| LED Digest 2565: A Message That Sticks |
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The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom www.WillMaster.com/Master : the LED's Key Sponsor Master Series Software - Get Connected with Your WebSite www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. January 8, 2007 Issue no. 2565 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== The Message and the Medium ==-- ~ Michael Linehan "What does Marshall McLuhan's famous phrase 'the medium is the message' mean today?" ==== CONTINUING ================= --== The Paid Links Scam ==-- ~ Howard Brereton "How long before Google demands all internet advertising also has a 'no follow' tag?" ~ Marty R. Milette "Google's grip on good vs. evil has slipped a long way." ~ Chris Nielsen "As long as links have value, the paid link industry will continue to exist..." --== Vacation Autoresponder ==-- ~ Greg Robbins "The out of office assistant can do that in Outlook..." --== Ad Copy with Low CTR ==-- ~ Eva Rosenberg "Will and Mari...run a consistent, long-term, high-quality business." ========= NEW ===================================== From: Michael Linehan Subject: Crafting a Message That Sticks From an interview: Chip Heath, professor of organizational behavior in Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business with Lenny Mendonca, a director in McKinsey’s San Francisco office. McKinsey: What does Marshall McLuhan's famous phrase "the medium is the message" mean today? How important is the medium in all this? Chip Heath: I admire McLuhan for coming up with a sticky slogan, but with all due respect his slogan is wrong. In truth, the message is the message. People who think too much about the medium - opt-in newsletters, the Internet, Web 2.0 - are making the same mistake that people have made for years in education. Remember how the 8-millimeter film was going to revolutionize education? Then the VCR? Then the personal computer? The medium can certainly help, but an 8-millimeter film didn't salvage a bad math lesson. (Read the whole article at: http://tinyurl.com/35y6f5 [mckinseyquarterly.com]) Now just apply that to any other medium, "...an 8-millimeter film didn’t salvage a bad math lesson". A powerful, inspiring and effective marketing message reaching the right people will give most business owners enormously more return than poor marketing messages dressed up with all the bells and whistles. Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Howard Brereton Subject: Paid links Three Questions - 1) How do search engines know the difference between a paid for banner and a paid for text link from one site to another? 2) How long before Google demands all internet advertising also has a 'no follow' tag - merely because it is better for their algo? 3) Does Ad Sense count? Happy New Year Howard Brereton Director - http://www.typicallyspanish.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Marty R. Milette Subject: Paid links Google's grip on good vs. evil has slipped a long way. Google has no right to ban paid links when they themselves have the biggest paid link network going - AdSense. On a second point, has anyone tried AdWords lately and noticed that the $.05 per click keyword doesn't exist anymore? I just tried building a program for "SharePoint Training" and the minimum activation price on any of over 300 keyword phrases was somewhere between $.50 to $5.00 per click. That is the MINIMUM necessary to even get a keyword activated - even for keywords where there were NO OTHER ADVERTISERS and NO CLICKS. Any HONEST alternatives out there? Marty R. Milette http://hotel-club.net Hotel reservations without the ads. -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Chris Nielsen Subject: Paid links > Thanks to Chris for the thoughtful > response. I'm going to ignore his straw man > arguments about Yahoo directory listings as > paid links, and get right to the heart of > this. - Dan Thies, LED Digest 2564 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1979/190/ My comment about Yahoo was extreme, but "straw man"? I admit while I have heard that expression, I had to look that up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man. And I don't think that applies, but perhaps you can explain why a paid link in the Yahoo directory is any different than a paid link on any other directory or site. Isn't there only one determination for a paid link: Would those links be there if they were not paid for? So, a link in the Yahoo directory costs $300 a year and that's ok, but a paid link on Joe's snowboards costs $15 a month that that's NOT??? Sorry, but I don't get the difference aside from the costs and values involved. I'm NOT defending paid links. I am only saying that Google should not be telling anyone what kind of links they can have on their sites. They cannot correctly determine the paid or unpaid status of every link. Therefore any discrimination of links is almost certain to the discrimination of links that are NOT paid for, unless they are very, very careful. The tactic of using FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) is a poor one at best to solve any problem. While some slow-moving link vendors / networks will get nailed, everyone else will just fade into the background making it even more and more difficult to determine what links are paid for and which are not. As long as links have value, the paid link industry will continue to exist in some form other another, in my opinion. If Google wants to stop abuse of linking, then they need to do the same thing they have done with every other form of abuse, and that is remove value and benefits that the abuse provides. Thank you, Chris Nielsen FightForYourRightToBuyAndSellLinks.com ========= Begin Sponsor Message ========= Tired of testing? Rotate ads automatically. Set up as many as you please. Built-in display statistics. Free yourself. http://bontragercgi.com/Rotate ========== End Sponsor Message ========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Greg Robbins Subject: Autoresponder > I'm would appreciate it if someone could > point me to a vacation autoresponder that > would also forward the sender's original > email to me. - AE Johnson, LED Digest 2563 The out of office assistant can do that in Outlook - you just have to set up the rule. Do a test run before you rely on it as some corporate servers won't allow forwarding to certain email addresses (ie Hotmail), but it's all easy enough. Greg Robbins -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Eva Rosenberg Subject: Ad copy Judy Vorfeld proposed, for Willmaster [ http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1977/190/ ]: ----------------- The Superb Master Series CGI Software Transform your site with WillMaster software. Fantastic forms: visitors can learn, buy, tell you something, & register. Syndicate your content. 404 Terminator. Master Quiz. Members Only. Amazing Autoresponder. And much more! We sell it. We guarantee it. Tremendous no-cost tech support. http://willmaster.com/masterLED ----------------- The fact is, many of us met the Bontragers through one or another of the Audette Digests over the past decade or so. We use their software and their services. (Folks, if you don't, you're missing out on some very inexpensive, high-quality web-site tools.) Some of us aren't very good at installing software, especially CGI stuff. Will installs it for us - for a very reasonable fee. He then spends time with your server to ensure that it works properly, as long as you don't have any glitches. It's service and products like that, that make it possible for us to do some sophisticated things on our websites, like syndicating content and being able to turn off feeds when we're not paid, or to rotate a series of advertising, or to to create forms or quizzes or...and leave us free to deal with the creatives. So, what else should go into an ad for Willmaster? --- We install it and test it. Will and Mari have always been there to lend a hand. Don't click on their ad because they support LED. Click on their ads because they run a consistent, long-term, high-quality business. And I couldn't imagine running my business without them. Once upon a time, your Humble Guide, Eva Rosenberg, EA & TaxNerd www.taxmama.com www.taxquips.com P.S. When was the last time you click through the few ads in LED? Why not be adventuresome and do so? Just see the kinds of services and products that make all this possible. You'll be delighted. (c) Copyright 1995-2008 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "He speaketh not; and yet there lies A conversation in his eyes." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
