search-engine

Revealed: The Secret Source For Winning Google’s Love

by Paul Joseph July 28, 2011 Featured

In my last post on Entrepreneurs-Journey.com, we talked about the big fat truth – without unique, fresh, and lengthy content your blog search engine rankings are as good as dead. Check out the previous post here: Blog Writing 101: How To Satisfy Readers And Deliver Top 10 Google Rankings This time I will take it a step further and explain why, without great content, no link building campaign will take you as far with search engines as you would like to go. Some time ago, I ran a series on my blog on how to build an email list. It was only natural to discuss email autoresponder options in one of the posts in the series: after all, the emails you write to your list are only as good as the provider that delivers them or sends them to spam – depending on which autoresponder service you choose. Naturally, I wanted to rank my post for any and all possible keywords that had anything to do with Aweber , which is what I use, and autoresponders in general. Lo and behold, as I did my research on who was holding the current rankings for some of those keywords, Yaro’s blog kept popping up on the first page for almost all of them. Yes, Yaro’s AWeber Review – Email Autoresponder post was what stood between me and high search engine rankings of my own Aweber review. Naturally, a little competition never scared me away, so I started to drill in on Yaro’s links that played a huge role in ranking his post so highly. Checking Out Your Competition The best way to know what you need to do in order to rank your post for any keyword is to see which websites are currently ranking for that keyword and what their link building profile is. Since it would require a lengthy explanation as to how exactly I do competition research, I will direct you to read this post to learn more on how to use their competition link profile to outrank them: Link Building Tip: How to Do It the Smart Way . As I was doing research on Yaro’s Aweber post, I discovered that it was (and is currently) ranking for 10, what I would call, “money” keywords – the type of keywords that the potential Aweber buyers would be searching for when trying to make their final decision on their autoresponder choice. Now that I knew how many and what keywords he was ranking for, I needed to find out what links to his post allowed him to have such high rankings. And that’s what stopped me dead in my tracks. You see, as I previously mentioned, the easiest way to rank your own post for any keyword is to match and outdo your competition linking profile. Find out what their links are, in other words, get most of the same links and throw in a couple of extras. In most markets (barring you are going for some of the most competitive keywords, of course), that should do the trick and at least get you on the first page of Google . In Yaro’s case though, most of his links came from within content on other blogs . Learning that pretty much sucked, because there was no way I could get all those blogs to mention my Aweber review in their posts! The Secret Was In The Source Yaro’s Aweber post was so thorough and so good that many bloggers read it, loved it, and linked to it in their own posts, giving Yaro significant advantage in high rankings. It was HIS CONTENT itself that tipped Google scale in his favor. It is all coming together now, right? YOUR CONTENT is the single most important factor that will make or break your search engine rankings and either will bring you floods of targeted FREE search engine users or leave you with a donut whole. You can submit all the articles and videos you want, leave tons of comments on all kinds of blogs, spend some time building links through forums, but if I get a few bloggers to link to my post from within their content, as in mentioning my post because it was that good, I will have an upper hand in search engine rankings for sure. That kind of link building is what is referred to as “natural” link building and is definitely the best way to get your site ranked and swarming with search engine visitors. Link Building As A Search Engine Factor As I did in the previous post, I’d like to take you back to this recently released SEOmoz report on search engine ranking factors . After all, talk is cheap, but the collective opinion of 132 SEO experts around the world should definitely shed some light as to what are recognized as the best link building practices right now and in the future. We have already talked about your content being the cornerstone of any successful link building campaign – master that part and the links will come naturally. To further illustrate my point, allow me to quote the following from the report: “Through all this analysis of search optimization – we will always conclude that a site needs “more links, more quality links, more content, and higher quality content” – Todd Malicoat What other areas of link building should we pay close attention to? Diversity of links outweighs pure quantity : diversity of IP addresses, root domains, subdomains, linking pages where your links are coming from play a huge role – the more diverse, the better. Number of root domains linking with partial anchor text : yes, PARTIAL anchor text plays the same, if not bigger, role in successful search engine rankings than precise anchor text, as it used to be the case. If you don’t know much about anchor text or would like to learn more, I suggest reading this post: Your Ultimate Anchor Text Tutorial – from Basic to Advanced . Relevance of links . This one has been and I am sure will remain one of the most debated SEO link building factors: does it matter if the website that is linking to you is on the same subject as yours? Well, the consensus in this report says yes, it does.So don’t do link building to your cooking blog from a site that sells tractor parts. Nofollow matters : many SEOs say that nofollow links can help your rankings, which definitely goes against the very idea of Nofollow to begin with.Nofollow attribute is added to links to let Google know that, although you are willing to link to a particular website, you are not willing to vouch for them and share your site authority with them. Thus, any of your site PageRank will happily stay with your site and not be passed to the site you are linking to. To learn what Yaro thinks of Nofollow, take a look at this post: No More NoFollow . This new wave of expert SEO opinions on Nofollow links only strengthens “natural” link building point of view: you need both Dofollow and Nofollow links to have the kind of diverse linking profile Google would like to see. The Future Of Link Building What do SEOs believe will happen in the future with Google’s use of ranking features in the future? Prominence of ads vs content will remain a factor. Content usability / readability / design will increase as a factor. Analysis of perceived value to users will increase GREATLY. Social signals at domain level and page level will increase DRAMATICALLY. Marketing Takeaway Link building is here to stay, no question about it. However, the face of link building is changing and the type of CONTENT you serve to your readers is rapidly becoming the most important factor in any successful link building campaign. Ana Hoffman Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: analysis, book, research, search, search-engine, small-business, time

