Many companies have been offering continuity programs for years. Proactive does it with face cleanser. Leeza Gibbons does it with Sheer Cover makeup. Doubleday does it with books. Columbia House does it with DVDs. Each of these companies offers an option in which subscribers pay a set fee each month and receive something new in return (books, DVDs, etc.). I’ve belonged to all of these continuity programs at some point in my life, and chances are, you have, as well. How can you incorporate this recurring revenue model into your business?

Here are the 5 most effective online continuity program models to consider for your online business:

1. Retainer. Attorneys and accountants have done this for years — their clients go on a regular retainer and the client can contact the attorney/accountant whenever needed as defined by the parameters of the retainer. Consultants, coaches, and virtual assistants offer this option, as well, as a way of providing services over an extended period of time. While having this in place makes for less client turnover, this model is the most time-intensive model of all of these models, as the model requires trading time for dollars. Most retainers offer x number of hours of work or x projects to be completed in return for a set monetary amount.

2. Subscription Membership. In this model, you are providing new content regularly to your members via a membership web site. Members log in and access new articles, audio, checklists, ebooks, discussion forum posts, etc. This is a content-driven model, as you need to continue to provide new content for your returning members as well as to attract new members. The upside of this model is that many members retain their membership for a year or longer, especially if offered the option of a reduced annual membership fee.

3. Fixed-term membership. In this model, you are providing new content on a weekly basis to your members for a fixed period of time. While initially time-intensive to set up, this model runs fairly seamlessly once all of your program modules are written. As long as your topic isn’t one that needs continual updating, you can create this once and resell this again and again. However, unlike the other models, you keep your members only for a limited time (3 months, 6 months, 12 months) and then need to boost your marketing to continually replace members for this program.

4. Club or Inner Circle or VIP Program. This is a model that coaches, consultants, and speakers often use and may be marketed as a group coaching program. Typically the participant gets access to the program leader or an expert via a teleclass, and a printed teleclass transcript and CD are mailed to the participant each month. The program leader may also include open Q&A/coaching sessions, sporadic 1:1 coaching mini-sessions, and access to various resources and contacts to further help the participants. As long as members feel they are receiving value, they’ll generally remain a participant in this type of program.

5. Association. Becoming the founder or president of a national or international association offers the kind of leverage not found in any other model. Because associations connote expertise, being the leader of an association automatically makes you the expert in a particular area. Reporters and writers often look to leaders of associations to comment on trends in an industry, which will result in much media attention for your business. Membership benefits and membership packages are the key offerings here, whether that’s a monthly teleclass, access to specific downloadable content, networking opportunities, direct mail membership welcome packets, etc. This model is generally the least time-intensive, as 80% of your members will receive their membership package and not be heard from again until it’s dues renewal time.

Why continue to trade time for dollars? Take a look at these continuity program models and see which one(s) make sense for your online business. If you pick the right target market at the right time, one of these models may become your full-time business.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

5 Most Effective Online Continuity Program Models

Since the Kindle can hold over 1,500 books, that’s like carrying around an entire library in the palm of your hand.

The wireless connection is built in and provided at no charge by Amazon. There’s also a built in browser for viewing websites and reading emails.

Amazon’s Kindle Store has over 230,000 ebooks to download, plus U.S. and International newspapers, magazines, even blogs. Almost all of the ebooks sell for $9.99 or less. The latest model is a larger more improved Kindle DX which was made available this year. Boosting a bigger screen and longer battery life, it can even read to you out loud. Now that makes for a nice bedtime story. It also holds over 3,500 books and sells for about $489.00.

The Kindle can also display PDF’s which you can transfer from your computer with a USB cable. The older versions of the Kindle could read PDF’s and Word documents, but they had to be emailed to Amazon first to convert them to a format readable by the Kindle. This option is still available as well.

So what does all this mean to you? Well, if you’re a blog publisher you can now publish your blogs in the Kindle Store where users can subscribe to them for a monthly fee. This is a great way to make some money and increase your subscriber base all at the same time.

First you’ll need to go to http://kindlepublishing.amazon.com to set up an account and submit your blogs for approval. Once approved your Blog “goes live” in the Kindle Store within 12 to 48 hours.

The Kindle gives the user full text and images from the blogs they are subscribed to, which unlike an RSS feed only gives you the headlines.

When submitting your blog for approval here’s the information you’ll need:

• Blog Title
• Blog Tagline
• Description
• Image from top of your blog (banner or masthead)
• Screenshot of your blog (optional)
• Posting Frequency

It’s really pretty simple to get your blogs listed.

So how does the payment process work? Good question, nice to see you’re paying attention. You’ll be paid 30% of the monthly blog subscription price. Amazon sets the price, not you. It’s priced on what they think is a “fair value” for their customers. For example, my two blogs were set at $0.99 a month.

All blog subscriptions are free for the first 14 days. Then they’re billed at the monthly subscription price. Blogs are wirelessly updated throughout the day.

