Let’s cut to the chase! There must be a million and one services to use to promote and build links to your website.

The not so funny thing is most of these services are too expensive, difficult to use or flat out don’t work.

I’ve been down the road of expensive broken promises far to many times in the years I’ve been online. What about you?

Expectations and Employees

Before I get to the meat, you should know where I’m coming from with respect to marketing tools. You might be thinking that you can’t afford to use any promotion tools or your budget doesn’t allow it at the present time.

This may be true in some cases, but I’d ask you How Much Are You Worth? Seriously! If someone wanted you to do a job for them, what would you expect as payment (hourly rate)?

5 dollars an hour, 10 dollars an hour, what about 15 or 20? It’s a serious question. One that you need to know (read :  be brutally honest with yourself).

It all comes down to this. Any real business has expenses and when your business grows a little you have to hire employees. It’s near impossible for anyone to leverage themselves to the fullest doing every bit of work all on their own.

SOoooo the big shift for me was when I realized that a marketing tool is just like an employee.

Think about it…

You’re getting work done for you on the cheap.

Plus … if your using the right tools you could be getting far better results in a fraction of the time.

OK, I don’t want you thinking that you have to go out and buy marketing tools in order to succeed. You don’t! But if you are going solo you need to set your expectations (read: be brutally honest).

Getting Naked

Here it is, out in the open. If you’re doing it the totally free way (there really is no such thing, time is money right), don’t go thinkin’ that you’re going to make any money in a few months or even more…

Yep, unless you’re going to dish out a paid ad budget (but you can’t because you’re doing this the free way), you’re just not going to get the rankings and traffic that you need to get those prospects comin’ to your site.

I know, sometimes the truth hurts.

Are there exceptions to the rule? Of Course! But I guess you’d be one of the ones that likes to play the slots in Vegas.

Bottom line … when you’re ready for your business to grow, but your still on a budget, let a quality marketing tool be your first employee.

I found one of my best employees totally by accident. One of the few accidents that actually did me right.

Build My Rank

Good Accidents

With all the surfing and testing that I do I can’t remember how I first found Build My Rank. What I do remember is that it was totally by accident.

On the surface it looked similar to many other services I’ve used before. So it wasn’t something that I jumped on right away.

But one day I was in a testing mood and decided to give it a shot.

By the end of my first month I was amazed.

Posts that were made on totally new blogs now ranked on the first page of the Big G.  I’m not talkin’ about some super long-tail keyword phrases either. These things  had competition (and traffic).

The best thing is that it was one of the easiest services I have ever used. No joke! Slap your keyword in, then paste the url you want to promote – then presto…

Ya, you need to make a little blurb of at least 150 words, but you can outsource this too (my choice). Either way you look at it, this tiny amount of work yields a payload of results.

Another nice thing about the service is that all your links are permanent. Yep, even if you ever cancelled your service your links would remain intact (some places delete your links after you leave).

If you want to get more details on Build My Rank you can check them out here through my personal link.

If you end up checking it out I’ll get a few bucks as a commission. Hopes that’s cool with you…. If not you can use this link instead. Either way is fine with me. I just want you to get the best results in the shortest time.

If you have any other questions, or want to know more about Build My Rank, feel free to contact me.

Remember… you can get results without all the marketing tools. Just be sure to set realistic expectations for yourself (read: time, money and results). And don’t forget, when you’re ready for your business to grow make your first employee a tool.  I personally use Build My Rank and recommend it to anyone that wants to spread to word about what they have to offer.

Here’s the skinny….
Check out the audio. I was
lazy and didn’t feel like writing…

Turns out, I wrote some stuff anyway.
Funny how stuff like that happens.

But don’t miss this! You need to have
this plan in place or at least know where
you’re gonna start.

The Highlights

Figure out how you’re going to monetize your site. There are plenty of ways to do this. You can start with just one way or even do some combo action and use several. The choice is yours, but realize this…

It’s best if you figure this out before you begin to design your website…. Why you say, I’ll tell ya.

If my goal is to get a big ass database of customers built… that I want to sell to over and over again I need some serious optin-action happenin’.

Besides, one of the best ways to make something like this happen is to build a relationship with your new found list of peeps (read > need that email).

So if ya know you want people to sign up… You need to optimize your site to catch all the optin magic.

