Over at SelfMarketer.com they will be launching a series of articles that follow a small soup company going online.  Will they be successful, and what will we learn from it?  It’s been a pleasure and we look forward to blogging with you again in the future.

Check out the Blog for Small Business.

The Bottom Line Series - Part 2: The Secrets that Keep Them Coming Back for More

How many businesses do you know that have failed because they just couldn’t keep their customers coming back?  What do you think they did wrong?  Did they not pay enough attention to their customers needs? Did they neglect their target niche? Well if you’d like to avoid making these same mistakes, feel free to follow the steps below.

The most important thing in any business is its ability to keep returning customers.  This is not to say that a business cannot succeed without recurring customers, but it makes it a whole lot easier.

Imagine you were the CEO of an NHL arena.  Your job is to fill 15,000 seats at every home game… how are you going to do that?  If you had no returning customers, your arena would probably be empty 10 games into the season.

SEO BLOG

So what can you offer as a company to keep the customers coming back?

In the NHL arena example the main niche the arena targets is entertainment.  They offer an action packed hockey game featuring some of the best players in the world competing in front of a roaring crowd.  Not to mention why half the fans go… the alcohol.

All in all it makes for a good night and people seem to enjoy the environment enough to come back for multiple games or even purchase season tickets.

When operating your own business you need to think in the same mindset.  What niche am I going to target to keep customers coming back?

How do I know what niche to target?

Market research is the best tool for finding that target niche.  Survey your customers, research the trends in your industry and decide what the main concerns of your customers are.

If your product was a running shoe, you may want to target the performance niche.  Not just the niche, but also the competitive athlete driven customers you have.  You could talk about how much faster you can run with the shoe, how much higher you can jump and specifically how you will outperform the competition.

Likewise, if you were running a health spa, you may want to target the organic product and healthy living niche along with the regular comfort and relaxation niche most spas target. 
You could show pictures of the organic products, snapshots of your smiling clients and show testimonials from other satisfied customers stating how pleased they were with the service.

Give your customers a reason to keep coming back

Why do most people go to the same groceries stores their whole lives?  I personally go based on the variety of goods and the supply of the goods.

The grocery stores know their target niche and they stick to it.  They make sure to have a wide variety of goods and always try to maintain a large supply of those goods.  They service to their niche completely just like any business should.

This is exactly what you need to do with your own company.  Find your niche, stick to it, and make it your goal to serve the customers in your niche better each day than the day before.

Using the grocery store example; to better themselves they could introduce a new line of products that would make their customers even happier.

Self improvement should always be in the mind any business owner and it should be used to specialize in your niche even more.

What can I take from all of this?

“Instead of walking door to door, give them a reason to come to you”

or in other words

“Why talk to 100 people door to door when you could draw 1000 to you in the same amount of time”

Thanks for reading the second installment of The Bottom Line series!
Hope you enjoyed the article and will read the third part of the series “The Need to Know Reasons Why Brand Imaging Rules”.
Check back soon!

-Jarod Henderson

Like my stuff? Follow me on twitter! Jarod Henderson

Related Posts:
The Bottom Line Series - Part 1: Sell Your Clients, Not Just Your Products
Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. The Top 6 Ways to Make Your Next Idea ‘Stick’
Elevator Pitches: The Secret Weapon of Entrepreneurs
Knowledge is Lifelong, but Education Doesn’t Just Happen!

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This morning after waking up to the blindingly bright sun, I got up, rolled over to my computer and sat down while I wondered why I hadn’t started the kettle before sitting down. Either way, my concerns melted away once I hit the web and started reading some of the new posts that my favourite blogs had to offer.

Darren Rowse is the guy behind ProBlogger.net - A great resource for internet marketers and bloggers alike. This morning a new article was published, “13 Quick tips to Make Your Blog STAND OUT from the Crowd.”

In my opinion these thirteen tips should be made into a common checklist that is somehow distributed to anyone who plans to “grace” the net with their blogs’ presence. For the top bloggers I would bet these are all second nature.

