What is Moofing? Are you a moofer?

Check out the video and let me know if you think my new friend Jim Stroud is weird. I think he is. I like weird people.

When you’re done finding out what a moofer is from Jim and Jake, make sure you check out Jim on Friday Traffic Report radio every…Friday … at 2 p.m. est. He’s a regular now. Here’s the link to the schedule and show.

iLiveOnline #5 from Jim Stroud on Vimeo.
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Moofer or Moofing

Urban Dictionary: “Someone who’s working but is Mobile and Out of OFfice is said to be Moofing. Typically to get more done more efficiently. I’ll be MOOFING tomorrow, but you can get me on my mobile. ”
Sirona Says: “…a term used to describe the new breed of worker that sees the office as just one location that’s key to their job rather than the only location.”

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Tags: Friday Traffic Report Radio, jake press, jim stroud, moofer, moofing

What’s my blog worth?

Blog owned by single blogger sells for $15 million

This week ProBlogger got the scoop on a blogger, John Wu, who sold his blog for $15 million. Everyone has been buzzing about it in the ’sphere since. You are probably wondering “what’s MY blog worth?”

People have been commenting on the value of the blog sale above and the value of authority blogs in general. Many wishing they could someday sell at even a fraction of that once their blogs hit critical mass.

So what is the value of authority?

The value of a high traffic blog is immense. When you have a blog that commands the attention of the search engines for top keywords in your market, tons of traffic, a list of regular readers who hang on your every word in a market where advertisers are desperate to get in front of them, you have something of real value.

You should know. If you own such a blog, you are raking in big advertising dollars already. Advertisers seek out even small to mid-level blogs with moderate traffic (500+ visitors per day) to throw their ads in front of targeted demographics across a wide-swath of niches.

They want what you’ve built

Blogs attract some of the most die-hard fans and followers you can find on the net. Advertisers know that with a word, you can send fans who trust and respect you anywhere, to do anything you want them to do. That’s far more powerful than driving traffic with Adwords or other paid advertising.

It is hard work building a blog fan base and link popularity.  It usually takes average bloggers (who don’t know the tricks) 1 or more years to build a blog that has serious value.  It took the blogger in ProBlogger’s story over 2 years.  That’s a big part of the value buyers must consider when making offers on blogs.

Many times blogs will be bought out and the writer is asked to remain to keep the trust and respect flowing and to keep the fan base the of person who made the blog explode in the first place. That was the case in the ProBlogger announcement.

Your ability to demonstrate your blog’s value is key

Brag. Put your rss feed subscriber count from FeedBurner in an obvious place for all to see. If you are starting out, leave this off until you have something to brag about. Having 200 subscribers is something you want to keep quiet about until you have 2000 or more.

Let people know in subtle ways how well your blog is doing in advertising revenue. (optional) Some people aren’t into this, so take it as a “do it if it makes sense to you” tip.

Advertisers and investors will see anyway

If you’re a big deal, people are already checking out your rankings, pagerank, compete.com score, Alexa and your content and comment activity. It is easy to tell how well a site is doing at a glance with the proper tools and investors and advertisers know how to use those tools.

Selling your blog

Why would anyone want to sell their “baby?” If it is really making them so much monthly income in ads, lead generation, sales, or clients, why would they want to sell?

Many reasons

1. The market you are in is slowing, advertisers are harder to find, and you want to get out and start something else before the value of your blog goes down.
2. You are burnt out and want to be free again.
3. Someone offers you $15 million for it. (Take it, dummy!)