You’ll be paid by check or EFT, your choice. Electronic Funds Transfer has no charge, but if you opt for a paper check and live in the U.S. you’ll have an $8.00 fee attached. Payments are sent once your earnings reach $50.00.

If you publish a blog I’d strongly encourage you to get it listed in Amazon’s Kindle Store. It won’t cost you a thing but a few minutes of your time and makes for great free exposure..

By Merle- The pay-per-click Authority when it comes to paid search engine advertising. With helpful articles, how-to’s and tips that will help you make the most from your advertising investment. Download a FREE “How To” ebook by subscribing to our ezine at http://www.PayPerClickResearch.com

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

How to Get Your Blog Published on Amazon’s Kindle

Article marketing is a great way to build links and increase traffic to a website, but in order to see the dramatic results you’re looking for you need to consistently submit articles for an extended period of time, ideally for the lifetime of your website.

If you submit a handful of articles for just a few months, you will not see much in the way of lasting results. But, if you submit a handful of articles every month for a year, you will see what a link building momentum can do for your site!

Just submit articles consistently–sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?

It is incredibly easy if you’ve taken the time to plan and organize ahead of time. A little planning goes a long way–just complete the following steps and you’ll keep yourself on track for the rest of the year.

1) Determine how many articles you will submit each month.

I recommend submitting somewhere between 1 and 8 articles a month–choose a quantity that you can realistically write month in and month out. If you set your sights too high and fall short, that can be discouraging, so you may wish to start out towards the lower end of the spectrum and work your way up to 8 over a few months.

I think that submitting more than 8 articles a month is overkill. When you start submitting more articles than this the benefits go down compared to the effort you’re exerting, so I advise people to submit articles each month for an extended period of time, and submit up to 8 each month–there is no need to go overboard and submit dozens and dozens of articles a month.

2) Create a writing schedule.

After you’ve decided how many articles you’ll submit each month, take out your calendar and decide when you’ll write the articles. Write in your calendar exactly which days you will be writing and what times. Being specific like this will help you to not procrastinate (something we’re all prone to do!). If you schedule your writing on your calendar you’re more likely to actually do the work.

Some people like to write one article at a time, while others prefer to work in batches of several in a day. It’s just whatever works for you. I have done both, and I think I prefer writing in batches–that way I can take just a few days out of the month and meet all of my article writing goals in a short span of time.

I also have a special “Editorial Calendar”–basically this is a dry erase calendar board where I can mark down the days I will be writing. As I write each article, I erase it from the board. It’s motivating to see the progress on the board–I keep this calendar right beside my desk, so there’s no way I’ll be forgetful of the days I’m supposed to write.

3) Brainstorm next month’s article topics.

Have you ever known you needed to write an article, but you just weren’t sure what to write about? When this happens, you end up procrastinating and before you know it you’re behind in your writing.

I’ve found a cure for this by creating an article idea list ahead of time, before the month even starts. Just think of article topics that would be helpful to your target market. Remember, all of your articles will be on some aspect of your niche. Start writing down ideas and you’ll find that more ideas start to flow. It is much easier to think of 8 article ideas at one time than to think of one article idea on 8 separate occasions.

Develop your brainstorming list and pull it out when it’s time for you to write. No procrastinating, no agonizing, “Oh no, now what should I write about?”

All three of these steps are crucial when it comes to keeping an article marketing campaign on track. Remember–consistency is key. If you can submit articles consistently month in and month out, you can produce dramatic results for your website over the long term.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

How To Create An Article Writing Schedule

What am I talking about?

No, it’s not the headline. It’s not being emotional. It’s not benefits. And it’s not split-testing, either. In fact, my opening paragraph gave you a clue.

Sure, the headline, the benefits, and all those things are important. Very important. But the one element I’m referring to, the one element that can transform flimsy, “yeah-right” copy into a sales-inducing powerhouse, is…

… Proof.

Other than poor targeting and shoddy copy, the lack of proof in your copy is what probably (and most likely) causes it to fail. But when I talk about “proof,” I’m not just talking about one or two types, but seven. Yes, seven different types of proof!

Not only are people more educated, they’re also more cynical and skeptical than ever.

They never believe anything - at least, not at first. Today, I believe persuasion has much less to do with selling than it has to do with building believability and trust.

Blame it on the proliferation of scams and snake oils. Or blame it on the profusion of aggressive, hype-filled, carnival-barking salesletters.

But the reality is, everything readers see is suspect right from the get-go. It gives new meaning to the word “conversion.” People never believe anything the moment they read your copy, so you need to “convert” them not into buyers but into believers.

You need to prove your case - and not just tell it or, worse yet, sell it. You need to provide proof. As much proof as you can muster. Any kind. Every kind.

For instance, criminal cases win in court because of a preponderance of proof, and not just a little. Conversely, they also lose if there’s reasonable doubt. That’s all that’s needed, and often it’s not that much - O.J. Simpson’s case being a perfect example.

Well, it’s the same with sales copy.

If there’s reasonable doubt, you’re going to lose the sale. Even if it’s just a little. Or at best, you will only get a tiny fraction of what’s possible in terms of sales, if any.