The 13 Quick tips to Make Your Blog STAND OUT from the Crowd

1. Pick a unique topic
2. Develop a Unique Voice
3. Design
4. Useful Content
5. Be Prolific
6. Love Your Readers to Death
7. Be Original
8. Express an Opinion
9. Get Visual
10. Use Titles with Bling
11. Longevity Counts
12. Build Momentum
13. Drive People to Your Archives

There it is, the straightforward list of quick tips for effective blogging. The original post has much more detail and describes each of the points in depth - click here to view the original article on ProBlogger.net.

Now to finish up the beautiful day with a bit more work, maybe even some blogging now that Darren has got me thinking. I had to share this article and blogger checklist with you, I hope you add it to your arsenal of resources as I add it to mine. Enjoy the day!

Yours for Big Business, Starting Small,
Kris Scheben-Edey

P.S. I Think Jarod is working on the second part to his “Bottom Line Series!” Maybe he’ll release it tonight.

Related Blog Posts:
Microwriting for Twitter – Top 10 Ways to Make Your Next Tweets Pack a Punch With Your Prospects
First Page Frenzy – The 3 Steps to Effective SEO
Your All-In-One Guide to Linking Building Strategies, Tips and Secrets!
Your Guide to Google AdWords Keyword Tool – Defining Your Market Online

I remember the first time that I used the search engines to look for quality information on marketing blogs. It didn’t go well, and I found myself directing a lot of my marketing from a narrow and slightly biased source.

After learning a lesson, I started to bookmark the posts I came across to use as resources and motivation. I’ve had these posts archived for reference, a large part of my blogging knowledge base aside from a few memories and a bit of experience.

So for those of you who are looking to improve your blog, empower and enlighten your readers – here’s my favourite articles on blog marketing:

The Top 5 Articles on Blog Marketing

1. How To Market Your Blog In 2007, by Tony Hung

This is definitely one of my favourites as it provides not only relevant and effective techniques – but in addition it is one of the most comprehensive articles you’ll ever find for free.

2. 25 Tips for Marketing Your Blog, by Lee Odden

If the first article left anything to question then Lee Odden has likely covered it through the excellent 25-point guide. I like to use these as a checklist (with a few changes), when launching a new blog for myself or a client.

3. Top bloggers reveal how to build traffic off-blog without spending a dime, by Jonathan Fields

This is an inspiration article because the author has interviewed numerous prominent bloggers to ask them their single favourite, low budget, blog marketing method. The article contains the opinions of over 14 influential bloggers including Cory Miller and Darren Rowse.

4. 8 Tips to More Effective Blogging, by Jolina of TopRankBlog.com

This is my quick fix when I need some blog marketing motivation. A quick guide that’s simple layout always helps me put my own work in perspective.

5. Top 10 Ways to Drive Traffic to a New Blog, by Miguel Alvarez

I’ve always been a fan of copywriting, well at least since the time I learned about how it can be used effectively. Miguel Alvarez writes many inspiration posts on copywriting and this is one of my favourites from the CopyWriting.com blog. This is not a post on copywriting a blog, just a great resource on marketing one – written by a copywriter (so you know it’s good).

These are the top five articles I use for reference and now you’re welcome to use them yourself. I’ll be following the marketing of blogs in my 5 part series, The Blog Bloodlines – compiling a complete guide and list of resources for marketing your own blog.  Now that I’ve shown you the standard, my job will to be make an even more useful reference - an all-in-one guide to blog marketing.

Blogs are a great way to network, and any marketer or business builder that plans to build an online presence, needs to know a thing or two about blogs. Good luck blogging.

Cheers,
Kris

Related Blog Posts:
Microwriting for Twitter – Top 10 Ways to Make Your Next Tweets Pack a Punch With Your Prospects
First Page Frenzy – The 3 Steps to Effective SEO
Your All-In-One Guide to Linking Building Strategies, Tips and Secrets!
Your Guide to Google AdWords Keyword Tool – Defining Your Market Online

Part 1: Sell Your Clients, Not Just Your Products

One of the best tools for any salesperson is their ability to sell themselves to a client or prospect.  Not only that, but the ability to sell their potential clients on the experience they gain from using the product rather than the products raw benefits.

