So sorry if your a vegetarian… me, I’m a meat lover and for me, a burger without the beef, just doesn’t make sense.  Its the same thing for a successful SEO campaign and keyword research.  If your marketing to search engines, correct keyword research is critical to your results.  Really critical. 

You’ve got to find the right source, of the right information, and know how to look at it in the right way.  Its that serious.  Otherwise your just wasting money.  The direction you take your keywords, takes your content, and can take much of your decision making — that’s enough to make this a significant aspect of your online success.

Good keyword research starts with the right tool.  If your keyword research tools are sub-par, your results will be as well.  I would also suggest that in this instance, free is not always the best option.  In fact, its not likely to be any answer for keyword research.  You simply need the right data — avoid junk in, junk out syndrome.  Our team uses the following keyword research tools:

• Trellian’s Keyword Discovery Tool - simple, inexpensive and good.
• WordTracker Keywords Research Tool - great value and a great reputation.

We actually use both - just to cover all basis.  Each will give you good information, and both have simple interfaces.  Don’t get me wrong, you’ll need to actually take the time to do the research - maybe even pay someone to do it.  I highly recommend to all of my clients — take the time to learn it, the benefits reach far beyond the campaign.  You’ll learn valuable information that will actually help you make better decisions in your writing, your marketing focus, and a host of other areas. 

Listen, once you’ve got that tool, don’t focus on the best case scenario.  You can not compete with the big boys and girls, unless you have the same size budget and can enlist the help of a major SEO firm.  You are shooting yourself in the foot by focusing beyond your realistic reach.  Instead of competing at a level you’ll drown trying to achieve, focus on the many overlooked, smaller strings of keywords.  They call it long-tailing, but simply, its using less popular keyword phrases - many of them to combine into bigger numbers.  Your more likely to get good results with strings.

Match the keywords to content you actually publish.  Don’t go beyond your reach; don’t try to bite off more than you can chew; and keep it simple.  If your website content is focused, your keywords should be as well.  They need to match up.  You’ll get better rankings and better conversions, because your marketing who you are.

Don’t assume everyone is like you.  Really, don’t think that because you would search using certain words, that they (your market) would do the same.  Your perspective should never be your own when your considering your market. 

Make sure you include keywords that provide location information.  Not only do these keywords have less competition, they are also easier to target, in most cases.  Note, you don’t want to go over board here, you could isolate the rest of your keyword sets.

Watch what happens.  I’m assuming here, your not starting from ground zero and you have some sort of traffic analyzer in your arsenal.  If not, we recommend Google Analytics.  Assuming you have this set-up, check it out - frequently. Most traffic programs will provide a list of the keywords where visitors came from.  Maybe your missing some great words, and the data is right there.

Don’t fear change.  Once you get started, you’ll need to regularly re-evaluate where you are.  Have you improved in position?  Is your traffic converting better or worse?  Take a look at what’s happening and accept that sometimes you’ll need to change your brilliant plan.  It’s all good, we all live and learn.  Change your strategy and keep watching.

It sounds like a ton of work, but its actually more manageable over time.  Anything worth building takes some time.  If you systemize your business processes, and change some thinking - you can slowly contribute to this and other areas to be successful in your online marketing efforts. 

It’s possible.

To Your Success,

Maria Reyes-McDavis

The Web Success Diva

Not exactly.  All links are not created equal when your talking about search engine optimization.  And what once was important, has lost it potency because of spamming and obnoxious marketers changing the rules for everybody.

There was a time when reciprical links meant something.  The more you had to/from relevant content - the better.  It seemed everyone had an “exchange links” box … aww, the simple, good days.  Google wised up after everyone started to use linking networks.

Today, the most important link in the world is that of a one-way link.  These are links where some (and you) link to your site (or their’s) — but its not mutual.  You’ve also got to watch how you use your keywords, there is a delicate balance between legit keyword use and spamming.  One thing you can do to make sure your in the green zone is to use longer strings and variations when linking with keywords.  For example, instead of using green apples, you can use delicious green apples.  The point here is to always let the keywords flow into your content.  Chances are, if your really offering something worth offering related to that keyword, it will just flow.  Don’t ever “inject” your keywords, it can kill the value of your copy.

So, how do you get one-way links to your website, on different pages?

