One night I was at my favorite local dive bar and there's this guy sitting next to me and he's trying to get something going with this girl and all he can talk about is himself. What he did today, what he's doing tomorrow, what kind of car he drives, what kind of sports he's good at.
In other words, he was giving her product information - features and benefits.
She was bored in about thirty seconds and started basically ignoring him a couple of minutes later.
He switched gears. "Can I buy you a drink?"
Another wuss. The neediness of the "Can I buy you a drink?" was palpable.
She looked down at the full glass in front of her and the expression on her face was priceless. You could see how exasperated she was with having to deal with yet another boring idiot with no clue.
"No thanks" as she picks up the full glass and shows it to him. She was visibly relieved when he walked away.
Are You That Guy?
If you think you're going to sell people with nothing but product information... think again.
As consumers, we're all that girl in the bar. We've all heard the same boring bullshit a million times.
Nobody really cares about product information. They may smile and nod politely as you ramble on, they might even let you buy them a drink. But trust me, you're not taking her home with features and benefits.
This whole how to pickup girls thing isn't just a metaphor. It's what's really going on.
As a marketer, whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not, you are the guy at the bar and the visitors to your site are the girl. The exact same social dynamics are going on. Exactly the same - even if all the visitors to your site are men.
So, how to pickup girls?
The first step is to realize that it's not a talent, it's a skill. It's not secret knowledge, it's not something mysterious. It's something anyone can learn and do.
But all skills require study and practice. The cool thing about practicing the marketing game is that the rejections aren't as in your face as they are at the bar.
But never forget that the social dynamics are the same. It doesn't matter what your gender is, if you're trying to sell something, then you're trying to pickup girls.
If selling as social dynamics is new to you, here are two places to get you started:
Rules of The Game by Neil Strauss - This really is a How to Pickup Girls book, but you can read it from a marketer's point of view (frame), focus on the social dynamics and really get a lot of solid information that you can transfer directly to your salesmanship.
And of course, the new mother of all selling as social dynamics books:
Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff - If you haven't read this one yet, you're really missing the boat.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The Challenge Manifesto
New in The Challenge for 2011 is The Challenge Manifesto.
This a written guide that accompanies The Challenge training and expands on the ideas presented in each Module.
Personally, I think the best way to do The Challenge is by using The Manifesto as your starting point, and ending point, for each lesson. Start with the relevant section in The Manifesto - this will give you a head's up for that day's training and will help you get more out of the video because you'll know where it's going and what you need to be learning from it.
After you've finished the day's videos, go back to The Manifesto and review the section again to make sure you've learned what was meant to be learned for that day and then go on to your action steps.
The Challenge Manifesto should be your every day companion to The Challenge Training.
This a written guide that accompanies The Challenge training and expands on the ideas presented in each Module.
Personally, I think the best way to do The Challenge is by using The Manifesto as your starting point, and ending point, for each lesson. Start with the relevant section in The Manifesto - this will give you a head's up for that day's training and will help you get more out of the video because you'll know where it's going and what you need to be learning from it.
After you've finished the day's videos, go back to The Manifesto and review the section again to make sure you've learned what was meant to be learned for that day and then go on to your action steps.
The Challenge Manifesto should be your every day companion to The Challenge Training.
Friday, September 9, 2011
How to Create Engaging Content
I think in the beginning of your quest for great content, the most helpful thing is to get into an engagement mindset and start looking at your everyday life in terms of engagement. When something "catches" you in some way, ask yourself why.
As for specifics, you can start by identifying the market leaders in your niche and watching carefully how they're doing it. You can identify market leaders in many ways. You can see who is getting the most re-tweets in your market and you can analyse the tweets themselves to find out why that particular message is getting attention. You can read forums in your niche and see who is delivering good stuff and who is just babbling. You start to follow the leaders.
You can ask. For example, in this forum you could say something like, "I'm new to internet marketing and I don't know who the real movers and shakers are. Besides The Challenge team, can you suggest some people I should be following on Twitter? People who you follow and who you think really know their stuff or have an interesting point of view, or are really good at digging up good stuff."
You can search blogs in your niche and see which posts get the most comments and try to figure out why. You can see who is making the most engaging comments and start to follow them.
You can search press releases and news stories for clues about who is the most active in your market. You can look for good stuff in RSS feeds via Google Reader and see where it is coming from and who is saying it. Again, if it grabs you or it grabs a lot of other people, ask yourself why and try to use the same principals.
Think about "popularity" in terms of engagement. Why was Britney Spears the most popular search on Google for so many years? It's because people love gossip. People love to know what other people are doing. Tell people about the features and benefits of purple widgets and nobody cares. Tell a story about how your love of purple widgets got you a raise, or almost got you fired, or best of all, got you a date with Britney Spears and then you're on the road to engagement.
Think about how popular the word "New" is in advertising. New is a popular word in advertising because human beings are curious by nature. If something is "new" or "fresh" or even just different, we want to know about it. Offering a new point of view can be very engaging. Spotting new trends in the market place and letting people know about them can be engaging.
Another thing people love is to be social. To feel included. To let people know, "I'm like you" is engaging. To validate people's feelings is engaging because it creates rapport and trust. Speaking to people's emotions at the same time as speaking to their intellect is engaging.
Humor is monumentally engaging.
So this whole "engagement" deal is all around you and that's why developing the mindset of looking for it is so useful. And when you couple that with examples of the most engaging content being created in your market right now, then you've got a solid base to build on.
When it comes to creating content, I never start with a blank page.
As for specifics, you can start by identifying the market leaders in your niche and watching carefully how they're doing it. You can identify market leaders in many ways. You can see who is getting the most re-tweets in your market and you can analyse the tweets themselves to find out why that particular message is getting attention. You can read forums in your niche and see who is delivering good stuff and who is just babbling. You start to follow the leaders.
You can ask. For example, in this forum you could say something like, "I'm new to internet marketing and I don't know who the real movers and shakers are. Besides The Challenge team, can you suggest some people I should be following on Twitter? People who you follow and who you think really know their stuff or have an interesting point of view, or are really good at digging up good stuff."