So how do I sell my clients?

If you were to take a look at the top performing companies in the world, you would notice some similar characteristics.  They all have something to offer their customer that’s unique or innovative.  This could be a large source of knowledge, great customer service, superior benefits or even friendly employees.

Understanding your customer is the foundation for any good business; but finding that one aspect that differentiates you from your competitors is what will make your business truly succeed.

Another parallel you will see is in the advertising department.  If you were to look at the most compelling retail commercials on the market right now, the majority of them don’t show the product in the commercial itself.  This is a marketing tactic.

How can you sell something without advertising it?

Your job isn’t necessarily to sell the product itself, but the values, the beliefs and in some cases the lifestyle that is associated with your product.

I have two great examples I would like to share with you.
(Links to the campaign commercials are provided on the pictures. I suggest to watch them)

1.  Dove - Real Beauty Campaign

This campaign was released in late 2006 and was later shown at the 2007 Super Bowl.  The cost of $2.5 million to air the commercial was nothing in comparison to the 500 million viewers that tuned in - Not to mention the 12 million more viewers who watched the video over the next year.  This commercial accounted for 1/3 of the new sales for their Real Beauty campaign.

How can a campaign be so successful without even showing their product?

Dove connected on an emotional level to their customers.  They were proving that all the faces you see on the covers of magazines are nowhere near the reality.  The message was every woman is beautiful and they shouldn’t hide it.  Dove was relating their products to comfort, self-confidence and beauty- Exactly what every women wants.

That’s why this campaign was so successful.  Not once did the ad mention how well their product worked or who was endorsing it -Those factors didn’t stop people from buying it - Dove found a great target market and campaigned accordingly to their needs, creating value in their product.

2. Nike - Take it to the Next Level Campaign

This was a brilliant ad campaign launched in the first half of 2008.
The ad was truly the first of its kind and really connected to the public.
The beginning of the ad starts with a young man in a regular competitive soccer league, scoring the big goal and going pro.  It also shows the lifestyle along with the fans, the girls, the fame and the glory of being a professional athlete.

What makes this ad so compelling and easy to relate with?

A large majority of the worlds population has played some sort of sport or follows professional sports.  Every kid has the dream of going pro and being a superstar.
This ad relates to that completely.

Like mentioned above, later in the ad you see the girls, the fans and the other superstars you are playing with such as Ronaldo.  But the ad makes sure not just to show that but also the hard work that goes along with it.  It shows the training, the fighting and the perseverance.

By showing all of these attributes it really gives a picture of what it is like to be a professional athlete and what youngsters strive for.  When someone sees something like this, it inspires them to be better, it calls them to try harder and give it 110%.

I don’t know if it was just me, but I had goose bumps by the end of the ad.

It creates a life style.   A customer sees fame, they see other celebrities, they see power and they will relate that to the Nike brand.  They will think to themselves, “If I buy Nike, I’m that much closer to becoming a superstar”.

Not once does it really show the product it is advertising but the Nike symbol is flashed a few times.  Subconsciously consumers will associate Nike with greatness, with fame, with hard work and next time they walk into that sports store, they’ll remember that.

So what can we take from these 2 examples?

Create an image for your company

“Don’t be known for what your product offers but what lifestyle you offer your customers “

I hope you enjoyed part 1 of the series “The Bottom Line”.
Part 2 of my series will be “The Secrets that Keep Them Coming Back for More”.
It will be released sometime early next week.
Check back soon!

-Jarod Henderson

Like my stuff? Follow me on twitter! Jarod Henderson

Internet Marketing is constantly changing.  Now, the internet is used by everyone – not just the tech and computer savvy.  Every day barriers are broken and our succinct communication has truly rendered the globe as more of a “virtual community.”

After the introduction of Web 2.0, an army of social networking mediums took the net by storm and while some were swept under the rug for eternity, most of us can generally recall a number of the popular ones that held.  Did you ever have a MySpace? How about a Facebook profile? For those of you who have been networking on the net for a while – you’ve likely heard of Twitter.