Puttin’ that lead capture form front and center, taking every opportunity that you can, is a must.

See what I mean about knowing what’s goin’ on before you set up your website??? Hope soooooooo.

Some of the ways to make the Benjamin’s (from the audio):

• Sales by email
• Pre-sell pages
• Content posts
• Tutorials
• Reviews
• Adsense or Contextual links
• Product demonstrations

I leave you to the audio for the details …

If you haven’t listened to the audio yet, you should now. I just took the cherry off the top here. The audio digs a little deeper.

Questions Answered

A few figured out that they could get right to me by my contact form. CoooooooOOLL …

I will summarize so of the main questions, with my answers.

Q 1. What hosting do I use?

A 1. Seo hosting – it’s a different flavor of Hostgator. Seo hosting lets you get multiple ip addresses and some other stuff. You really don’t need it unless you are going to develop your own network of blogs, besides it costs more…. I would recommend hostgator if your looking for a new host. You can find them here if you want to take a peek a boo.

Q 2. What are you using to set up your website?

A 1. I will be using WordPress for my website. From time to time I will create custom html or php pages, but for this project I will stick with only using WordPress.

Q 3. What theme do you recommend?

A 1. Since the assumption was that I would be using WordPress (and it was correct), my answer to this would be to get something “clean” looking. The fancy pants bells and whistles aren’t important, conversion is! There are plenty of good free themes out there that can be used. As a matter of fact you may want to even use the default 2012 theme that comes with WP. Just change up the header and watch out for the upcoming lessons for some little tweaks.

A 2. Even know I told you about the free stuff above, I need to mention that I will not be using a free theme. My theme of choice is the Thesis Theme. Thesis is the most versatile and reliable theme that I have ever tried…. but it does cost some change. So to keep with telling you everything that I’m using, there ya go. If you want to see what I have to say about Thesis you can check out my Thesis Theme Review here.

The Potpourri

If you’re going to collect emails you need an autoresponder. The autoresponder that I use is Aweber. I think they are the best, but do your own research and pick out what’s best for you.

I also had a question about what FTP program that I use. I’ve used Filezilla or years. There are plenty of good free and paid ones. There may be some better ones out there, but for me – If it ain’t broke don’t fix it… You can find Filezilla here.

Don’t forget… if you have a question or you need me to give ya a little more detail about anything – catch me on the contact page.

Next stop setting up the site.

Are you tired of looking for the best
Wordpress theme for your business?

You know you are… if you’ve been
racking up the hours searching premium
theme sites and reading all the so called reviews.

Are you guilty of being a review whore and
not being able to make a decision?

Come on now…. I’m not trying to be mean, but if your business is already stalled and you haven’t even made your first post, you need to start making things happen now.

Ok, you might be the one that already has a site and is just looking for a better design – I feel ya… been there, done that.

But you need to know that the Thesis Theme might not be the best choice for you!

Gasp…. Roar…. Can you believe a Thesis Theme user would even dare to say such a thing. Hell, DIY Themes might even revoke my license for saying this!

Screw it! Let’s rock this out and give you my inside scoop on the Thesis Theme for WordPress.

The guy behind the theme is Chris Pearson. He’s got some mad coding skills as far as I can see and he keeps things cleeeean. The nice thing is that whether you like your design simple or spicy….. Thesis has got you covered.

But who really gives a donkey’s ankle… Right !

What’s this thing gonna do for you – check it out.

Thesis Theme Design

Simple, clean, some might go as far as elegant…. no kidding! People that have seen Thesis in action rave about the Dashboard, whitespace and how easy it is to switch things up.

Every wanted to see what a 2 column version of the site would look like compared to a 3 column version?

Thesis Site Options

Or what about changing up the side bar from the right side to the left side. With Thesis and a couple button clicks you’re there – no fancy pants coding necessary.

I’ve bought A LOT of premium WordPress themes in my time and I have to say that the Thesis Theme is the most versatile on the block.

Ooohh there’s a bad part though… it’s coming in a few.

Thesis Theme SEO

If any of you are SEO geeks like me, you’ll love what Thesis can do right out of the box.