You can search blogs in your niche and see which posts get the most comments and try to figure out why. You can see who is making the most engaging comments and start to follow them.
You can search press releases and news stories for clues about who is the most active in your market. You can look for good stuff in RSS feeds via Google Reader and see where it is coming from and who is saying it. Again, if it grabs you or it grabs a lot of other people, ask yourself why and try to use the same principals.
Think about "popularity" in terms of engagement. Why was Britney Spears the most popular search on Google for so many years? It's because people love gossip. People love to know what other people are doing. Tell people about the features and benefits of purple widgets and nobody cares. Tell a story about how your love of purple widgets got you a raise, or almost got you fired, or best of all, got you a date with Britney Spears and then you're on the road to engagement.
Think about how popular the word "New" is in advertising. New is a popular word in advertising because human beings are curious by nature. If something is "new" or "fresh" or even just different, we want to know about it. Offering a new point of view can be very engaging. Spotting new trends in the market place and letting people know about them can be engaging.
Another thing people love is to be social. To feel included. To let people know, "I'm like you" is engaging. To validate people's feelings is engaging because it creates rapport and trust. Speaking to people's emotions at the same time as speaking to their intellect is engaging.
Humor is monumentally engaging.
So this whole "engagement" deal is all around you and that's why developing the mindset of looking for it is so useful. And when you couple that with examples of the most engaging content being created in your market right now, then you've got a solid base to build on.
When it comes to creating content, I never start with a blank page.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
The Challenge 2011 is Finally Here!
Wow, the new materials went up on Sept. 1st and once again, I am blown away by all the great information provided by Ed and The Challenge team.
I've been watching videos like crazy and trying to deal with all the new people in the forums, but I hope to soon start reviewing the whole course from beginning to end.
I will, as usual, be posting what I think are particularly important ideas that come up in the forums and so here we go again!
I've been watching videos like crazy and trying to deal with all the new people in the forums, but I hope to soon start reviewing the whole course from beginning to end.
I will, as usual, be posting what I think are particularly important ideas that come up in the forums and so here we go again!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
How I Get the Most From Training Videos
As a student of marketing, I end up watching a lot of training videos and I've developed a system for making sure I get the most from them.
My problem with video is that like all of us, I grew up watching television and so I expect video to be entertaining. And let's face it, most training videos are not entertaining in the traditional sense.
So I had to find a way to avoid the "tuning out" that can easily happen when you're watching a training video, especially those that are mostly just talk.
Here is my system and I'd love to hear your tips as well!
Watch it through the first time, with no interruptions, just to enjoy the show and to just absorb. Don't worry if it seems like important details are whizzing by, you know you're going to come back again. I always have those "I need to write this down" moments as well, but resist the temptation and let it go - remain focused on drinking it all in.
At The Challenge, Ed tries to keep the videos to manageable lengths, but some videos will simply be too long to comfortably view in one sitting, so go ahead and hit the Pause button and get up and stretch your legs. It is important that you take your break away from the computer!
Do not switch to email or some other time sucking task on the computer. Get up and putter around the house a bit and then sit back down to finish the video.
After you've finished, go wash the cat or do some other non-challenging task to clear your head.
The Second Time is for Strategic Planning
This is when I take notes. I generally write down two kinds of things; key points and action steps.
One of the biggest problems with training videos is thinking that you've "got it" just because you understand what is being said. The way you know you've really got it is when you can apply the generalities to the specifics and can also see how the specifics can inform you about the generalities.
In other words, the training video may be about writing effective email messages, but the larger lesson is basic communication skills that can also apply to blog posts and even telephone conversations with your mom.
So in the second watching of the video, take notes on those key points and think about how they might apply to other facets of your business. Don't be afraid to pause the video often in order to give yourself time to take complete and coherent notes. Write down everything that seems important at all. You'll edit them later, so for now, just grab.
I'm also taking notes on action points. Be sure that you don't gloss over something just because it seems obvious at the moment. You want your notes to remind you of all the essentials no matter how long it has been since you watched the video.
Once you've been through the video and created all your notes, it is time to organize them into an action plan.
Generally, there will be one central idea to a training video and that idea is either going to apply to a particular project or to all of your projects. So how you take action is going to be determined by the nature of the information, but it is vital that you write it down. We all have our "to do" lists and I also have lots of notes stored in a "do it better" file that I keep for assorted tips. Plus, I always find a way to take immediate action in some way. "How can I do this right now?"
There is no point in training if you never put it into action, so watch the video and get the big picture, then watch it again and take notes. Then organize those notes into an outline for action and then take your new knowledge and understanding, put them into action and kick some butt!
My problem with video is that like all of us, I grew up watching television and so I expect video to be entertaining. And let's face it, most training videos are not entertaining in the traditional sense.
So I had to find a way to avoid the "tuning out" that can easily happen when you're watching a training video, especially those that are mostly just talk.
Here is my system and I'd love to hear your tips as well!
Watch it through the first time, with no interruptions, just to enjoy the show and to just absorb. Don't worry if it seems like important details are whizzing by, you know you're going to come back again. I always have those "I need to write this down" moments as well, but resist the temptation and let it go - remain focused on drinking it all in.
At The Challenge, Ed tries to keep the videos to manageable lengths, but some videos will simply be too long to comfortably view in one sitting, so go ahead and hit the Pause button and get up and stretch your legs. It is important that you take your break away from the computer!
Do not switch to email or some other time sucking task on the computer. Get up and putter around the house a bit and then sit back down to finish the video.
After you've finished, go wash the cat or do some other non-challenging task to clear your head.
The Second Time is for Strategic Planning
This is when I take notes. I generally write down two kinds of things; key points and action steps.
One of the biggest problems with training videos is thinking that you've "got it" just because you understand what is being said. The way you know you've really got it is when you can apply the generalities to the specifics and can also see how the specifics can inform you about the generalities.
In other words, the training video may be about writing effective email messages, but the larger lesson is basic communication skills that can also apply to blog posts and even telephone conversations with your mom.
