your ultimate goal to spend more time with your family by working for yourself? Concentrate on your top priorities.
Short-term goals: Daily to-do lists help keep you on track—but listing too much can make you feel as though you’ve accomplished nothing. Break up your task list into three groups: Must Do, Should Do, and Like to Do. Put no more than 7 tasks on your Must Do list.
Tackle the Musts first, and give yourself permission to not feel guilty when the rest remains undone. Simply move those items to the next day’s list. Also, be sure to accomplish at least one Like every day!
Break it Down
The answer to that old elephant adage is: “One bite at a time.”
Does that huge pile of unopened mail look too daunting to tackle? Then break the task down into smaller “bites.” Open just 3 pieces of mail in the morning, and 3 at night. Before you know it, the task is done.
Tackle the Tough Stuff First
Everyone has certain tasks to accomplish they don’t enjoy doing, whether it’s collecting from slow-paying clients or changing the litterbox. When they are top priority tasks, get them out of the way first—that way, you’ll have more energy and enthusiasm to get things done, and you’ll find yourself moving through your goals quickly. Brian Tracy writes about this in his great book “Eat That Frog.”
Streamline Communications
E-mail is a huge time-waster for many people. Cell phones come in at a close second—not to mention television! Set aside certain times for dealing with any particular form of communication. If e-mail is vital to your business, you should tackle your inbox more than once a day—but can you manage by checking in at certain times, such as once in the morning, afternoon, and evening? Try it for a few days; you may be surprised to find that you don’t miss out on anything. Also, when you’re in the middle of an important task, turn off your cell phone. You can always return calls later. Managing television time is easier than you might think as well: each week, sit down with a program guide and decide on what shows or movies you really want to see, and give yourself a schedule. This eliminates hours spent flipping through channels hoping to catch something good.
I keep a small TV in my home office so I can have West Wing reruns on while I’m working.
Reduce Clutter
Clutter instills an underlying stress. When you walk into your office, do you look at your desk piled high with unidentified stacks and moan? This will be in the back of your mind while you work, and reduce your productivity. Time spent organizing your work environment is an investment in your ability to get more done. You will be able to locate everything you need without shuffling through piles of paper, and a neat work space is a calming thing.
You are Your Greatest Asset
Invest in yourself with ongoing education—workshops, books, CDs — which pay for themselves when you generate more income from the knowledge you gained. And remember to reward yourself for accomplishing big jobs or tasks you don’t like to do. You may find yourself looking forward to those unpleasant necessities!
Bio:
Barbara Drazga is a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur. She is the producer of the Bunnyslipper Bootcamp, teaching people how to make the jump into working at home. Meet Barbara in person in Vegas!
Tags: barbara drazga, being efficient, getting organized, working from home, working online
TUBEINATOR - Is This A YouTube Traffic Machine?
June 27, 2007
Michelle MacPhearson is one of those rare Web 2.0 marketing innovators in a world where everyone seems to prefer doing the “me too” thing.You might know her name from BadderAdder fame. That was the Myspace friend adder program that was snatched up by thousands of marketers and Myspace members who wanted more friends, faster.
But that’s old news. Now everyone has finally realized the power of video sharing as a link building, traffic driving golden child of the internet. And Michelle is back to help us get more out of our video sharing through YouTube, the 4th highest traffic site on the web.
Enter “Tubeinator.” Dubbed “Video Popularity Software,” Tubeinator allows you to build a much larger network of YouTube friends far faster than the way mere mortals build their YouTube video sharing networks now.
The result is higher views of your videos, more site traffic, and the power to get in front of more of the YouTube community by being more popular.
Harken back to high school. The popular kids had it all. They got invited to the best parties and enjoyed the perks that come with being “it.”
Being “it” on YouTube means your high school is the 4th largest high school on planet Earth, and the perks for being one of the most popular “kids” there are far better than they were for the popular kids in your old school.
Search engines love the video sites, and YouTube is the King of them all.
Links from your videos are treated kindly by the engines because video is much harder to spam, takes more work to produce, and the spammers have yet to figure out how to make spam videos look like real videos with a purpose.
Google surely takes this into account when finding links on video sites, as it does on human-edited directories where spammers are kept at bay by real people who are never fooled by spammers.