Let’s use the case of a life coach who specializes in holistic/spiritual approaches.  We are also assuming here, this particular coach produces my recommended “content bucket,” once a month (this provides us with enough content to market her within particular nichecs).  Some strategies we would use include:

• We would make sure to create, at least two seperate articles related to an information product she is launching in February (you see she’s planned ahead and has given up plenty of time to market her).  You always place the article content on your website or blog (whichever is your hub traffic focus).  Make sure that Google has found that article before you distribute that article across the Net.  Otherwise, you can actually penalize your SEO efforts, if Google finds you posting after other sites do.  Even though its your content, Google has no way of “testing” for that, so it will use time as a reference point.  The links (if you do your article marketing correctly) will be beneficial one-way links
• In this particular case, she has also self-published a great book related to her content (if you haven’t done this and you’ve got good content, you may consider it…).  We’ve given sample sized excerpts (and in some cases, advanced copies) of the book - asking for reviews and evaluations.  This provides new, fresh content for the bloggers and, if your lucky, great reviews to piggy-back some publicity from.
• Write “countdown” press releases leading up to a product or service launch, making sure that you are including keyword rich content.  Some examples include a press release to “announce” the coming product or service announcement date - seriously.  The point here is the link-backs and the possibility of a “viral” type of content floating around the Net with your links on it.  A press release a week, should be issued approximately 4-6 weeks up to the launch.  Its just a small part of a larger strategy.
• This client had already built a great “following” from such social networking sites as MySpace and Facebook — leaking excerpts of her book to our known fans, other authors, and the like for reviews and commentary… all of these people, we’d established a relationship with prior to the request.  In most cases, links to the site, with plenty of relevant content around it, were posted.
• Our client also became very active in forums, online communities, and other “viral” marketing type possibilities (things tend to spread in these communities, if it catches on, your set).  I believe towards the end, we posted a list on CraigsList for a high school or college student who wanted to make some extra cash.  With some instructions, those guys can surf the Net like no one’s business.

These are just some ideas.  Your goal, ultimately, is to just work on links over time.  Always focus on quality in linking, not quantity.  Yes, this strategy takes longer, but the foundation your building will bring significant residual traffic benefits for a long time to come. 

To Your Success,

Maria Reyes-McDavis

Your Web Success Diva

… don’t take it personally — that’s simply the psyche of the online user today.  Your product or service will never be good enough to just offer by itself.  You may get trickled in sales, but to really reach high goals, you’ll never be able to do it alone.  It is what it is.

Incentives are your friend, they are the additional part of the “order” that typically seals the deal.  They are the jelly to your peanut butter, the sugar to your kool-aid, the pea to your carrot.  You really should never have an offer without an incentive.

So, with that, what about incentives?  How do you know which ones work?  How do you know your not giving away too little or too much?  How do you spell incentive?   I know, lots and lots of questions.  Here are some tips to help you along the way:

• Your incentive, whatever it is, should contribute to the call to action you want your user to take.  For example, if you want them to make a purchase, make sure your incentive doesn’t direct them away from the cart - surprisingly, I’ve actually seen this done. 
• Always remember, good incentives create a little sense of urgency in taking action.  They also add to the value of the original offer (product or service).
• You should have three different versions of offer, minimum, that you test out.  If you have an adequate shopping cart system like 1ShoppingCart, you can set-up adtrackers that create a testing environment.  You’ll quickly learn which set of incentives creates the best sales.  Never put all your eggs in one basket: test, test, test.
• Remember, if its not working, change it.  What you perceive to be an additional value, your users may not.  Again… test, test, test.
• Most users respond to incentives that are presented immediately - such as digital downloads, percent off, etc.
• If you offer a payment plan, always give an incentive to purchase with payment in full.  As a business owner, money now is much better than money anticipated.
• Don’t forget, incentives should occur at more than checkout in your cart process.  Always have incentives, also, in areas they could feasibly exit - if they change their mind, get interrupted during purchase, or a host of other situations.  These are called your exit recovery incentives.  Examples would include: a hover ad that comes up when they close cart page, providing a one-time coupon or special bonus; an exit pop-up that attempts to offer something free, in exchange for email (so at least you’ve got them in the list); there are many more here to consider.
• Never underestimate the results from service incentives.  These typically get wrapped up in “customer service” emails.  For example, we always have a customer service email that is schedule to distribute a certain number of days out, to check in on their purchase.  If they purchase one product - and we had a complementary one - we’d offer the complementary one at half-off or discounted price, because of the original purchase.  Another email would provide a download link as a special thank you gift - its a free teleseminar, which ultimately markets other programs we offer - I call it our post-sale marketing strategy
• Do not create more work for yourself in offering an incentive.  I see this mistake time and time again… Coaches offer an incentive of a free half-hour consult with every purchase… only to realize, how unrealistic that was for delivery.   The cost of her time, actually created a negative profits effect on the sales she did have.  Listen, on large purchases, this is great.  For other, just think it through — there are plenty of other incentives that could be offered, you just need to start thinking creatively.