Twitter is the next generation of social networking tools.  The unique system limits users to a 140 character update field – to share their trials and tribulations.  Over the past year, Twitter “tweets” (the short updates) have captured the attention of internet marketers and any company with an online presence.

I Just Don’t Get It. One-Hundred and Forty Characters Can’t Mean Many Words… So How Could it be a Sensational Marketing Tool?

A short and sweet tweet that’s right to the point.  That’s as good as it gets for some business communication.  It never hurts to perfect your elevator pitching skills, or in this case “Microwriting Skills” as Miguel Alvarez defines it in his latest post on copywriting for twitter.  At many times in life you won’t get more than a few words or minutes to pitch even your most brilliant ideas to busy prospects.

To dig a little deeper into theory: if you we’re short on time, if you had lot’s to do, or if you simply don’t like reading all the mindless jabber – then why wouldn’t you manage your online network through twitter?  Get all info, news, thoughts and opinions in 140 characters or less.

That’s why Twitter is growing, and why it will continue to grow.

The Top 10 Ways to Make Your Next Tweets Pack a Punch with Your Prospects

For anyone who is unfamiliar with copywriting, I recommend you learn at least the basics here: Copywriting Basics.  One thing I learned from copywriting is how to meet prospects on different levels and connect with more than their eyes – but also their hearts and minds.

You can apply this to Twitter in several ways, and understanding the art (or arguably science) of copywriting will benefit the Twitter user with ever tweet.  When copywriting on Twitter, or Microwriting, you need to think of a couple things:

First, Why are you here? Is it because you want to market or promote something, meet knowledgeable people, or maybe you want to make new friends?

Second, If you are trying to market something, including yourself – keep in mind the reasons above.  Why? It’s because you had a reason to join, and so did they.

Now that you’ve put some thought it, let me share my list of methods for connecting with these different prospects.  I’ve broken the methods into three categories reflecting the type of Twitter user you’re targeting.

Comparing – Targeting the curious and concerned.
1. Cliffhangers – Leave something unfinished, and an invitation for your prospects to finish it.
2. Theories and Philosophies – Open up a new idea or perspective to promote feedback.
3. News and Current Events – Spur discussion on popular news, and share in the buzz.
4. Topical Commenting – Have an educated opinion? Why not share it and start a discussion?

Sharing – Targeting the powerful emotion of greed and a need for self-actualization.
5. Free Information and Tools – Offer something of value that helps prospects better something in their own lives or careers.
6. Relevant Articles – Are you a marketer? A florist? A carpenter or tradesperson?  Share relevant articles in your niche that provide insight and knowledge to your prospects.
7. Value by Association – We all remember high school.  If someone was sitting at the popular table (regardless of discussion) they were generally deemed of popular status, right?  Now apply this concept to Twitter, if you happen to be networked with valuable contacts, then you suddenly become “popular” and create some value in networking with you.

Caring – Targeting the social needs and a need to reciprocate.
8. Tweet Personalization – Everyone loves seeing their own name, so connect with them by personalizing your tweets to include comments referring to your followers or prospects.
9. Direct Questions – Ask questions directly to your followers or prospects, ones that aren’t easily answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and that promote thought as opposed to automatic response.
10. Network Building – Do you know two people who you think would like to meet, or have something interesting in common to talk about?  Introduce them and you’ll promote overall readership.

Every tweet is like a very short blog post, with a significant difference in the amount of space you have to capture the interest of your prospects.  So make use of it, don’t waste a single tweet and if you want to ever effectively use Twitter – then put some more effort the quality of your tweets, and less into the quantity.

Finally, I Know How to Tweet! But Wait a Minute, Isn’t This Useless If You Have No Followers on Twitter?

Self-improvement is never useless, but in regards to twitter – your tweets do have a good chance of going unnoticed unless you have some friends and followers.  The common goal of most twitter users is to build their network of followers and with the use of Microwriting, and the Twitter strategies above – you’re network will grow quickly.  However, you do need to give it a helping hand to get off the ground.