But if you’re new to the game – all ya really need to know – with Thesis… it’s in theeeere. Even when you get your mad scientist seo badge, Thesis will still be there doin’ it’s thang – rankifin’, optimizin’, and socilizin’…

For those that already have their double secret secret agent seo decoder ring – Your not gonna need the “ever popular” All-in-One SEO pack plugin, platinum seo pack or even a pack of camels…

Thesis has you set on every page and every post with custom tags, meta-data and more.

Thesis Special Features

Thesis Theme Design Options

For me one of the best things about the theme is the Thesis Feature Box. A cat’s meow if there ever was one.

The feature box can be used for optin forms, landing pages, video containers and just about anything you can think of.

You can even put the thing just about anywhere you please… no kidding. But to do this kinda magic you need to know your hooks.

Dam! The bad news is creepin’ in and I guess I just gotta come right out and tell ya.

Can you say….Gonna get Blacklisted.

Here’s the deal. Flat out Thesis Theme is NOT for everyone. Ya, it’s easy out of the box and you can do changes pretty easily, but to get to the extreme stuff…

…. I’m talkin’ about moving things around, different pages with different headers, moving the navigation inside the header, spinning on your head type of stuff – you’re going to need to learn hooks and css.

For the beginner – A total deal breaker.

Really…. learning the stuff could make you look forward to hearing finger nails on a chalkboard. I know from experience – a coder I’m not.

But if you’re willing to put a little work into it and never want to have to buy another custom theme again, you should be in good shape.

For all the peeps that dabble in php and css this should be a breeze.

Besides, I must say that the Thesis Theme forum and their user guide is some of the best put together stuff around.

If you want to do something wacky or just do something that you saw on another site – The thesis community will be there. Platinum group in my book.

The Cherry On Top

Man… I’m really tryin’ to go all out for ya here and give ya both sides of the coin, but sometimes it’s just easier to give you the meat and let you decide… right.

Downside: Thesis can be a real pain in the ass to learn if you’ve never done any css or if looking at code makes you whine like a baby.

Upside: Get this thing and you’ll never have to buy another premium theme again. You can totally tweak this thing out and the only limitation would be your imagination.

You’d get to join the ranks of some super stars in their own right too. I’m talkin’ about people like:

• Seth Godin (Marketing Master) – Domino Project
• Ramit Sethi – NYT bestselling author
• Dave Navarro (Rock Star Elite)- Jane’s Addiction
• Matt Cutts – Google’s head of webspam

What do ya think… not bad company to join. There’s a lot more, but I’ll spare ya the bla, bla…..

What can Thesis Theme Do For You

The theme can make your site convert better ( read make ya more money ).

By looking what’s going on with your stats and testing your stuff, the little “Thesis tweaks” that can be done could make your piggy bank happy

Thesis sites are totally customizable and give you the magic to create great looking optin pages, landing pages and a metric ton of other stuff.

The nutshell – Thesis gives you all the power and technology you’ll ever need to super charge your business or personal website to the next level.

So, if this sounds like something that is up your alley, you should check it out.

1. Click this link and check out the theme.

2. Get it for 1 site or Go Developers (Unlimited to the Max).

3. After your purchase you’ll get immediate access

4. Install and let the magic begin.

If ya didn’t click the link above you can click this one here

P.S. I almost forgot. I’m going to be putin’ up all the css, hooks and special jazz that I use, right here on this blog. So you’re not gonna miss out on anything.

It may seem funny to say that there’s
more than one way to do keyword
research. But that’s exactly what I’m
going to tell you.

You see doing keyword research shouldn’t
just be putting in some words into some
tool and getting a bunch of numbers spit out.

The real power of keyword research is
putting together what the computer tells
you and what a human actually wants.

That’s why we’re going to be using
our  ”clean list” of keywords. Remember,
this clean list of keywords  was taken from
real emotional triggers that people have
written down in their own words from various websites across the internet.

The keyword research is going to give us a few things. First, it will give us several possibilities for a domain name. Second, it will provide ideas for future blog posts or page titles that will provide maximum exposure from the search engines. Finally, the results will give you an idea how to set up categories and theme your website to target your audience appropriately.

Domain selection note

Before I show you the actual process of selecting a domain based on your keyword research and additional terms, I wanted to present you with another option that is totally acceptable when starting your new mini business.

I’m sure you’ve heard of websites that have names like twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, Google etc.