The important lesson to learn here is that - you have to begin to think of ways where you can differentiate yourself from the market - incentives are a great way to do it.  You also have to realize this simple truth:  what you have to offer is never enought… you need incentives!

To Your Success!

Maria Reyes-McDavis

Your Web Success Diva

… brand awareness, its a strange creature.  Most marketers know, its important in your overall maintenance strategy - even for the little guy.  Yet, most marketing budgets do not include it.  Without going into the specifics, its important.  As important, I would say, as branding your visual presentation online — its hard to measure in quantifiable terms, but its one of those things you “know” matters.

Setting an agreement on that fact, let’s move forward… One of the best ways to create brand awareness and credibility is through audio and video - things other than the usual logo and copy.  In particular radio advertising has taken on a whole new depth, kind of a twist on the original.  Online radio networks are huge, commanding millions of visitors on a daily basis.  Its cheaper to run an online radio station - or simply broadcast the offline one already existing.  Plus, there are so many niches within online radio - your sure to connect with one filled with listeners dying to find your product and/or services.

Audio ads, if you look in the right places, can actually be very affordable.  Even blog radio can bring in great traffic and brand awareness.  One of the best ways to reach these networks is through Google Audio Ads.

When you check it out, Google markets the audio ads as a way to “increase the impact of your AdWords campaigns…” but as with most of the internet marketing tools available — real marketers know to look for creative ways to expand the use of each tool.  The more you can open your mind to really think of solutions - the bigger your competitive advantage becomes online.

Operation of your Google Audio Ads account happens through your Google Adwords account — so get one!  Now let’s review some tips that will help you:

• Just like with any marketing you do online - figure out who your market is.  I mean who they really are.  If your a coach’s coach - marketing a teleseminar series to help coaches build revenue - then you need to focus on self-help, personal growth categories and so forth.
• Create your ad, use a service like AudioAcrobat.  A simple voice clip, skit, whatever… will work.  I actually record my own - and do it adhoc, thats the best way for me.
• When you set up the audio ad through Google, you’ll need to select days and times for the ad to run, remember your markets online habits here.  You’ll also need to specific geographic location (I always shoot with somewhere close to home… you can learn why in my internet marketing safe zone).  You will also need to choose the type of station it appears on, and whether you will bid or reserve plays.  I always bid - just a personal choice here.

Now listen, Google Audio Ads may not be the best choice for everyone.  One really good benefit that most people can all benefit from, is the “recyclability” of the ads you create.  These can be the same clips you distribute to blog radio communities, podcasting communities, and even use them as publicity in your other marketing efforts.

The point here is to really think out of the proverbial box.  You’ve got to start thinking beyond ezines and articles, to really developing creating ways to build your online success story.

To Your Success,

Maria Reyes-McDavis

Your Web Success Diva

… it’s a tough feat, but can actually be done.  With alittle planning, task work, and the right “know-how” — you can build a very good foundation of online “buzz” for your big product launch.  Here are some tips:

