January 14th, 2010
How to View a Web Page’s Source Code
Source code is a valuable source of information in competition research. This quick guide shows you how to view the source code of a web page.
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January 12th, 2010
Free Blogging eBooks
This is the first in an ongoing series about free ebooks on aspects of internet marketing for service based businesses. This post is about free ebooks on blogging. This series will only include free ebooks I have personally evaluated and deemed worth your precious time.
Read more »Tags: blogging, free ebooks
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December 2nd, 2009
When Good Marketers Go Bad: Another Segment in an Ongoing Series
I just listened to one of the worst teleclasses I’ve ever heard. What was particularly shocking was that it was done by someone well known in the PR field. (No. I’m not going to name names for reasons soon to be obvious but if you email me I’ll tell you.)
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September 10th, 2009
Take the Time to Write Well!
Today I came across an article in Search Engine Land’s Strictly Business column that annoyed the hell out of me. Not because I disagree with the point the author was trying to make. If I understand her correctly, I whole heartedly agree! I’m annoyed because the article was so poorly written the very important point she was trying to make got lost in bad writing! (you can read the article here. )
I believe that the overall point of the article is “When there is a mis-match between the key words you are targeting on a web page and the overall tone of the page copy, that web page won’t yield the results you expect. Here’s what you can do to fix it.” I can only assume this was the point the author meant to make because at no point does the author tell the reader what point she is trying to make.
The Major Mistakes Made
1. The author breaks the Golden Rule of Copywriting which is “Tell the reader what you are going to tell them. Tell them. Then tell the reader what you told them.”
2. The other major mistake the…
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September 8th, 2009
Hiring Subcontractors: How to Keep Costs Low and Quality High
I was recently asked by a journalist for my advice about how to hire a virtual assistant (VA). I started my business as a virtual assistant over 8 years ago and as an internet marketing consultant I’ve hired all kinds of subcontractors for a wide variety of tasks. Since I’ve been on both sides of the equation I hoped my answer makes life easier for both parties.
It sucks to overspend on a project and not get what you expected. It also sucks to have unhappy clients due to miscommunication. That’s why the #1 most important piece of advice I would give any one looking to hire a virtual assistant is to write down in as much detail as possible what you need them to do. You might think “Oh I just need them to do data entry” or “I just need them to update my website.” But once you starting writing down what you mean by data entry or website updates, you will be surprised at the variety of tasks involved.
Before you start looking for and interviewing possible candidates, you need to answer the following questions in as much detail as possible:
1. What exactly do you need…
Read more »Tags: hiring subcontractors virtual assistant
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April 24th, 2009
Should I Have a Blog?
The following is a down-and-dirty quick way to decide if blogging is for you and your business.
- It’s a lot easier to add a new blog post than it is a new web page. With a little training, a non-technical person can add a blog post but you need a programmer to add a web page.
- A blog is a great way to build relationships online.
- A blog is a great way to keep in touch with clients and prospects.
- Because readers can comment on what you’ve written, you can create a dialogue with readers. (Depending
…
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April 2nd, 2009
My Two Cents on Twitter
If your only goal is to “figure out how to make money from it”, please do us all a favor and cancel your Twitter account. You’re not going to make money from Twitter. I don’t care what the self styled internet marketing Gurus are telling you. You might – and that’s a big might – make money because of relationships you’ve nurtured on Twitter but that’s it.
There is no 1:1 relationship between Twitter and your income. And I think that’s a good thing. The internet was originally designed as a way to share information and despite the best efforts of the Gurus, it’s still primarily a way to share information. If sharing of information leads to business, great. But it starts with sharing information!
I only follow people who provide quality information. My time is valuable to me and I’m sure you’re time is valuable to you. It’s one of the few things in life we can’t make more of…
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March 13th, 2009
How Much Is a Link Worth?
A link can be worth £100 ($139) or it can be worth 1p (1¢).
I came across the following question on LinkedIn today and thought it perfectly illustrated the question “What is a link worth?”
Here’s the question:
I’m doing some work with a client who has used a linkbuilding service to help with their SEO in the past but at £100 per month it wasn’t exactly cheap! Can anyone recommend someone they’ve used for this service who delivers results but doesn’t charge silly fees?
Here’s My Answer:
Depending on the types of links this service gets, £100 can be a great deal or a waste of money.
One link can be worth £100 if your most desirable key phrase is in the anchor text and the link is on a blog or website your target market reads with a page rank of 4 or more. This kind of link can both help your rankings for the key phrase in the anchor text AND get real live human visitors interested in your product to your website. Win! Win!
On the other hand, 100 links to the URL in totally obscure directories is a waste of money because they…
Read more »Tags: backlinks, linking
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January 6th, 2009
6 Internet Marketing Articles You Really Ought to Read
12 Different Types of Links and How To Get Them
by Todd Malicoat
“What is a backlink?” is one of the top five most frequently asked questions I get from clients and colleagues. My short answer is that a backlink is a link from another website or blog to your website. It’s like a vote of popularity for your website and backlinks are a crucial but often ignored aspect of improving your website’s rankings. There are many types of backlinks and although this article is a few years old, it’s still a great explanation of the types of links you can get to your website. Hopefully it will help “backlinks” go from something that seems beyond your control to something you can put on your To Do List.
Comprehensive Guide to Key word Research, Selection & Organization
by Stony DeGeter
I firmly believe that key phrase research and selection is the foundation of – not just an SEO campaign – an effective overall internet marketing campaign.…
Tags: articles, best of, blog posts, internet marketing
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
November 23rd, 2008
How to Say Absolutely Nothing on Your Home Page
I love it when I come across an especially jargon laden site. These sites save me a lot of time. I can show them to my clients and all of a sudden light bulb goes off. They get how bad it is to use generalities to the point of vagueness.
I came across the mother load of all jargon sites today. The following is the home page text of a company on track to reach 1 billion dollars in revenue by 2010. Obviously, this is not a small company and yet, this is their home page text. I have replaced the company name with “Our Company”.
Our Company efficiently and effectively integrates a wide range of
resources and core competencies to provide unique and timely solutions that
exceed our customers’ stated
…
Read more »Tags: bad copy, jargon
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