To be clear, there is no such thing as a “dofollow link”. It’s simply a link that does not have the NoFollow attribute. For more on that, see the NoFollow Attribute section in the Link Building 101 post.

There are browser plugins that will tell you whether links are dofollow or nofollow, and there are also Do Follow Blog Directories that will give you a list of blogs that offer dofollow links in the comment section…

DoFollow Resources

• DoFollow WordPress Plugin (this is the plugin I use here at ClickNewz)
• Firefox Add-on: NoDoFollow highlights & color codes follow/nofollow links
• DoFollow Blogs Directory sorted by niche/category
• DoFollow Community digg-style social network for do-follow blogs

You can find more directories and lists of “dofollow blogs” by doing a search on Google: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=dofollow+blogs

But there’s one major problem with this as a link-building strategy…

Anchor Text & Comment Spam

The problem with using blog commenting as a link building strategy is that you have to use your keyword phrase in the Name field in order to get your preferred anchor text hyperlinked to your URL:

Bloggers don’t like this, and often they won’t approve your comment if you use a keyword phrase in the Name field. Some have statements to that effect printed on their blog, others simply trash the comments.

It’s a personal call, and each blogger handles it how they please. As for me, I tolerate to an extent… but only if the comment itself really contributes to the discussion. Otherwise it’s a quick delete – and annoying to boot.

So your first major hurdle is finding dofollow blogs in your niche, or relevant to the page you want to link. Second is getting keyword rich hyperlinks with your blog comments approved and displayed.

To be honest, it’s probably not the absolute best use of your time. Meaning, I wouldn’t make this your top link building strategy…

Pingbacks vs Blog Comments

A pingback occurs when one blog post links to another. This will happen whether you are linking to your own blog posts (internally), or linking to someone else’s blog post on a different domain. It’s a great way to interlink related content.

Internally, between your own blog posts, interlinking can help your readers find more information from you. They may be reading an older post and click through the pingback to read your newer, related content. Or they may be reading a new post and follow links that reference topics you’ve discussed in detail already.

A pingback usually looks very much like a blog comment:

As you can see, the pingback uses the Post Title of your blog post as the anchor text for the hyperlink. In this case “Link Building 101: What is a Backlink?” is the anchor text, linking back to my post with a bit of the post text as the “comment”.

Obviously if you are using keyword-rich Post Titles (and you should be!), this is a better way to get a keyword-rich link from a relevant blog post.

And not only does this give you the inbound link you were hoping for, but pingbacks also get a much higher click-through rate (CTR) than blog comments. Readers view pingbacks as add-ons to the discussion, connections to related conversations.

Think about it. Which one are you most likely to click on yourself?

Note: Not all blogs are set up to display pingbacks, and not all bloggers will approve pingbacks. Pingback spam is like comment spam – rampant. You’ll want to locate blogs that display quality pingbacks, and make sure your post is relevant to their post (ie quality content that contributes to the topic).

How To Create A Quality Pingback

First, you should have a collection of related blogs in your niche in your Feed Reader or bookmarks. While scanning through their blog posts, you want to look for two things: topics you’ve already blogged about, or new topics that interest you.

When you find a great blog post on a topic you have already blogged about, you can go back to your published post and edit it. Include a link to their blog post from yours, click “update post”, and this will initiate a pingback to their blog post.

You might add a short paragraph that says “also see XYZ by ABC on this topic for a detailed explanation of 123″ or something like that. The goal is that it makes sense within your post, to human readers, and that it interlinks the two related posts – from your blog to theirs, and theirs to yours.

When you find a new topic in your niche, and you have an opinion to add to that conversation, you can create a blog post in response – instead of leaving a comment.

This serves two purposes: it introduces the topic to your own readers, and opens it up for discussion at your blog – and it also creates a pingback, connecting the two blog posts on that topic.

I also seek out relevant blog posts to quote as sources within my own blog posts. Once I have a topic in mind, I search for blogs that display pingbacks that are on topic and worth quoting – to add weight to my own thoughts on the topic.

Here’s an example, from my blog post on Social Marketing Pitfalls:

As you can see, I quoted a blog post by Tim Bossie and linked to the source. This created a pingback on his blog post:

I know – it says Trackback instead of Pingback. I am still not quite sure what the difference is between the two. They seem to be very similar if not the same from where I’m sitting. Regardless, it happens by linking to one blog post… from another blog post. See Pingback and Trackback.

Also see: What’s A Pingback? And How To Write Links by Sue Waters.

The web is made up of conversations, micro-topics and links that connect them. If you’re not interlinking relevant content, you’re doing a disservice to your readers – and to the web as a whole.

The bottom line…

Blog commenting is good, but Pingbacks are better. Pingbacks take less of your time, and add quality content to your own blog at the same time.

Even better than both are links within the actual content area of a blog post. If you’re spending a lot of time on blog commenting for link building, your time could be better spent doing guest blogging and/or article marketing.

Not that blog comments and pingbacks aren’t good, because they are… but if you’re counting every minute while trying to grow your online business, do the things that count the most.

Stay tuned because we’re going to discuss quality of links next, and how to get the highest quality inbound links to your pages…

Best,

p.s. I mentioned that Pingbacks get a much higher click-through rate from blog comment sections. And they do. I take 5 minutes when writing a blog post to search out relevant posts to link to and add them in. It provides greater resources and depth for my readers, while also creating that pingback on the linked-to post.

Pingback Tip: If you are responding to another blog post, write your Post Title carefully. This is what will display as the anchor text in the pingback on their blog… and a compelling title can really increase your click-through rate!

David is the host of the workshop, and he has put together something really great with NAMS. It's a low-cost, hands-on workshop where you learn & earn on the spot.

NAMS is short for Niche Affiliate Marketing System, and it's one of the only events where I actually speak/present. It takes place in Atlanta, GA twice a year, and it sells out early every single time...

Bob “the teacher” Jenkins of IMSuccessLibrary interviewed David Perdew recently about the upcoming NAMS workshop. You can listen in to that interview here:

Speaker Line-up for January 2010:

Lynn Terry
Jimmy D. Brown
Jeff Herring
Willie Crawford
Kevin Riley
Kathleen Gage
Aileen Bennett
Ellen Britt
Mary Wilhite
Nicole Dean
Maritza Parra
David Preston
Dr. Ron Capps
Denise Wakeman
Bob The Teacher
Sid Hale
Joey Smith
Scott Tousignant
Tawnya Sutherland

January 2010 may seem like a long way off at the moment, but the
next NAMS Workshop happens in less than 90 days…

Are you registered?