So in the second watching of the video, take notes on those key points and think about how they might apply to other facets of your business. Don't be afraid to pause the video often in order to give yourself time to take complete and coherent notes. Write down everything that seems important at all. You'll edit them later, so for now, just grab.
I'm also taking notes on action points. Be sure that you don't gloss over something just because it seems obvious at the moment. You want your notes to remind you of all the essentials no matter how long it has been since you watched the video.
Once you've been through the video and created all your notes, it is time to organize them into an action plan.
Generally, there will be one central idea to a training video and that idea is either going to apply to a particular project or to all of your projects. So how you take action is going to be determined by the nature of the information, but it is vital that you write it down. We all have our "to do" lists and I also have lots of notes stored in a "do it better" file that I keep for assorted tips. Plus, I always find a way to take immediate action in some way. "How can I do this right now?"
There is no point in training if you never put it into action, so watch the video and get the big picture, then watch it again and take notes. Then organize those notes into an outline for action and then take your new knowledge and understanding, put them into action and kick some butt!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Are you worth listening to?
I had an art professor once who said, "Learning to draw is like learning to speak a foreign language. But never forget that it's one thing to know the language and quite another to have something worth saying."
He was saying that drawing isn't just a skill; it's a form of expression. And the real point is to say something with your art. To say something worth listening to.
And so it is with the content we create as marketers. The point isn't to just put up some content. The point is to say something worth listening to.
OK, so that sounds good as a goal, but how to do I go about making sure that I'm creating content that is worth listening to? How do I achieve the goal?
Not surprisingly, Google has already figured this out. Here's what they say:
Engagement refers to the attention other people pay to your published content, like blog posts, news & articles. They see and read a post, and then because it’s interesting, inspiring, or controversial, they get “hooked” and decide to take further action.
Getting hooked and acting on it when you read something that makes you think, laugh, or get angry is engagement. The actions that people then take are called engagement events.
So there it is. You know you're creating content that matters, you know you're saying something worth listening to when people "get hooked and take further action."
At least that's how Google is going to judge you.
This is something you need to understand and act on. It's all right here: What is Engagement?
I know that creating great content is something that most people new to marketing seriously struggle with. It's frustrating. But never forget that it's nothing more than a skill. It's like learning to play tennis. With practice and perseverance, anyone can do it. And luckily for all of us, we know a guy who teaches that skill.
Content is everything. Do whatever it takes to make sure you're creating content that is worth listening to.
He was saying that drawing isn't just a skill; it's a form of expression. And the real point is to say something with your art. To say something worth listening to.
And so it is with the content we create as marketers. The point isn't to just put up some content. The point is to say something worth listening to.
OK, so that sounds good as a goal, but how to do I go about making sure that I'm creating content that is worth listening to? How do I achieve the goal?
Not surprisingly, Google has already figured this out. Here's what they say:
Engagement refers to the attention other people pay to your published content, like blog posts, news & articles. They see and read a post, and then because it’s interesting, inspiring, or controversial, they get “hooked” and decide to take further action.
Getting hooked and acting on it when you read something that makes you think, laugh, or get angry is engagement. The actions that people then take are called engagement events.
So there it is. You know you're creating content that matters, you know you're saying something worth listening to when people "get hooked and take further action."
At least that's how Google is going to judge you.
This is something you need to understand and act on. It's all right here: What is Engagement?
I know that creating great content is something that most people new to marketing seriously struggle with. It's frustrating. But never forget that it's nothing more than a skill. It's like learning to play tennis. With practice and perseverance, anyone can do it. And luckily for all of us, we know a guy who teaches that skill.
Content is everything. Do whatever it takes to make sure you're creating content that is worth listening to.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Easy SEO - Your About Me Page Matters
In this new age of Authorship, it is more important than ever to have a great "About Me" page on your site.
Many people new to marketing tend to shy away from doing much with this page, if they bother to do one at all, but that just doesn't fly these days and so I've scoured the web and I've assembled the best tips and ideas for creating the perfect "About Me" page for market leadership.
Be Real
The overriding principal is always to be yourself. Never try to present yourself as something you're not. There's no shame in calling yourself an "enthusiast" or "a fan of" or a "follower of." The fact that you like something enough to build a website about it is proof enough of your "fan" status. Take as far from there as is true.
I Never Forget A Face
Include a photograph. Preferably a smiling head shot of you. If you feel compelled to use someone else's face, be sure it is one you own the rights to use commercially.
Can We Have a Story, Please?
Human brains are hard wired for stories. We all love a good story. It's simply a part of being human, so give people what they want and tell them a story. Tell them why you care about the subject of your site and what problem you hope to solve. Make it as personal as possible.
What Was Your Name, Again?
You need to have a reason that you stand out from the crowd in some way. What makes you different? Have an opinion in your market and express it. Mouth off. Tell people straight up why they should listen to you. It really doesn't have to be anything more than "I'm going to do my best to always find the truth and bring it to you here." This isn't rocket science.
I'm So Glad We Had This Chat
Be welcoming and invite people to contact you. Use your email address as a link to your Contact Me page.
I would also suggest that you check out as many "About Me" pages than you can find. Here are some to get you started:
30 Beautifully Designed About Us Pages
Make A Great About Me Page
Onward and upward!
Many people new to marketing tend to shy away from doing much with this page, if they bother to do one at all, but that just doesn't fly these days and so I've scoured the web and I've assembled the best tips and ideas for creating the perfect "About Me" page for market leadership.
Be Real
The overriding principal is always to be yourself. Never try to present yourself as something you're not. There's no shame in calling yourself an "enthusiast" or "a fan of" or a "follower of." The fact that you like something enough to build a website about it is proof enough of your "fan" status. Take as far from there as is true.
I Never Forget A Face
Include a photograph. Preferably a smiling head shot of you. If you feel compelled to use someone else's face, be sure it is one you own the rights to use commercially.
Can We Have a Story, Please?
Human brains are hard wired for stories. We all love a good story. It's simply a part of being human, so give people what they want and tell them a story. Tell them why you care about the subject of your site and what problem you hope to solve. Make it as personal as possible.
What Was Your Name, Again?