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Discover EXACTLY What Your Audience Wants With This Clever Google Analytics Hack

by Paul Joseph July 22, 2011 Featured

Are you a married man? I am! Happily married now for five years, one month, and seven days at the time that I’m sitting down to write this. In the five years of my very happy marriage, and my dating years that came before, it has become quite obvious to me that, in many situations, guys can’t read girls’ minds . I know, it sounds strange, but follow me on this one. Have you ever been in a situation where your significant other expects you to know what they are thinking, and you have absolutely NO IDEA that they are even thinking about something? If you are a guy, you’ve probably encountered this at least once in your life In my Many years of marriage (ok, I know. I’m still a newbie), my wife and I have come to realize that if we want to know what each other are thinking, asking can be a very valuable skill that is often overlooked. So what in the world does this have to do with Internet Marketing, Online business, blogging, etc? Well, in a past article, I showed how my 5 Question Survey saved me time and resources in product development . It’s a very clear example of how asking your audience the right questions can help you accomplish your goals for your online business. But what if you could read the mind of your significant other? What if you knew exactly what he/she was thinking without even having to ask? How awesome would it be if you could wake up in the morning, sit at your laptop and get a detailed report of everything your wife thought the day before, and throughout your entire relationship? How AWESOME would that be? (On a side note: Have you seen the Movie “What Women Want” with Mel Gibson? That’s EXACTLY what I’m talking about) Well, unfortunately for you and I, that won’t happen. My wife and I will just have to go through the long, and sometimes painful, process of getting to know each other. Fortunately, for my online business, this is something that’s very easily accomplished – Thanks to Google Analytics ‘ Site search Feature. What Is Site Search And How To Benefit From It? If you’re a blogger, you probably have a search function on your site. If not, you should definitely add it. It’s an easy way for your website visitors to search the contents of your site. It basically functions as an internal Search Engine . Most WordPress themes have a search function built in, and if yours doesn’t, WordPress has a widget that you can add to your sidebar. Here’s the thing – most bloggers have site search on their website, but don’t use it to their advantage. Whenever someone does a search on your site, they are telling you exactly what they are looking for, without even intending to do so. However, you will never know what they are looking for if you don’t have a system to report what their searches are. It’s like having the ability to read the mind of your significant other, but not taking advantage of it. Fortunately for you and I, Google analytics gives you the option to Track Site Search. How To Set Up Site Search Before you can track site search on your site, you need to set it up in Google analytics . It’s quite a simple process. Here it goes: Go to your site and do a search for anything using your site search function. When you reach the results page, take a look at the URL in the address bar. For example, when I go to my Interactive Biology Website and do a search for the term “Kidney”, the url in the address bar is http://www.interactive-biology.com/?s=kidney Take note of the Query Parameter. In my case, my query parameter is the letter “ s ” (? s =kidney). In your Google Analytics Profile Settings, you will see a Site Search section that gives you the option to Track Site Search. Select “ Do Track Site Search ” and enter the query Parameter as shown below. Select the option that says “ Yes, strip query parameters out of URL “. This will clean up your reports and make it easier to analyze. Click on “ Save Changes “. That’s pretty much it. Now you are ready to use your mind-reading powers. However, make sure you use your powers for good and not for evil How To Analyze Your Site Search Report Now that you have your superpowers, it’s time to start making the magic happen. Of course, it will take some time for data to start accumulating. Hopefully, you have enough visitors by now and they are actively doing searches on your site. If so, the rest is super easy. Allow me to illustrate by giving an example. Let’s take a look at my Site Search Report . When I look at the report above, it gives me some very useful details. Not only that, but it shows me that a number of the things people are searching for are very closely related to the content I have on my site. This makes me happy, and gives me actionable data. The term that is searched most often on my site is “ kidney “. Obviously, some of the people that are using my site are looking for information on the kidney. And when they do that search, they don’t find any results. Approximately 67% of people leave after not finding what they are looking for. The average user that searches for “kidney” on my site only spends 1 minute and 25 seconds on the site. If I were to make a few videos on the kidney, that should increase the amount of time they spend on my site, and that would increase the likelihood of them coming back for more . The next most frequently searched term on my site is “ Action Potential “. Fortunately, I have a bunch of videos on my site that deals with the concept of the Action potential. As a result of that, only 11% of people who do that search leave the site, and the average person who searches for that spends 6 minutes and 39 seconds on the site. Do you notice a difference? I sure do. So the take home message here is simple: If people are searching for something that is very relevant, but you don’t have it – start making some of that content and increase the amount of time they spend on your site, and the likelihood that they will return (and even share your site). My Next Steps Seeing that this gives such valuable info, there are two things that I plan on doing. The first should be extremely obvious. I plan on making more of the content that people are searching for. It’s easy to do, and is very relevant. In other words, it’s a win-win situation. Secondly, I plan on making a search box that’s more prominent on my website, to highlight the fact that you can actually search for what you are looking for. That will accomplish two things: It will make it easier for my visitors to find what they are looking for It will enhance my mind-reading capability (if you know what I mean). Are YOU reading your audience’s minds? If not, then you should start. Set up the Site Search reporting capabilities in Google Analytics . Have you done this already? If so, how are you using this information? Let me know what you think below. Until Next Time! Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: goals, internet, laptop, mind, online, search, search-engine, time, wife