• Connect to the blogsphere before launch:  the concept here is to tap into their large network of traffic and abilities to create great viral marketing.  You’ll approach them from the angle of “seeking their expertise in providing an evaluation of the product or service.”  This serves two purposes - you get to tap into their expertise and get valuable feedback about what your offering.  You also, and more importantly, get to “feed” them content about your product or service; they will likely blog about their review.  Your hope here is that its good.  You can also use these reviews for marketing purposes.  Its a win-win if you can get some good evaluations.
  • Keep in mind here, you are likely to get a better response to your evaluation request, if you’ve formed relationships with your prospects.  I typically “follow” bloggers who are big in the sphere by reading and commenting in their blogs, forming relationships… even with these efforts, you’ll still only see a 20% acceptance rate… so put in alittle work here.  Get connected with who’s connected in  your industry. 
• Market your launch, with the good feedback already backing you in the blog community, using social media.  Social networking profiles, social bookmarking at such sites as Digg, StumbleUpon, and others.  Your basically leaving breadcrumbs across the Net with hopes that it catches on.  Some of this is planning and some happen purely out of luck, or the whim of users.  In any case, the link-backs to your site/product launch page, the potential residual traffic, and branding created are worth the effort.
• Interact with your market - go where they are.  Look, the days of “hard selling,” “infomercial” type marketing is over, my friend.  Most marketers still using using those techniques are building eternal funnels, not building relationships - which have a greater profitability growth potential.  Communicate in forums, locating areas of solution your product/service can solve.  Our team locates forums and networking sites where our products provide a solution to the users stated problem.  The point here is to go where your market goes and to communicate with them. 
• If you can afford a small paid marketing budget - say $500, you could use pay-per-click campaigns (geo-targeted in some cases), paid placement on social networking and bookmarking sites.  But don’t go crazy here, if your smart, you’ve planned ahead and have 2-3 months to market your launch.  Put in the right amount of work, and that is plenty of time to save you plenty of money.
• Audio and Video Campaigns?  Yep. Not what you think.  Online media is fast becoming the best and least expensive way to market, creating residual publicity that can create huge amounts of traffic.  Examples here include:
  • Google audio ads:  Creating product/brand awareness is half the battle online.  Google audio ads are a great way to do so (along with other providers).   Audio can be fairly inexpensive to create (especially with such programs as AudioAcrobat) - and can be distributed across a great network if submitted to the right place.
    • Video marketing:  Yep.  You really can do it.  Remember, some of the best viral video campaigns were not professionally filmed and scripted - not even close.  I’ve seen clients “home video” small snippets of programs, funny parodies showing a problem which product a solves, and a host of other ideas.  Take that same, simple, cheesy movie - tag is correctly, and submit to such places as YouTube, Google, and a long list of video hubs…. you’ve got a potentially explosive campaign.
• Issue press releases:  Get one great paid account at PRWeb.com - submit the rest to free and all-inclusive news directories (which often trickle through Google) and you’ve got a great way to generate even more traffic.  Do not ever underestimate the many free ways you can build online “buzz” for yourself. 
• Follow-up:  Make sure your using a cart system like 1ShoppingCart.com.  You want to make sure your communication with the incoming traffic is consistent and purposeful.  I can not stress enough, the effective use of technology that automates your processes.  The work it takes to set it up properly can save you hundreds of hours in maintianing and “running” the business your trying to grow.

The important thing to remember is plan ahead.  Give your product/service AND YOURSELF enough time to use the many creative opportunities available to really market.  I see too often failure after failure because of unrealistic expectations and last-minute efforts, that really short change the success you could have had

To Your Success,

Maria Reyes-McDavis

Your Web Success Diva

Social media.  What does it sound like it would mean?  It is almost an old technology, advancing leaps and bounds in the past year… Yet, its lifespan is so ever-evolving, there is still much life left in this little known marketing art.  Those who know, use it as if it were the lifeline of their growth - those who don’t chalk it up to just another internet fad. 

Here’s all you need to know about social media marketing — it works.  Period.  It works in such a way that traditional forms of internet marketing pale in comparison.  Let’s look at the differences of each:

1. Traditional forms of online marketing require input for output.  In other words, ppc doesn’t work unless you pay for it.  eZine marketing does not work unless you religiously send out a jam-packed newsletter, taking plenty of time and effort, when you stop publishing it, you stop seeing results.  SEO requires constant nurturing to really reap continual benefits.  Social media marketing requires a foundation of work that could lead to years of residual traffic benefits.  Once you understand how it works and you implement it, you see just how great the residual rewards are from your social media campaign.  For example, one social media campaign could take 3 months to set-up, but bring in traffic for years to come.  This same campaign, if done right, can also benefit every and any other strategy you have in your online marketing arsenal.  Seriously.  This benefit alone makes it worth a look.
2. The old ways of marketing, have slowly - over time, lost their potency.  Clearly the days of when finding an eZine sign-up form on a website was considered ‘advanced technology’ were better days than now.   Now, every tom, dick, and mary is publishing an eZine and the opt-in boxes have become as common place as Viagra emails in your inbox.  Social media’s interactive and dynamic nature - makes it an entity that will only continue to grow.  Your investing now into a technology that will be around for a long time.  Your investing solely in older technology is a gamble on your company’s longevity online.
3. Old technology is limited in the relationship it forms with your market.  In other words, an eZine sent once a week, can only do so much to communicate to your market the messages you are trying to get across.  Your static website, again, can only take you so far into the psyche of your market.  Social media marketing has the incredible potential to create real “buzz,” and complete interaction with your market - creating an online publicity potential that all the old technology in the world could not rival.  The unique attribute that makes social media’s benefits so tremendous, is the way in which the technology lets the market determine its path - subtly, yet firmly, walking your market down the path to your product or service.  You engage them, in their environment - connecting at much deeper levels with them.  Your able to market to them, without really marketing to them.

