Linkbaiting on social networks like MyBlogLog, MySpace and BumpZEE is common, especially when Internet Marketers use pictures of bikini-clad women as their avatar.

While there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the practice, I feel that it sets up expectations that the blogger or website owner will have to deliver on once the visitor lands on your page.

If you can keep your readers happy, you’ve laid the foundation for a successful and low cost (possibly free) traffic generation model.

The sad reality is that more than 90% of the sites using such techniques have average (and usually sub-standard) poor content.

At best, this is gimmicky in my opinion and best used for one-off, throwaway adsense-oriented traffic.

But if you’re a serious Internet Marketer in this for the long haul, you’d do much better to build your brand, which means either using your photograph, or an image which represents your online presence.

Iconic Avatars: Michael “GrayWolf” Gray, Jim Kukral, Rasheed Ali, Robyn Tippins, Todd “StuntDubl” Malicoat, Shawn Collins, Chris “Drinkbait” Hooley, Jeremy “Shoemoney” Schoemaker.

Credibility and reputation are essential to your long term success, and being consistent in your online branding build rapport with your visitors. Consistent branding will bring you (more…)

• Internet Marketing Branding
• 13 Comments

2007 looks like it’s shaping up to have a whole lot more memes.

Some will obviously be interesting, fun and insightful. The bulk, unfortunately, will have…lots of room for improvement on being interesting, fun and insightful.

The more interesting (and slightly voyeuristic ones like the ‘5 Things About Me’) ones will tend to generate more social traffic, and attract longer term longevity and reader stickiness, especially if you come across as personable and likeable.

Sticky content is one of the foundations of sustainable and credible social traffic generation.

Yes, memes may seem to contain (more…)

• internet memes
• 4 Comments

When it rains, it pours. I got tagged twice today with this meme making the rounds by PlanetAndrea and CasThompson.

Like a game of ‘Pass the Message’ which you play in a big group, depending on who you check out, the meme is known as:

• 5 Things You Might Not Know About Jarrod Hunt
• 5 Things You Don’t Know About Me (Cameron Olthuis)
• 5 things You Didn’t Know About Todd Malicoat
• 5 Things You Never Knew About Me (Shoemoney)
• 5 Things You Never Knew About Me (David Naylor AKA DaveN)

At first look, it seems like Shoemoney and DaveN are on to the right thing. Then again, it could mean that DaveN is good at following formats after being tagged by the Shoemeister.

So this freeform means you have the right to rename the meme (Master Rename Rights so to speak).

Instructions: (Especially for those I’m tagging)

From what I gather, you are supposed to:

1. Disclose 5 personal things about yourself
2. Tag another 5 victims friends to pass this labor of love to.

Here’s my (more…)

• social traffic
• 6 Comments

It’s 10 more days till Affiliate Summit West (ASW) and I’m stoked at the opportunity. (Incidentally, the event is sold out)
It’ll be my first trip to the US in about 4 years and I’m planning to hit Fry’s, Best Buy, get my fill of prime rib and margaritas in Vegas.

Here’s my to do list for ASW:

• Attend the great sessions planned
• Meet and greet the affiliate managers present, as not many have a point of presence in Asia.
• Finally put a face to many of the personalities whose blogs I’ve been reading, or emailing, or catching their web radio programs, or whose forums I’ve been participating on.
• Get a Shoemoney t-shirt (one of the new black one maybe?)
• Get some nice WickedFire merchandise at their booth
• Catch some great parties

This is one of the few times I’d be heading halfway around the world (I’ll be battening down the hatches in Asia to work on a couple of major projects once I get back).

So far, I look forward to the opportunity to meet and greet with Shoemoney, Jon F, Anik Singal, PlanetAndrea, Chris Hooley, Scott Jangro, Robyn Tippins, Shawn Collins, Missy Ward, the LunarPages blogging team (including Joe Whyte) and it looks like Pepperjam will have a good presence there too.

I might be approaching some of you to do interviews, so you are forwarned, and perhaps forearmed.

If you’re planning to interview any of the folks at ASW, here’s a couple of pointers (more…)

• affiliate marketing
• 10 Comments

Some fun facts about the AlexaDex:

• You can make huge money, if you’re skillful, especially if you’ve traded in equities, mutual funds and the like.
• Luck plays a huge part too.
• It can be quite fun
• If you think this is a complete waste of time, just remember that it started out at PlanetAndrea.

One last minor note: It’s all fake money. But who knows, just like the “Game gold” phenomenon on the MMPOGs out there, you might start seeing eBay auctions if this thing takes off.

As everyone knows, Internet Marketers (whether you’re focused on SEO, SEM, blogging, arbitrage affiliate marketing, product creation, domain trading, or one of the things some of you have emailed me about and asked not to mention) tend to spend on average 16 hours a day in front of the computer. (Unless you’re Cameron Olthius and only spending 14 hours a day in front of the computer: Personal Resolutions for 2007)

So to break the monotony of Internet Marketers engaging in another game of (more…)

• Internet Marketing
• 6 Comments

Chris has put out an interesting post at The Reptilian Buy Button.

What’s a “Reptilian Buy Button”? Chris says:

If you hit them with a primal, instinctive emotion, they may connect with you deeper than just the initial click. They make fall in love with your brand, your image, or your culture and you might have just convince a new person to join your cult and buy every new product you launch.

I agree with Chris, and it’s (more…)

• Internet Marketing
• 1 Comment