| LED Digest 2268: Marketing Makes the Money |
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How focusing on marketing as a central part of your business plan will delivery results, and yes, make you money. Search media optimization is discussed, along with the link baiting fad. Most effective social media sites? ================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Registration from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. October 17 2006 Issue no. 2268 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= <Moderator Comment> ~ Selling Ads "...one idea I have is to sell spots on a first come, first serve basis very cheaply..." --== SMO and Link Bait ==-- ~ Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian "...the very reason they are called 'buzz words' is because folks 'buzz' about them." ~ Rae Deisler "...what social media sites are the most effective for you?" --== Another Bubble? Google & YouTube ==-- ~ John "Zeke" Brumage "Youtube is just a first glimmer of the new power that will come from flattening the network." --== Natural Search Effectiveness ==-- ~ Michael Linehan "Business people have got to understand that marketing is what makes the money." ~ Nathan Holley "Organic SEO and social media are mostly the highest returning channels..." --== YouTube for Marketing ==-- ~ James Miller "...at present it has a stereotypical market, that will expand dramatically." --== Usability and Search ==-- ~ Shari Thurow "Search engine optimization is only about marketing, huh?" ======== CONTINUING =============================== <Moderator Comment> Greetings LEDer, I've been busy adding archives to the site and updating content. There just isn't enough time in the day, though, and some of my other goals have been put on the back burner. One of them is getting subscriber demographics and advertising information up. I'm getting a lot of inquiries to advertise, which is great, but without a real idea of our subscribers it's tough to sell the inventory. So expect a survey sometime in the next 30 days or so. In the meantime, one idea I have is to sell spots on a first come, first serve basis very cheaply until 2007. Pair.com still holds the main sponsorship placement, but other slots are open. I'm thinking a basic 10 line text ad here, maybe a button, banner or text ad on the site too. We'll run these until January. To find out how cheaply you can reach 40,000 highly targeted and active subscribers, contact me: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Thanks, Adam ---------------------- From: Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian Subject: SMO linkbait > Link bait is just more SEO-speak. It's the latest flavor, and > a lot of very experienced people in this industry are buying > in, as if it's some kind of new phenomenon. It's not. > As for social networking, I fail to see how the RE agent in > Peoria uses their MySpace page for anything more than > incidental traffic. Gaming it with fake accounts... seems > like an incredible waste of time and money. - Dirk Johnson, LED Digest 2267 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1229/55/ Dirk, just to share some 'out of the box' thinking. I don't see why a 'different' kind of RE agent in Peoria may not be able to harness the power of 'link baiting' and SMO even in his niche. What if... * a celebrity was about to visit Peoria to adopt a child? Think you could craft a 'link bait' blog post around it, and tie it in with your real estate business? * a sudden slide in real estate prices is predicted, making it a great investment opportunity? Could you blog about the potential for double-digit returns in a short period, and get interested investors linking back? * how about a hot news event (good or bad) like an epidemic viral infection that could spread globally, or a special mineral in the groundwater that lowers cancer risk (both hypothetical, by the way!)? Can that become 'link bait' that indirectly benefits a RE agent? Buzz words are just those - often. But the very reason they are called 'buzz words' is because folks 'buzz' about them. And for a while they are popular fads. Some stick - like blogging. Others fade - like Pointcast - only to reappear years later. The newest twist on Social Networking is Social Media Optimization (SMO) - which you could call the 'same old, same old', but still learn something new from the '17 Rules of SMO' that could bring in more traffic and links. Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater. All success Dr.Mani 17 Rules of SMO http://www.squidoo.com/SMOrules/ -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Rae Deisler Subject: SMO, Linkbait, etc... > [Social media tools] are becoming abused and > used for capitalistic ends. This is not what they > were initially designed for, but once again the > SEO crowd is pissing in the pool... - Nathan Holley, LED Digest 2266 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1199/55/ Nathan, I agree that there's some abuse happening in the major social media sites. This is to be expected - hey I'm not surprised by the recent digg fiasco. But I don't think it's going to bring down the system, especially with the better niche-focused sites, reddit being one example (focused on technology). But let's not forget that SMO is originally a concept for *optimizing* your content to be *usable* by social media technology. It's not SMM - social media marketing - it's SMO - social media optimization. Optimize your blog, site, discussions, RSS, whatever, to be spread virally by this democratic pandemic happening online. That's the crucial distinction that creates a separation between ethical, compliant technology publishers and gaming blackhat spinsters. It's also not so simple as the "SEO crowd pissing in