Here’s what happened in my life recently that proves this point.

My wife is a breast cancer survivor. A while back, she started a personal blog at BreastCancerVictory.com that journals her courageous journey into healing.

She started this blog for personal reasons. It’s part therapy, part education.

(Awareness and prevention are incredibly important to her. She wanted to clear up a lot of the misconceptions out there - a common one being that breast cancer only affects older women. Sylvie was only 36 years old when she was diagnosed.)

Nevertheless, here’s what happened.

Sylvie started posting openly about her cancer and discussed the many visits, tests, and scans she had to undergo, from mammograms and ultrasounds, to MRIs and biopsies.

She even talked about her pain, grief, and bouts of sadness that naturally followed the surgical removal of her entire left breast, also known as a ”mastectomy.”

So to show my support, I emailed my lists to notify them of her new blog. I did it several times to maximize exposure. And the resulting outpouring of affection, compassion, and support as people commented on her blog was simply amazing.

Some posts received as many as 10-20 comments. Some received as many as 50. Others got nothing at all. But keep in mind, this was a brand-new blog, with no search engine exposure, no traffic, no advertising of any kind.

Then, something completely unexpected happened.

It blew me - and Sylvie - away!

Soon after she started her blog, my wife visited her surgeon who, after sending the excised breast tissue to the pathology lab for a complete analysis, needed to discuss the report’s findings with her - as well as the necessary treatments.

“You have breast cancer,” the doctor said. We all knew that.

She also underwent six months of chemotherapy and three months of radiation therapy to prevent the cancer from spreading. Again, we all expected that, too.

But here’s what happened and what we didn’t expect.

Sylvie posted the results of the complete diagnosis to her blog. With a copy of the report in hand, she posted some of the medical terms discussed in the report, and what they meant - what they meant in general, as well as to her, personally.

She included medical terms like “Intraductal Carcinoma in Situ,” “Multicentric Central Carcinoma,” “Lymphatic/Vascular Invasion,” “Invasive Tumor Necrosis,” “Modified Scarff Bloom Richardson Grade,” and more. She explained what each of them meant.

But to show how big this cancerous lump had grown, rather than writing the dimensions she created an actual-sized graphic replica, based on the dimensions described in the report, visually demonstrating how big the tumor was.

Now, let me backtrack a little.

In that post, she provided not one but three types of proof.

First, she provided factual proof. That is, she included actual medical terms, data, and numbers taken straight out of the pathology report.

Then, she provided evidential proof. That is, she included laboratory test results proving not only that she did have cancer, but also how big and advanced it was, and the fact that it has metastasized to her lymphnodes.

Finally, she provided perceptual proof. You see, facts and data are powerful proof elements. But with every one, she translated what those terms meant. For example, creating a graphic that demonstrated the actual size of the tumor was a part of it.

And more importantly, she related what these figures and terms meant to her - how she perceived and felt about them, even at the moment they were being disclosed.

Because of the fact that these findings used technical jargon, they are easily left to interpretation. Plus, they can make the person feel distant and removed from them.

But by making them more real and personal, Sylvie translated what these terms meant to her. This, in turn, provided proof and increased the perceived quality of that proof.

This proof made it more, for a lack of a better word, credible. It made the terminology easier to understand and internalize. And it made her story more concrete and real.

OK, back to my point.

After she posted this one post, I emailed my list one more time. Same thing as before: the same lists with the exact same number of people emailed on the previous occasions. But what happened next was absolutely incredible…

… That one post alone received over 150 comments in 48 hours!

Even now, two years later after that fateful day, comments are still pouring in every week - close to 200 at the time of this writing. See the blog post for yourself.

The bottom line is, once my wife provided proof the response rate shot up dramatically. It compelled people to respond. This doesn’t mean they didn’t believe her in her previous posts. But it did reduce if not eradicate any reasonable doubt.

And for those who already believed her, it made them believe more.

This entire event gave me an idea. I thought about all the elements of proof that can add more credibility and believability to your copy. So I came up with a formula.

With a little help from Sylvie, I came up with the term ”FORCEPS.”

Think of a pair of forceps, which is commonly used by surgeons for extracting. In this case, think of it as a way to “surgically extract” as much doubt as possible from your copy! FORCEPS is an acronym that stands for:

• factual
• optical
• reversal
• credential
• evidential
• perceptual
• And social

Let’s take a look at what each one means.

1. Factual Proof

In my wife’s example above, you were just given some examples of factual proof, such as medical terms culled from the pathology report. Statistics, data, factoids, numbers, test results, dimensions, and so on all fall in the factual proof category.

Facts of any kind about either the problem (i.e., anything that makes the problem more real and urgent in the mind of the reader) or the solution are powerful proof elements.

2. Optical Proof

In a court case, lawyers will argue that the best and strongest evidence is an eyewitness account. Similarly, optical proof (or visual proof) is one of the most powerful.

As the adage goes, “Seeing is believing.” Anything that can visually represent the product, the business, the person, the quality, the claims, or more importantly, the benefits of the product or service, gives your copy a strong advantage.

