Marketing Makes Me Money - Blog

One Little Word Makes All The Difference...

If you go to this news story link here , you will read about a Mass. Judge who has filed a suit against a reporter who misquoted his comments about the victim in a rape case he ruled on. The quote?
"She's got to get over it".
What was reported? "Tell her to get over it."
Notice how both four letter words have drastically different feeling that makes you feel one way or the other about the quotee. This judge and his family have had to endure death threats, 24 hour body guards, and a few stress related medical crisis' . Interestingly, this judge has been ruling on such cases for years, and has a body of work to be judged by. Only when a story is printed, where he is turned into a villain by this misquote, does his local constituency take action of some kind (both constructive, such as protests, and hte fanatical, like the death threats).
Are there any words in the copy of your website or sales letter, that can be improved?

Political Joke - tis the season...
Bill, Hillary and Kerry are flying on Kerry's wife's private jet.
Bill looks at Hillary, chuckles and says, "You know, I could throw a
$100.00 bill out the window right now and make somebody very happy."
Hillary shrugs her shoulders and says, "Well, I could throw ten $10.00
bills out the window and make 10 people very happy."
Kerry says, "Of course then, I could throw one-hundred $1.00 bills out
the window and make a hundred people very happy."
The pilot rolls his eyes, looks at all of them and says to his co-pilot,
"Such Bigshots back there ... I could throw all of them out the window and make millions happy."

The Emotional State Is The Thing

As I watched the RNC speakers last night, I learned something from the self-indulgent protester who tried to disrupt Cheney's speech. I say self-indulgent because... what did that person really hope to accomplish in such a large and cacophonous setting? Did she hope to change someone's heart and mind? Did she hope to "stick it" to ol' Dick? Did she think her outburst would forever change the history of presidential politics? I think... maybe. But what she was really after was satisfying her need for a particular emotional state. And in this political season, there is no more passionate state in need of an exquisite release than the "cause" (whatever it may be). We are all addicted to emotional states, so let me be clear, I'm not talking down to or dismissing the protester, she's being very human. I myself have an emotional craving that I itch everyday, playing my Madden 2005 NFL football video game (go Cowboys!!). But it is ALWAYS important to "check your head", and understand why we do what we do, and when we do it. And when you earn your meat and potatoes by persuading others to want what you sell, you must understand how emotional states work, and how essential it is to massage those emotions that would best get your prospect to "click here now to order". Emotions pertaining to fear, anguish, frustration, doubt, and anger (agitation) are all countered and answered with joy, confidence, faith, and hope (solution). You have seen, and maybe felt, lots of these in this political season, and also in recent sales transactions ( I waited in line for an hour to get my copy of Madden 2005). Keep your eye out for those emotional states, both to manage and to use.
Zell Miller in 2008!!

Do You Deserve To Succeed?

I had my weekly conversation with my action plan accountability partner, basically my friend of 15 years who agreed to be my success and life coach. An objective observer, if you will. Our conversation wandered to how far we have both come, and reflected on just how much success begins between the ears. One of the issues I had to "get over" was feeling like I didn't deserve to succeed. Despite having optimism in abundance, no lack of ability, and a productive imagination, I couldn't get past certain hurdles. Many of the hurdles were simply not finishing what I started, a very common problem for those in the business opportunity market. I finally narrowed my problem down to the meta-program in my head that went "I can't succeed like those other people. They deserve to be there, I don't because..." and then any excuse you can think of finished off that thought. What broke thru to me one night, as I was struggling with motivation to finish yet another "pie -in-the-sky" project, was remembering a quote from a radio talk show host, who said in his east- texas drawl, "None of us want what we truly deserve." He was referencing the christian belief that we are all sinners, and if we really asked for what we deserve, we would all be very, very crispy. Now, I didn't take it that far, but there is a truth there, regardless of what you think of christian theology.
We Are All At Square One.
On a basic personal level, no one is any better or worthwhile than anyone else. Someone who has succeeded or accomplished some measure of greatness, has most likely done so by pure chance, thru sweat equity and probably a combination of both. It could happen to anyone who makes similiar choices. So... why not you? Or me? Or that person in the cubicle next to you? My friend sums it up this way, "You get out of life what you put into it, in equal measure." So, we don't get what we deserve in a fatalistic sense, we get what we deserve based on our efforts. My favorite quote is by Calvin Coolidge, "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and Determination are omnipotent." Hope that helps, friends.