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Blog Writing 101: How To Satisfy Readers And Deliver Top 10 Google Rankings

by Paul Joseph July 21, 2011 Featured

My name is Ana Hoffman , and if I learned anything after many years of building an online empire, it’s this: the online business industry is a scary place. A place where many a mighty business owner has fallen. Including me. That’s right, I’ve had some online business flops in the past, until one day I realized that my business was only as good as the number of eyes that saw it on a daily basis. That’s why I started the Traffic Generation Cafe blog, focusing on various free traffic generation methods like search engine traffic, social media traffic, networking, as well as how to convert that traffic into subscribers and buyers. In six quick months, my blog grew to be an authority on traffic generation. My blog’s traffic (I was ranked under 15K on Alexa ), reader engagement, and sales showed me that I was on the right track. This might all seem foreign to you. Stick with me and it will soon become second nature. Now let’s get down to business. Content is the main driving force behind any blog’s success. That’s it? That’s the premise for my post? You bet. And if all of us already know that and are putting it into practice back on your blogs, then why are so many blogs still failing? Why are so many blogs not generating even measly amounts of traffic? Why are you here looking for answers or pearls of wisdom to take back to your business? Your content is the single most important driving force that will determine whether your readers stay, share, and convert into buyers or subscribers, period. But that’s not the only thing that matters. Your readers are the ones to determine if your content is up to par, but the search engines, Google in particular, are the ones to decide if your content is good enough to bring you those readers to begin with. So you see, our goal as bloggers should clearly be to always serve two masters: Google and our readers . I can already hear the objections coming in. Isn’t it an oxymoron, you say? Writing personable content that attracts human interest, brings about discussions, connects with the reader on a deep personal level and keyword-stuffed metric-based content that would rank highly on Google? I agree this used to be the case. However, in the new post-Panda world Google tells us louder and more clear than ever: it wants to serve its searchers the kind of content the searchers want to read – unique, beneficial, and productive. When Google sends you organic search engine traffic, it wants to make sure that the search engine visitors are happy with what they find on your blog and don’t come back to Google searching for the same query. Thus, you do your job of delivering superb content right and satisfy the searchers looking for answers, and Google will happily send you even more traffic. Turns out that serving two masters in this particular case goes hand in hand. Killing two birds with one stone – how much more efficient can it get? So let’s take a look at what specifically we, the bloggers, need to pay attention to when writing that new killer post of ours. I am basing my conclusions on this SEOmoz report on search engine ranking factors . If it isn’t the holy grail of search engine rankings and how to draw the most traffic from it, then it’s as close as we can ever get to it. Uniqueness Of Content This might’ve not been as strong of a factor in pre-Panda times. (If you need more information on what on earth I refer to as “ Panda Update “, here’s the most coherent resource on the subject: Finding more high-quality sites in search – and it’d better be since it comes from the official Google blog). According to the above-mentioned SEOmoz report, the collective opinion of 132 SEO experts polled assign the uniqueness of content across the whole site 89 points out of 100 . Unique content was the most original marketing tool back in the 1990s and it’s, once again, taking its well-deserved place as one of the most significant positive indicators of the quality of the entire site. While many bloggers continued to stand firm on the principle of consistently producing unique content, many took the easier way of jumping on the bandwagon of flavor-of-the-month promotion techniques, thus diluting the core principle that goes to the heart of blogging “ Thou shall not produce the kind of content thou wouldn’t want to read yourself “. What would one refer to as “ unique content “? What might be the characteristics both your readers and the search engines are looking to find on your site? In the broadest terms, it’s the kind of content not found on the multitude of other sites . If I see another post on “ 15 Ways to Get Facebook Fans ” or “ How to Guest Post “, I am going to scream. I am not saying you have to invent something new every time you write a post, but a new angle on the old tired topic is in order at the very least. Onsite Duplicate Content: When Google crawls your site and sees that two out of three pages are duplicates of the first one, they will drop those two pages from rankings and will assume your site has a lot less unique content to offer than it actually does. Read Duplicate Content Phantom: Don’t Be Duped, Be Informed for more information and fix whatever issues you might have on your blog. Advertising: Yes, the amount of advertising on your site does matter – both to Google and your readers. The larger your Adsense and other advertisement blocks are, the less space you devote to your content = the less unique content you’ll appear to have. That’s precisely why some sites suffered in Panda update – not because they didn’t have unique content, but because their content to advertising ratio was too low. Freshness Of Content Freshness of content on the site got 75 points out of 100 – the second most significant signal among non-keyword related on-page factors. This signal also happens to have a direct affect on how much traffic your website gets. Want to see your blog traffic double? Double the number of your posts . ( Disclosure: don’t hold me to the exact number. ) That’s exactly what I did at my Traffic Generation Cafe blog back in October and I saw for myself what wonders it did for my traffic generation. I, since then, decided to take a little summer break and cut down to posting only three – four times a week and watched my traffic take a hit. It makes sense, right? The more fresh posts you have, the more reason your readers will have to come back on a regular, even daily basis – provided that you are meeting the threshold of unique content on your site. So if you are currently posting two times per week, try to post at least four times; if you are posting four times, try to publish everyday. It might sound like a lot, but remember: your brain is a muscle and, with due practice, it’ll be spitting out the needed amount of posts in no time. Length Of Content Aha – here comes a surprising factor. It appears that the majority of the 132 SEO experts think that the longer your posts are , the better chance they have to rank higher , thus bringing you more search engine traffic. Length of content on the page got 57 out of 100 . Once again, it makes perfect sense. The longer the post is, the more potential value it will deliver to the readers. So what to do if your primary methods of communication with your readers include videos, audios, cartoons, infographs, etc.? Try to beef it up by including scripts, captions, and explanations. And no, it’s not a concession to Google and other search engines – you’ll be providing a valuable alternative to those readers who still prefer to… well, read. I know, I am one of them, and I always appreciate it when a video is followed by a script. Marketing Takeaway I hate cliches, and I am sure I am not alone on this one, but in this particular case I have to resort to the old and true “ Content is (still) king ” motto. Yes, we all know it, but now we also have reasons to actually do it. And in the end, wouldn’t it be a win-win situation for everybody? Stay tuned for my future posts where we will be discussing why your content is the cornerstone of social media sharing and link building, and how to improve it to get more of both. Ana Hoffman Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: book, business, content, internet, online, reader, search engines, search-engine, seo, small-business, traffic