For example, if you sell a moneymaking infoproduct, these proof elements include scans of checks and bank deposits, screenshots of website traffic logs, pictures of the author leaning against his brand-new 2007 Mercedes-Benz S-Class S550, etc.

You get the picture. Literally.

eBay reported that auctions with pictures have 400% more bids than ones without pictures. That’s why adding a picture of your product in your copy works so well. Including a graphic cover of your digital product, even if it’s not in physical form.

If you sell a physical product, take a picture of it. Better yet, show it in action. (That’s why videos are better.) Or take a picture of the product as you would, for example, with an online auction. Use different angles and lights, even with its original wrapping.

But nothing beats before-and-after pictures. Even video, if possible. For the more vivid the proof is and the more senses they engage, the more believable the proof will be.

When I was writing copy for cosmetic surgeons in my early career, the most effective form of proof was showing before-and-after pictures of patients. You also see this in weightloss programs, bodybuilding equipment, diet programs, etc.

That’s why adding before-and-after pictures show not only the results but also the extent and measurability of those results through the element of contrast.

However, before-and-after pictures are not restricted to the cosmetic industry.

One of my former clients sells special lighting fixtures. These lights were not your usual lightbulbs. They were using a special type of halogen that was twice as intense as a normal, high-wattage incandescent lightbulb, but with only a third of the power.

What did he do? He took a picture of a someone’s living room with normal lighting in it, and then took a picture of the room with his special lights. Both unretouched pictures were placed, side by side, on his sales copy.

The contrast was obvious. The proof, astounding. The sales, significant.

3. Reverse Proof

Speaking of comparisons, comparisons with other types of products or services is another powerful proof element. You often see this in competitive analyses, when your product is compared to other products in its class or category.

(You’ve probably seen this with lists of features and benefits of various products, often in a tabular format, with checkmarks, where you can instantly see that the product in question had more features and benefits than its competitors.)

But don’t limit yourself to direct competitors. This can apply to indirect competitors, too. For example, an airline’s direct competitor is another airline. But an indirect competitor can be the train, automobile rental, bus, ship, etc.

But I prefer to call it “reverse proof” because the comparison doesn’t have to from product to product. It can also be from purchase to non-purchase. Anything that shows what can happen if they don’t buy the product is reverse proof.

In other words, if you can provide proof of any potential downside if the prospect buys a competitor’s product or, more importantly, fails to buy at all, is just as powerful. Because in reality, their non-purchase is an indirect competitor as well.

Some people call this comparing apples to oranges.

You compare the price of your offer, not against the price of a competitor’s product (i.e., apples to apples), but against the ultimate cost of not buying yours.

For example, let’s say you know someone who spent over $20,000 advertising a poorly written ad that had little to no response. If you sell a copywriting course for, say, $1,000, then you compare the price of your course to the cost of not knowing how to write copy.

In this case, you compare a small $1,000 investment to a potential $20,000 mistake.

4. Credentializing Proof

Credentializing proof is anything that helps to credentialize - i.e., demonstrate, highlight, or bring attention to the credentials of - the product, business, or person behind it.

What kind of education or expertise does the author have? How many years has the business been around for? How many clients did they serve? What kind of degrees, accreditation, certifications, or awards have they won?

If the product or author in question has appeared in the media, don’t be shy in adding these in your copy, including: newspaper and magazine articles, media reports on the product or business, appearance in trade journals, writeups in consumer reports, etc.

If you can namedrop someone who’s a recognized authority in their field or even a celebrity, and do it in an ethical and logical way, do so. Or let them do the talking for you.

In court cases, one of the most commonly subpoenaed witnesses are “expert witnesses.” Similarly, reviews from industry authorities, even endorsements from celebrities, though biased, also give your copy perceived objectivity.

If you were talked about on TV or radio shows, or in publications, drop those names, too. Some copywriters even add graphics or logos of those media in which they appeared.

For example, some of my clients have added scanned magazine covers to their copy - magazines in which articles by or about them appeared. Some even add the words “As Seen In…” This provides both credentializing and optical proof.

But nothing beats authoritative endorsements, both direct and even indirect ones.

Ostensibly, a direct one is one in which an authority directly endorses the product. But an indirect one is one in which there is perceived authority, or that the authority is implied, such as “9 out of 10 dentists agree.”

Another example of an indirect authoritative endorsement was once used by master copywriter Gary Bencivenga, who discussed a headline that said, “When doctors have a headache, here’s what they do.” You can read that article here.

5. Evidential Proof

Evidential proof is evidence or an argument that compels the mind to accept an assertion as true. In fact, in the dictionary one of the many definitions of “proof” states:

“1. The validation of a proposition by application of induction or deduction to derived conclusions; a statement or argument used in such a validation. 2. Convincing or persuasive demonstration; determination of the quality of something by testing or trial.”

Therefore, anything that can prove the validity of a claim, result, or promise, and anything that can justify, backup, or support a claim, in any way, is evidential proof.