The Secret Strategy to Sky-Rocket Your Twitter Following:
Start by following a small group of prominent and related Twitter users

For those of you thinking about starting your Twitter network, that’s your useful tip of the day.  Find prominent Twitter users that you might know; perhaps your favourite blog authors, or maybe someone specializing in your niche.  When you follow these users, reply and comment on their tweets and their entire network can see your comment. In addition, you get a direct link to your profile.

So whether you’re a blogger or a builder you shouldn’t pass up the chance to expand your horizons online with Twitter.  Remember, every success isn’t a step – but a journey.

Regards,

Kris Scheben-Edey

Don’t forget to add me on Twitter! Click Here for my profile.

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The Blog Bloodlines Pt.1 - The Top 5 Articles on Blog Marketing
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Niche Marketing: And Why You Need To Know How To Use It To Your Benefit

When I say she doesn’t have much tech background – I mean that I was plugging in printers and installing CD’s for her since I was about 8 years old.  Now with a blog, venturing onto the World Wide Web full of code and critics - I was both concerned and curious.

I remember her telling me from the very beginning that she was just going to persevere with the blog and at that exact moment she made the commitment to manage her blog for 1 full year no matter how it went.

So What Next?  Did it Top the Charts or Flop to the Bottom?

Now, nearly two years later I cannot help but be amazed by the results of her hard work and perseverance.  In our last time together we briefly looked over her blog, the successes and pitfalls, and discussed her journey from a lonely collection of articles to a first page blog that really connects with the real-estate market.  I asked her a couple questions, questions like:

Do you know much about SEO? “No”
Do you understand keyword relevance? “Not sure”

How about title tags? Anchor text? Outbound Links!? No, No, No.  Then the next question I was far too afraid to ask out loud – so I wondered silently, “what do you know?” I just kept asking myself, “how does a mother and real-estate agent with no technology background build a first page blog?”

The Layman’s Secret to SEO Success

After some thought, I realized that she didn’t need to know the exact ins and outs of the search engines just to become popular, build a reader base, and even climb positions.  No, all she needed was the three things she had all along: a passion for perseverance, the drive for self-improvement, and the patience for trial and error.

Over the years that she worked with her community real-estate blog, my mother developed many skills great for internet marketing and even SEO, without even knowing it.

The internet is changing daily, and more and more the people are starting to hold the power.  Web 2.0 is all about meaningful connections with such a negative connation on spamming that I dare even say the word.  So why make this point? It’s because a meaningful connection with someone can do wonders for a website at times, and you’ll never need to be a webmaster for that!

Alright so you can make meaningful connections, but what else could someone with no technology background possibly offer to the SEO table?

Quality.  I could write a thousand articles stuffed with keywords at every angle but the simple fact is that no one will end up reading the material if it isn’t relevant, useful and informative.  I sometimes ponder on that too.  How many wasted articles have been spammed with keywords, only to be rejected endlessly by the flowing crowds of uninterested prospects because it just wasn’t very good?

The Big Picture

It doesn’t take a webmaster to write gripping content; in fact, the best content will connect with the readers and leave little for them to ask – but with plenty to take away.

The big secret is that anyone is capable of smashing the online barriers and building a presence on the net.  You don’t need a background in technology, or programming, or internet marketing.  You only need some perseverance, the will to learn, and the courage to try.

I guess the truth is I’ll never stop learning from my mother.

Visit the blog that inspired it all: http://blog.collingwood-bluemountain.com

Regards,

Kris Scheben-Edey

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The Blog Bloodlines Pt.1 - The Top 5 Articles on Blog Marketing

You could spend hours, or even months bringing traffic to your website and yet you aren’t making much money.  You can generate lots of traffic with the optimization you’ve done… but they just don’t seem interested in what you have to offer.  Well, it’s time to learn why.

Want to Know Why I’m Not Interested in What You Have?