Back to Tubeinator. Here’s what it does:
- Add unlimited friends to your account
- Leave comments on other people’s videos
- Save lists of ID’s to work with over and over (import and export)
- Work with as many accounts as you desire
- Check statistics globally and on a per-account basis
- Automatic updates
- Time delay option
- Search and target actions by keywords you select
Can Tubeinator Be Used To Spam YouTube?
Of course. With power comes responsibility and the very big need to keep your account active. Spam YouTube in any way and watch your account go away.
Some people will try setting up multiple accounts, but here’s the rub: Unlike all other forms of Web 2.0 spam where people get banned and simply set up a new account, at YouTube you are dealing with video. Video is BIG and takes a long time to upload. Setting up a new account isn’t as simple as choosing a new username and email address.
The smart user will simply use Tubeinator to boost their friend network and do things they’ve given up doing by hand because it is too time consuming, like commenting on all the videos in their niche to get traffic back to their vids.
Will Tubeinator Last?
Too early to tell, but I guarantee people will abuse it and YouTube will have to take a stand on it in some way. Whether that ruins it for all of us or not remains to be seen.
The tool itself is awesome and it will help responsible Tube’ers bring in incredible amounts of traffic worth far more than the cost of the software by magnitudes.
Get a free trial of Tubeinator and see for yourself.
Tags: badder adder, Michelle MacPhearson, tubeinator, video popularity, youtube friend adder
John Reese Authority Video
June 26, 2007
John Reese just put up a video from his StomperNet Live keynote speaker presentation. I’m still a bit foggy this morning as I decompress from a long day of flying and delays along with some kind of head cold I always seem to get when I fly and breathe that recycled air on the plane.
So when I got the news that John leaked his video today I thought of it as a gift. A gift to you because he talks about the things we’ve been trying to hammer home on this blog and at ASC since the beginning.
He talks about very important authority site tactics that everyone looking to dominate an online market needs to be aware of.
Of course his video is a gift to me because I get another badly needed day off by pointing you to some extremely valuable information. Be sure you check out John’s video right away. A lot of the things in it are more true today than ever before.
“It’s All About Authority” John Reese StomperNet Keynote Presentation, Video, 5:25
Tags: authority site building, john reese
Stuck in Dallas
June 25, 2007
Coming back from Vegas Super Conference 9 and my flight is delayed. Jet lag in full effect (Vegas lag too) so I have nothing to say except I’ll hopefully be back in the saddle tomorrow.
When I logged in and saw FTR sitting here with an old post I had to do something about it! Sorry I don’t have more to say, but my head’s dead.
Watch for something more interesting tomorrow!
noneColin McDougall Kicks Off Internet Marketing Super Conference 9
June 21, 2007
Carl Galletti’s Internet Marketing Super Conference 9 got underway this morning in Vegas. Colin McDougall kicked things off with a talk on “Visitor Enhanced Optimization” - a term he coined as the different approach to SEO (search engine optimization).
McDougall is the author of the VEO Report which details how you get better rankings and more traffic by focusing first on your visitors as a search engine optimization tactic.
This approach is something we have fully adopted at Authority Site Center and we actively teach quality content strategies to our clients as a means of driving rankings higher and to get voluntary links from other sites which also send good traffic.
In a comment on an earlier post I remember someone saying “Google can’t tell if content is quality or not.” Actually they can, but not from a robot point of view. Google watches what happens on your site. They watch to see how fast someone comes back to them after clicking on your link in their rankings.
If someone “bounces” back to them mere seconds after they clicked on your link at Google, they keep a tally of this. If you don’t believe me, sign up for a webmaster tools account at Google, submit your sitemap, and watch as Google shows you all kinds of statistics such as “bounce rate.”
Google has a lot of ways to track whether targeted visitors find your content to be high or low quality like this. Therefore, Google does know whether your content is good or not. Not algorithmically, but by watching what real people do on your site.
Colin has a history with Matt Cutts, Google’s most public representative on the web, and in so many words was told by Cutts that Google is going more and more in the direction of visitor enhanced optimization. That was awhile ago, and now we have results that confirm beyond the shadow of a doubt that this is true.
If you’d like to read up on this topic and get insight into what a major component of authority site building consists of, I can’t recommend the VEO Report more highly.
I will be speaking tomorrow after lunch on authority site building and targeted traffic strategies using Web 2.0 promotion.