You need to have a reason that you stand out from the crowd in some way. What makes you different? Have an opinion in your market and express it. Mouth off. Tell people straight up why they should listen to you. It really doesn't have to be anything more than "I'm going to do my best to always find the truth and bring it to you here." This isn't rocket science.
I'm So Glad We Had This Chat
Be welcoming and invite people to contact you. Use your email address as a link to your Contact Me page.
I would also suggest that you check out as many "About Me" pages than you can find. Here are some to get you started:
30 Beautifully Designed About Us Pages
Make A Great About Me Page
Onward and upward!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Keyword Research - Sculpting Results
As I revealed in a post in The Challenge Forums, one of my favorite super secret Market Samurai tips is to use words like "classes" in my "seed words" for keyword research.
This works for most activities and hobbies and even many products. So you could try something like "fishing classes" or "model railroad classes" or even "eye makeup classes."
It works because using a word like "classes" triggers Google to find other "information seeking" keywords that are relevant to the idea of learning about something. And while information seekers can be tire-kickers, they're also all secret shoppers and with good judo-salesmanship you can often win them over. Plus information seeking generally leaves tons of room for article topics.
The real point here is that Google associates different kinds of keywords together for different reasons and so you can guide your keyword research results in ways beneficial to you by using the right combinations of words as "seeds" for further research.
"Classes" is just one of the more obvious choices. I'm sure you can think of many better words to try as keyword modifiers.
Onward and upward!
This works for most activities and hobbies and even many products. So you could try something like "fishing classes" or "model railroad classes" or even "eye makeup classes."
It works because using a word like "classes" triggers Google to find other "information seeking" keywords that are relevant to the idea of learning about something. And while information seekers can be tire-kickers, they're also all secret shoppers and with good judo-salesmanship you can often win them over. Plus information seeking generally leaves tons of room for article topics.
The real point here is that Google associates different kinds of keywords together for different reasons and so you can guide your keyword research results in ways beneficial to you by using the right combinations of words as "seeds" for further research.
"Classes" is just one of the more obvious choices. I'm sure you can think of many better words to try as keyword modifiers.
Onward and upward!
Friday, August 5, 2011
The Best Google Profile Pictures for Authors
If you're here, then you know about or are researching the new authorship initiative that Google has now embraced. If you need to learn how to use this new and very powerful feature on Google, then here is my tutorial for WordPress users (Challengers): Easy SEO – Authorship
However, one of the key points in doing all of this is to get your picture displayed in search results which means, quite obviously, that you need a picture in your profile.
Here's what Google says about your profile picture:
Your profile picture must be a photograph of yourself and of high quality in order to be eligible for be shown as a thumbnail in search results.
So right away we can dispense with cartoons, icons, and any other sort of non-real-person type images. Don't even bother. They may seem cute on Facebook, but they aren't going to get respect from Google, so forget them.
That having been said, your Google profile picture doesn't necessarily have to be a photograph, per se, as long as it pretty much looks like a photograph.
For example, when I do a search for "best profile pictures" I see an article authored by Matt Silverman and I get his Google profile picture next to it.
Now comes the question of whether or not this has to be your photograph and this is actually an area of some controversy. Women, especially, have raised privacy concerns about the requirement to distribute personal pictures and it is obvious that many people (such as authors) use pen names for professional reasons and many do, in fact, use "pen pictures."
In my thinking, this is related to what Google says about you profile name: Google Profiles requires you to use the name that you commonly go by in daily life.
In other words, they want your "real" name to go with your "real" photograph.
That's what Google wants, but what I want isn't always the same thing but you will have to decide for yourself what name to use and what picture to use.
But let's assume you're going to use a picture of yourself or at least a picture of a person which is a picture that you can legally use (no copyright problems). So the question becomes what sort of picture is best?
Short answer: use a head shot.
The main thing to remember is that when your picture is shown in the SERPs, it is in a small format (50 x 50) so it needs to be able to "read" well when small. This is why a conventional head shot works best. Human brains are hard wired to recognize faces so a profile picture that is "all face" is the best.
Let me show you what I mean. Here is an example of a very nice Facebook profile picture that I found here: The Best Facebook Profile Pictures.
The good things about this picture is that it is high contrast and she's looking right into the camera. But when you shrink it down to a 50 x 50 thumbnail, this is what you get:
Which makes a much more effective 50 x 50 presentation:
By zooming in on the face and painting out the hand, I was able to make this picture which shrinks down to a much better thumbnail.
Summing it all up is easy!
1) Use a head shot
2) Make it simple yet interesting
Please let your friends (and me) know if you found this article helpful!
However, one of the key points in doing all of this is to get your picture displayed in search results which means, quite obviously, that you need a picture in your profile.
Here's what Google says about your profile picture:
Your profile picture must be a photograph of yourself and of high quality in order to be eligible for be shown as a thumbnail in search results.
So right away we can dispense with cartoons, icons, and any other sort of non-real-person type images. Don't even bother. They may seem cute on Facebook, but they aren't going to get respect from Google, so forget them.
That having been said, your Google profile picture doesn't necessarily have to be a photograph, per se, as long as it pretty much looks like a photograph.
For example, when I do a search for "best profile pictures" I see an article authored by Matt Silverman and I get his Google profile picture next to it.
Now comes the question of whether or not this has to be your photograph and this is actually an area of some controversy. Women, especially, have raised privacy concerns about the requirement to distribute personal pictures and it is obvious that many people (such as authors) use pen names for professional reasons and many do, in fact, use "pen pictures."
In my thinking, this is related to what Google says about you profile name: Google Profiles requires you to use the name that you commonly go by in daily life.
In other words, they want your "real" name to go with your "real" photograph.
That's what Google wants, but what I want isn't always the same thing but you will have to decide for yourself what name to use and what picture to use.
But let's assume you're going to use a picture of yourself or at least a picture of a person which is a picture that you can legally use (no copyright problems). So the question becomes what sort of picture is best?
Short answer: use a head shot.
The main thing to remember is that when your picture is shown in the SERPs, it is in a small format (50 x 50) so it needs to be able to "read" well when small. This is why a conventional head shot works best. Human brains are hard wired to recognize faces so a profile picture that is "all face" is the best.