Any person who is unwilling to at least look at the possibilities of social media marketing — should seriously consider their long-term future online.  Successful internet entrepreneurs are typically on the forefront of technology, able to spot opportunities and quickly act upon them.  Coaches, consultants, authors, & solopreneurs should be particularly sensitive to the opportunities available in emerging technologies.  With such competitive markets, this kind of knowledge could give you the competitive advantage you need to succeed. 

To Your Success,

Maria Reyes-McDavis

Your Web Success Diva

… No worries, I’ll wait while you think it through …

… Okay, so, let’s look at it… I’m guessing one of these came into mind:

• Your not really sure.  Man, that’s  a bit scary don’t ya think?
• You just come up with brilliant ideas all the time, your so good at coming up with exactly what you would like to read…
• Your friends or family, who are so knowledgeable, gave you content ideas… and you love ‘em, so you published it…
• Your watching who you consider to be your biggest competition, and your kind of shadowing them on topic areas…

One question:  Does anyone pick up my sarcasm?  If you can recognize the fact that these listed, and a bazillion other ways people come up with their lovely content — then your ahead of the game my friend.  Sad, but true.

Listen, content is king on the Internet.  To develop it, without real research and knowledge your literally shooting yourself in the foot… now that’s a painful idea.  What would I consider research and knowledge, you ask?  Hmmm… here’s a few:

• Do you understand your market?  I mean, really understand your market.  What makes them tick?  Have you become them and taken a long, deep trip across the Internet to see what they see?  You should. — If you do not understand your market, you’ll never understand how to appeal to them and call them to action. 
• What kind of information do you review about keywords within your topic area?  What are your competitors using as keywords?  What do people even search for to find you?  — Finding out this information is easier than you think.  Coupled with a little common sense and critical thinking, you could hold in your hand some very valuable information.
• How are your Google Alerts set-up to help you?  Do you even know what Google Alerts is?  How can you manage it and get useful information? — Using Google Alerts as part of an online marketing tool arsenal, you could watch your competition, spot content and focus trends, and even brainstorm brilliant ideas in publishing  your content.  This is well worth the effort to learn.
• How much do you know about where people go on your site?  What topic areas or website areas are they migrating to?  User traffic trends on your website, as well as to and from it — are really important to understand.  Again, the process, once set-up can be very easy to learn and manage — a treasure of information.

As you know, I always disclaim — no list I publish is all-inclusive, more an illustration of things to think about. 

If you can farm these types of services out, you may be thinking that is your best option — your likely scared at the thought of learning such advanced technology… yeah right, whatever.  Listen, even if you do farm out the tasks — the knowledge itself could be the difference between failure and success.  Really.  How can you trust that everything is being done properly, if you do not even know how to spell the word “blog.”  (*smiles*)  How do you know that your actions are hindering your online marketing efforts… you just don’t know, until you “know” — ya know?!  (clever, eh *winks*)

Listen, you’ve got to be the master of your own domain - don’t put your potential online marketing success in the hands of someone else - no matter how competent they appear.  Take that extra time (you can find some if you really try…) and learn what you can, about online marketing - you’d be surprised at how enlightened you become in decision-making and in understanding how and what to publish.

Here are 3 things you should always consider when publishing content:

• What value does this add to who I am trying to reach?  What are you offering and is it good enough to put your name on it?  Don’t just duplicate content - be original and authentic, online users are savvy - don’t insult their intelligence.
• What value does this add to my overall online marketing goals?  Do NOT just push content out for the sake of pushing it out (you probably got that idea from some lame informational product).  It doesn’t work.  Trust me, Google and its programmers are very smart and know how to distinguish content to an amazing level.  Make sure you’re using content effectively; learn how to “tweak” it and “recycle” it saving you time and money; learn how to optimize it; etc.

Now go out there and push out the best darn content you can muster!

To Your Success,

Maria Reyes-McDavis

Your Web Success Diva

Well, since my Author Websites editor feature on Wow! Women On Writing... I've received hundreds of emails, asking for specific internet marketing tips specifically for authors.  So, here you go ladies (and gents)...