Building your blog

Authority blogs have the following ingredients you must build into your blog to go big and profit:

1. Respect:  You content is among the best in your niche, according to the number of links (votes) you have built up over time from other bloggers and site owners (who point because they respect and love your content).
2. Regularity:  Your blog can be counted on for new, quality content on a regular basis.  Note that many blogs that rise to the top of their market niche post multiple times per day within their topic range.
3. RSS Subscribers:  You have to build a huge following.  (”hugeness” depends on the niche) Go to the biggest blog in your niche and see how many RSS subscribers they have.  That’s your goal.  You don’t have to be the biggest, but you should be shooting for it even if you never overtake the biggest players in your niche.
4. Links:  Because your content is so good and in-demand, you should be building tons of links from other bloggers.  This will affect your search rankings and increase the value and traffic of your blog immensely.
5. Peer Acceptance:  The top blogs in any market niche have links from their peers, even competitors, which are some of the most valuable links to get.  Start networking to get on their radars and do whatever it takes to impress them enough to get reviewed or simply linked from one of their “speed linking” posts.
6. Offline Press:  Work on getting interviewed on radio.  Many radio stations look for experts to interview.  This can be a source of instant traffic from listeners and also links from the radio stations’ web sites.  Get on CNN or another news network and you can explode!
7. Learn the Trade:  Blogging is big business and is finally respected among most people as more serious than a diary.  Advertisers have seen the value, obviously.  Even the mass media uses blogs to figure out the “pulse” of online communities on politics, technology, weird and wild information, and many other topics that are news worthy.  So knowing blogging inside and out, learning how to accelerate the process of becoming popular and profitable, and skipping over the mistakes made by all newbie bloggers is important.

Protect yourself

Being independent of the whims of the economy is a dream of more people than ever since the beginning of the web.   Recent market crashes and economic downturns have made more people acutely aware that a “job” is not the definition of security.

Especially the 179,000 additional people in the U.S. who lost their jobs in September.  Having a profitable blog, whether you sell it or not, is security and freedom like nothing else.  One, because it is the easiest business to get started with online.  It’s not overly technical and you can start almost instantly.  Two, because advertisers, even in down markets, have to buy ad space to keep their “doors” open.

Blogging is hard work.  But anything that pays off like it did for John Wu takes hard work.

Is it worth it?

Ask any of the thousands of high traffic blog owners on the web who make anywhere from $5000-$100,000+ per month if what they’ve doen to get where they are today that question.  Ask yourself if such freedom is worth some work to achieve it.

To learn more about authority blogging, and to skip the multi-year learning curve and work most people have to put in to build an authority blog, check out this resource.

Tags: authority blogs, blog valuation, problogger, selling my blog, whats my blog worth

Friday wrap up. Notes from a busy dude…

-I’ll be talking with Jim Stroud on BlogTalkRadio today at 2 pm eastern. He was a Webside Chat guest who has so much to teach that I had to get him on BTR for a continuation of our conversation!

-Just got a great idea for a mommy blog: Mom living abroad raising kids. Blog title: Notes “From A Broad” (I know, it’s bad, but I had to get it off my chest.)

-The Directory Network Association has launched and is preparing to take over local search. Call us the Yellow Book killer! Still plenty of cities to grab up. It’s the best investment you can make in this market and a rare opportunity to be part of something truly big. We welcomed Joel Comm as our latest Board of Advisors member yesterday.

-Big changes are coming for Social Power Linking and Authority Site Center. Watch for our two membership sites to become re-branded, re-loaded, and even more successful at putting more website owners on the fast track to domination on the web.

-Webside Chats this week: Mike Michalowicz, author of Toilet Paper Entrepreneur and Ben Mack, magician, entrepreneur, author, and resident cool guy.

-Email count this week: 2031 (not including spam)

-Best sales day this week: Yesterday, did around $15,000 in sales

-Best sales day last week: Tuesday, over $300,000 in 2 hours. ($47,000 within 2 minutes, $172,000 within 5 minutes of launching DNA)

That was interesting.

Tags: Friday Traffic Report, jack humphrey, weekly wrap up

How to tap into the mommy market: Moms Rule!

Guest Post by Anissa Wardell

Did you know that moms are the buying power in the U.S. market? The buying power of mothers tops $2.1 trillion a year, and they control 85% of household income. (Jack personally believes they control even more, but moms want dads to feel like they at least have 15% of the power.) Hands down, moms are among the most coveted consumers in the U.S. market.