All of these names are high authority and extremely recognizable names to the masses. These names are brands. Selecting a website name by the way of a brand is another way to get exposure and well-known in a particular market.

Using the brand method of selection (domain that is unique and memorable) can often be a better choice than trying to stuff keywords in your website address. Branded domains, when promoted properly, can not only get traffic from their content but from people actually searching for the name of the brand once they are known.

In the video below  I’ll further explain the differences, benefits and drawbacks between selecting a brand for a domain  in comparison to a keyword rich domain.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Just another note for people that are selecting a keyword rich domain.

In some cases, no matter how many keywords you put into this process, you may not find an exact match domain that meets your liking.

In these cases, you can try to add a small amount of additional text to the end of the keyword rich domain, but not change the focus of your website. Such additions can be added to the end of the keyword in your domain such as: site, HQ, x, shop, spot, etc.

For example, if I was looking to obtain the domain of parentingtips.com,  and it was already taken, I may be able to acquire parentingtipshq.com, in its place.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next lesson that really starts getting into the meat of your new mini online business.

By now you should have a very
large list of emotional triggers up and
ready to go.

Through my market research I found that
there were some major subcategories or
niches contained within the parenting
market.

As discussed in the previous post, my
particular market was actually divided
into childhood stages  such as: newborn, infant, toddler, preschool, school-age, pre-teen and teenager.

Of the stages I selected the toddler stage, as it was of interest to me and seemed to have an enormous amount of pain and questions that needed to be addressed.

If you miss how we got to this point you may want to check out the previous market discovery post here.

Or, you might want to check things out from the beginning on how to build a business online here.

You may be asking yourself, what you’re going to be doing with this huge list of emotional triggers and pain points that your market seems to have? First off…  you are absolutely going to be using this list in its entirety, but before you do we have to clean this list up.

What you want to do is take out a new sheet of paper, text document or spreadsheet and create categories for all these emotional triggers.

To give you an example I’ll show you some of the things jumped to the top in the research for my upcoming website.

1. Toddler sleep

2. Bad behavior

3. Potty Training

4. Activities

5. Nutrition

6. Education

7. Products

As you can see there’s plenty to select from, and I also have plenty of emotional triggers that fit into these categories. Of these main categories sleep related topics and bad behavior outweighed the rest.

In the video below you can see a snapshot of my “clean list”.

Niche discovery – the real cash cow

Click here to view the embedded video.

From just from one website I was able to extract 139 emotional triggers that I’ll be able to use.

Typically I will try to extract at least 100 emotional triggers to get a decent sampling of what’s going on in the market. After I’ve proceeded through the additional steps that are upcoming, I’ll go back to the rest of the list of websites that I have to complete my research.

Once I have all my pain points placed in their respective categories I’ll clean them up further by extracting the main keywords from the sentences and then making them read like something closer to what someone would enter into a search engine.

Switching gears and more market intelligence

After you have completed creating your clean list, go out and find some additional websites that you may not have discovered in the beginning of your market research.

We’re going to find these authority or “popular” websites on Technorati.com. By using Technorati you’re going to find some additional leaders in your niche market.

Simply go to Technorati.com and do a search for your main market keyword and visit the blogs that you discover. Make sure that you actually look at these websites and see if they fit into your niche market selection.

Be sure to write down the website addresses of each of these new-found authority sites in your big old list of market resources.

Market monetization

In the next step you’re going to keep out your big old list of websites and create a master list of all the products and offers that the sites are using for monetization.

This is going to serve you as a guide to what may be available for your own promotions.

You’re also going to want to see where these offers are available. Be sure to look at every possible avenue, and even sign up for lists that they have to be sure you’re really seeing how they’re making their money.

Some of the areas that they may be making money with could be: books, Clickbank products, CPA offers, banners, contextual ads, affiliate networks, their own products, or even selling leads.

Write down what the offer is and where you can sign up to promote the offer yourself. This will save you time in the upcoming steps  If you don’t already have your own product in your given market.

Additionally, you should go to Google and do a search for your main market keyword and the word affiliate. Doing this step could get you some additional offers that may be of use to you.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What you need to ask yourself

Throughout all the websites that you found conversations and discovered as market leaders or authority blogs, have you discovered a product that you can promote that solves your markets burning problems or rational desires?

If so then you’re ready for the next step… a twist on keyword research and domain selection.