For example, some of them include product demonstrations, samples, independent studies, clinical trials, controlled tests, etc. Even events and challenges work well, which is a blend of credentializing proof and evidential proof.

As the author of “Nothing Down,” a book on how to buy property with no upfront money or collateral, Robert Allen was challenged by the media to prove his claim.

The challenge was to drop him in the middle of nowhere with only $100 for food and water, and within 24 hours he had to buy a property with nothing down.

Not only did he buy one but also ended up buying several.

He took the challenge to put his claims to the test and won. But more importantly, he got the media involved, which provided a lot of publicity. Those are the kinds of results you certainly want to discuss if not showcase in your sale copy.

This is similar to “controlled tests.” I’m not talking about the marketing kind. I mean tests that actually validate the process, the product, the results, the claims, etc.

You can do hard tests or soft tests.

Hard tests are where you actually put your product to the test to measure its quality or validate its claims. Soft tests are tests that do not directly validate the product, but used to drive home a certain point or prove an important benefit.

In the infomercial for a synthetic car oil called “DuraLube,” they had cars put up on cinder blocks, drained them completely of oil, and had the motor run until it seized. To fix the engine, one would have to invest in costly mechanical work.

Then they added one small bottle of DuraLube, drained it once more, and started the car, which was running on DuraLube’s residue only. Not only did the car start without any problems, but an elapsed timer showed the motor ran for hours without fail.

While DuraLube is an example of a hard test, a soft one is like the commercial for Oreck vacuum cleaners. The goal was to prove that their vacuum, which was incredibly lightweight, could have unbelievable “hurricane force” suction for such a light machine.

So they had the vacuum literally suck up a bowling ball. That’s somewhat of a hard test.

The soft test was when they showed how the vacuum, placed on one end of a large scale against the same bowling ball on the other, weighed less the ball itself. You saw the bowling ball plummet while the vacuum raised up in the air like a feather.

6. Perceptual Proof

Also called “persuasive proof,” perceptual proof helps to increase the perceived quality of the evidence, and strengthens how someone appreciates that evidence.

We all know that facts and figures can mean different things. But how did one arrive at these conclusions? Against what can they be measured to understand their importance? And what do they mean at an intimate level, particularly to the reader?

That’s where stories, analogies, anecdotes, examples, metaphors, and real-life accounts help to not only expand on and solidify the proof given, but also relate them to the reader and increase their level of appreciation.

Just like my wife who, in her blog post, related what those medical terms meant to her.

She didn’t just list all the medical details and what they meant. She also told them in the form of a story, and included a few metaphors to help us understand and appreciate what was happening to her. It made the proof more real and concrete.

7. Social Proof

Lastly but not the least, social proof is proof by modeling. In other words, we tend to give more credence to an idea or behavior when we see the masses approving or doing it.

Also known as “informational social influence,” social proof occurs in social situations when people make the assumption that others, especially by their numbers, possess more knowledge and therefore deem their behavior as appropriate.

They tend to assume an idea is valid not by its objective evidence but by its popularity, following, or acceptance by others. The more people talk about it, endorse it, or buy it, the assumption is the more valid and relevant it must be.

For example, forms of social proof include testimonials, case studies, sales numbers, clientele size, number of endorsements, fan base size, and so forth.

The more real you make them, the more believable they are (such as testimonials with audio, video, pictures, signatures, screenshots, graphs, etc). Even blogs, forums, and social media are widely recognized and used as effective forms of social proof.

So, there you have it.

These are just some ideas. The bottom line is, the more proof you provide, and the more you backup your claims with proof of any kind, whether they are hard or soft, or objective or subjective, the more believable - and profitable - your copy will be.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

How to Extract Doubt From Your Sales Copy

Even if you are working with a company, your clients and potential clients are inevitably going to want to know who you are and where is the first place they will check you out? They will probably search for you on Google. The idea is to control the top ten search results for your name to ensure that they are relevant and most importantly, positive. The last thing you want is for a client to find search results on the front page of Google that say negative things about you.

The easiest way to control your top ten search results is through building your online presence via social media and blogging. Some of the most important online tools you can use are Twitter, LinkedIn, video websites and social networking sites like Facebook. If you have an unusual name, it will be easy for you to control the top search results for your name but if you have a very common name, try using your middle initial as way to distinguish yourself.

Blogging

One of the most powerful ways to build authority within your niche and boost your personal brand is via blogging. If you consistently provide great content and expert opinions, you can build a very successful personal brand through blogging. Make sure to link to a profile page with your bio and name on all of your blog posts to increase search rankings for your name. Write guest blog posts for other blogs in your niche to enhance your online reputation and reach a wider audience.

Twitter

Use Twitter to contribute valuable links and connect with others in your niche. If you build up a large following of relevant users and stay active in the Twitter community, you should expect your Twitter page to rank highly in the search results. If potential clients are looking for information about you and find your Twitter account full of relevant links and expert advice, it is going to go a long way in building your online reputation.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a business social media networking site that allows you to share your career history with others. It is a great way to build work contacts and allows potential clients to learn more about your qualifications, educational background, and so on.