Let me show you what I mean. Here is an example of a very nice Facebook profile picture that I found here: The Best Facebook Profile Pictures.
The good things about this picture is that it is high contrast and she's looking right into the camera. But when you shrink it down to a 50 x 50 thumbnail, this is what you get:
Which makes a much more effective 50 x 50 presentation:
By zooming in on the face and painting out the hand, I was able to make this picture which shrinks down to a much better thumbnail.
Summing it all up is easy!
1) Use a head shot
2) Make it simple yet interesting
Please let your friends (and me) know if you found this article helpful!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Market Samurai Tips for Keyword Research
Here's a recent post I did for The Challenge Forums.
With Market Samurai, Google limits you on how many returns you can get and since Google is going to return what it thinks are relevant keywords no matter what you start with, the goal is to eliminate as much garbage as possible as early as possible. In terms of using Market Samurai, the first place this kicks in is to make sure you set the phrase length filter to at least two words. Single word keywords are market level keywords at best, so ditch them right away.
Once you get the list of returns, DO NOT analyze those keywords until you've gone through the list with marketer's eyes looking for what your common sense tells you are areas worth exploring. So if your seed word was "sports" and one of the returns was "sport socks" that would be something to open in a new tab, because it obviously represents a niche. It doesn't matter what numbers it has because you're going to use it as a "seed" for more research. At this point you're looking for niches, not keywords so the numbers aren't necessary and you'll get them later anyway.
Once you've pulled out everything that looks interesting, then go ahead and analyze the keywords, but DO NOT filter them in any way. Then what I do is order the keywords by SEOT highest to lowest. Again, I don't care what the actual numbers are because I'm still looking for niches. Now in this situation I'm looking for words with high traffic and relatively lower competition. So if the top ten keywords all have millions of competition but one of them is only hundreds of thousands, then that is one that I want to explore further and it gets a new tab too if I didn't already catch it in the first look through the list.
Next, I re-sort the list by Adwords Value highest to lowest and again, I'm looking for stuff that doesn't fit the pattern. Many times I find keywords that are high value, but significantly lower traffic and lower competition than it's neighbors, so it too gets a new tab.
Once I've mined the list this way, THEN I apply my Challenge guideline filters to see if any keywords of opportunity show up.
Then I make my way through the rest of the tabs, repeating the same "look for niches first" process every time.
I start the ball rolling, then I let Google guide me.
Another trick is to remember is that market research works in both directions. For example, if I'm looking at what's hot on eBay and I see "radio controlled pickup trucks" I would still use that obvious micro-niche as a "seed" because Google is going to move up the food chain automatically. So radio controlled pickup trucks might not pan out, but it may lead you to some other "radio controlled" thing or some other "truck" thing that does work out.
Basically, looking for keywords that meet the guidelines is the last thing I do. I consider my "looking for niches" steps just as important as looking for keywords that meet the guidelines.
I hope this helps!
With Market Samurai, Google limits you on how many returns you can get and since Google is going to return what it thinks are relevant keywords no matter what you start with, the goal is to eliminate as much garbage as possible as early as possible. In terms of using Market Samurai, the first place this kicks in is to make sure you set the phrase length filter to at least two words. Single word keywords are market level keywords at best, so ditch them right away.
Once you get the list of returns, DO NOT analyze those keywords until you've gone through the list with marketer's eyes looking for what your common sense tells you are areas worth exploring. So if your seed word was "sports" and one of the returns was "sport socks" that would be something to open in a new tab, because it obviously represents a niche. It doesn't matter what numbers it has because you're going to use it as a "seed" for more research. At this point you're looking for niches, not keywords so the numbers aren't necessary and you'll get them later anyway.
Once you've pulled out everything that looks interesting, then go ahead and analyze the keywords, but DO NOT filter them in any way. Then what I do is order the keywords by SEOT highest to lowest. Again, I don't care what the actual numbers are because I'm still looking for niches. Now in this situation I'm looking for words with high traffic and relatively lower competition. So if the top ten keywords all have millions of competition but one of them is only hundreds of thousands, then that is one that I want to explore further and it gets a new tab too if I didn't already catch it in the first look through the list.
Next, I re-sort the list by Adwords Value highest to lowest and again, I'm looking for stuff that doesn't fit the pattern. Many times I find keywords that are high value, but significantly lower traffic and lower competition than it's neighbors, so it too gets a new tab.
Once I've mined the list this way, THEN I apply my Challenge guideline filters to see if any keywords of opportunity show up.
Then I make my way through the rest of the tabs, repeating the same "look for niches first" process every time.
I start the ball rolling, then I let Google guide me.
Another trick is to remember is that market research works in both directions. For example, if I'm looking at what's hot on eBay and I see "radio controlled pickup trucks" I would still use that obvious micro-niche as a "seed" because Google is going to move up the food chain automatically. So radio controlled pickup trucks might not pan out, but it may lead you to some other "radio controlled" thing or some other "truck" thing that does work out.
Basically, looking for keywords that meet the guidelines is the last thing I do. I consider my "looking for niches" steps just as important as looking for keywords that meet the guidelines.
I hope this helps!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Press Releases for SEO
Press Releases are an often overlooked method for creating authority and high value backlinks to your site. I think the biggest reason that press releases are overlooked is that they require special attention and effort in order to get them accepted and published.
Plus, now that Google is shifting emphasis to Authorship, press releases are an excellent way to increase your authorship authority.
First Things First... Be Smart About Keywords and Everything Else
The first thing to remember when crafting your press releases is that they are read and vetted by human beings who have very specific ideas about what they want to see. So being smart about keywords doesn't mean trying to work them in as much as possible. It means writing for people in a natural way. Keywords in the title, keywords in the first and last paragraphs, and Bob's your uncle. Even more important than that... make it interesting.
Tease, Not Please and Above All... Do Not Sell
Press releases are not sales letters. The goal of a press release is to generate interest... they should be very good teasers and nothing more.
I could go on forever about writing press releases but I would just be repeating a lot of what is already out there.