Here are 7 things that moms want, and that you should incorporate into your marketing plans:

1. Moms want credible sources
2. Moms want to connect quickly
3. Be holistic in your approach to moms
4. Don’t forget Radio advertising
5. Offer services that will make their lives easier
6. Be consistent with your message
7. Be relevant, don’t talk down to moms

Moms see blogs as credible sources of information, which is why you see major companies and brands that have marketing campaigns that involve engagement with “mommy bloggers.”

Recently Jack did an interview with one of the web’s top mom bloggers, Heather Armstrong of Dooce.com.

In this interview Heather explains that part of her popularity began when she simply wrote her feelings on her blog about her boss. Heather says it like it is, she doesn’t mince words. Moms (and even men) flock to her site from recommendations from other moms, and from other moms blogging about her. Is she credible? To her audience, yes, she is. Heather shares the details of her life with her readers, and they get to be part of her life. Heather shows her credibility in everything she writes.

Advertising on mom blogs, forming partnerships with them or finding ways to get them to blog about you or your product, is an effective way to encourage them to connect. One of the best ways to find out which mom blogs have the highest traffic numbers is to use Technorati. Try searching Technorati for keywords like “mom blog” or “parenting”.

Their Authority number will give you a better idea of how many blogs are linking to their site. Reaching out to these moms can be very rewarding, but, you have to know how to reach out to these moms first. Pitching them, isn’t going to do you much good, they are savvy internet marketers themselves.

Making 85% of the household buying decisions means moms are busy!

Moms are busy, therefore, you must connect them to a message quickly in order to get a response. Be brief and use concise language. Remember, we are talking to moms, you need to communicate to moms in more than one way. No longer can you slap up a tv commercial between soaps and expect it to bring in traffic or purchases by the droves. More and more moms use the internet to not only connect with other moms, but, to make purchasing decisions.

In order to connect with today’s mom, you need to use the channels that your niche market of moms spends the most time on.

• First, where is your mom market hanging out?
• What social networking sites does she frequent?
• What blogs does she have to read?
• When does she get online?
• How long does she spend online?

There are several sites that have social communities that cater to these moms and allow them to chat, share experiences, and seek advice from other moms.

After choosing the online sites, you need to consider how to appeal to moms through offline channels. Moms still read their favorite magazines, and by placing your branding where they frequent offline you are adding to your credibility.

Radio should be an important part of your marketing campaign.

Moms spend a great deal of time in their cars either stuck in traffic or waiting for their kids to finish up at activities. There is very little female or mom focused radio and car time is prime time for moms thinking. If you want to really impress moms, offer them services that are going to make their lives easier. Moms acquire lots of things, lots of tools, but what they need is time. Moms don’t have time to get everything done.

Be consistent in your marketing efforts.

All your marketing channels should be spreading the same message in order to really reach moms. Moms have to recognize your brand and message in different methods. Make sure that you don’t talk down to moms. If you always make sure to talk to moms in a relevant fashion, you won’t have to worry about talking down to them. Keep in mind, moms are savvy, and if you market to them properly, not only will you have a great customer, but, that happy customer will go out of her way to make sure all her friends know about you.

Do you still doubt the mommy market?

Check out these mommy blogs and note that many are extremely high traffic sites. Also note that they attract some of the biggest and most mainstream advertisers on the web today. Mommy bloggers are seriously bringing home the bacon!

Tags: best mommy blogs, buying decisions, mom blogs, mommy bloggers, parenting

Is Scott Bradley a Narcissist?

Now this is a new one:  Having many Facebook connections could mean you are a narcissist, according to Lauren Buffardi, a University of Georgia graduate student and lead author of a study that will be published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin next month.

The story was recently published on ABC News .

Buffardi has studied 130 Facebook users and found that while most are great at initial impressions and friend-making, they don’t often keep up with all the friends they make.

“By surveying 130 Facebook users, analyzing their pages and asking untrained strangers to assess the users’ pages, Buffardi and associate professor W. Keith Campbell found that the number of Facebook friends and wall posts that people have on their profile pages correlates with narcissism.”

I guess that’s one way to look at self promotion, which is all anyone is doing on social sites regardless of their motives.  For marketers, it is about letting people know who you are and what your expertise is.  According to my untrained background in psychology, that could mean a person’s resume could also be described as narcissistic as well.