Video Websites

If you’ve spoken at a conference or have made an online video presentation, upload it to a site like Vimeo or YouTube. When someone searches for more information about you and finds a relevant video you made, your reputation will be enhanced in the eyes of the searcher. Make sure to use your name in the video headline so the video is optimized for your personal brand.

Social Networking Sites

Now that you have filled most of the front page Google results with positive listings, you can work on adding a few neutral listings such as profiles for social networking sites like Facebook and Flickr. Better yet, find a social networking site that is relevant to your niche (i.e. Sphinn for search marketers) and actively contribute to it so you can show clients that you keep up with the latest news and trends in your field.

Keep these tips in mind in order to dominate the Google search results for your name. If you have quite a few online personalities and would prefer that some of them were not visible to your clients and potential clients, make sure to use different screen names! Optimize anything work-related with your real name to ensure that the search listings that show up when people search for you are positive and help to boost your online reputation.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

How to Use Social Media for Personal Branding

My answer: WHY are you doing them in the first place? If you can’t answer that, you’re wasting your time and the company’s money.

Sounds simple I know, but I’m stunned at how unclear many marketers are about their intentions/expectations/hypotheses for how social media initiatives might actually help their business. In short, if you can’t describe in two sentences or less (no semi-colons) WHAT you hope to gain through use of social media, then WHY are you doing it? Measurement isn’t the problem. If you don’t know where you’re going, any measurement approach will work.

Here’s a framework for thinking about social measurement:

1. Fill in the blanks: “Adding or swapping-in social media initiatives will impact ____________ by __________ extent over _____________ timeframe. And when that happens, the added value for the business will be $_____________, which will give me an ROI of ______________. ” This forms your hypotheses about what you might achieve, and why the rest of the business should care.
2. Identify all the assumptions implicit in your hypotheses and “flex” each assumption up/down by 50% to 100% to see under which circumstances your assumptions become unprofitable.
3. Identify the most sensitive assumption variables — those that tend to dramatically change the hypothesized payback by the greatest degree based on small changes in the assumption. These are your key uncertainties.
4. Enhance your understanding of the sensitive assumptions through small-scale experiments constructed across broad ranges of the sensitive variables. Plan your experiments in ways you can safely FAIL, but mostly in ways to help you understand clearly what it would take to SUCCEED — even if that turns out to be unprofitable upon further analysis. That way, you will at least know what won’t work, and change your hypotheses in #1 above accordingly.
5. Repeat steps 1 thru 4 until you have a model that seems to work.
6. In the process, the drivers of program success will become very obvious. Those become your key metrics to monitor.

In short, measuring the payback on social media requires a sound initial business case that lays out all the assumptions and uncertainties, then methodically iterates through tests to find the model(s) that work best. Plan to fail in small scale, but most important, plan to LEARN quickly.

Measure social media as you should any other marketing investment: How did it perform versus your expectations of how it should have? If those expectations are rooted in principles of profit-generation, your measurement will be relevant and insightful.

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Twittering Away Time And Money

In order to research, you must first take a look at what other sellers, especially Powersellers of the same items, are doing. What keywords do they use? Which categories are they listing in? Do their listings trigger an emotional need so that the reader simply has to buy now? How many photographs do they have and what quality are these? Take a good hard look at how they sell on eBay to get ideas for your own listings.

When a potential buyer reads your listings, they are looking for good value. So, you must add value to your products. Adding value does not always mean giving something extra free or doing something to the actual product! You just need to achieve a perceived added value which will catch the reader’s attention when they look at your description. So added value could be something as simple as offering a no quibble 30 day money back guarantee. If your competitors who sell on eBay are not offering this then you have added value to your product. The same goes for your listing description - photographs add value, as do the benefits of the product.

Make sure that you write your description well and always include photographs - people like to see exactly what they are buying! It is important to remember when you to write your description in a friendly, informative manner, as though you are talking personally to the reader as this will encourage them to continue reading and arouse their interest.

If your product has lots of features and especially benefits, then make sure you include them in your listing. Do not drone on and on, but be clear and concise and tell the potential buyer exactly why they must buy your item right now.

To sell on eBay effectively, you need to invest some time into creating that added value as ultimately your listings will attract more views and sales. Bearing this in mind, there is nothing more off putting to a potential buyer than seeing a confusing listing before them! Not everyone is a technical whiz so where possible use simple layman’s terms in your description. Show all your Payment, Shipping and Dispatch Times so that they can be easily seen and understood so that buyers can work out total costs and approximate delivery dates at a glance.

If people feel at ease with your auction listing, then they are much more likely to bid or buy. So it is important when you sell on eBay that you are completely honest. If there happens to be a fault with a product, tell buyers what it is as this will show that you are not trying to mislead anyone. Really, the simple rule is to think about what you would like to know about the item if you were buying it, and then add all these thoughts to your description. Don’t miss bits out because if all the information is there in front of the potential bidder or buyer then they are more likely to bid or buy right now.