Put yourself in the shoes - or in this case the computer chair – of one of your prospects.  You’re clearly searching for something, and maybe you found this site after looking at countless others to no avail, or maybe you followed a network of links here.  Either way, you’re there – but what is going to make you want to reach for your wallet – or subscribe to the newsletter?

That is what’s missing - a persuasion to act.  You could have a thousand visitors but if there if the value in your offers are not properly communicated, then you have little chance of making a single sale.

Want to Turn Clicks Into Clients? Here’s the Key to Converting Your Prospects!

You need to communicate value in your offers, provide incentives and guarantees.  You can connect with your prospects through stories or by connecting to their emotions of greed and passion.

It sounds like a lot, but you can achieve all of these goals, and you can learn how to really connect with your prospects and convert their slight interest into a bigger bottom line.  The first thing you’ll need to do is get familiar with copywriting.

Below are my favourite 5 copywriting articles and resources – the ones I had bookmarked for 2008 and constantly found myself using:

SEO Unique Blog
This article is a great checklist when developing any website.  It’s my quick fix for SEO Copywriting, and it’s a great article containing “20 SEO Copywriting Hints.”

Marketing Words Blog
The Marketing Words blog is a great copywriting resource, with regular posts and an excellent knowledge base.  Lots of information can be found here, just try not to spend all day reading and make sure you put the pen the paper once or twice for good measure.

CopyBlogger
I regularly check here for updates, in addition to a comprehensive archive of articles on SEO copywriting.  Follow this link and check out their “10 Step Copywriting Tutorial” a great guide designed to get you up and running with the basics of writing great copy in ten easy lessons.

Clayton Makepeace Blog
This is my favourite copywriting resource, hands down.  With almost daily articles you can bookmark this one with ease, because the knowledge in every article is based on the success of some of the top copywriters in the world.  Find thrilling articles written by the likes of Clayton Makepeace, Daniel Levis, Julie McManus, and over 20 other successful copywriters.   This is a must have for any business builder.

Copywriting.com
I remember the first day I learned about copywriting.  I spent hours on Copywriting.com just browsing the beginner’s articles, the blog posts and the excellent copywriting resources.  At the end of that day, I was inspired, and I recommend that anyone who likes to be inspired read the works of Miguel Alvarez here on Copywriting.com.  Another must have resource for your online business builders.

It would take months to read all of those articles, but the key is practice.  Learn something new, apply it and learn how to master it – then move on to the next thing.  First, you learn how to get the traffic, and now it’s time to learn how to convert it.

At many times content is king, and copywriting your content would be the ace.  Check back soon for an article on how a mother and real-estate agents – with no technology background – built a first page blog.  Until next time, enjoy converting your traffic!

Regards,

Kris Scheben-Edey

Related Blog Posts:
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The saying “A lie is halfway around the world before the truth even gets his boots on” relates to ideas as well.  Just because you have a great idea doesn’t mean it’s going to succeed regardless of your efforts.  You need to find a way to make your idea stand out from the crowd and in a sense make it “sticky” so that people will remember it.  Well, in a recent book I read, “Made to Stick” written by brothers Chip and Dan Heath - they do just that.

The New York Times bestseller “Made to Stick” has made a dominant impact on the business world. It was ranked #1 on the Top 10 Business books by Globe and Mail and has been renowned by critics everywhere.

Chip and Dan Heath have done rigorous amounts of research on the marketing community and on business ideas and concepts.  Within every successful idea, the Heath brothers found many similarities and characteristics that were profound in all cases.  Using this information, they compiled a set of principles that they believe everyone should follow while developing an idea.  These principles were transferred into the acronym “SUCCES” which the Heath brothers stand by religiously.  The categories are as follows:

SUCCES

1. Simplicity

Find the core of the idea.  If you’re a lawyer and you argue 10 points in a case, when they get back to the jury room chances are, they won’t remember any of them.  You must learn to exclude things that aren’t the most important.

To make something simple doesn’t mean you need to dumb it down.  The best example for simplicity is “For something to be simple doesn’t mean there is nothing left to add, but that there is nothing left to take away”.