Check out Scott Bradley in both of our Webside Chats to determine if he sounds like a self-loving individual or simply a networker doing a good job.

Tags: abc news, facebook, narcissism, social media

Taking Over the World of Local Search

It is almost unbelievable the number of people interested in our latest venture. The DNA (Directory Network Association) is set to launch with a big bang tomorrow.

We’ve been answering calls, emails, and all sorts of inquiries through contact forms on our blogs, our Facebook accounts, Twitter and more. We are now assured of generating the capital needed to launch advertising and traffic campaigns for the entire network right away.

Here’s what World Domination in Local Search looks like:

Each dot represents a major city (over 100,000 in pop) we are launching this week. There are 318 domains available now and people are lining up to buy at least one city when we open the sale tomorrow.

Here is what the U.S. looks like geographically:

There are also some destination cities in South America listed. We’ll be working with “operators” (each person who owns the city domain is an operator) to hit the first benchmark of $500 per month as quickly as possible. Great return on a minimum $3000 investment!

Some cities will hit this benchmark very quickly and head for the next: $1000 per month in ad revenue.All cities will generate income far beyond that depending on the motivation of the operator and the results of our national advertising and run-of-network ad sales.

(Try doing that on Wall Street right now!)

We are doing TV advertising and helping operators with local business ad sales, plus we’re providing print ad templates to announce their presence in their city. (This is among a ton of other perks for being part of DNA.)

The bottom line is: opportunity (real opportunity) with real asset acquisition is hitting tomorrow. Investors are lining up behind prospective operators to help them grab more than one city, so competition to grab the city each person wants is going to be intense.

But all the cities in the network are larger than 100,000, and we even have people buying in with their own domains for cities under 100,000.

Local search is about to see the revolution all the experts have been talking about for years but no one has been able to achieve. And it is precisely because of our grass roots investment and operation strategy (which all the “umbrella” local search companies on the web have failed to recognize as an opportunity) that this network will be the first to move local search into a new era.

To get details about the DNA network, click here. Domains go on sale tomorrow.

Tags: directory network association, dna network, local search

An Authority Site Is Born

Witness the birth and evolution of a new authority site created and marketed by our team and written by two talented, professional writers.

The site, TeenCheckup.com, is, of course, a blog. The “big bang” happened this week with the site setup, new content, and initial indexing by the engines.

If you want to see how an A-List blog progresses from humble beginnings to wild popularity, this is a blog to watch. This is where we prove our methods work.

I will be posting updates here on each benchmark and success story and will try to be as transparent as possible without giving away too many of the secrets that people pay us a worthwhile chunk of money for each month.

What to watch for:

1. Links - watch them pile up over the next couple of months with Yahoo link checking.
2. Buzz - watch our professionally researched and expertly written content grab links and mentions from around the web from other bloggers.
3. Rankings - we are already showing up in the engines on keywords from the first few articles published this week. As our authority grows, watch how many keywords we’re showing up for in Google and elsewhere.
4. Traffic - I will report back here with daily unique visitor counts every so often and give hints as to how we are increasing our traffic over time.

Watch our baby grow up to be a high-traffic, profitable, respected, informative site in the online safety niche before your eyes.

What I Will Be Showing Authority Site Center Members

Members of Authority Site Center are going to be getting videos and reports that show the step-by-step development, marketing, and results along with exact keyword rankings. Basically, my “peeps” get to see how we build authority sites from the ground up in complete detail.

The map that will be laid out by watching every little thing we do to build a profitable site will be absolutely invaluable. If you’ve been wondering how we do what we do, this would be the time to join our “Authority Site Building Army” at ASC!

Tags: authority site building, authority site center, Blog Marketing, blogging tips, how to build and authority site

Mike Michalowicz on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch

Mike Michalowicz is the author of “Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.” I was talking with Scott Bradley last week on a Webside Chat about Mike and next thing I know, Mike shows up on Donny Deutsch’s “The Big Idea” show.