Voice
One of the main differences between a press release and a blog post, for example, is the "voice" you use for writing. What that means is how you talk to people. In this blog post, I am speaking directly to you. That means I am speaking in the voice of the "first person." For a press release, the proper voice is the "third person" for both you and your audience.
For example, on a blog I might say, "If you want to get the word out, my Handy Dandy Press Release service is the way to go!"
But for a press release, that becomes, "Press releases are a great way for anyone to get the word out on their newest project."
Enough from me... I'm no expert. But here are some great resources from those who are !
This series is from a pro blogger named Terry who is the husband of pro blogger Forever Amber. It's really one of the best resources on writing press releases that I've ever found and it's a shame he hasn't done more with it. It was actually pretty hard just to find the whole series as Amber's blog doesn't have a search feature.
Are you listening Terry?
Anyway.. here it is:
How to Write Perfect Press Releases
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
And another good source is this HubPages Hub by Christine OKelly
SEO Press Releases How to Write Them and Where to Submit Them
Now go out and write up a press release!
Plus, now that Google is shifting emphasis to Authorship, press releases are an excellent way to increase your authorship authority.
First Things First... Be Smart About Keywords and Everything Else
The first thing to remember when crafting your press releases is that they are read and vetted by human beings who have very specific ideas about what they want to see. So being smart about keywords doesn't mean trying to work them in as much as possible. It means writing for people in a natural way. Keywords in the title, keywords in the first and last paragraphs, and Bob's your uncle. Even more important than that... make it interesting.
Tease, Not Please and Above All... Do Not Sell
Press releases are not sales letters. The goal of a press release is to generate interest... they should be very good teasers and nothing more.
I could go on forever about writing press releases but I would just be repeating a lot of what is already out there.
Voice
One of the main differences between a press release and a blog post, for example, is the "voice" you use for writing. What that means is how you talk to people. In this blog post, I am speaking directly to you. That means I am speaking in the voice of the "first person." For a press release, the proper voice is the "third person" for both you and your audience.
For example, on a blog I might say, "If you want to get the word out, my Handy Dandy Press Release service is the way to go!"
But for a press release, that becomes, "Press releases are a great way for anyone to get the word out on their newest project."
Enough from me... I'm no expert. But here are some great resources from those who are !
This series is from a pro blogger named Terry who is the husband of pro blogger Forever Amber. It's really one of the best resources on writing press releases that I've ever found and it's a shame he hasn't done more with it. It was actually pretty hard just to find the whole series as Amber's blog doesn't have a search feature.
Are you listening Terry?
Anyway.. here it is:
How to Write Perfect Press Releases
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
And another good source is this HubPages Hub by Christine OKelly
SEO Press Releases How to Write Them and Where to Submit Them
Now go out and write up a press release!
Friday, July 29, 2011
SEO Consulting - Track & Report
I am looking for a simple way to analyze where the client's site and ranking is currently and how to effectively measure and track the results for the strategy I implement, so that I can deliver some sort of report to the client.
Let's not forget that there is only one thing you can "rank" for and that is keywords. So the first thing you have to do is identify the keywords the client wants to rank for or should be ranking for. Find out who the market leader is and run their site through the Google keyword tool to find out which keywords Google likes for them and use those keywords as a guide. Run your client's site through the tool and see how many of the same keywords Google finds them relevant for. Develop a list of keywords to target and a plan for creating engaging content around them.
Once you know which keywords you want to rank for, Market Samurai does all the rest.
Plug those keywords into Market Samurai, add your client's URL to the competition module for each of those keywords and track your progress. The competition module will show you exactly where you need to be with backlinks, optimization, etc., etc.
You're not ranking in isolation, you're ranking against the competition so they are your guide of where you need to be in terms of how many backlinks you need to have and mechanical stuff like that. As I told of of my clients... "The top site in your market has 20K backlinks. You have 200. They have 800 pages of content. You have 50. There is no magic here, you simply have to do better than they do at everything if you want to beat them."
I always try to demystify this stuff as much as possible to keep their expectations realistic.
I like screenshots. I love to show people how they went from green to red in Market Samurai's competition module. "Green means you can be beat. Red means you're a force to be reckoned with."
As for keyword analysis, there are a couple of things to do. Load the keywords from the competition's site that have the highest number of searches and use them as "seeds" for keyword research to see if you can find any keywords of opportunity they (or you) have been missing. Also look to see which of the keywords they're doing well on represent the best opportunity for you to target first. In other words, if they're doing well for decent keywords that they aren't specifically targeting (you know that's true if those keywords are poorly optimized) then you have an opportunity to go after those keywords specifically and beat them by doing it all better.
I also look for Challenge style keywords of opportunity and I especially look for easy pickings long tails that you can rank for really fast. Always nice to be able to say that three weeks ago you didn't rank for these keywords at all and now you're number eight.
I hope this helps!
Let's not forget that there is only one thing you can "rank" for and that is keywords. So the first thing you have to do is identify the keywords the client wants to rank for or should be ranking for. Find out who the market leader is and run their site through the Google keyword tool to find out which keywords Google likes for them and use those keywords as a guide. Run your client's site through the tool and see how many of the same keywords Google finds them relevant for. Develop a list of keywords to target and a plan for creating engaging content around them.
Once you know which keywords you want to rank for, Market Samurai does all the rest.
Plug those keywords into Market Samurai, add your client's URL to the competition module for each of those keywords and track your progress. The competition module will show you exactly where you need to be with backlinks, optimization, etc., etc.
You're not ranking in isolation, you're ranking against the competition so they are your guide of where you need to be in terms of how many backlinks you need to have and mechanical stuff like that. As I told of of my clients... "The top site in your market has 20K backlinks. You have 200. They have 800 pages of content. You have 50. There is no magic here, you simply have to do better than they do at everything if you want to beat them."
I always try to demystify this stuff as much as possible to keep their expectations realistic.
I like screenshots. I love to show people how they went from green to red in Market Samurai's competition module. "Green means you can be beat. Red means you're a force to be reckoned with."