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Macroglossa reaches Alpha version 4.0: A picture search engine

by Paul Joseph July 11, 2011 Featured

A picture is worth a thousand words but there are times when you take a picture and you haven’t got a single word for them; a picture of something you couldn’t identify. Many have been trying to mull over this problem and come up with a solution. There have been few attempts and a fewer have managed to get really popular. Macroglassa, coming from an Italian Group, is one such search engine which… (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: content, frontpage, other-content, problem, search-engine, yourstory-in

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The 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing

by Paul Joseph June 22, 2011 Featured

Formerly known as “The Six Pillars of Internet Marketing” and having undergone several stages of evolution over the past 10 years, the “ 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing ” is a framework for the learning, strategy, budgeting, execution and analysis of the entire universe of digital marketing tactics and techniques.  7 Pillars is an active and constantly evolving ecosystem that covers a lot of ground. Each Pillar is like a force that dictates, to a large extent, how the World Wide Web works.  The framework contains logic and lessons for teaching hands-on execution, as well as high-level strategy, philosophy and the history of digital marketing. Building on my prior blog post on raising your Digital IQ , herein is a basic overview of the 7 Pillars and how you can start using it to improve or evaluate your own marketing.  Mastering these principles, or at least grasping them all and then diving deeper into one or two Pillars, will enable your web strategy to be smarter and more profitable. What are the 7 Pillars? 1.  Content – All forms of web content, from copy to photography to video, comprise Pillar 1.  Content is still king, and the bloodstream of digital marketing.  Content, which is equally important in the traditional marketing world, is the most overlooked area of digital marketing, and where businesses surprisingly struggle to produce. 2.  Design – Pillar 2 is comprised of web page templates, layouts and the overall UX (User Experience), be it via computer, mobile device or iPad.  Usability, User Interface and User Experience are different ways to define this essential Pillar.  Branding is a subset of Design.  Design determines brand and perception of quality more than anything else. 3.  Search – SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the key component of organic Search, and the holy grail of what every business wants to dominate in for their industry and product categories.  The Search Pillar also includes other types of search, such as organic Comparison Shopping Engines, onsite search (within websites and portals), and Universal Search (for music, images, videos and places).  Multi-lingual and mobile search are also considered herein. 4.  Media – PPC (Pay Per Click), retargeting, display advertising, affiliate marketing and CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) media comprise the loaded Pillar 4, digital Media.  This is where the most advertising dollars are flying to, making Pillar 4 the richest digital marketing strategy.  Digital Media tactics have significant overlap with Search, Social and Mobile Pillars, which are some of the primary pathways to digital Media spending. 5.  CRM – CRM or Customer Relationship Management is all about how customers, leads (and frankly, any relationship that a business maintains) are managed, organized and communicated to.  This includes contact management systems, Email Marketing, and Analytics of how prospects and existing customers interact with an organization’s websites and various digital campaigns. Google Analytics data is actually one of your most important CRM tools. 6.  Social – All social networks, blogs and other forms of user-generated content (forums, polls, surveys) are considered in Pillar 6.  Social websites are growing faster than any other kind; and even the “Search King” (aka, Google) is investing more in Social than any other area.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Stumbleupon, Flickr and hundreds of other innovative social media companies and technologies are covered under Social media. 7.  Mobile – 5+ billion mobile phone subscriptions exist in a planet of 7 billion.  Mobile is the new access point to the web and all other Pillars, making new commerce opportunities available and opening the door for those who practice creative digital marketing to take advantage.  Mobile apps, mobile websites and mobile payment systems are revolutionizing the field, making this possibly the most important Pillar of digital marketing. Each Pillar has numerous sub-categories, which contain thousands of specific tasks that encompass them.  As the constantly-changing field of digital marketing evolves, so do the Pillars.  Certain tactics and strategies, such as Comparison Shopping Engines, actually cut across different Pillars. To organize how one should approach the 7 Pillars, we can take a look at 7 key stages in the overall marketing process.  Each stage is a process of its own that is relevant to all the Pillars, while also existing beyond them to the overall marketing campaign. The 7 Pillars framework covers all of these bases, by explaining what typically happens and what the key actions and decisions are required at each stage, for each Pillar.  View a recent entry on the 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing Blog for more depth on the 7 Stages. Over the coming months, strategies, lessons, best practices and case studies for all 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing will be elaborated upon in this blog column.  For now, I’ll leave you with a couple of assignments that will help shape your own digital strategy. Your Assignment Looking across the 7 Pillars, make a note about what your company’s approach and commitment are to each. What is your own personal Digital IQ in each domain? As far as the 7 Key Stages go, assess how well your current marketing approach or digital strategy conducts each stage. Arman Rousta is Founder & CEO of digital agency, Blueliner, which services start-ups and established companies such as IZOD, California Closets and Lufthansa. Read more about Arman here .