Change your mindset:  Awww, the labor of your love... your book.  Its your masterpiece, your love-child, your life for the past months... but it is not the end-all to your success.  In fact, many authors make a terrible mistake in believing their book is the focus.  It certainly is your focus -- its your blood, sweat, and tears -- however, it should not be your focus in online marketing decision-making.  In fact, your book should be your foundation to building a profitable business.  It is an internet marketing tool, that can open many doors to profitability for you.  By marketing your book as your foundation, not your end-all, you could expand into profitable speaking, consulting, and subsidiary services -- making you much more money, and residual at that, than your book ever could.  

Do what you do best:  Your a writer!  Duh, use this to your advantage.  Content is king online, and if you've already developed your book -- you've got unlimited possibilities for online content.  All successful online marketers know, "recycle" your content and you've got an endless supply of content that could create a wealth of possibilities for you.  For example, if your self-published use excerpts and content already in your book, "tweak" it, create articles, blog posts, and start getting your "book" out there.  Much of this content could position you as an expert in your "content area" and catapult you to bigger and better possibilities.

Start Learning:  So many times, I come across online entrepreneurs (yes, that's you author) who waste time and money in delegating themselves into the poor house.  Learn what you can about your online success and the tasks it takes to get you there.  I know, I know, I can already hear the grumbles from the gallery of my readers.  Time?  Who has the time, right?  You do, silly!  Really you do.  The time it takes you to learn something well enough to save you tons of money, will actually benefit you so greatly down the road.  For example, if you took a couple of hours to learn how to optimize your own articles, taking  you ultimately 5 minutes each time they are submitted, you could save yourself hundreds of dollars of the span of a year.  That money could go into making you more money; also saving you time in explaining to your web designer and waiting until they have enough time to get it live...  But, the more important reason for investing in  your own knowledge-base -- is the money-savings and headache-savings you'll have when you understand your business, its place online, and how to market it -- you'll learn how to see through all the "crap" being sold online and you'll learn to make better decisions for yourself.

Certainly, there are a ton of tips that can be, and will be given, in the coming months.  These are the key tips, that all authors must grasp before they venture into great online success.  

To Your Success,

Maria Reyes-McDavis

Your Web Success Diva

For more internet marketing tips and resources, go to www.MariaReyesMcDavis.com! 

Here's a question that I had from one of myinternet marketing ePartner friends (that's a client for those of you who are newbies), that I thought everyone would benefit from in understanding some key point about blogging and internet marketing:

Q:  I see millions of blogs across the net, what are the differences between those that make profits and those that don't?

Really good question and as you likely know about me, I can not stress enough about the truth that there is NO MAGIC FORMULA.  There just isn't.  Commitment, time, alittle luck... they all play a serious factor.  But, if I had to say something about what works for using blogs as an effective marketing tool, I would say:

Content is King.  You can not simply duplicate content.  Your content has to be original, inviting, and captivating - to a very specific market.  Basically, you need to know your stuff AND be able to present with great copy.

Optimize, Optimize, Optimize.  And I mean more than just spamming with keywords.  Optimizing a blog and all the copy in the blog is an approach to writing, its being thorough in your keyword analysis, its choosing your copy very selectively, its ensuring keyword density, and so much more.  It is a process that happens everyday, and should be integrated into "how you do things."

Be engaging.  In other words, make your readers want to stay and more importantly, return.  Engaging is as easy as asking your audience questions that they can answer by posting comments, operate polls, and even run contests.  Whatever it is engaging is a two-sided activity, that you initiate.

Be commited.  Blogging and making money on blogs (either from marketing and increasing revenues or the host of other ways to do it), you have to be committed.  You need to post regularly, you need to manage its marketing on a regular basis... it is not a put it up, post whenever you want, and watch it grow situation.  Quite the contrary.

These are just a few of the "core values" you have to hold in your mind when considering a blog as a marketing tool.  Without all of these, and a long list of other factors - your chances at real success are slim.

To Your Success,

Maria Reyes-McDavis

The Web Success Diva

http://www.mariareyesmcdavis.com

http://www.thepeasandcarrotscompany.com

Chances are, if your reading my internet marketing blog, your using article marketing as  a key catalyst to building qualified online traffic.  Most coaches, consultants, and solopreneurs alike are "familiar" with article marketing ... But I dare say, MOST are NOT doing it right!

