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Archive of ‘Internet Marketing’ category

Figuring Sex Into Internet Marketing

Following my last post which attempted to guess the upcoming lineup on the conference track at January’s Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas, Sugarrae helped pointed out that I had assumed she was in the wrong session.

For the record, she’ll be speaking at a SEO site review panel with Michael Gray, Michael Streko and Greg Boser. Check the summit schedule to make sure you don’t go to the wrong session and send me angry “I didn’t see Sugarrae” emails after the event.

Sugarrae (AKA Rae Hoffman) is an experienced affiliate/internet marketer who doesn’t pull her punches when it comes to expressing her opinion. Depending on your comfort level (and likely self-esteem), you’ll find her frankness either abrasive, or refreshing. Pointing to a 2007 post “A Note to My Fellow Women of SEO“, she highlights the fact that credit ought to be assigned on the basis of merit/competence, rather than gender (I’m assuming her reference to “kickass-ness” doesn’t apply to men wearing bras).

When it comes to your business, and more specifically your income, I doubt any rational business owner will pick a service provider on the basis of gender, rather than skill. There might still be a couple of throwbacks, though they’d probably be left in the dust over time.

Although compartmentalization works in order to create shortcuts and ease of reference, it seems a little silly, for example, to call me the “Asian internet marketer”, or the “affiliate guy from Singapore”. But I can see the value of calling something a “Women of SEO” panel for easy reference, compared to the blander, more generic “SEO Strategies” session. For marketing purposes, putting a smart, tidy label helps.

Is it being fair to the panelists? More specifically, would Scott Polk be concerned about being lumped with the “Women of SEO” with Kate Morris, Carolyn Shelby and Lyndsay Wagner? Does that imply he’s one of the “women”?

Frankly, my brain is a little focused on other elements of my business to take offense out of the numerous examples of sexism, ageism, and other forms of discrimination I see happening in the online and offline world. (Calling someone “lame” or “retarded” is a slight against the physically handicapped and mentally challenged in my opinion).

And if we’re all being politically correct all the time, it’s going to put the brakes on taking risks and breaking new ground.

Regarding my post “The Amazing Women of Affiliate Summit“? Am I contradicting everything I’ve just written? Maybe. But it could also  show that I can’t be consistent 100% of the time.

Live long and prosper.

Internet Marketing Lessons From The Peaceful Warrior

Internet marketers can take a leaf out of the movie “Peaceful Warrior” and apply techniques for success to their marketing campaigns.

Based on a book by 1964 World Trampoline Championship winner and co-captain of the 1968 NCAA University of California gymnastics team, Dan Millman, the movie Peaceful Warrior contains a number of success lessons.

Dan Millman’s the author of 14 self-improvement books and has served as director of gymnastics at Stanford University and as assistant professor of physical education at Oberlin College.

Here’re some lessons from the movie:

  • Focus on the now: Get ride of distractions while work. This’ll include interruptive communication like IM, cell phones, email, twitter. Focus on the now.
  • There’s always something happening: Even if there seems to be nothing to do, or nothing going on, keeping your eyes and ears open will open up new opportunities, new promotion methods, new offers. But you have to look.
  • Dealing with setbacks: In the movie, the Dan Millman character is set for a place in the Olympic gymnastics team, till he gets into a motorcycle accident and shatters one of his leg bones in 17 pieces. The movie goes through his effort of rebuilding his career and his life, just like most marketers will be picking up the pieces after a traffic campaign gets slapped, or a highly profitable offer is removed.
  • The Emotion game: You’ve probably heard/read/seen how emotions, especially a fear of failure – a failed campaign, uncertainty of  a new campaign – can shake a marketer’s confidence. Likewise, I think the movie does a great job of highlighting some of the challenges that almost every active internet marketer will face, and how Dan deals with these issues (not always successfully).

I know a number of marketers have a preferred film to psych themselves up when they’re in need of a motivation fix. Some watch Rocky, some watch Chariots of Fire. Peaceful Warrior is different in that it will psych you up and might fire off ideas for your business too.

Links:

-> Way of the Peaceful Warrior (book)

-> Peaceful Warrior (DVD)

Internet Marketing Cookbook Oct Update – Emailing – Just Out

InternetMarketingCookbook.com, an internet marketing resource I’ve working on with SEO/Linkbuilding/PPC specialist MsDanielle.

The IMC has released an update for the month of October, focused on email marketing.

The update covers topics like:

  • Research and planning considerations for a successful email campaign (whether as an affiliate or if you own your own product).
  • Techniques to create an attractive opt-in form and tips to increase opt-in rates
  • How to use emailing as an integrated component of your existing or new PPC, SEO, content-based and social networking campaigns

The Internet Marketing Cookbook features monthly updated themed content and includes a set of foundation materials to plan and grow your online business.

Check out the Internet Marketing Cookbook.