I hope to see you there! This is one of the most productive, fun, hands-on, low-cost, laid-back events you could attend. Ask anyone who has been to a NAMS workshop and they’ll tell you it’s well worth it.

Best,

p.s. Comment below and let us know if you’re attending!

Photos, Videos & Posts about NAMS:
Photos from the NAMS Event February 2009
Video Update from NAMS, February 2009
Are you attending the NAMS workshop?
NAMS Workshop in Atlanta, August 2009
NAMS Recap August 2009 (video/text)

But how many backlinks do you need?

The answer is: the number it takes to out-rank a competing page. If both pages are equally optimized for the same keyword phrase, and in most cases even if they’re not, it’s the number of backlinks that will determine who ranks highest for that search query. But not just the number of backlinks…

Why Some Sites Rank Higher Than Others… With Fewer Backlinks

Often, when analyzing backlinks, you’ll notice that a page with fewer links outranks a page that has more. The reason for this is in the quality of those links. Link Popularity is the number of inbound links, Link Reputation is the quality of those links. Quality is determined by a number of factors:

The type of link – article directory, social bookmark, etc. The variation in link types. The location of the link (content area vs footer, for example). The relevancy of the page linking to it, the anchor text used in the link, etc.

Another factor is the total number of unique domains linking to that page. Three links from one domain will not carry as much weight as three links from three different domains.

A little digging in the competing page’s list of backlinks can usually tell you exactly what it would take to outrank that page with your own. All you need is more total links, or higher quality links than theirs.

How To Analyze Backlinks

This method works well whether you want to analyze your own backlinks, or those of a web page you are competing with for placement in the search results.

Since inbound links (off-page optimization) carry so much weight in Google rankings, this is the one area you’ll do most of your competition analysis.

Here’s the quick & easy process I use to analyze backlinks:

• Search your chosen keyword phrase at Google.com.
• Click through the top results, and view the web page.
• Copy the URL of that page from the address bar.
• Go to Yahoo.com and use the search bar…
• Type in “link:” and then paste in the URL of the page.

example- link:http://www.clicknewz.com/1993/how-to-write-a-blog-post/

That will take you to Yahoo Site Explorer and will show you the total number of inbound links to that specific web page (URL). Once you’re there, you can use the drop-down box to select “except from this domain” to exclude all of that site’s internal links and see only the inbound links from other domains.

It’s easier than it sounds once I type it all out – give it a try and you’ll see it actually only takes a minute tops. A lot of people use fancy software programs, browser plugins or various other methods. I like to keep it simple.

Let’s walk through this together so you can see exactly how it’s done:

Tip: use the buttons in the lower right hand corner of the video to view it in HQ (high quality), or to view it in full screen mode.

What you’re looking for is the total number of backlinks to that page, and the total number of external backlinks (not including the site’s own internal linking). I tend to go for less competitive keyword phrases, and rule out competing with large numbers of backlinks and/or obvious authority sites.

That said, sometimes the number of backlinks alone can be deceiving so you may want to dig a little deeper. If they have a lot of backlinks and you really want to compete for their spot, then you can analyze the quality of those backlinks.

When analyzing a list of backlinks, count the actual number of unique domains linking to that page. If there are 5 links from one domain, count that as just one. You can also click through each link in the list, and look for the backlink.

See where it is placed on the page, as links within the content area carry more weight than links in static areas of the site: sidebar, footer, navigation, etc.

How relevant is the content to the page it’s linking to? Is it a pet site linking to a dog page (relevant), or a gardening blog leading to a dog page (not relevant)?

Also see if they are using your keyword phrase as the anchor text for that link.

The most important part of that research is to count the number of instances they use your keyword phrase in the anchor text. The total number of those links… will tell you how many links you need with that exact anchor text to out-rank the page.

While you’re analyzing the backlinks of competing web pages, you’ll often find great sources for inbound links for your own page. Look at who is linking to their page, and how, and make notes of places you can get your own link on that page – or on similar pages. Your competitors backlinks are a goldmine of link sources!

Watch the video, try it out, and see for yourself how simple this is

Best,

p.s. Next we’ll look at ways to get high quality inbound links, and exactly what types of links you’ll need for your pages to rank well in the major search engines.

Be sure to subscribe below for updates by email so you don’t miss a single tutorial in this in-depth Link Building series:

If you are getting backlinks for the purpose of higher rankings in the major search engines, then you need a variety of links from a variety of source types.

The goal is to get organic, natural backlinks. The kind that both visitors and search engines love most. The kind that happen naturally on their own, but that you must also push along a bit for proper content marketing…

A common mistake that bloggers and webmasters make when promoting their content is to stick to one type of link-building only. Some do mainly article marketing, others prefer social bookmarking, some blog commenting, etc.

But ideally you’ll want a variety of links, coming from a variety of source types – with variation in the anchor text of the links as well.

It’s unnatural, and therefore appears spammy, to get 100 new backlinks all from social bookmarking sites only, and all with the exact same anchor text. This is likely to send up a red flag, and do more harm than good to your seo strategy.

This is not effective link building. It’s similar to running for a political office, and visiting all of the voting booths yourself… to cast votes for yourself.

An effective link building campaign is one that appears more like a natural buzz. Google counts links to your site as ‘votes’ for your content, and they are most interested in what other sites/people have to say about it than what you say.

In order to create that natural appearance for your inbound links, you use variation. You’ll want to get links from blog posts, blog comments, social bookmarking sites, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, web pages, press releases (if appropriate), article directories, niche directories, discussion forums, etc.

You’ll want a variety of anchor text in those links as well. This is best achieved by using longtail keyword phrases, or by using more than one keyword phrase that is relevant to the content on that page.

The advantage to using variation in your anchor text is that not only do your links appear more natural, which means they’ll carry more weight with the major search engines, but you can achieve top rankings for more than one search phrase.

For example, I have one web page that ranks in the Top 3 for three different keyword phrases. I make sales from that page every single week (and some weeks, every day). This is due to using the three different phrases as the anchor text, and switching it up each time I get a new link to that page.