As your views and sales grow, you must encourage your bidders and buyers to look at your other listings because a big part of your eBay sales strategy is to get bidders to purchase more items from you. So, if you are selling a supplementary or complimentary item let your buyers know and highlight the fact that you offer combined postage if they purchase both items!

When you sell on eBay, your listings should be regarded as an opportunity to establish relationships with buyers. You then need to look after these buyers so that they come back to you time and again. Never think in one-off transactions, even if they do end up as a one-off, because your ebay income depends on customers to guarantee you success!

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Sell on eBay - How To Write Profitable Listings

Head of Google’s crime spam fighting team, Matt Cutts, put the cat amongst the pigeons last month when he answered an audience question at the SMX Advanced conference about the value of using rel=”no follow” for PageRank sculpting purposes. When asked if it was a good idea to use nofollow when linking around within your site, Matt said no.

NoFollow is a method to annotate a link to say to search engines “I don’t want to vouch for this link.” In Google, nofollow links don’t pass PageRank.

According to Matt, more than a year ago, Google changed how the PageRank flows so that links WITHOUT nofollow would flow lesser points of PageRank than before and that links WITH the nofollow attribute would count toward how PageRank is divided up amongst all links on a page.

Seems SEOs and webmasters were getting a little bit trigger happy with their use of rel=”no follow” for Google crawl prioritization and were accidently blocking Googlebot from indexing important parts of their site.

Matt later clarified the issue with his blog post PageRank Sculpting:

“[We] noticed some sites that attempted to change how PageRank flowed within their sites, but those sites ended up excluding sections of their site that had high-quality information (e.g. user forums)… I wouldn’t recommend [PageRank sculpting], because it isn’t the most effective way to utilize your PageRank. In general, I would let PageRank flow freely within your site. The notion of “PageRank sculpting” has always been a second- or third-order recommendation for us. I would recommend the first-order things to pay attention to are 1) making great content that will attract links in the first place, and 2) choosing a site architecture that makes your site usable/crawlable for humans and search engines alike. For example, it makes a much bigger difference to make sure that people (and bots) can reach the pages on your site by clicking links than it ever did to sculpt PageRank. “

Danny Sullivan has a great follow up post that goes into more detail here.

So the short story is this: PageRank sculpting is no longer effective as a SEO technique (if it ever was). For the most part, the more links on a page, the less PageRank each link gets. Keep that in mind whenever you’re optimizing your site and when you build new pages.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Google PageRank Sculpting is Dead

True, SEO is no science, but it can have a scientific approach. The results are not instantaneous like PPC but results should be visible after 3 months onto a program. Okay… give and take a few months for the vagaries of Search Engines who like to alter their algorithms just when your site is all set to take off!

The problem with SEO is that it is too vague a field. We can only guess what works and what does not. Broadly there are five factors that are said to do 70% of the work.

1. A well optimized code
2. Well Optimized Metatags
3. Header Tags, Alt tags
4. Keywords in the URL
5. Backlinks to the site

If your SEO company is smart enough to integrate all these together chances are that by the fourth month your SERPs should be somewhere around rank 10-12 for moderately competitive keywords. Competitive keywords take much longer and the effort for increasing the positions in page 1 increases proportionally with every position.

There are two ways in which you can check if your company is really working on your website.

1. Set up Google Alert on your company’s name. Once an alert is set up, every time a directory picks up your link or a blog picks up your article or the company does a press release Google will pick it up and deliver it into your mailbox. The larger the number of alerts the more your SEO company is working.
2. Use a tracking account. Google Analytics is free and is improving with feedback. Ask you SEO company to set up a tracking in analytics and get your account id and password so that you can check occasionally.

SEO is unfortunately a long drawn process. How long should one wait before deciding that the SEO company is taking you for a ride? When you are six months into an SEO program and you face any of the following scenarios it’s time to fire your SEO company.

Scenario #1: Six months into the campaign there is no increase in search traffic

Scenario #2: Your traffic has increased but you are not getting any conversions.

Scenario #3: You have not even made it to page 2 for your targeted keyword.

Scenario #4: The company’s report shows a lot of increased links but there is hardly any increase in ranks.

Scenario #5: Your keywords are stagnated where they were.

Scenario #1: Six months into the campaign there is no increase in search traffic Why is it so? Maybe they are not working at all OR Maybe they are targeting all the wrong keywords. Very competitive keywords may bring in more traffic volume but they take longer (read upto 12-24 months) to optimize. To maximize your ROI professional SEO companies choose a mix and match of low competition, moderate competition and high competition keywords. If your SEO company did not take this approach it’s time to fire them.

How to Check: Insist upon adding Google Analytics (a free tool) to your site and visit it regularly.

Scenario #2: Your traffic has increased but you are not getting conversions Maybe it’s a genuine mistake which can be rectified OR Maybe you are getting a lot of spam traffic because the company has posted the site at improper places just to show stats of increase in traffic. Believe me this happens quite a lot with unprofessional companies who want to gain SEO credibility. The unknowledgeable client gets taken in.