2. Unexpectedness

How do we get readers attention and maintain it? - By violating their expectations.  Something unexpected will throw a readers mindset off and keep them thinking about it in shock.  But after you get their attention you need to be able to keep it.

You can do this by creating interest and curiosity. The best way to do that is by opening gaps in the subjects’ knowledge and filling those gaps.
Example: After you have finished explaining a topic, lead into another topic with a question.  This will cause the subject to keep interest and have them wondering of the answer to the question.

3. Concreteness

How do you make your ideas clear?  This is where many businesses have problems.  When a business may release its Mission Statement, company vision or strategies there is usually so much “noisy” information that the meaning is almost pointless or impossible to understand.

To support a sticky idea, one must use concrete words and images such as “a bright red balloon” or “a steaming cup of coffee”.  Avoid the use of sayings such as “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.  All of the audience might not understand the saying and it may be unclear.

Stick to concrete words and images that everyone understands.

4. Credibility

What is the key to making people believe your ideas? Having credible information is a big part of an idea.  If you were to state “ This song is great” or to say “This song was rated #1 on the America Top 100 charts for 2 weeks in a row” people would be more apt to listen to the second song because it is credible with a third party testimony.  People trust information that has credentials and they can test for themselves, kind of like a “test before you buy” concept.

Most people think using numbers and statistics is the best way to gain audience approval when in reality, name dropping and simple statements usually work the best.

An example of this was in 1980 when Ronald Reagan was running for president.  He could have used a pile of statistics to show the poor economic state of the economy, instead he said “Before you vote, ask yourself if you are better off today than you were four years ago”.  That had credibility.

5. Emotions

How do you get people to care about your ideas?  Tying a persons’ emotions into an idea is a great way to keep their attention.

An example used in the book was with health enthusiasts trying to stress to the public how unhealthy movie popcorn is for you.  Saying “Movie popcorn has 37 grams of fat in it” doesn’t mean much to people.  But if you show a picture of medium game of movie popcorn and show one bag has as much artery clogging fat as a bacon and eggs breakfast, a big mac and fries lunch and a steak dinner with all the trimmings it really gives an image to the idea.

People then can relate their emotions to all of that bad food rather than a statistic of 37 grams.  The same case is for the world aid ads.  The commercials don’t show a nation in need but instead show individual who have a name and a face.  A person is more inclined to give a donation to a single person instead of a country.

As you can see, tying peoples’ emotions into an idea can drastically improve its chances for success.

6. Stories

How do you get people to act on your ideas? You tell stories.  Another example used in “Made to Stick” is the stories of firefighters.  After a fire, firefighters naturally swap stories.  By doing this, firefighters build a database of different situations that they may encounter as a firefighter.  They can then use their database of situations to be better equipped for their next fire.  Research has shown that mentally rehearsing a situation helps us perform better when encountered with the situation in real life.

So, tired of having your great ideas fail once again?  Well look no further.  After reading the entire book, these 6 principles (also known as “SUCCES”) have “stuck” in my mind. I found them to be extremely helpful when developing ideas and I use them constantly in day to day work.  For anyone who wants to learn more about making their ideas sticky- Check out the book.

-Jarod Henderson

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Everyone throws around the term “SEO,” how to use it there, apply some there – but what’s the benefit in all of this?  It’s getting your website to the first page!

Take a moment and think about what happens when you search Google (or whichever your choice search engine might be) and the results are listed for your search.

First, you’ll immediate look at the top result – does it appear to be relevant and useful?  Maybe one of the top three results?

At that point searchers might scan the rest of the results, and even dig a bit deeper – but the rest of them refine the search terms and look for a better list of results.

Getting to the First Page with Keywords

Keywords are the first step to many successful SEO campaigns, and when using them properly – you’re site can hit the first page in a matter of weeks.  Keywords help the search engines determine relevancy, and understanding how to target the keywords in your niche will give you a major advantage online.