You can create an effective link building campaign by kick-starting the buzz, and with great content you’ll end up with many more natural backlinks in addition to those you create yourself.

This is not something you want to do for every single web page or blog post, but it’s well worth it for those pillar articles – or those pages/post you most want to rank well in the major search engines.

An effective link building strategy might include:

• Create internal links from related pages on your blog/site
• Tweet the link and ask for feedback
• Publish the link on your Facebook profile or page
• If a blog post, create pingbacks to related blog posts
• Comment on related blog posts, using your specific link in the URL field
• Published a related YouTube video, include the hyperlink in the description field
• Add the link to your niche discussion forum profiles
• Include the link in your forum signature on niche forums
• Submit relevant articles to article directories with the link in the byline
• Submit a press release (if appropriate for your content piece)
• Write guest blog posts on niche blogs, with the link in your signature
• Engage in Cross Blog Conversations with other bloggers on the topic
• Include the link with 5-10 other related links on a social bookmarking list
• If the link is to the main page, add it to niche directories
• If the link is to the main page of a blog, also add it to blog/RSS directories

If you have a really good piece of content, these strategies will kick-start a natural buzz and new unsolicited links from a variety of sources. People may find and like your content and then stumble, tweet, bookmark, or blog about your link. And that’s exactly what you want.

Sure, this is work – particularly in the beginning. But once you identify your best sources you’ll find that it becomes faster and easier with time. You’ll have a list of blogs in your RSS Reader, a list of niche forums you’re engaged with, etc. And you can also outsource the tasks once you get a working strategy in place.

The variation in anchor text and sources is incredibly important for effective link building. Never dismiss a linking opportunity due to PageRank, Nofollow attribute, lack of option to include anchor text, etc. You need these to offset your highly optimized links… to avoid the dreaded “over-optimization” (ie: search engine manipulation, spam).

Best,

Previous Posts in the Link Building Series:
Web Page Optimization
Link Building 101

What is a backlink?
Backlinks are incoming links to a website or web page. In the search engine optimization (SEO) world, the number of backlinks is one indication of the popularity or importance of that website or page.

In basic link terminology, a backlink is any link received by a web node (web page, directory, website, or top level domain) from another web node.

Backlinks are also known as incoming links, inbound links, inlinks, and inward links. -source

As you can see a backlink is the same as an inbound link, or incoming link, and is basically a hyperlink pointing from one page to another. That includes links within your site (internal links) or links to and from other domains (external links).

Link Building 101: Understanding the Terminology

Your link building strategy is a big part of web page optimization, and getting individual web pages (or blog posts) to rank well in the major search engines – particularly Google. For effective link building, it’s important to understand these 4 elements – and how they are used to determine your rankings.

Link Popularity

Link Popularity refers to the number of links that point to your site, from other sites. This is considered in the ranking criteria because popular sites, or well-written content, should naturally attract inbound links.

Each inbound link is counted as a vote. The more votes you have, the more search engines consider your site a quality source in their ranking algorithm.

Link Reputation

Not all inbound links are created equal. The quantity and quality of your inbound links will determine how well your site ranks. Link Reputation defines the quality of your links, and is based on relevance.

Relevance is determined by both the Anchor Text linked to your URL (see next section), and the relevance between the pages that are linked.

In a natural setting a pet site may link to a cat site or a dog site. This is considered a relevant link. An unnatural connection would be that same pet site linking to a casino site, which is obviously not relevant.

Just as society judges you by the company that you keep, major search engines judge your web pages by the company that they keep… or the pages that they link to and get links from.

Anchor Text

Anchor Text is the word or phrase linked to your URL, or web page. This text defines the page that it links to, both for human eyes and for search engines. Ideally you will use the phrase you most want that web page to rank well for in the major search engines, and also a phrase that compels real people to click through and read the page.

As an example, this is Anchor Text: how to write a blog. That phrase tells Google that the page is all about how to write a blog. Using this phrase as the Anchor Text makes this page more likely to rank for that phrase.

Here is how you create a hyperlink with Anchor Text:

Google PageRank

This is an algorithm by which Google measures the relative importance of individual web pages. What most people know as PageRank is the little green guage in the Google Toolbar.

This PageRank feature in the toolbar shows a ranking from 0 to 10, zero being the lowest measure and 10 being the highest. This is not actual PageRank, and so is often referred to as Toolbar PageRank (TBPR). The toolbar does not necessarily display current or accurate data. See: Google PageRank: Tool or Marketing Gimmick?

My advice: Ignore TBPR when link building, and obtain any quality link from a relevant source that has the potential to send targeted traffic to your page.

Actual PageRank is the algorithm that Google uses to rank web pages. It is a complex algorithm, but we know it combines both Link Popularity and Link Reputation to determine how well any give page ranks, and for which search terms.

Google Describes PageRank: PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B.

But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important”. -source

Nofollow Attribute

The name of this link attribute is somewhat misleading as it doesn’t instruct the search engines not to follow the hyperlink, but rather not to influence (or pass PageRank) to the linked page.

This attribute was designed by Google’s Matt Cutts and Jason Shellen (of Blogger.com) in 2005, and was designed specifically to deter comment spam on blogs. It basically gives no weight or influence to outgoing links.

While this is Google’s invention, Yahoo and Bing also respect this attribute – though each search engine seems to interpret it differently. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nofollow for more in-depth information, including how to include the attribute in a link and charts on interpretation.

Since your objective in Link Building is to increase your ranking score, you would naturally avoid inbound links with the NoFollow Attribute. That said, numerous case studies have been done by professional SEO’s and many of them report this attribute as “suspicious”. Links with the NoFollow attribute showing up as backlinks in Yahoo Site Explorer, or in Google Webmaster Tools for example.

My advice: Ignore the NoFollow Attribute when link building, and obtain any quality link from a relevant source that has the potential to send targeted (human) traffic to your page.

Search Engine Friendly, Effective Link Building

Not all links are the same. But instead of worrying yourself over things like NoFollow and ToolBar PageRank, for effective link building you only need to ask yourself one question:

If Google did not exist, would this link make sense in my marketing strategy? How and where (and with what Anchor Text) can I best place a link to get highly targeted traffic to my page?