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We’ll have Mike on Webside Chats soon! Stay tuned!
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Tags: Donny Deutsch, marketing books, Mike Michalowicz, toilet paper entrepreneur

Limited Consulting Spots With Jack Humphrey Are Open

Note: 3 spots left as of 9/09/08

I have decided to take on 5 new clients to teach them everything I know about becoming the authority in your niche.

I don’t do this often. In fact, the last time I did personal 1-on1 consulting was around this time last year. It’s just very hard to shake enough time loose and it can be draining for me, as I put everything I’ve got into my clients’ success.

Not for Tire Kickers

The program I’ve designed is not for the feint of heart. Successful applicants will have their entrepreneurial spirit and stamina tested over a 2 month period. Only people up for the biggest challenge of their online business career thus far need apply.

Results

I will be picking the best applicants from the field based on what I think I can do for them and how much “spirit” they demonstrate for the project.

I like to stack the deck in favor of dramatic results, so I will be choosing clients with the best ideas, niches, and potential for significant growth in traffic, rankings, and profits.

Check out my consulting page for more details. Remember, there are only 5 spots available. I can’t handle any more than that at this time. I expect the spots will be filled very shortly.

Tags: blog consulting, blog marketing training, jack humphrey consulting, social marketing consulting

Free “16 Steps to Success” Coaching Launches Today

Guest Post by Sam Clark, 16 Steps to Success Coach

Just today, thousands of people logged onto the internet searching web page after web page to find a way to work from home. It can be a very difficult chore figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

More often than not, many people are confused about to how to build their business even after buying expensive internet business training programs. Every time you log on and check your email there is the latest and greatest way to get rich.

Therein lies one of the biggest problems for most people trying to develop a business online.They are looking for a magic pill that will spit money out of their computers. Unfortunately many people are misguided and waste precious time and money looking for this magic pill.

The magic pill to online marketing success comes down to the fact that there is no magic pill.

You need to roll up your sleeves and get to work. One of the ways to succeed quicker is to invest in yourself and find a good internet business training program that will show you how to properly build your business.

Choosing an internet business coaching program comes down to doing your homework on who is providing the training and what their track record is. Another aspect is what kind of support and training are they going to provide.

As you go through the training you will have many questions so you will want to have good support as well.

To build your business online by utilizing an internet business training program, you will want to find out if there are foundational principals that you can follow along with.

One of the first components is setting up your business properly and getting highly organized. You may literally have hundreds of places and resources online that you will need to access. So make sure you take the time in your early days to get yourself organized.

I found through a survey I conducted that over 86% of people skip this vital part and jump right into trying to make money online. Information overload sets in and suddenly steals your time as you bounce around the office looking for that password to a site, or trying to figure out the web address of that very helpful site you were on last week.

This is a common problem I have found that many marketers overlook and it hurts their business in a big way. When information overload sets in they tend to spin out of control and end up either quitting or looking for a new way to make money online.

Next up is market research.

To succeed online you need to make sure that the training program you decide to invest it offers excellent training in this area. Investing the time to learn how to research a market will provide you the biggest payoff down the road and help you avoid the traps that steal your time.So take a deep breath and spend some time researching to find the right internet business training program.

Look for real testimonials from people that have been through the course and you will save yourself a lot of money and also wasted time.

Free Internet Business and Authority Site Building Coaching!

We are launching our completely free “16 Steps to Success” * program that was met with rave reviews in its debut this spring. It really is free coaching with real meat and no strings attached. And it is better training than provided by most, if not all, $5000+ programs.

It will kick your butt!

This training lasts for 8 weeks and is intensive. It will make you a much better internet marketer and it will show you real ways to profit online. And, I have to mention once more, it really is completely free!

Spots are taken VERY quickly with this training, so be sure to get registered right now and get ready to experience what high-level, professional online business training is like without paying a dime for it.

To learn more, please visit http://www.16StepsToSuccess.com

*16 Steps to Success is based on Jack Humphrey’s personal marketing and authority building tactics. Sam Clark and Jack Humphrey will be training over 2 weeks on everything you’ll need to know about building and growing a solid, reputable, profitable online presence.

Tags: 16 steps to success, authority site center, free coaching, internet business coaching, jack humphrey, sam clark

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