How to Check: Visit analytics. Click on traffic sources. Check all the traffic types- Referral, search engine and direct. Check the type of sites the referral traffic is sending, check the type of keywords. If all of these are okay, then you need some serious website marketing not just SEO

Scenario #3: You have not even made it to page 2 for your targeted keyword Maybe the targeted keywords are too competitive ORMaybe all the aspects of SEO are not being covered by your company. This is a tricky issue. If you are satisfied with your keyword movement over the months maybe just a push is needed. Otherwise you need to check what the company is doing.

How to Check: Simply type your keyword in the search bar. Check page #1 for your URL. If it’s not on page #1 it should be on page #2 after 6 months of campaign for at least some of the keywords. It should show up. If it isn’t there call up the SEO company and demand an explanation.

Scenario #4: The company’s report shows a lot of increased links but there is hardly any increase in ranks. Maybe the ranking will improve gradually OR Maybe the company is trying to impress upon you that it has increased your links. This is false reporting and not genuine SEO. In the long run these links will harm your site. Keep away from the company.

How to Check: Occasionally, in the Google toolbar type the following to see the number of links to your website- links:www.domainname.com Analyze the relevancy of the site linking back to your website. If the links are from spam sites fire the company.

Scenario #5: Your keywords are stagnated where they were. Suppose you were already on page #3 or page #2 for the keywords and approached a company to take you to page #1. But you haven’t moved. Maybe the company’s taking you for a ride

OR There is no other reason. Just fire the company. They are showing no results

There may be other scenarios which have not been covered in this article. It’s very difficult to know if the company is working hard enough to get you on page #1. Keeping constant contact with the company is a good idea. Ask for a monthly comparative report and track the increase in links, traffic and keyword positions. Get an action plan of the month by the company. Track the action plan. You will see results soon enough!

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Should You Fire Your SEO Company?

Over time the links you use as anchors become prominent as each page in your website takes on more authority. Not only are links just a way from getting from point A to point B within a website, but they also inherently hold the keys to search engine rankings as search engines use links and anchor text to assess relevance.

Search engines crawl links (within your website) to determine context and align the on page data (what the page is about) to other pages in the site and off page data (what other sites say about your pages).

Sometimes, by using the same links consistently across large areas of a website (such as navigation or a sidebar or template), you unintentionally diffuse the topic of the context or context of that segment. Page rank sculpting allows you to minimize the negative impact or hemorrhaging link flow, while consolidating the most significant links from the most significant sources within your website.

The Dilemma: Structuring Which Links Pass Value

The reason why the no-follow tag became popular was for sites linking out to others, the no-follow tag suppresses link flow from leaving the site providing the link to the site being linked to (in case you do not care to vouch for them or let them rank off your domain authority).

Seeing the benefits of this, some SEO’s began using the no-follow tag to sculpt the way that Google’s crawlers sifted through their pages. The premise was that by adding a no-follow tag to a link that it would become invisible to the crawlers and then proportionately provide more link juice to the remaining links on the page, this is page rank sculpting.

Much to the dismay of SEO’s (who were possibly some of the only people using no-follow to begin with), Google changed the way they processed the no-follow tag and suggested that instead of the link being invisible and the remaining link flow going to other links (which the link flow from the link) in the no-follow tag simply evaporated.

As a result, those who used the tag internally essentially have disrupted their own internal link graph not to mention could incur dips in rankings due to the amount of trust moving from page to page being diminished.

Now, for the Technique

As promised, here is the link to an “old school” advanced SEO technique hailing from the, pre-nofollow tag” era. In addition to using javascript links (which are now crawled from search engines), here is one no-follow alternative that you can employ in minutes courtesy of renowned SEO expert Charles Hefflin from SEO2020.com.

For those unfamiliar with the technique, the no-follow tag is a tag you can implement within the html code that allows a website to “link out to others” and not incur one of two things (1) theme diffusion or (2) a potential penalty from Google.

This tactic uses a minor modification to your robots.txt file and /cgi-bin/ directory and redirects links from a /cgi-bin/ script that elects to block spiders from crawling from the robots.txt via an exclusion command like the one noted below as an example.

User-agent: *

Disallow: /folder/

This is one of many techniques you could employ, but this one is quick, effective and preserves the link equity you have within your own website.

In the event you are curious to what the reference is for theme bleeding (it is covered in Charles’s post), or you can refer to our post on theme density and theming and siloing for a larger overview as an effective alternative to using flat site architecture (keeping all files in the root folder vs. subfolders segmented by topic) for search engine optimization.

Hat tip once again to Charles Hefflin on this priceless SEO technique that places the power of “page rank sculpting” back in the hands of webmasters who can appreciate the simple beauty and impact of this effective on page SEO technique. That is of course, if you elect to use it…

Jeffrey Smith is an active internet marketing optimization strategist, consultant and the founder of Seo Design Solutions Seo Company http://www.seodesignsolutions.com. He has actively been involved in internet marketing since 1995 and brings a wealth of collective experiences and fresh marketing strategies to individuals involved in online business.

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Forget No-Follow: Try This PageRank Sculpting SEO Alternative