Keep those questions in mind as you consider your link building strategy…

Best,

p.s. If you subscribe below you’ll receive an email every Monday with the weekly archive from ClickNewz. You’ll also have the option to subscribe to daily updates, and receive notification about hot new topics as they are published.

While link-building plays a big part in getting top search engine rankings, what you do on the page is going to dramatically influence your CTR (click-through rate) and your conversion rate. So – first things first…

Web Page Optimization Begins With Keyword Selection

The first step is to choose the keyword phrase you most want your page to rank well for in the major search engines. Each page of your site, or blog post, will be optimized for a relevant keyword phrase.

The main page is optimized for your most general keyword phrase, the categories slightly more specific keyword phrases, and your pages/posts should be optimized for very specific keyword phrases – called long tail keyword phrases.

Long Tail keyword phrases are phrases with 3 or more words.

Let me give you a quick visual example of how this would be set up on a website about nail art. Your first step is to use your favorite keyword research tool and type in the phrase “nail art”. You can use WordTracker’s free keyword suggestion tool:

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com

• Home/Main Page
  - Nail Art
• Categories/Navigation
  - Nail Art Designs
  - Freehand Nail Art
  - Nail Art Supplies
• Pages/Posts
  - acrylic nail art designs
  - professional nail art supplies
  - nail art step by step

That’s a very basic example, and it will vary with niches and keyword depth, but the goal is to start general and then get more and more specific as you get deeper into your site.

Note: While long tail keyword phrases generally have less search volume, they bring in a more targeted visitor and result in much higher conversion rates. Longtail keyword phrases also contain variations of shorter keyword phrases.

To give you an example one of my blog posts is optimized for starting a free online business, but also ranks well for the shorter phrase: free online business.

As that example implies, you can optimize a web page for more than one keyword phrase. I choose a Primary Keyword Phrase (the phrase I most want my page or post to rank well for) and also choose a secondary keyword phrase (or two). We’ll get into this more during the Link-Building series.

Web Page Optimization 101

Now that you have selected your keyword phrases, it’s time to optimize your pages. There are 7 places on your page where you want to include your Primary Keyword Phrase on each individual web page:

• File Name
• Title Tag
• Text Header
• Sub-Headings
• Within Content
• Within the Meta Description tag
• Anchor Text of Incoming Links

I’ll often name my images with my Primary Keyword Phrase as well, if relevant, but that’s as much keeping my images organized for which post they go to as it is “image optimization”.

I don’t pay attention to things like keyword density, keyword proximity, or any other fancy SEO terms. I simply use my Primary Keyword Phrase in each of those places, and a few times within the actual content. Usually in the first paragraph, the last paragraph, and maybe once more somewhere in the middle (a couple of times on longer posts/pages). That’s it. Keep it simple

Web Page Optimization for Blogs

Optimizing blogs is very similar to optimizing web pages. I don’t use any fancy plug-ins to achieve this on my own blog. This post actually stands as a visual example where you can see all 7 elements listed above.

Even though you are viewing this blog post in your browser, I’ll point out each of the elements here so you can get a better feel for how it is done. This post is optimized for the phrase “web page optimization” – a low volume phrase (around 9 searches a day, or 3,285/year).

With a blog, the title of the post also becomes the Title Tag or page title as well as the Text Header. As you can see, I’ve used the phrase in both the title and the file name:

If you look at the top of your browser, you’ll see the post title is in the Title Bar and you’ll also see it as the text header above the post. You’ll also see that I used the Primary Keyword Phrase in the sub-headings throughout the post:

Once you publish a blog post, the post title is also used as the Anchor Text for internal links throughout your blog – specifically to your post, from your archive listings. Your post titles will often contain additional words, diluting the keyword phrase in that Anchor Text. With this post, the additional word is “checklist”.

So my blog will create internal links to this post like this:
Web Page Optimization Checklist instead of Web Page Optimization (preferred).

This is where our link-building strategy will help, which we’ll focus on next.

How do on-page factors affect CTR & Conversions?

Ahh yes – I almost forgot to come back around and explain that.

Before anyone ever arrives on your web page, they run across your link – either in the search results or on another website. What they see in the search results is your Title Tag and your URL. Or if they find your link on a web page and hover over it, they see the Anchor Text and the URL.

Example:

What you say in those few words will determine whether they click on your link or not. A compelling title may grab their attention in the search results. Or a descriptive file name may encourage them to click through to read the topic.

As for increasing your conversions, that’s all in selecting the right keyword phrase. You want a very strong message to market match between your keywords and your content. Meaning your phrase defines what they can expect.

With this post, the phrase “web page optimization” very clearly defines what a visitor will find when they click through. This will increase your chance of gaining a new subscriber or making a sale (ie increase your conversion rate) – versus the other option: they click the back button.

Recommended Reading:

What I have given you here is a basic overview of web page optimization. For a more in-depth understanding of SEO I highly recommend that you download (and read!) SEO Fast Start, a free search engine optimization guide by Dan Thies.

Grab it while it’s free!

Best,

p.s. Also see my tutorial on writing SEO Content that outlines how to choose the best keywords & phrases for individual blog posts or web pages.

Stay tuned – this Link Building series is going to be fun

Links mentioned in the video:

• ThinkGeek Fun geek t-shirts, hoodies & gifts
• @TwitrBizWomen & @HireMyMum at www.TwitterBusinessWomen.com

Books discussed in the video:

Book Review pick for November Review:

I chose Socialnomics by Erik Qualman (@equalman) as my first pick for the monthly Book Review series. I picked it up and immediately got interested and read through the first 3 chapters. It looks like I’m not going to be able to put this one down until I finish it.

Also be sure to read When Two Worlds Collide: Social Media Marketing & SEO at the HubSpot blog. Social Media is not just affecting the way we market, it’s affecting the way we live. For every product we sell, there’s someone on the other end finding and purchasing that product online…

I shared one small example on Twitter just the other day. My daughter received an update on her mobile with a movie recommendation by one of her friends. She forwarded it to my mobile with the text “Netflix it, Mom”.

Social Media is a sphere of influence, changing the way we communicate – not just the way we buy or make buying decisions, but the way that we behave and interact. Erik Qualman addresses all of that in his fresh new book.