I know, I know, no one likes to hear they are wasting their time or spinning their wheels, but its likely you are -- especially if your article marketing strategy is built on half the information disseminating across the Net!  My tip for you today is to give you some ideas on how you could tighten up your article marketing game and the reasons behind them...

My hope is to bring about one realization in your mind:

There is a much bigger picture in article marketing, than just writing content and shoving it out into the big world of article hubs and directories... In fact, if your view is not focused on a much larger picture -- your shooting yourself in the foot and killing the full potential that article marketing could have in your arsenal of internet marketing tools....

Check out these ideas and see if you know as much as you think you know:

• When you are creating content to publish/push online, and your crunched for time -- make sure you produce a "content bucket" a week.  This bucket will be full of one top, typically your topic will related to your overall focus as a company/entrepreneur.  For example, if you are publishing your first book on "Time Management Skills" -- make sure your pushing content that is relevant to marketing that book.  (I will typically sit down one time a week and write as much as I can about one topic, using stories,  statistics, etc.)  Once you've completed as much content as you can, distribute your "content bucket" according to your publisihing needs.  For example, from my "bucket" I am able to pull a feature article that I use in my ezine; topic ideas and segments for my blog(s); snippets for my social networking profiles; and more.  Here's what your accomplish:
  • Your consistently publish content - consistency is critical to building solid online traffic.
  • Your producing enough content to publish all over the Net, without penalizing yourself for publishing duplicate content.  You SHOULD NEVER write one article and then publish it in all the article directories, your blog, your ezine, your website, and  everywhere else you can think of.  Your hurting yourself in publishing duplicate content.
  • When you write a "bucket of content" each week, it is much easier to optimize the content at once.  Throw in a snazzy, optimized title/headline, some relevant links, etc. -- and you've got your optimized content done.
  • Your focusing your marketing efforts.  If you have relevant, good content out on the web that focuses on what you actually do/sell - your a head of the game by focusing your efforts.
• For each article you publish, make sure you issue a "reporter-like" press release for each one.  Submit this to press release directories and submission sites immediately after publishing your article.  The online press release should be written from a third-party "voice" announcing the article, the topics covered, and the value of reading it.  Be sure to link to the article.
• Don't just submit your article anywhere - find highly targeted niche sites.  If you are a spiritual life coach, find holistic, spiritual based sites.  If you are an SEO expert, find SEO specific places.  The point here is to make sure your article is published within places that have targeted content, your article ranks better in search engines (etc), because their site does.  This also gives you good link-backs to your website.
• Pay close attention to your article headline and resource/bio box.  Optimize these as well.  Stay away from "cute" headlines and give headlines that mean something -- make your readers know exactly WHY they need to read it. 

These are just a few of the ideas that you would be generating for yourself, if you really  understood article marketing -- how it applies to your overall strategy, how you can take advantage of SEO to get better results, etc, etc, etc.

My point?  No, its not to point out all that you do not know -- its to help you see that with the right understanding and knowledge, article marketing could be a very valuable resource in your internet marketing toolkit. 

I'm aware of the massive amounts of information online regarding article marketing - blogs, articles (ironic, eh), ebooks, ezines, tele-seminars, and even mastermind groups focuse on them -- many fall seriously short in deliverying information worth getting. 

As with most things in your business, use your common sense and always do your research.  If all you do is follow the lead of others, who may or may not really know what they are talking about -- your marketing will never get you to the next level. 

To Your Success,

Check Out My Articles Marketing Services and Resources for Solopreneurs, Coaches, and Authors!

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... Yeppers, I stated my question right.  Chances are you have no idea what I'm referring to, with regards to Internet Marketing.  Its not a play on words and it does involve information any website owner or online entrepreneur needs to know and understand.  Seriously... it's that important.

Alot of Internet Marketers try to complicate the definition and development, but its simple:  Your Recovery Plan is related to how you attempt to re-capture users who are exiting your funnel.  Here are some examples of Recovery Plan tactics:

You have a custom re-direct page, when a user clicks "Cancel Order."

You offer a free trial, but a user decides to close the browser window.

A user attempts to navigate to a link that returns a custom error page.

Simply... your entire funnel process has been analyzed for places where users can (and will) exit... you have a gameplan to recapture them at every exit door.

You would be amazed as how many lucrative recoveries you can make, when you take a serious look at all exit doors in your online process.  When advanced from the perspective of offering customer service, in a helpful manner, the conversion rate is surprising, in most cases.