the pool." The Web is always going to create and serve technology that efficiently promotes, and tech businesses will use these technologies. SEOs, ecommerce businesses, PR folks, mom and pops, Joe blogger, and anyone else. Always there will be unethical gamesmanship. Always there will be exceptions. > Yeah, linkbaiting, something I haven't read much of on LED > Digest but is the current fad. Linkbaiting + 150 user accounts > at the major social sites = lots of eyeballs the cheap way. I've researched this lately and have found that this is surprisingly true, although not quite as simple as Nathan states. It's easy to find programs that spam the social sites, and guess what? It works. For how long, well, that's another story. BTW, those tools Lee Odden posted in issue 2266 are fantastic. Thanks - that's the kind of thing that makes this list so great. BTW again - can we please get back to some practical discussions that will help us market / optimize / develop / grow our sites?! I'll start: what social media sites are the most effective for you? So far, it's Delicious and Digg for me, and to a lesser extent, Reddit. R. Deisler -------- new post - new topic -------- From: John "Zeke" Brumage Subject: Bubble > And your thoughts on Google buying You Tube? > Is You Tube worth 1.65 billion dollars? Are we on > the verge of another internet bubble fueled by > badly done homemade video clips? - Ronni Rhodes, LED Digest 2266 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1199/55/ Youtube is just a first glimmer of the new power that will come from flattening the network. Just as the internet allowed anyone to play in the print media space, high speed IP allows cheap entry into the television arena. For mass market, high definition programming, over the air transmission makes economic sense, and may continue to do so for at least the next decade. But the pervasiveness of home broadband, and the future availability of superbroadband lowers the bar to entry for TV Network wannabees and budding movie producers alike. The only barriers will be those artificially set up by the last mile vendors. This is another reason that net neutrality is so important. John Brumage Disco Legend Zeke -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Michael Linehan Subject: Natural Search ROI Falling? > My heart sank a bit at "strategic / every day / varied." - Shaun Johnston, LED Digest 2267 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1229/55/ A couple more remarks that apply... 1. Centrality of Marketing I encounter many people whose feelings about marketing range from boredom to hatred. I often see, "Oh, it's Friday afternoon. I guess we'd getter do a bit of marketing before the weekend." In fact, it's a valid model to say that marketing in THE ONLY way a business makes money. Other activities, such as financial management, help you keep it, not MAKE it. Hiring the top accountants on the continent will not make you a cent if you don't tell anyone what you have for them. Similarly, having a warehouse full of superb inventory won't make any money, if you don't tell anyone. And being able to save a million lives tomorrow morning won't make you a buck if you don't tell anyone --- or if they just think you're a shyster and don't believe you. On the other hand, marketing can make you millions with no inventory, no financial management in place, no staff, etc. Of course, it can even do this with no intention to deliver anything --- i.e. criminal fraud. Business people have got to understand that marketing is what makes the money. So it may not have to be literally every day - but it had better not be as a afterthought each Friday at 3pm! 2. Partnership The second point in the logic is, therefore, partnership. If the owners of your 10-room inn are like many, they are "too busy" running the inn to market effectively (in their own minds, anyway). So they have to come to understand point 1 - and then act on it. I work with businesses like that so I can offload to them anything that they can do. I tell them (diplomatically but bluntly) that they either have to pay money or pay time, and that the work is not a "recommendation" or a "good idea" - that someone MUST do it. Generation of site content is one example of such a task. I keep track of what is going on and support, cajole, inspire or nag them into doing their part. It doesn't always work; sometimes they just never generate that needed content. But it often does, and provides them with a powerful but economical experience. Finally, like I said, it may not need to be every day, but if marketing is what actually makes the money, why would they not be spending time and money on it every day!? Michael Linehan Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Nathan Holley Subject: Directories up? maybe niche... > What's new for me, using this basis, is that SEO for > natural listings comes way down that list. Directories > are rising up to the top. ROI analysis is much easier > for directories over any other method, I think. - Shaun Johnston, LED Digest 2267 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1229/55/ My first thought is this is specific to your market and niche. I'm finding just the opposite, actually, with directory listings becoming more and more worthless. Organic SEO and social media are mostly the highest returning channels at the moment, with "purposeful linking" (my term for *carefully* buying and selling text links) probably third on the list. The paid directories are excellent for building trust and credibility. Coincidentally this was posted by Aaron Wall (who's posted here before) yesterday: ------------------- "Using the social sites is often a cheaper and more effective way of building a natural and diverse high quality backlink profile