SEARCH ENGINE TIP

I ahve been busy writing my info-book, but here's a search engine tip for ya.
Page Rank is no longer the face value benchmark for how significant a web page is in any given keyword search in Google. The major factor appears to be the keyword that is used to link to your site, and the number of links to your page from as many sites in different C class IPs as possible. What's a C class IP? An IP is a number associated with points on networks that make up the internet. Any domain is associated with an IP number. Simply put, IPs are how computers on the internet talk to each other, letting each other know what goes where. We use domains because they are easier than saying, "click here to go to 208.11.12.12" . The IP number is made up of 4 numbers seperated by periods. The first class, the A class, is the first set of number, the second, or B class, is the second set, etc. etc. If you trade links with a site that is hosted on an IP that has a different 3rd set of numbers, or C class, it will wiegh more in Google's algorithm, than say a page in your own domain, or even a page from someone else's domain that is hosted on the same C class as your own.

SEARCH ENGINE TIPS

Looking thru my sizeable testbed of domains, I see that Yahoo has altered thier algorithm a little bit. An interesting difference has presented itself, between Yahoo and Google. Im seeing that Yahoo is rewarding pages with a keyword density of 10% to 12%.

For Shitz n' Giggles

SEARCH ENGINE TIPS

Many, many people I talk to who have websites they want to drive traffic to, are missing out on the value of submitting to homegrown directories. Here at Kimble and Kennedy, we like to spend money to make money. And there is some great value out there with directories like bluefind.com, and the wow directory. Bluefind.com charges $40 for a link on there directory, and ther are Page Rank opportunities in there. As the old Open Directory Project loses it's relevance, and don't doubt that it is, the void is being filled by homegrown directories, and you should be more than happy to pay a very cheap yearly fee for the advantages.

SEARCH ENGINE UPDATE

Page Rank is being updated across the big, world wide web. keep an eye on your website's PR score throughout the day, it should settle down in a couple of days.

SEARCH ENGINE TIPS

In a forum I frequent, a poll was taken of many S.E.O. minded webmasters, the question was" If you could change one thing to improve the rankings for your website, what would it be?" Out of 30 or so posts, they were almost all in agreement on the answer, it's the title of your web page. My testing backs that up, and, in fact, with Google, it's been that way for two years now. Having your content's keywords in the title, and at the beginning of the title, is the first thing I would do to your page. There are a bazillion things to consider when optimizing your site, that's just the major one. Of course, this presents a problem with sites that chose thier domain names with a name branding strategy in mind, which is why you do highly optimized mini-sites, or a discovery I made some time ago called the "I-Frame". You can help the search engines serve up your site to the proper keywords by putting your good sales copy content on the "I-Frame", and your optimized site underneath it. If you don't know what an I-Frame is, subscribe to my weekly tip sheet, I will explain it in full detail in the issue.

The Joys of Internet Marketing

Ahh, it's wonderful to come into the office, wade thru 1000s of spam email, and then find that your websites, suddenly, aren't kicking out the credit card orders. Unfortunately, like all businesses, things break. And that means one has to pull themselves away from the money making aspect of internet marketing, and get to the nuts and bolts of coding.

...unless you pay someone else to do it. Your productive time is too precious and finite to spend on fixing the printer, calling vendors, and fixing html or php code. I am an "ask Why" kinda guy. I have to resist the urge to delve into ta problem to find out root causes, I'm just too curious. You may have a similiar problem, or trait, but like Dan Kennedy says, in your business, your creativity and innovations are what make it unique and profitable. Stick to that. Delegate the rest.

COOL SEARCH ENGINE TOOL
Link Appeal - this free tool will look at a URL, assess it's page rank, then tabulate how many outbound links it has and to what benefit a link from it would benefit your site. This tool makes a powerful combination with PR Prowler.

Memorial Day
First off.....God Bless America. I love this country, I love what this country stands for, and the chance we all have to make beneficial change. Here, we can go from pauper to prince, addict to role model, sports enthusiast to professional athlete, hobbyist to expert. For all the black eyes these United States have had in the past, they are far, far and away out-wieghed by the good our young country has accomplished. I, for one, believe our military has been a tremendous force for good in the world, including what we are doing in Iraq and the middle east. Many times, our leaderships have been forced to make decisions with lousy choices available, sending our big guns into danger, sometimes based on lousy intelligence. But, on balance, I am satisfied with our country's track record. After all, our voting public and freedoms have kept our leaders in check from waging war for dubious reasons, which is a good thing, because we have the most awesome military machine this planet has ever seen, filled with volunteers who are guided by american values. Every time I see "Saving Private Ryan", "When We Were Soldiers", or "Band of Brother", I think of my grandfather, and his service in WWII. And I contrast that with my father, whom I think may have dodged vietnam. And every memorial day, I think of D-day, at Normandy. We will never see another war like WWII, where the casualties would be so great and so close quarters. The things the veterans have seen, and the memories they've had to live with....it's inspiring and terrifying. I'm not saying anything new here, but I want it on record, I appreciate our military, and the individuals who have given really the only thing one truly owns, thier life. To any veterans out there who come across my little space on the web, thank you for your service, I grieve for your fallen friends, and may your life be rich. You have made it worth it for the rest of us.