As for keyword analysis, there are a couple of things to do. Load the keywords from the competition's site that have the highest number of searches and use them as "seeds" for keyword research to see if you can find any keywords of opportunity they (or you) have been missing. Also look to see which of the keywords they're doing well on represent the best opportunity for you to target first. In other words, if they're doing well for decent keywords that they aren't specifically targeting (you know that's true if those keywords are poorly optimized) then you have an opportunity to go after those keywords specifically and beat them by doing it all better.
I also look for Challenge style keywords of opportunity and I especially look for easy pickings long tails that you can rank for really fast. Always nice to be able to say that three weeks ago you didn't rank for these keywords at all and now you're number eight.
I hope this helps!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Easy SEO - Authorship
This is huge.
It looks like the days of people hijacking your content are over, but that's just the tip of the iceberg and this really is as big as an iceberg, with much of it below what you can easily see.
Google is now implementing, "the display of author information in search results to help users discover great content."
This means that when we publish to the web and the Google spider crawls that content, Google is going to try to identify and verify who the author of that content really is. If they can, then they will display the author's thumbnail image next to the listing in search results! Here's what it looks like:
Pictures Have the Power!
Pictures are incredibly powerful. We are basically visual creatures. Trust me, SERP results that have friendly faces attached to them are going to get clicked on way more often than those that don't and that act alone (more clicks) will boost your rankings. Plus, Google has said that being able to verify authorship is a ranking factor in itself.
If you don't jump on this, you're not a marketer!
OK, so how does it actually work? Here's the basic run down straight from Google:
To identify the author of a blog or article, Google checks for a connection between the content page (such as an article), an author page, and a Google Profile. Authorship markup uses the
You didn't get that?
Not to worry, because WordPress, as usual, makes the implementation of this fairly easy and I've got it all here for you.
The first step is to create a Google profile for your author, if you don't already have one. I'm assuming that you already have a Gmail account associated with your blog that you use for managing all your niche related email needs, right? If not, then you need to start one and use it to set up a Google profile. Log into your Gmail account and look to the top right where it shows your account name and click on that. In the menu that opens up, you'll see "Create Profile" and you click on that. Walk through the prompts and then when you get to where you can edit your profile be sure to be as interesting as you can and don't forget to add that profile picture! The more stuff you say in your profile, the better. Google likes "rich" profiles.
Here's what they say:
Here are some tips for creating a rich, useful Google Profile:
That having been said, after reading "Crush It" I'm a firm believer in building a personal brand and I strongly advise you to do the same whenever possible.
I also would recommend that you think carefully about the picture you use. It really should be as appealing as possible. Here are Five Tips for Creating the Perfect Profile Pic. They do include tips about avatars and cartoon images, but I recommend that you stay away from those kinds of pictures. People like to see real human faces that are happy. Give that to them.
The instructions tell you to then: "Copy and paste the following code into your site where you want the button to appear"
When Google detects content you've marked as yours, we'll list that content on the +1 tab of your Google Profile (we'll do this automatically as soon as you've +1'd at least one webpage). You'll need to create at least one +1 on your own (look for the button on search results or around the web) before we can add authored content to your +1 tab. (If you haven't +1'd anything yet, just click this button and you'll be all set:
(the internal Google +1 button from the instructions doesn't reproduce here, but go ahead and click on my +1 button at the bottom of this post and you'll be all set! lol )
You'll then be able to see this Help article on the +1 tab of your Google Profile.). Then go to your Google profile, click Edit Profile, and then select Show this tab on my profile.
Getting it Together With Wordpress
Now I'm going to assume that you're like me in that you're basically the only author on your site and that you have an "About" page just like I do. If you don't have an "About" page on your site, you need to create one. It doesn't just give you a way to do this trick, it helps your site appear more trustworthy when people can see that it is owned by a real person.
Log into your site, and go to the Menus Page, which is under the Appearance tab and then look to the upper right for the "Screen Options" tab. Open that up and you'll see an option to "Show advanced menu properties" where you can check the box for "Link Relationship (XFN)"
Since the theme I'm currently using doesn't have native support for the "menus" function (it tells me this on the menus page), I created a custom menu and added the "About Me" page to that menu. If your theme has native menu support, you won't need to do this. For me, after I finish here, I will go to the Widgets page and drag the "Custom Menu" widget into my sidebar.
Now add the word "author" to the "Link Relationship" box on the About Me menu properties. Here is how my setup looks (you can click on the picture to see it full size).
Remember, for this to work, a link to your About Me page has to be on the post/page you're linking to and in Wordpress, the best way to do that is to have the About Me page in a menu that shows in a header or footer or sidebar.
That's the first part. Now you need a plugin. Here's the one: Allow REL= and HTML in Author Bios
Install the plugin and activate it and forget it. There's no setup or input from you required in any way. It works invisibly in the background. You need it because it allows the next trick.
Remember that code you copied from Google up above? Here's what you do with it...
Go to edit the About Me page and switch to the HTML tab and post the code into the page where you want your little Google Profile button to appear. But then you need to change the part where it says rel="author" to rel="me" and then save the page.
Now that you have Wordpress all set, it's time to go back to Google and add your URL to your Profile. Be sure that you add the "permalink" URL for the post/page to your profile.
The way to do that is to go into where you edit your profile and click on the "Links" area. Then select for "Add custom link" and in the window that opens up, the first box is for the name of the link and the box below it is for the actual URL.
That should be it!
You can test it all out by using Google's Rich Snippets Testing Tool
That tool has a cool little troubleshooter to let you know if you goofed up.
Have fun!
It looks like the days of people hijacking your content are over, but that's just the tip of the iceberg and this really is as big as an iceberg, with much of it below what you can easily see.
Google is now implementing, "the display of author information in search results to help users discover great content."
This means that when we publish to the web and the Google spider crawls that content, Google is going to try to identify and verify who the author of that content really is. If they can, then they will display the author's thumbnail image next to the listing in search results! Here's what it looks like:
Pictures Have the Power!
Pictures are incredibly powerful. We are basically visual creatures. Trust me, SERP results that have friendly faces attached to them are going to get clicked on way more often than those that don't and that act alone (more clicks) will boost your rankings. Plus, Google has said that being able to verify authorship is a ranking factor in itself.