than by trying to build links from some of the lower quality directories. The social sites often lead to many secondary citations." http://www.seobook.com/archives/001876.shtml ------------------- The good directories Aaron lists are Yahoo!, DMOZ, Business.com, bCentral, BOTW, Gimpsy and JoeAnt. All cost money except DMOZ if you do it ethically. That's to imply that now finding DMOZ editors who will accept $ for listings is ridiculously easy. It's sad, I know, but it's a fact. I don't think he meant it to be comprehensive, but I'd also add SplatSearch. And I'd recommend marketing with Squidoo. Nathan Holley -------- new post - new topic -------- From: James Miller Subject: YouTube marketing > Have you actually looked at YouTube? > ... nudity is not allowed. - David Spahr, LED Digest 2267 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1229/55/ By not much else, I meant something like a bikini or shorts and a cropped top, but that isn't the point. I should say that I have used YouTube and have put the only Dory Previn video up there. It is a very easy site to use and one of the reasons for its success, is that anybody can upload a video very quickly and without fuss. I think that the site has tremendous potential and although at present it has a stereotypical market, that will expand dramatically. The post puller is a simple example, where showing a video should sell the product, as it is quite a difficult concept to explain on the flat page as it would need a whole series of still images. As to whether it gets stolen, I'm not actually bothered, as in the largest markets, I would have patent protection and there are plenty of lawyers who'll tackle copyists on a no-win no-fee basis. My wife and son are both lawyers, too! Supposing that YouTube became the place of choice where any instructional video was placed. Let's say you sell laser printers! A ten minute video can show a lot of how it works, how you install it and how you do simple servicing and change cartridges. As YouTube can be integrated into your site, it doesn't matter whether anybody finds it on YouTube or not. Just look at blogs. They started as something nerdy and fairly pointless. Now they are serious. It's not surprising that Google bought Blogger a few years ago now. Perhaps, we will say they got a bargain with YouTube in a couple of years. James Miller Daisy Analysis: www.daisy.co.uk -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Shari Thurow Subject: Usability and search Hi all- This is in response to Brett Atkins recent post in LED [issue 2267 http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1229/55/ ]. I'll take the bait. First and foremost, we are in the middle of a site redesign and rewriting. However, client sites have always come first. Ever hear the story of the cobbler's shoes? Well, that is no different from the Web designer / developer and her own site. So criticize and whine all you want, Brett. You haven't seen the new rendition of the site. I will listen to the participants of our usability tests (especially in the area of information architecture and categorization) long before I hold Brett's opinion in any high esteem. Search engine optimization is only about marketing, huh? Wow, I guess Mr. Atkins must really believe that.. My suggestion is to get off your behind and go to a public library, an academic library, or a museum. Some kind of library (music libraries are really cool, in my opinion). Open up your mind and actually talk to people who develop the interfaces to these information retrieval systems. Information retrieval as a field existed long before Google came into existence. Oh yeah, these libraries? Non-profit, mostly. No marketing involved in the development information retrieval systems. I have a great deal of respect for my colleague, Bruce Clay. Please do not drag his name into this. I might not agree with his definition of search engine optimization, but I would take that up with him directly rather than use him as bait for a discussion / debate without his knowledge or permission. Also, for those of you who understand archiving, especially when it deals with news search, that original article Mr. Atkin was written years ago as a part of a Clickz column. I have archived it and copyright protected it, as any wise business owner would do. Of course, I have updated, archived, and copyrighted the same article as part of the forthcoming 2nd edition of my book. Unlike many SEOs, I choose to evolve my knowledge about information retrieval and will update any article that needs updating. Nonetheless, archiving is still important. Which reminds me to give a little tip to all Web site owners: make sure you have an archiving plan in place for your Web site. I am often hired as an expert witness in this arena, and you wouldn't believe the businesses that do not archive important information. Without an archiving plan, it might become more difficult to prove or disprove your case. So make sure you have one. In conclusion, I feel Mr. Atkins' knowledge of the information retrieval industry is quite limited and he makes rather poor cause-and-effect conclusions. I am rather amused that he believes he can read my mind and know what our marketing strategies are. (Hint: everyone has been wrong so far.) In short? I think Mr. Atkins should just grow up and admit that he doesn't know what he is talking about. I don't believe that academia is the right choice for everyone in evolving search engine knowledge. I just know it is the right choice for me, and I have no regrets about my decision. Sincerely, Shari Thurow, Grantastic Designs, Inc. http://www.grantasticdesigns.com/ ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2006 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt." - Henry J. Kaiser |