Keep an eye out – I’ll have the full review of Socialnomics up in the next few weeks. In the meantime, feel free to suggest book titles (on marketing, blogging, business, etc) for upcoming reviews by leaving a comment below.

Best,

Mailing Address:

Lynn Terry
PO Box 7245
McMinnville, TN 37111

He recently published an interview with me, and I took the opportunity to ask him a few questions as well.

You may recognize Murray as a speaker at IzeaFest, or you may have seen him at any number of recent industry events. In this post, I’ll give you more of an inside look into Murray Newlands, and his history with marketing on the web…

Reading your bio, I saw that you were a lawyer up until the late 90’s when you transitioned into a full-time internet marketer.

Can you tell us what precipitated that transition, and why you chose such a dramatic career shift?

Well when you are 17 you choose what you are going to study at university in the UK you really do not know much about the other end. I qualified as a lawyer and I was on the National Committee for your solicitors and doing well but I did not like it.

I knew I wanted a change. My girlfriend at the time was a designer with a full time job and doing some freelance work. I took some time off work sold some design work and before you know it we had an agency.

How did this change your lifestyle? Dramatically, I imagine – for example, I noticed that you travel the world…

Well it has been quite a ride but a few years ago now I was lucky enough to work for the UK office of a US company and they kept bringing me to the US so that when I move on I kept my business contacts and things have developed from there.

You have a wide range of online business experience, and currently run your own affiliate network. Give us an inside look at what you do online, and what you offer.

For me online marketing is all about the people. From people flow great advertsing offers and great relationships with affiliates. Good advertisers and affiliates have a choose as to who they work with and they only work with people they want to. Most of what I do is finding out how to help people and then doing it. Who wants what leads or sale and who has traffic and needs offers.

I noticed that you just started blogging this year. In another interview you mentioned that you wish you had started blogging earlier.

Given this is your first year as a “blogger”, what would you advise others who are just now setting up their first blog?

Yup I started my Marketing Blog this year. Finding some good bloggers to give you advice and learn from them about how to succeed. The things I have learned the hard way that could have got my blog going so much faster but you live and learn.

Do learn about SEO and do get some blogging buddies.

Your blog content is great, by the way! Has blogging become a big part of your online marketing & exposure strategy?

My blog has become a big part of my online and offline exposure. I interview people on my blog and it has been a great way for me to reach out and connect with people who I would otherwise have never meat, both online and offline. I am running my first offline Blogging event in New York next week and I am very excited about that.

Prior to starting your blog, how did you market yourself online? What were/are your favorite marketing strategies?

Prior to blogging I used more forums and facebook a bit but looking back I did not really get online marketing in the same way. The thing I love about having my own blog is that I can make it what I want.

I’ve been around since the late 90’s as well, with a variety of online business models. I’d love to hear your take on how Social Media has changed the internet marketing space…

Social Media has brought consumers a voice which they did not have in the same way before and they have learned to use it to vocalize and mobilize discontent as well as delight. Social Media has in Obama’s case changed governments. If it can do that what can it do for your sales?

Marketers have learned that there are social media influencers many of whom are bloggers that can lead this conversation and blogger outreach programs are increasingly popular.

In a recent presentation at Izeafest, you shared a message on the current landscape titled “Content is Dead, Conversation is King”.

What top 3 ways would you recommend that people engage with their target market, or get involved in the conversations in their niche?

Top 3 hum…

-SEO is still a great way to engage people in your niche, by writing about topics your audience are searching for and having your good content found you can engage.

-Going to events and meeting people face to face and ask them about your niche and get their opinions, people like to be in a conversation where they talk.

-I have to say the T word Twitter, search for conversations on your chosen topics and engage in those conversations.

-I would also have to add blogging outreach. Find blogs in your niche and make constructive comments.

Networking seems to be key for you. I like how you seek out relationships, and look for opportunities to get fully engaged.

For those that cannot travel, what would you recommend as the best ways to meet and network online with others in their industry?

Simple. Find the people who do travel connect, and influence others and connect with them. Find their blogs and comment, friend them on facebook and comment on their status and twitter with them, converse online. It does take longer but I have many friends I converse with online. If you know people who do travel to events and connect online ask for introductions.

If you were consulting with an aspiring affiliate marketer, what advice would you give them for the start-up phase?

People thing then they are starting a business they will make money from the start, if often takes money and time to get going. Think about all those things you are good at and how much you have learned to get you there.

Find someone good to teach you and listen to them. It takes time and hard work, keep going. At the same time you have to bring your own thing to it to make it unique special different and successful.

- – - – - – - – - –

Thanks, Murray – it was a pleasure getting to know you!

Visit Murray on the web at www.MurrayNewlands.com

Best,

Many of you commented about how difficult it’s been to stay on track, and to keep yourself focused on just one website or project at a time.

Today, I’ll share with you 5 very specific tips that I use myself to stay focused, that I have been using for years as I created my successful online business with multiple websites in a variety of niches, and multiple streams of income…

1. Patience. You’re in it for the long term.

The first order of business is to get yourself in the proper mindset. Realize that success is not going to happen overnight. You are building a successful online business, not getting involved in a get rich quick scheme.

Your expectations should be in the right place. You can’t expect to study, research, and piddle a bit with a new blog – and be earning a 6 figure income in a few short weeks, or even a few short months.

I have confessed plenty of times in the past that I worked up to 18 hours a day, 7 days a week back in the beginning. I have heard other successful marketers say the same – Rosalind Gardner on our recent webinar with her, for example. Of course, the amount of time you invest is relative to how fast you want or need to succeed.

Are you waiting for success to arrive, or are you going out to find where it is hiding? -Napoleon Hill

2. Create a plan, and stick to it.

Even when it’s not fun or glamorous or even particularly engaging, you have to follow through with that plan to completion. Business is work, so be prepared to stick it out to the end – or outsource the things you don’t enjoy. If you can’t invest money for outsourcing, be prepared to invest time to get the tasks done yourself.

Your plan is going to be a loose outline in the beginning. The more you learn through experience, the more you’ll be able to fill in the details. Dedicate yourself to your one website, or one project, and commit to seeing it through to profit.

Stay focused. Treat it like a business.