Tagged as: business, comparison, customer, design, digital, entrepreneur, internet marketing, learning, marketing, marketing-strategies, media, search-engine, technology

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Market Saturation: Is It Too Late For You To Make Money Online?

by Paul Joseph June 3, 2011 Featured

The concept of making money online through websites and blogs is no longer new, but only to those that have been exposed to this industry for some time now. The last time I checked, there are somewhere around five websites and blogs created every two minutes , which equates to millions more with each passing year. Google has been around since the nineties and the web is ultra saturated today, so it must be true that the train has left the platform, and it is too late for you to seize the lost opportunity to make money online – right? Absolutely not. The facts remain the facts, and there is no denying that, but the good news is that for the vast majority of humans that live on this planet, the internet, and thus making money online is still an “industry” in its infancy. I am a practical example of this statement. I have several niche websites in all kinds of niche markets, which are all making very good money for me on a passive and residual basis . That said, for those of us who are exposed to the internet in a way not many others are (from an income generation perspective that is), many of us may initially feel that the web is super saturated with blogs and websites that teach us internet marketing and how to make money online. Because of this saturation, it is natural for many aspiring webpreneurs to have doubts and second thoughts of making money online, often thinking that there must be tons of others who are doing the same thing. As a reminder, we (the ones who think of the internet from an income generation perspective) have a slightly skewed view of the broader macrocosm. Truth is, the majority of people, who are web surfers, do not view the web as an income generating platform. These hundreds of millions of web surfers still have a need to be fulfilled, and the internet is the best channel available today in terms of reach, ease of entry and low cost experimentation for an aspiring entrepreneur to fulfill that need. The Key To Success With Online Business Given the (what seems like) apparent saturation in the online space, the simplest key to success in my experience has been to stray away from the “make money online” and “internet marketing” niche. You will find one guru after another preaching the next best hidden secret, which does not exist. Rather, spend your time pursuing a niche where you can successfully fill in a void in the marketplace. “But Sunil, you have a blog on entrepreneurship and personal finance that teaches how to make money online as well.” That statement is true, but my blog is not my bread and butter. In fact, I am brand new to blogging and thus my blog is merely an experiment that makes me less than a couple hundred bucks a month. It totally sucks from a profitability perspective. “What a failure,” you might think? Not necessarily, because income is not the motive behind my blog, at least not right now. My blog is a journal recollecting my accomplishments, failures, experiences in entrepreneurship and lessons learned throughout the processes and my overall journey. It is also a place where I can rant and rave openly and freely, while entertaining and helping others at the same time. So how do I make the bulk of my money online? I created 16 profitable niche websites and an ecommerce website, which I sold back in 2007 for $250,000 before I started my Extra Money Blog . I did exactly as I propose in this article – I stayed AWAY from the make money online niche. Consider this: My blog generates the least traffic of all my websites, as well as the least amount of income. My highest traffic generating and most profitable websites have nothing to do with making money online. My website on Rotator Cuff Exercises is one such example. Have a look at this screenshot showing revenues from book sales: I know these numbers are not monster figures by any means, but they represent a consistent stream of income from a niche that has nothing to do with making money online. Add to that the advertisement revenue generated from ads that look like this: . . . and commissions from sales of affiliate products that my visitors purchase either directly from the website or from a recommendation proposed to them through the free newsletter series (also boxed in red in the image above). Also consider the fact that this is a niche website that was built with a fixed number of hours (no ongoing work involved). Because the website provides value, and is built on a “set it and forget it” business model platform, I can leave it alone and still profit from it over time. The website also has several methods of monetization incorporated into it, and as traffic further grows over time, several more are on my “to do” list. For example, I am starting to get offers for private placement ads. I am contemplating implementing a discussion forum where people can share stories, resources and help each other in the process, thus further increasing traffic. I am also contemplating including a paid directory of qualified practitioners who can help those who are suffering from rotator cuff pain. As you can imagine, the possibilities to make money online from just one niche website are endless. Differentiation Factors To Beat Saturation You must be thinking that rotator cuff treatment is also a super saturated niche. You are absolutely correct. It is, but not nearly as much as the internet marketing or make money online niche. That said, there are some things you can do to differentiate your website and value proposition from the rest. For example, you can write the content of your website from a fresh, practical and first-hand perspective. You can write in active voice and talk to your reader, rather than at the reader. This allows you, the author, to build a relationship with your reader. There are many commercial websites out there that are built just to sell sell sell. A fresh perspective in my experience is always welcomed by web surfers. Offer a free incentive such as a free tips newsletter to further build and hone relationships with your readers. When your readers like you, trust you and are warmed up to you (a tactic called pre selling), you can soft sell them products and services that they will gladly pay for. Your individual style itself can be your unique proposition that earns you a place in a saturated environment. People want relate-ability, people want to connect to you as an individual, so don’t be afraid to try this new approach if you haven’t yet. The success of these methods mentioned is predicated on your ability to effectively execute search engine optimization, as well as internet marketing strategies that help give your website or blog a place on search engine rankings. Though it is advisable to learn how to execute these, you can easily outsource this work in today’s environment. Concluding Thoughts Saturation is relative to time . The web is certainly more saturated today compared to yesterday, and will be tomorrow compared to today. The bottom line is that as saturated as the online space looks, there is still a ton of opportunity for webpreneurs to make money online. The folks that visit my rotator cuff therapy website know nothing about making money online, nor are they interested. They do know how to use the internet, however, to search for answers to their questions. They clearly have a need. So as long as you fulfill a need, financial success should follow providing you execute adequately and appropriately. The internet is just another channel to do business in the modern day, and fortunately for people like you and I, it allows us to operate globally at a cost next to nothing. Get out there and let the market dictate your direction. There is absolutely no doubt that you can still make money online despite the apparent saturation of websites and blogs on the internet. Do you agree or disagree? What are the biggest barriers to entry today? What is stopping you from capturing a piece of that profit pie? Sunil Still Making Money Online Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: article, experience, internet, internet marketing, make money online, online, online-business, reader, search-engine, thoughts, young