If you don't jump on this, you're not a marketer!
OK, so how does it actually work? Here's the basic run down straight from Google:
To identify the author of a blog or article, Google checks for a connection between the content page (such as an article), an author page, and a Google Profile. Authorship markup uses the
rel attribute (part of the open HTML5 standard) in links to indicate the relationship between a content page and an author page.You didn't get that?
Not to worry, because WordPress, as usual, makes the implementation of this fairly easy and I've got it all here for you.
The first step is to create a Google profile for your author, if you don't already have one. I'm assuming that you already have a Gmail account associated with your blog that you use for managing all your niche related email needs, right? If not, then you need to start one and use it to set up a Google profile. Log into your Gmail account and look to the top right where it shows your account name and click on that. In the menu that opens up, you'll see "Create Profile" and you click on that. Walk through the prompts and then when you get to where you can edit your profile be sure to be as interesting as you can and don't forget to add that profile picture! The more stuff you say in your profile, the better. Google likes "rich" profiles.
Here's what they say:
Here are some tips for creating a rich, useful Google Profile:
- Update your Google Profile with links to any of your other author pages around the web. (To add links to your profile, click Edit profile, then click the Links box on the right of the page and add the links you want.)
- Your profile picture must be a photograph of yourself and of high quality in order to be eligible for be shown as a thumbnail in search results.
- To easily link to your Google Profile, add the Profile button to your site.
OK, so after you've created your profile, you then add links to the content you authored. In Wordpress, you want to be sure that this link is to the canonical address for the post. That means the shortest possible URL for that specific post. In Wordpress terms, this would be the permalink.
In the case of this particular post, it is: http://deanrichards.info/easy-seo-authorship- Your profile picture must be a photograph of yourself and of high quality in order to be eligible for be shown as a thumbnail in search results.
That having been said, after reading "Crush It" I'm a firm believer in building a personal brand and I strongly advise you to do the same whenever possible.
I also would recommend that you think carefully about the picture you use. It really should be as appealing as possible. Here are Five Tips for Creating the Perfect Profile Pic. They do include tips about avatars and cartoon images, but I recommend that you stay away from those kinds of pictures. People like to see real human faces that are happy. Give that to them.
- To easily link to your Google Profile, add the Profile button to your site.
The instructions tell you to then: "Copy and paste the following code into your site where you want the button to appear"
Go ahead and copy the code, but save it for now as a text file, we're going to come back to this.
Now continue with the instructions as follows:
When Google detects content you've marked as yours, we'll list that content on the +1 tab of your Google Profile (we'll do this automatically as soon as you've +1'd at least one webpage). You'll need to create at least one +1 on your own (look for the button on search results or around the web) before we can add authored content to your +1 tab. (If you haven't +1'd anything yet, just click this button and you'll be all set:
(the internal Google +1 button from the instructions doesn't reproduce here, but go ahead and click on my +1 button at the bottom of this post and you'll be all set! lol )
You'll then be able to see this Help article on the +1 tab of your Google Profile.). Then go to your Google profile, click Edit Profile, and then select Show this tab on my profile.
Now I'm going to assume that you're like me in that you're basically the only author on your site and that you have an "About" page just like I do. If you don't have an "About" page on your site, you need to create one. It doesn't just give you a way to do this trick, it helps your site appear more trustworthy when people can see that it is owned by a real person.
Log into your site, and go to the Menus Page, which is under the Appearance tab and then look to the upper right for the "Screen Options" tab. Open that up and you'll see an option to "Show advanced menu properties" where you can check the box for "Link Relationship (XFN)"
Since the theme I'm currently using doesn't have native support for the "menus" function (it tells me this on the menus page), I created a custom menu and added the "About Me" page to that menu. If your theme has native menu support, you won't need to do this. For me, after I finish here, I will go to the Widgets page and drag the "Custom Menu" widget into my sidebar.
Now add the word "author" to the "Link Relationship" box on the About Me menu properties. Here is how my setup looks (you can click on the picture to see it full size).
Remember, for this to work, a link to your About Me page has to be on the post/page you're linking to and in Wordpress, the best way to do that is to have the About Me page in a menu that shows in a header or footer or sidebar.
That's the first part. Now you need a plugin. Here's the one: Allow REL= and HTML in Author Bios
Install the plugin and activate it and forget it. There's no setup or input from you required in any way. It works invisibly in the background. You need it because it allows the next trick.
Remember that code you copied from Google up above? Here's what you do with it...
Go to edit the About Me page and switch to the HTML tab and post the code into the page where you want your little Google Profile button to appear. But then you need to change the part where it says rel="author" to rel="me" and then save the page.
Now that you have Wordpress all set, it's time to go back to Google and add your URL to your Profile. Be sure that you add the "permalink" URL for the post/page to your profile.
The way to do that is to go into where you edit your profile and click on the "Links" area. Then select for "Add custom link" and in the window that opens up, the first box is for the name of the link and the box below it is for the actual URL.
That should be it!
You can test it all out by using Google's Rich Snippets Testing Tool
That tool has a cool little troubleshooter to let you know if you goofed up.
Have fun!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
New Challenge, New Blog!
It's finally official!
The Challenge 2011 starts Sept. 1st so I decided it was time to clean this baby out and start fresh!
The 2010 forums are still active and if I was a betting man, I'd bet they won't remain that way for long. But until they fold (and after they start again) I'll be posting some of my answers to questions that I feel are helpful to everyone.
I also have a tutorial for WordPress users on how to get going with the new Google author thumbnails that I will be posting tomorrow.
So until then.... let's party! A new Challenge! New fun!
The Challenge 2011 starts Sept. 1st so I decided it was time to clean this baby out and start fresh!
The 2010 forums are still active and if I was a betting man, I'd bet they won't remain that way for long. But until they fold (and after they start again) I'll be posting some of my answers to questions that I feel are helpful to everyone.
I also have a tutorial for WordPress users on how to get going with the new Google author thumbnails that I will be posting tomorrow.
So until then.... let's party! A new Challenge! New fun!
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