Take the initiative, and you will create your own opportunities. There is no substitute for action backed up by a well-thought-out plan. -Napoleon Hill

3. Avoid the pitfall of unnecessary distraction.

Distraction is a major issue with an online business. It’s the nature of the internet with a constant barrage of incoming messages, new products, new ideas and methods.

Here are some of the ways that I avoid distraction and stay focused:

I keep an Idea Notebook and a Master Task List. New ideas should be jotted into the notebook and researched later – not distracting you from your original idea. One major project at a time, until it is running smooth and reaching it’s profit potential. Then you pop out the notebook and start on the next great idea.

Your Master Task List should be prioritized. List tasks in order of priority, then start each day by doing the top 3 from the list. I create a mini list with my 3 tasks every morning, and start my day by completing those.

Cool new plugins, programs, updates, themes, etc go on the master task list – in the proper order. Nothing new gets to jump line in front of the 3 daily tasks. Ever. Discipline yourself to work on priority tasks.

When I open my Master Task List to update, re-prioritize or pull my 3 daily tasks I spend a few minutes to scan the list and consider what I can automate or outsource. I’ll often pluck 3 tasks for myself, and 3 tasks to outsource..

Also:

• Turn off the sound when you’re working. It’s distracting.
• Turn off instant messengers while working on priority tasks.
• Close your email program. Open it when you’re ready to check/reply to email.
• Create rules/filters in your email program, and organize directories.
• Newsletters, offers and other emails get filtered into their own folder as they come in. You can search that folder to find things you need, when you need them.
• Don’t buy products (themes, software, ebooks, etc) that you don’t need. Buy what you need, when you need it, to accomplish what you’re working on right now. Period.

Drifting, without aim or purpose, is the first cause of failure. -Napoleon Hill

4. Stop looking for the Holy Grail of Internet Marketing.

You’ll notice that every mentor or marketer has their own methods and tools. The fact is, there is no one right way to start an online business that will work for every model or every market – or even every keyword.

This is the reason there are very few complete blueprints our outlines that teach you step-by-step how to start an online business. And of the few that are available, none of them will work for everyone. They are simply guides to further your understanding of the processes and concepts.

Commit yourself to research and to testing, tracking and tweaking in your own unique online business until it reaches it’s full profit potential. Learn the methods of research and testing, instead of simply copying models that may or may not work for you – or in your market.

Use the tools and resources, but be prepared to inject your own unique ideas and go the extra mile to figure out what will work in your own online business.

Good intentions are useless until they are expressed in appropriate action. -Napoleon Hill

5. Know when to admit defeat.

Even after 12+ years in business, I don’t have all the answers – and I don’t have all the skills. When in doubt, ask for help. There are literally hundreds of forums and communities where people are willing to share their resources or point you in the right direction. My own SSWT Forum is a good place to start.

What if you’re not sure if your business or website idea will be profitable? The only way to know is to keep at it and see it through. You can’t admit defeat if you haven’t completed all of the necessary steps. And if you quit before you do, you are not in a position to say the idea was worthless.

That said, the risk with an online business is generally very low. Most mistakes can even be easily corrected. A lot of people ultimately end up with something completely different than what they started with… so a few practice runs is no big loss. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Keep at it.

There is also the issue of skills – and of identifying your strengths. You’ll learn what you are good at, and what you are not. The things you are not good at, or don’t prefer doing (and therefore don’t do at all) are things you should outsource. You may have to do them yourself in the beginning, but make it your goal to reinvest in your business through outsourcing.

The bottom line is: ask for help, or outsource tasks you can’t do. Don’t assume failure or defeat if you haven’t truly given your all to the project. That includes correcting mistakes, or exhausting all of your options.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

These are my own methods for staying on track, and staying focused to see a project all the way through from start to profit. Figure out what works best for you, in your environment or with your unique strengths and weaknesses.

It takes self-analysis, self-discipline, self-motivation, etc. But that’s all part of being self-employed. You are in control of the outcome, good or bad.

Never mind what you have done in the past. What are you going to do in the future? -Napoleon Hill

Best,

p.s. The Napoleon Hill quotes came from Positive Action Plan: 365 Meditations For Making Each Day A Success.

A personal favorite along with Law of Success, Think and Grow Rich, and other works by Napoleon Hill…

Before you know it you have a dozen niche websites and/or blogs in varying stages of completion. It’s madness!

So why do we do this to ourselves? What is it that tempts us to start another website, before our first is even fully developed and making money?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I know very few people who are immune to this madness of creating multiple websites or several online business models – with none of them reaching a true point of profit…

Is there an addiction to creating websites?

What causes this strange phenomenon among people who desperately want to make money online, yet seem to quit just before the point of profit every single time… only to start the process all over again?

If this is such a common issue, what’s the problem exactly?

There’s something fun and exciting about the learning, the market research, the development phase of taking an idea and turning it into something tangible.

Wouldn’t it also be fun and exciting to see that idea turn into a successful money-making venture? To see it transform into something that excites it’s visitors and consistently rewards it’s creator with never-ending streams of revenue?

When did you create your very first blog or website? A month ago, a year ago… even longer? And did you abandon it – or is it living up to it’s full profit potential?

Poor little website.

Creating Websites… From Start to Profit

If you truly want to make money online, and have a successful internet-based business, you absolutely must continue the process. All the way from start, to profit.

Choose one project – one website, one blog, one niche – and complete the process. Dream it, research it, build it, promote it, tweak it, promote it some more. Live and breathe this one project until it is running at top potential, as automated as possible, with multiple streams of revenue.

Here’s the good news: Once you complete the process, your online business will be operating in maintenance mode. All it requires is a little management, some new content and links now and then, a note to your team (because by now you’re outsourcing most of the maintenance).

At this point you should be spending no more than 5 hours a week managing your sweet little project… and it’s generating a nice little profit for you.

NOW you have time, experience and money to begin a second project. Your experience with the first project makes this second project go up even faster, and operate even smoother. You reach your profit point much quicker. And you are now in maintenance mode with this project as well. And you can start a third…

There’s a strategy to it.

Take ONE project all the way.

Only then have you truly learned the process – well enough to duplicate it.

And that, my friends, is the difference between creating websites that cost you money… and creating websites that make you money.