Here are some additional examples of Recovery Plan tactics that I recommend:

Within your opt-in process, there should always be a "friendly help" email that is sent out 15-30 minutes after opt-in is attempted.  Confirm they have received their confirmation email and if they have not, provide a telephone number or email (for more automation) to recieve this.  This is also a good idea if you are offering any type of download.  Those who would have otherwise missed this process, are likely to follow through until the end.

Make sure your site is set-up with an .htaccess file that outlines custom error pages.  Anytime a user finds a deadlink, a missing or broken outbound links, or whatever - they are sent to a generic error page - basically taking them from  your site.  Statistics show less than 50% of users will navigate back to the site they left.  That's a huge leak in your funnel!  Make sure all error pages are custom, and from your domain.  Provide leads of where to go next, etc.

Always, always, always use custom thank you pages, auto-responders, and client contact - for purchase transactions.  This seems like a no-brainer, but I'm amazed as how often I see it not being applied.  You've got to learn to take advantage of all facets of technology, all of which can be used to fully customize the funnel process for your leads.  This is important.

Provide purchase alternatives, where exit may be based on pricing, timeframe and other "friction" based attributes.  In other words, if you're offering a year-long membership to a $500 program, at the end and at any point upon exit, offer a free trail, free offer, or other incentive to filter those who are still possible solid leads (those who showed interest, but did not result in a conversion).

When feasible, always try to offer a payment or recurring billing on larger priced items/services.  This Recovery Plan tactic, helps to mitigate the exit door for up-front payment issues.  You want to make sure you provide options for payment that make sense financially for your users.  Particularly on services that extend over a period of time.

There are a million and 1 ways to build your Recovery Plan.  Even if your recovery rate is as low as 10%, which results in 20% higher revenues, this can be a significant gain to your bottom line.  The point is, always see your funnel as a long hallway with many doors of possible exit.  You've got to have a plan to divert those doors from opening.  And if they do open, make sure you've got some type of marketing information that can add value to your decision making.

Here are some tips to help you start your Recover Plan:

Physically diagram each funnel process that you have.  These would be opt-in processes, purchase processes, and any action where there is interaction with the user.  Make note of the following key factors:

List all places throughout the process where user information can be gathered.  Remember, the more user information you gather, the higher friction you create in the process - which lowers your conversions - so gather what you need.

List all places throughout the process where users can exit the process; "clear cart" buttons, "exit cart" buttons, exiting window, etc. 

For each exit door, determine most feasible recapture attempt.  When I say feasible, I mean within certain bounds.  You certainly do not want to tick off your users.  A small, easily closed exit grabber, send a follow-up email.  Non-intrusive, customer-service-centric approaches, work best here.

The key to any "Recovery Plan" is implementing feasible approaches.  I highly suggest you have colleagues, friends, or family to test through all processes.  You want to have one person, you trust, going through all processes and providing  you with feedback.  Do not under-score how important your processes are, in creating more income for you.

God Bless,

Maria Reyes-McDavis

http://www.mariareyesmcdavis.com

http://www.thepeasandcarrotscompany.com

P.S.  We do a darn good job at developing "Recovery Plans" for your online presence... for more information on how we can help, click here.

These are the who's who of article directories and hubs.  Each chosen for searchability, traffic, quality, and PR (Google Page Rank)... all of which are important to achieve the results you are likely looking for...

• GoArticles :: PR 6

• Article Alley :: PR 5

• Article Depot :: PR 6

• Article HangOut :: PR 4

• Article Attic :: PR 3

• Article Beach :: PR 4

• Article Bliss :: PR 4

• Article Blizzard :: PR 3

• Article Cake :: PR 4

• Article Dashboard :: PR 6

• Article Devil :: PR 4

• Article Go :: PR 4

• Article Karma :: PR 4

• Article Wheel :: PR 4

• eArticles Online :: PR 4

• Easy Articles :: PR 5

If all you can do is manage your article submissions on this level, these will be a great start for anybody.  Always remember to submit your articles manually and be selective.  Simply getting your article out there, anywhere you can - will not help your efforts.

For those of you who are ambitious or wanting a higher level of submission:  we offer an article submission packages:  Basic for $25.00 per article (submitted manually to the above listed directories) or Professional for $45.00 per article (submitted manually to over 270 directories, all hand chosen by the Diva), click here for more information.

God Bless,

Maria Reyes-McDavis

The Web Success Diva

www.MariaReyesMcDavis.com

www.ThePeasandCarrotsCompany.com