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Forgot your wallet? An Android powered phone can do the necessary!

by Paul Joseph May 25, 2011 Featured

Tired of carrying hefty wallets and feeling uneasy with the tight pockets of your trousers? Here is a way out! As a revolutionary idea; Search Engine Giant, Google is said to announce one of it’s kind payment procedure at shopping malls by just waving Android powered mobiles. It can also redeem coupons and earn loyalty points, reports say. (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: content, frontpage, other-content, search, search-engine, yourstory-in

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Operating a Startup in Stealth Mode is Very Risky

by Paul Joseph April 26, 2011 Featured

Every time I hear about a new startup that is in stealth mode, I wonder what problem they are hiding from whom. Of course they pretend that they are trying to avoid alerting competitors prior to launch, but too often it becomes an excuse to move slowly in a world that’s all about getting to market fast. I believe stealth makes sense for large companies who can be sued for “pre-announcing” a new product to stall the market or kill a competitor.  It also makes legal sense to never disclose the details of your patent application, before the product is ready to ship.  But otherwise, startup companies should seek out publicity and the open sharing of information, from day one. Openness is part of the business culture of entrepreneurs and technology centers around the world.  People talk to people, and even competitors freely exchange news on trends and discoveries. Here are some of the ways this can actually help your startup efforts, rather than hurt them: Initiate media interest. These days, new technologies and social trends are fanned from an ember into a flame by the media and word-of-mouth. This takes time, and is more valuable than any advertising you can buy. It’s probably here that you need the “first-mover advantage” more than in the lab. Get concept feedback early. No matter how good you are, your initial idea is likely to be at least partially wrong. The sooner you get that feedback from people who count, the better your chance of recovery, and the less money you have wasted. Don’t be so arrogant to assume you won’t need course corrections. Find your real competitors. The sooner you disavow yourself of the notion that “we have no competitors,” the more likely you are to survive. “No competitors” may mean no market (give up now), or customers are happy with alternatives (keep their car rather than ride the new fast train). Face reality early, and you can deal with it. Deliver minimum product and iterate. Stealth mode can give you a false sense of security that you can take additional time to get it right the first time. Time is your biggest enemy, and customer feedback is your biggest ally. A startup that has been incorporated for two years or more without shipping is already seen as a bad investment. Prime the investor world. Don’t talk directly to potential investors until you have the business plan and other basics complete. But start networking with advisors, industry pundits, and domain experts early. Your direction will get back to potential investors, and create a sense of heightened expectations that can help you get in the door when ready. Tune your website. Most startups need funding before shipping, and investors expect to see your website to validate your business plan. In addition, a website needs several weeks of presence for indexing by search engines, search engine optimization, blog activity, and link building. These things can’t be done while in stealth mode. To enforce stealthy behavior, startups often require everyone, even potential employees to sign nondisclosure agreements, and strictly control who may speak with the media. This is a turnoff to everyone, and real investors never sign nondisclosures.  It’s all an expensive distraction that doesn’t work. Overall, I recognize that there are some startups, like biotech and semiconductors, with long highly technical development cycles and huge competitors, where early stealth makes sense. With most others, like web services, incubation time must be short, and secrecy can be the kiss of death. For your startup, stealth mode just prevents you from learning what you need. Martin Zwilling is the founder and chief executive officer of Startup Professionals, a company that provides products and services to start-up founders and small business owners. Read more about Marty here .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, business savvy, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, search-engine, starting a business, startup