Best,

A note from the inbox…

Hi Lynn,

I was reading your article on choosing long tail keywords & phrases. I wanted to let you know that my company, wordstream, released a free long tail keyword tool (it’s totally free). So for example, in your article, you use the word “bass guitar” – the wordstream keyword tool generates a list of around 12,000 keywords: http://www.wordstream.com/keywords/?pattern=bass+guitar
Anyway, just wanted to pass that along. Thanks!

Larry Kim
Founder, VP of Products
WordStream, Inc.

Thank you, Larry!

This is actually a fun brainstorming / research tool to search keywords. I gave it a whirl and I really like the web-based interface and the features they offer.

A search for ‘marketing’ returned 678,471 related keywords:
http://www.wordstream.com/keywords/?pattern=marketing

This is great for brainstorming longtail and related phrases. They have a variety of tools for keyword discovery, keyword analytics, keyword organization, etc.

Check it out

Best,

What do I write?
Where do I start?

The key of course is to get started…

Three times in the last week I’ve had opportunity to show off my very first blog post. It was a little over 5 years ago, in August 2004, on the blogger.com platform.

I’ll show that to you as well, for a bit of a laugh:

That was me figuring out how to post to my blog for the first time, of course. And later, when I switched over to WordPress in March 2006 I started fresh (instead of importing my blogger content). And again, a first post there (um, here):

So there you have it – two of my very first blog posts, on separate blogs. And both pretty lame, no doubt -heh. Take note of the lack of comments on that first one. That’s right, no comments in over 5 years.

Sure I could delete either or both of those posts, as they were simply me testing the theme and checking things out. But I didn’t, and they are still floating around out there, so I thought it might serve as a little inspiration for you… Because I’m quite sure you can do better than that!

So if you’re still struggling with where to start, or what to post first on a brand new blog… don’t. Just start – anywhere. And remember: you can always delete or edit.

Of course, I’ve started a number of new blogs since then – and 2 more just this week, in fact. I have a better starting point strategy now than I did a few years ago, so I’ll share with you were I generally start…

First, I walk through my own checklist:
How to Start a WordPress Blog

Next I do a bit of keyword research and choose my keywords & phrases. Once the blog is set up and the theme is installed (see checklist), I set up my categories. Then I take my keywords & phrases (see last link) and create drafts for blog posts in each category that I created.

I don’t actually publish these posts yet, or put any pressure on myself to sit down and write “great blog posts”. I just create drafts with the keyword phrase in the post title and any notes on the topic in the content area, then save.

Once I do this for my list of keyword phrases, and have a whole list of drafts, I go back and use my blog post outline to flesh each one out into a nice blog post. Then I publish each post as it’s ready.

If I can sit down over a weekend and knock out 10 or 20 posts (or more), I queue them to drip out over time. You can do that using the post-dating feature for publishing in WordPress.

So there you have it – a great starting point for your brand new blog!

And if you use this method, you’ll never be sitting there looking at a blank screen. You’ll always have a selection of drafts to work with. Hopefully that will keep you from publishing silly posts like my two above (ha!). By the way, I have 524 posts in draft here at ClickNewz as we speak…

Best,

p.s. There are great courses specifically for WordPress – AffiliateTheme offers great training and help with their WP themes for affiliate marketers, for example. And Beginning Blogger walks you through learning to install, setup & customize WordPress.

I also do a lot of outsourcing. Paul Short has done most of the custom design and added features that you see here at ClickNewz. If you need ANY WordPress help check out his page at http://wp-guy.com.

There were some great responses, so I thought I would share those here for you to check out as well…

PPCmom (Jen) asked How do you “nest” comments on your blog, Lynn? I like how comments and replies are threaded.

My reply: Good question – I outsourced that, but I’ll ask

@PaulShort: “Threaded comments are built in to WordPress, but your theme or design has to be set to display it that way. There are options in WP that allow you to do that.”

Paul Short has done most of the custom design and added features that you see here at ClickNewz. If you need ANY WordPress help, including installing any of the plugins below, check out his page at http://wp-guy.com

What Are Your Favorite WordPress Plugins for Comments?

@BobtheTeacher comment relish is awesome; sends an email to someone first time they comment.

Comment relish is a Wordpress plugin developed to send an e-mail message to users who comment on your website who have never commented before. It allows you to send out a genuine thank-you style / relishing message that informs your readers of what else is going on. Details

@CreativeAgentVA Take a look at @Disqus http://disqus.com/comments/
@Marcglon I’m testing Disqus right now for the social integration – all good so far. It’s pretty sexy

Disqus Comments is a comment system and moderation tool for your site. This service lets you add next-gen community management and social web integrations to any site on any platform. Details

@ShannonCole CommentLuv is pretty good. http://bit.ly/14fx4l
@BigGirlBlue I like “comment luv”.
@JanetBarclay Another #wordpress comment plugin suggestion: Comment Luv

CommentLuv will visit the site of the comment author while they type their comment and retrieve a selection of their last blog posts, tweets or digg submissions which they can choose one from to include at the bottom of their comment when they click submit. Details

@kiwichamp latest comment luv has clean RSS so even better – also my vote is “tweet this”

TweetThis Adds a “Tweet This Post” link to every post and page. Shortens URLs. Can automatically tweet new and scheduled blog posts. Customizable. Details

@bradmarolf I’ve found the Action Comments plugin useful for helping build my list- http://bit.ly/1gfzrj

Action Comments ($17) “SNATCHES your visitors’ information from your blog comment forms… and adds them to your mailing list.” Details

@sweatyshop I also use keyword luv

KeywordLuv is a WordPress plugin, which rewards your commentators by separating their name from their keywords in the link to their website in the comments. (Cool) Details

@AndyBeard Lucia’s Linky Love, Ajax Edit Comments

Lucia’s Linky Love: Are you tired of human comment spammers leaving insipid, irrelevant comments just to get link-juice? Lucia’s Linky Love is the dofollow plugin for you! Details

@BradStCroix Here’s one Lynn http://bit.ly/pcv4N – great for product review blogs. Users rate – conversions skyrocket

GD Star Rating plugin allows you to set up rating and review system for posts, pages and comments in your blog. You can set many options for displaying the rating stars, and also add widgets into the sidebars for displaying top ratings and other statistics. Details

Best,

I received the Logitech headset first (left), which is the Logitech ClearChat Comfort Headset. I had a Logitech headset before, which I loved, so when it finally broke I checked Logitech products first.