How to Make Keywords Work for You

First, make a list of the top 10 keywords relating to your niche.  Use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to pick keywords that have “exact” search traffic.  This guide will tell you everything you need to know about the keyword tool. (link to guide)

Next, take your list of 10 keywords and refine it down to three of four.  Write them down and memorize them, because you’ll be needed to reference them.  It’s important to target your campaign to keywords with traffic, so make sure you write down and use the “exact” terms you chose from the keyword tool.

Finally, optimize your site based on those keywords!  Immediately you can change title tags, descriptions, category or page names and you can even rewrite current content to include your 3 or 4 top keywords.  Optimizing your own site and content with keywords can quickly boost your search engine positions.

From this point forward use those keywords in all your new content, but don’t spam it – I’m talking about using these keywords about once per paragraph (on average).

Allow anchor text on all your links and images that reference the keywords, and before you know it you’ll be rising in the ranks for your chosen keywords. If you want to track your positions in Google based on keywords – then try using the link on the right side “Google Position Tracking.”

My Site Has Keywords… But It’s Still Not on the First Page!

Some keywords are more competitive than others, just like industries in business.  So how can you compete against the big guns?  Well, they pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into keyword advertising at times and the truth is you might have a tough time.  You’re not done yet though, you’ve still got two options to beat these guys.

Have you heard of the phrase, “If you can’t go through it, then go around it?”  Well if you can’t beat them on the top keywords you can go around them, and find the “long tail” tail keywords they haven’t targeted.

Go back to the keyword tool and repeat your search, now look at the top 10 keywords and the total search traffic they receive.  Now scroll down and look at the 40 keywords below that you didn’t want to list before.  Well, guess what… if you didn’t think to target them then chances are that no one else did either.

Long tail keywords like “marketing domains to end-users” are easier to capture and control than broad keywords like “domains.”  So find the long tail keywords that receive searches, and use them to your advantage, because in accumulation they often provide more traffic than trying to compete on the big keywords.

Your other option is to compete, to try and take them head on.  If you plan to do this, then you’ll need to be willing to learn as you go and put in a minimum of an hour a day towards marketing and promoting your website.

Aside from optimizing your own web page content for keywords, other factors play a big role in your search engine positions.  Let’s talk about linking.

Internal links on your site are the ones that source other pages on your website, and the internal link structure needs to be solid if you plan to compete.

Draw out your site, generate a sitemap and submit it into the Google webmaster tools.  Providing a solid and stable website structure is not only important when the search engine spiders crawl your site, but your visitors will appreciate it also.

Next on your list if you want to compete is networking, mainly online social networking.  By meeting new people and creating a band of followers on social networks like twitter, digg, and facebook you are also creating a network of links to your site and building awareness.

Successful social networking can provide you with an expert status among your followers and allows you to promote your own content to the masses.  Never engage in social networking if you don’t plan to put some time aside for it.  It’s important to make meaningful comments, make positive connections, and provide value to your new band of followers through more than just spam.

Social networking can become addictive –so be careful, and yes I’m speaking first hand.  I look forward to writing an article on successful social networking in the near future, but for now there is countless articles that will enlighten you on the many niches of these networks.

Social networking is a great way to drive traffic, gain outbound links and boost awareness to any website.

Ok, I’ve Been Networking My Butt Off – And I’m Even Using Keywords, but I’m Still Not Seeing Results!

When building an effective search engine optimization campaign, it’s simply not enough to rely on keyword and links.  If you want to get you website to the first page, and if you want to dominate the competition then you need to have quality content.

Give your visitors a reason to come back and don’t make a sloppy first impression.  Keywords and links can get you onto that first page, but if you ever want to own your niche or category then you need to have quality content, and you should give every visitor a reason to bookmark or save your site for the future.

So there you go, you want to take your site from nothing to first page in a couple of weeks?  Then do these three things:

1. Chose 3-4 top keywords and optimize your site with keywords and internal links.
2. Capture and control you chosen long-tail keywords, and engage in meaningful social networking.
3. Create quality content, offer tool sets, or provide something completely unique.

Before you know it, you’ll be telling all your friends to search your keywords in Google – displaying your site proudly.