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Lakshmi Kodali on LAD Solutions

by Paul Joseph April 4, 2011 Featured

YourStory recently spoke with Lakshmi Kodali, founder of LAD Solutions, he promises to convert your dreams into reality “one click at a time”. Tell us about LAD solutions- what is it into? We are into online retail marketing. Our primary offering is search engine optimization. However, we take care of all the marketing efforts that an online retail company requires. (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: content, frontpage, marketing, other-content, search-engine, yourstory-in

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Blog Income For Women Review – How To Generate A Passive Income With Your Blog

by Paul Joseph March 8, 2011 Featured

Blog Income For Women Blueprint – by Krizia & Alexandra Name: Blog Income For Women Blueprint Creators: Krizia & Alexandra URL: www.blogincomeforwomen.com Purpose: Learn how to make a monthly passive income using your blog with a topic of interest or online business. ‘Blog Income For Women Blueprint’ is designed for female bloggers, but men would also benefit as it teaches how to target female readers, while making a passive income online through CPA marketing and niche marketing techniques. You can find a list of other product and service reviews and resources to run an online business in the Reviews Section of this website. It is interesting where life can lead you sometimes. When I started out in the world of blogging, it was purely for something fun to do and in actual fact, to pass the time whilst my baby was asleep – I was fortunately blessed with a sleeper! I thought, perhaps I would make a tiny amount of money (if I was lucky), but it was only once I delved deeper into the world of internet marketing did I realize that making a decent income from blogging was possible and with work, attainable. This was quite a revelation for me. Like many other women out there who have also decided to start a family, I quickly learned that combining my previous corporate career with my new family commitments was going to be very difficult to manage in the long term, and so my blogging ‘career’ began! The latest internet marketing product to hit the marketplace, ‘Blog Income For Women Blueprint’ is designed for someone just like myself – a female blogger who has a blog on a topic of interest (mine was cooking), rather than a blog whose topic was chosen for the sole purpose of making money. This course is written by two female bloggers, Krizia (she is the narrator) and Alex , who have successfully managed to turn their own blogs into highly profitable income streams. They have blogs on topics that interest them and their readers are predominately women – for example, one of their blogs is reviewing the latest beauty products. So, just how did they turn their blogs into an income stream? Through their clever use of CPA marketing . For those who don’t know what CPA marketing is, it stands for Cost Per Action marketing. CPA marketing is when someone provides their name and address on an online form or gives their details for a free product trial. I am sure I am not alone in having provided a company like Colgate with my name and address in exchange for a free toothbrush – that is classic CPA marketing. The purpose of CPA marketing is that, using the example of Colgate, companies are giving something away, not out of the kindness of their heart, but to capture my contact details for their marketing database so they can continue to inform me about any other products they think would interest me. This is big business for many companies and therefore many will pay a commission to anyone who sends them a lead. As a blogger, the beauty of CPA marketing is that it does not require any selling on your behalf since the readers are not required to spend any money in the process. In fact, as was the case with me, I was more than happy to give Colgate my name and address in exchange for a free toothbrush, and it required very little selling from them. That said, like you, I probably wouldn’t give my details to just any company, they have to be offering me something I was interested in. This was exactly how Krizia and Alex turned their blogs into passive income streams . About The Course, ‘Blog Income For Women Blueprint’ As the title of this course suggests, it is aimed at women but I actually think the content is more about teaching you how to target women to become your readers . As such I feel men could gain as much knowledge from this course as women. This video course is broken down into eight different modules, as well as four bonus handouts which are outlined below. Module 1: Introduction – How I discovered to boost my blog income After months of not making any money, Krizia explains how she started to generate income from her blog Module 2: CPA (Cost Per Action) Network 101: Using CPA offers to generate income on my blog This module teaches you the basics of CPA marketing and how to find appropriate CPA offers to promote on your blog. Module 3: Opening your first CPA account and working with your affiliate manager Goes into how to apply for a CPA account and get approved. This module also provides you with answers to potential questions they might ask you in the approval process and advice on what to do if you get rejected. Module 4: Niche marketing 101 Explains the basics and importance of niche marketing which is a key aspect to the course. This module also describes how to find niches that appeal to women. It also contains an additional video demonstrating how to use five different free research tools to find these niches. Module 5: Keyword research to find niches that appeal to women This module goes through the basics of keyword research which is used for the headlines and content on your blog. As a bonus, five different niches which specifically target women are provided in a niche pack. Included in the pack are their corresponding keywords to write content on, as well as five articles which just need to be rewritten for originality, so you can get started right away. Module 6: Selecting a domain and selecting your first set of CPA offers Explains how to select a good domain name for search engine optimization and also how to choose a CPA offer which is likely to perform better than others. Module 7: Your 30-day plan A 72 page document outlining a step-by-step plan for each of the 30 days. Module 8: Build your list of “female buyers” from day one with auto-responder messages that speak to women’s issues How to create an email list of subscribers to your blog. This is important so you can continue to promote other CPA offers to your subscribers. Bonus: Quick Start Package (worth $47) This is a great bonus package of 4 videos showing you how to get started right away. The videos are as follows: How to open a Gmail account How to open a Blogger.com account How to open a CPA account How to set-up your first CPA offer on your Blogger.com blog These videos use an example to walk you the entire process to get you started – from starting your new blog to publishing your first review with a corresponding CPA offer. Bonus offers The course also contains the following four bonus offers: Bonus 1: Outsourcing parts or the entire process (worth $97) Bonus 2: Other strategies to boost your blog income (worth $97) Bonus 3: Perfect article writing formula (worth $97) Bonus 4: 100 tips to get more readers to your blog (worth $197) For more details about the product check out: www.blogincomeforwomen.com . What I Learned In The Course Although I am not new to the concept of CPA marketing, I actually learnt quite a lot in this course. One really important point was that if rejected by a CPA network, you can appeal that rejection. This was most certainly news to me and I will definitely be following up with the CPA networks which had previously rejected me with a friendly phone call for an explanation – sometimes this is all that it takes. Unfortunately rejection to these networks is not uncommon but now knowing that many people successfully get their rejections reversed is encouraging. This course also shows that there are a multitude of CPA networks out there, so if you are unsuccessful in getting approved, Krizia provides plenty of others to choose from. This course also shows you how to compare CPA offers across numerous networks using a free website called Offer Vault . Offer Vault enables you to compare CPA offers and their associated payouts without having to apply and get approved to each of the CPA networks which the offers are on – a huge time saver! I also learnt that once approved on a CPA network, you can ask the affiliate manager on that network which offers have the highest conversion rates . This is a very handy tip as it takes the guess work out of choosing which offers to promote. Krizia explains that the affiliate manager wants you to make as much money for them as possible, so it is in their best interest to help you out as much as they can. What I Like About The Course Going through this entire course, it is clear that Krizia and Alex certainly have a lot of experience and knowledge in this type of marketing to offer you. I feel this video course has a lot of good content and it is clear in its structure and format which makes it all very easy to understand . As mentioned earlier, applying to CPA networks can sometimes be not that straight forward, but the course prepares you with good answers to a number of questions you may receive. This was useful for someone like me who has been unsure about how best to answer some of these questions. The course also explains the best way to manage your CPA networks and actually advises you to only apply to a maximum of five networks. This was news to me as I didn’t realize that keeping track of the latest offers on the different networks requires some effort. This advice is clearly from experience . What I Don’t Like About The Course The 30 day plan, which contains the complete outline of what you need to do on a day-to-day basis, is very intensive . Without the help from outsourcers, I feel it would be a lot of work to do on your own. I am not saying that it couldn’t be done, but it would be a serious time commitment. As Krizia explains, most of the process can be outsourced . But this depends on how comfortable you are with outsourcing before you start generating any income. On the flip side, the fact that you can be up and running in 30 days may very well appeal to some people. However, if you find this plan becomes too much of an arduous task, you may very well achieve a similar result even if you took a little longer. Krizia writes reviews of products on her blog which leads me to my only other gripe. I would have liked some more information on how to effectively do the research of the products and write the reviews since this is the core content on the blog. Should You Study ‘Blog Income For Women Blueprint’? As I said earlier, there was quite a lot of good content in this course and I certainly gained some very valuable information. In my opinion, someone who has basic knowledge of blogging would gain the most value from this course. However, if you are completely new to blogging, the 4 videos contained in the Bonus Quick Start Package which show you just how to get started and are perfect for someone who has never set up a blog before.  Through a worked example, Krizia shows you how to set up a free blog using the free blog platform Blogger.com and then demonstrates how to write your first review on your new blog with links to a CPA offer as well as banner ads displayed throughout the review. It will leave you little excuse to not get started right away. But if you want to have your blog with its own URL and hosting (this difference is explained further in the course), there is no guidance on how to set up a WordPress blog, how to navigate around WordPress or how to place ads on your site. If you are comfortable with WordPress and want to learn the ins and outs of CPA marketing, I don’t think you will be disappointed with this course. Each video has a handout of the slides of the presentation which is handy and the bonus offers also contain some useful content. The 30 day action plan, which is the nuts and bolts to this course, is very thorough and extensive and is a great way to fast track your blog into a healthy income stream. As I mentioned earlier, implementing all parts to this 30 day plan would be a serious time commitment on your behalf, but hey, what’s 30 days in your life if at the end of it, you could set yourself up with a nice passive income – seems like a worthwhile trade off to me! Good luck! Blog Income For Women Blueprint – $97 USD one time payment Ilana Wechsler Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: advice, book, internet, life, make money online, search-engine, small-business

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