My primary interest was in getting a comfortable headset, so the ClearChat Comfort seemed like a good choice. It’s definitely more comfortable to wear than my original Logitech Premium USB Headset 350. I use my headset for live webinars, interviews, podcast recordings and Skype chat – for anywhere from 3 to 10 hours a week, usually for an hour minimum at any given time…

Unfortunately, I think I received a faulty unit. While it works fine on my end, in two different webinar tests and a Skype test several people heard a constant hum in the background while I was using the Logitech ClearChat Comfort headset.

I tested different computers, and different USB ports, so it seems the issue is in the actual headset. That one is going back in the box, and back to Amazon.

Next I received the Plantronics .Audio 995 Wireless Stereo Headset – and just in time to host my next webinar! This is my first Plantronics headset, and also my first wireless headset, so I was anxious to test it out and see how well it worked…

It’s super comfortable. More padded, and larger ear pads than the Logitech – which, ironically hurt my ears after about 90 minutes of use. I wore the Plantronics headset for 3 straight hours before I experienced ANY discomfort at all (and only slight, at that) so comfort-wise it’s more than twice as good as the Logitech.

In the larger picture to the right, you can see how well the headset band itself is padded in addition to the ear pads. It’s VERY comfortable.

My aim was to test both comfort and charge, and so for my first test I wore the Plantronics headset for 4 straight hours. It doesn’t use batteries by the way, you simply charge it with the included USB charging cable.

Once charged, the light goes off, and you can disconnect the cable. I’m not sure how long the charge lasts (and Amazon specs don’t mention this) but it worked straight through 4 hours of music, podcasts and Skype chat…

The range is up to 40ft. And I have to say… the wireless aspect is NICE. Especially for us multi-taskers that like to make lunch, grab a coffee or fold a load of laundry without missing a beat.

I tested the range, and when you reach your limit it simply cuts off, and when you get back within range it turns right back on – so you don’t actually have to reset it or turn it back on, it just automatically resumes audio when you get back within range. And no fading out, either. It’s clear as a bell all the way to the edge of the range.

Fortunately the range is absolutely perfect for me. It reaches all of the places I tend to travel around to in the course of my workday – back deck, master bedroom, kitchen, entire office too of course.

The volume controls are on the left ear panel, which only took a few minutes to get used to. It’s actually very convenient to reach up and mute it, turn up the volume, etc when you need to. It also has an on/off switch on the actual headset, so it doesn’t drain the charge when you’re not using it.

Oh – and no background hum! I have received positive feedback on the sound quality both through Skype and my webinar room, so the Plantronics headset gets a thumbs up from the other end as well.

Even if the Logitech headset had worked properly (without the hum), I would still trade it in for the Plantronics headset. The comfort factor alone sealed the deal, but I absolutely love wireless now that I’ve tried it!

So I am returning the Logitech headset, and sticking with the Plantronics headset. The range is great, the sound quality is terrific, and it is SUPER comfortable for long-term use. A huge thank you to Erica for the recommendation – I think I’ve finally found my headset of choice.

Best,

I am traveling round the world at the moment and I bought a net book as it was light and compact. The trouble with trying to work on a net book is that the keyboard is a little smaller than a normal keyboard, so it’s not as comfortable to write content every single day. (I have big hands).

However, over the last few months I’ve been writing around five articles every single day. For me, this has been a bit of a chore, but with 170 articles a month the results give me the motivation to carry on.

Writing content has been something that I am a little slow at doing, and to be honest I find it a little boring. I am an active member of the Warrior Forum, and a lot of people there have started talking about Dragon Naturally Speaking. This software enables you to convert voice to text: you speak and it writes. Dictating content for me seemed like a better idea than typing…

The other day I went shopping and came across Dragon Naturally Speaking. It was a little more expensive than if I bought it online, but I decided that it was time to give it a go.

After about 20 minutes it was installed and once I had blown the red dust off my headset, I was doing microphone checks which took only a couple of minutes.

You do not need any training to get Dragon Naturally Speaking working. However I found that with no training I was getting all sorts of funny mistakes; in fact I couldn’t even get a whole sentence without mistakes. So I decided to break out the training provided and see if I could improve its results.

Within about 20 minutes I completed a couple of the training modules and decided to give it another go. This time I was over the moon with the results: I managed to get whole sentences without any mistakes.

I headed over to one of my forums and decided to start posting. I found it a lot easier and although it was still producing a fair few mistakes, it didn’t take very long to edit them, so I it was still much quicker than just typing.

I’m now writing articles left, right and centre with Dragon Naturally Speaking and I’m absolutely loving how easy it is to use. I now find that my articles flow a lot better and that they are easier to read. To me, this can only be a good thing.

At the end of each day since I’ve purchased Dragon Naturally Speaking I have done other training sessions. The last one I did took almost an hour but it was time well spent. I have now found that Dragon Naturally Speaking rarely makes mistakes and if it does, it’s normally because I have slurred my words.

The power of being able to write content so easily means I’ll be able to produce a lot more unique content at a quicker, more productive rate. A 350-word article used to take me about 30 minutes, but now it takes me only about 10 minutes to do, and they seem to read a lot better, too.

The price tag for Dragon Naturally speaking isn’t trivial, but with a bit of shopping around you can pick it up relatively cheaply. I still need to edit my articles in places, but that is down to the fact that I miss words out when I speak (as everybody does). I like how I can just blast out ideas and when the foundations are there, I can just elaborate on them.

I have been building an online business now for nearly 10 years and am living the dream of travelling the world while I work online. The internet has opened many doors for me, and produced opportunities that most people can only dream of.

You can find more about me at www.danielcutts.co.uk

I found over the many years of working online, writing content is probably the most important thing that you do, and for me this used to be the hardest thing to do. I used to outsource some article-writing and in fact I still do.

However, now that I have started using Dragon Naturally Speaking, I will be producing a lot more than five articles a day, and over the next few months I should really start seeing my income increase.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard $59.99

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred Wireless $241.49
(includes Plantronics Calisto Bluetooth headset)

Note: This guest post by Daniel Cutts was written by voice, using the Dragon Naturally Speaking software, and serves as a visual example of what can be achieved. Nice work, Daniel! ~Lynn Terry