New Internet Marketing Cookbook Update: Linkbuilding and Article Marketing

ms danielleSeptember has rolled by and my partner for the Internet Marketing Cookbook resource site, MsDanielle, has published a series of tutorials on linkbuilding and article marketing.

The tutorials titled “Link Building for Traffic and Profits” are intended to give new and experienced marketers a number of techniques to boost your site listings in the search engines.

In addition to the new monthly update, there’s a core of foundation materials which will help you optimize your online business for growth.

Check out the: Internet Marketing Cookbook

PS: The linkbuilding module will be available till 30th September and will be replaced with a new module on 1st October.

Being Lisa Barone and the Ultimate Internet Marketing Rulebook

lisa baroneA couple of days ago, Internet marketing agency Outspoken Media’s chief branding officer Lisa Barone posted about the emails she’s received from readers, noting the number of requests for “ultimate rules” for internet marketing success. The question is, whether those who’ve been sending in email will eventually find what they’re looking for.

The drive to find the “ultimate” way to do something implies that there is one best way to do something and that a web-lebrity (ok, I’m using this term) like Lisa will give the answers/secrets, and somehow everyone who follows the rules will be able to replicate the results with precision.

Right?

Wrong.

So if her headline “Stop looking for rules. There aren’t any” is true. Does that mean that newbies are scrod?

And more importantly, is the “stop looking for rules because there aren’t any” a rule itself, making the post paradoxical/oxymoronic?

Here’s her answer:

If I define it as a rule, then it comes moot, right? 😉

I think you can either take it and apply it or you can sit here and argue semantics as to whether its a rule, life lesson or something that should be found inside a fortune cookie. As time becomes more scarce and
more precious, I like to focus on what matters. Arguing semantics rarely does. Unless you’re doing it with Michael Gray and the it’s THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS! 😉

Instead, here’s her advice:

I think people who are looking for the universal rule book are putting themselves on a path to be mediocre. Following the worn path rarely leads to anything particularly interesting or great. It just ensures
you’re starting out just like everybody else. There’s no point of difference. I don’t want to know the 10 things that you say I need to do on Twitter. That cookie-cutter information does nothing for me. I want
to hack Twitter. I want to turn it upside down and inside out and do things that every expect would tell me not to and be horrified at. Because that’s how I’m going to learn what it’s capable of and what I’m
capable of using it. That’s where I find my value.

Which makes perfect sense if you’re willing to deal with 2 challenges: fear and failure.

Fear is something that most newbies, whether dipping their digital toes into twitter or social media are going to deal with. Especially if you’re constantly reading about successes like the CoffeeGroundz cafe which saw business double and soon became a destination for tweetups (twitter meetups). The spate of success stories can be pretty intimidating for the clueless.

It’s the rare individual who likes to be mess up on their first attempt at doing something new, although it’s a likely outcome for the majority of people who try something new. If you’re working in a corporate environment, the repercussions of messing up can be (more…)

GoDaddy vs NameCheap Customer Service Round 2

Within 48 hours of having posted “Frak GoDaddy: How to Win Enemies and Irritate People“, GoDaddy rep, GoDaddy Guy, who vigilantly monitors and responds to blogs and social media has posted a response to the points I raised. But is that enough to clarify and remedy the issues I faced?

I appreciate any company who’s taking efforts to monitor their brand on the busy social web landscape and craft replies explaining the situation. Obviously, customers like myself may not be aware of everything that takes place behind the scene.

As a customer, have I felt I have been taken care of?

GoDaddyGuy says:

We understand that domain names are unique and can therefore be highly valuable to our customers. To prevent customers from unintentionally losing a domain name, we reach out by email several times, starting 90 days before and continuing past expiration.

Obviously, if I have been receiving email reminders that my domain is expiring and I don’t do anything about it. Then I whine and complain after the fact, I’ve obviously no case.

Here’s a screencapture  of GoDaddy emails I’ve received:

godaddy email

Since 15 May 2009, I’ve received 21 emails from GoDaddy, announcing “Last Minute Deals”, “Spring Closeouts” and “Mid-Year Blowouts”. While it has been tempting to get a “closeout” or “blowout” before the [sarcasm]supply of domains runs out[/sarcasm], I’m hard-pressed to find out “email outreach several times” before and after my domain has expired.

I took the effort to read the emails back to July (before I had to give up on reading all this wonderful promotional email…), but nary a reference to expiring domains could I find.

GoDaddy guy’s other point:

Finally, we provide the registrant some time to take care of his or her account by allowing a 19 day grace period to renew without penalty.

I logged into my account about a week after it expired, well within the “19 day grace period” to renew without penalty, and was slapped with the ridiculous $80 registry recovery fee. Grace period? What grace period.

Just in case you think I’m unnecessarily bashing on GoDaddy, consider its illustrious competitor, Namecheap.

Here’s a list of emails (more…)