Tags: colin mcdougall, matt cutts, seo, veo, visitor enhanced optimization
Move Your Online Business to the Top of The Search Engines with Post and Rank (TM) Technology
June 20, 2007
Move Your Business to the Top of The Search Engines by using Post and Rank (TM) technology, just one of the techniques taught at the 2007 Authority Summit: September 8-9, 2007 in Las Vegas, NV. Hosted by The Authority Site Center; the online training and development industry leader specializing in Authority Site Building and Web 2.0 marketing strategies.
Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) June 19, 2007 — The Authority Site Center (ASC) announces their 2007 live training event: The Authority Summit; to be held in Las Vegas, September 8-9th.
The focus of the Summit is online publication and promotional strategies for business, making use of the newest trends in Web 2.0 technology.
Topics covered will include online testing and tracking, blogging for dollars, Social Powerlinking, video creation and syndication tactics, effectively making use of press and the media, as well as strategies for traffic generation and conversion. Several well known experts, including Dave Lakhani and Howie Schwartz have confirmed their participation.
Jack Humphrey, CEO of ASC, reveals, “We focus on what we call Post and Rank (TM) technology, which means you won’t need to use pay-per-click advertising or fight for search engine position. Our unique and exclusive publishing and marketing system has gotten hundreds of sites to number #1 on the largest search engines.”
This year’s Summit will be held at the Tuscany Suites, very close to the internationally famous Las Vegas Strip. The event will take place over two days and will focus on research, publishing, marketing, and monetization of online web properties.
The event will be suitable for the beginner, intermediate, or advanced online marketer; especially those who are looking for information on how to profit from the expansion of Web 2.0 sites such as Netscape, CraigsList, and Squidoo.
“This event would be excellent for any business who wants to improve their online presence,” states Rick Butts, Online Business Strategist for AuthoritySiteCenter.com and Editor of Online Marketing Monthly magazine. “With so much business moving to the online sector, it would be business suicide to continue to promote without using these strategies. The way of the web is changing, and our methods can keep your business at the forefront of the new technologies.”
To learn more about the Summit, which is open to the public, please visit:
AuthoritySummit.com
Tags: authority summit, internet marketing conferences, marketing seminars
Free 55 Minute Audio Guide To Making More Money With Your Site
June 19, 2007
Rick Butts is doing a great teleseminar series on site monetization that is very much needed by everyone who blogs and is disappointed in their monthly blog revenue.
The cool thing is he is giving away a free 55 minute audio on site monetization tactics that really improve the bottom line. I know because he did much the same kind of presentation for our ASC members not long ago.
Rick is one of the best teachers on the web. That is more important than you might think unless you’ve experienced the dismal teaching abilities of most experts. They may be good at what they do, but their teaching and communication skills leave you looking for a Rosetta Stone to decipher what the hell they are talking about.
I have heard what Rick teaches in this audio and whether you sign up for his seminar series or not, you’ll love what he has to say about getting way more profit out of your site than you do now. What Rick lacks in hair he makes up for in spades in site monetization tactics!
Grab Rick’s 55 Minute Free Recording Here
Tags: blog advertising, rick butts, site monetization, visitors to cash
Authority Summit Is Coming Up
June 19, 2007
The event of the year for people who want to seriously ramp up their online presence, sales, traffic, and rankings is coming to Vegas this September 8-9th, 2007.
Dubbed the “Authority Summit,” this conference focuses on authority site building tactics and new media marketing techniques that give sites like this one a distinct edge in whatever market they are built for.
The Authority Site Center puts this event on each year in Vegas. And it’s not all work and no play. We are in Vegas after all!
Many attendees of last year’s Summit use this trip as both continuing education and vacation, often sandwiching the event dates between “bonus” days of sightseeing, catching shows like Blue Man Group and Cirque de Soleil, and getting away from their offices to drum up partnerships and new ideas for their businesses.
The Authority Summit has early bird registration open right now. ASC members attend for 1/2 price (yet another big perk for being a member of the tightest, most professional and successful group of authority site publishers on the web)!
Dave Lakhani describes last year’s Summit in his own words:
Read more in the latest Authority Summit Press Release.
Register today and reserve your room. Rooms will sell out at the Tuscany Resort and Suites, so save cab fare by securing your reservations now.
Tags: authority summit, internet marketing conferences, marketing seminars, marketing seminars vegas
