Brandon Koon Blog

Writer’s block is real and very frustrating. Some people take some time away from the monitor. Others may use writing aids such as a thesauri or my favorite, the Synonym Finder.

Then again, you can just “steal” it.
Many businesspeople from all walks of life will admit that their brand was “inspired” by another person’s works, especially those in the media.
Let’s see for ourselves.

• The majority of the Food Network shows are based on a program by the late Julia Childs.
• The artistry of Justin Bieber was inspired by everyone from the Beatles (funny hairdo upon debut), David Cassidy/Donny Osmond (singing style) and Usher (his mentor and fellow pop musician).

Even the vehicles we drive are inspired by another manufacturer that is known for a more luxurious product.

Truth is, can you blame these people for copying a winning formula? Well, when publishing online, Copyscape can flag you for infringement and should the originator of your words discover you, they can send a cease-and-desist letter via their attorney. And you’re back to square one with your block.

Getting the Goods
Most people become “inspired” by watching their favorites. While seeing them on TV or movies, hearing their music or reading their works, many get ideas they can use in their online brand.
For example, gloves can make a statement. Some may use them as part of their business logo, they transfer easily. If you’ve ever heard of the white glove treatment (impeccably clean) or even “the gloved one” (the late, great Michael Jackson) and even opera gloves are considered a sign or elegance as most women wear them to formal events and high-end performances (though they do make an occasional appearance at a male-oriented rock concert) then you realize that using a glove can be in a class by itself.
Be a Copy Cat
In marketing, a swipe file is a collection of promotions that can be used to create an entirely different product. In laymen’s terms, it can also be called a mash-up of ideas. So while you are watching your favorite medium, you can note little things that get attention.

If you are an aspiring recording artist, you might find MJ’s glove, David Lee Roth’s karate-style dance moves and Eminem’s play on words interesting enough to integrate into a brand that’s sure to separate you from the competition.
Same goes for writing content for your online brand, you can be inspired by campaigns or words from the past but don’t copy them word-for-word. You will lose credibility, may be named in a lawsuit and you have to ask yourself, does this really represent you?
Example – You are the maker of the best vegan food products ever. Everyone who has tried your creations says they are so good that they can’t tell the difference between your veggie patties and an all-beef hamburger patty.
Though using “Where’s the beef?” in your marketing campaign may be fitting, the truth is that unless you want to be known for being named in a lawsuit by the Wendy’s burger chain, don’t do it.

Article Marketing Companies are Watching Too
If you are a person who utilizes content management systems (CMS) as a way to market your brand, it’s best to take your time and write something original instead of copy someone else – even if that someone else is YOU. In recent, a growing number of content companies that pay via Google Adsense are using Copyscape and other content duplication software to find out if your article on the ‘benefits of organic goat milk for skin care’ can be found elsewhere. Even if you change a few words around, you may not be able to publish it elsewhere. If you do, don’t be surprised if it’s a place that doesn’t have a monetary compensation program.
This is why it’s important to be aware and get plenty of rest, so that your thoughts and ideas will be fresh most of the time.

There are no secrets. You don’t have to pay some company you know nothing about. There are no tricks.
Every year many people start an online business with a good idea as to what type of product or service they represent, who their target audience is and where they want to be seen. How they will go about that may be a work in progress as well as why getting a high Google ranking is important.
And very necessary.

According to search optimization expert Don Kaufmann, here are the top five ways for your blog or website to get a higher rank on the number one search engine.

1. Add fresh content often. This can be information about your industry, something entertaining that your audience can relate to or you can hire a ghost blogger to fill when you are unavailable. Even if all you can only post weekly, it is better than bi-weekly, monthly or whenever you feel like it.
2. Post videos. If you do not have a Google or YouTube account, get one now! YouTube is the number one video-sharing and it is for this reason they have been acquired by Google in recent. Though there are many uploaded videos, you can share videos that are related to your industry. Even if all you have is a short podcast, use Movie Maker to import some interesting visuals. Once you edit, upload and tag it with the appropriate search terms, link to your Google Adsense account and begin generating revenue.
3. Use longer copy. This can be debatable to some, especially if your blog or web page uses smaller (12 or less) fonts. You can either break long text (more than 400 words) into separate posts or use fonts larger than 14 and/or make your text bold.
4. List you blog or website with the top online directories and sub-directories in your industry. Though many experts stress submitting your site to the Open Directory Project as the first step in promoting it, there are still many directories that will be of use as well. Search engines like Yahoo and Google, as well as specialized search sites like Eco-living, sports or any niche industry.
5. Use badges and icons from credible organizations. Are you a member of a professional organization? Or a long-time member of the Better Business Bureau? Even if it’s a small online group, having an affiliation with a similar or known organization will get people more acquainted with what your brand is about.

So you see, this is nothing that some person overseas can do without knowing anything about your brand or what you’re about. While you can pay an outside contractor to do some of these tasks, you may find it easier to do this yourself and save a few dollars, especially if you’re just getting started or have limited resources.
Finally, being easily found and high ranking will also make it easier to participate in revenue marketing campaigns. Once you find a couple of companies to work with, then you can have an easy side income.

“You suck!”

“I hate this blog.”

“This blog keeps saying the same thing over and over.”

These comments may be common on your favorite blog that speaks of less serious matters such as celebrity gossip, light news or sports.  While this may not be a great thing for a blogger or owner (in most cases, both titles belong to one person), they can take it one of two ways – either by ignoring the comments or seeing them as an opportunity.

Ignorance is Expensive

Yes, you can choose to ignore the comments as they may have hurt your little feelings and you feel that you may go “off” and lose your audience in the process because it sounds unprofessional.  Unless you keep your content interesting, they’re going to leave anyway.

In business, everyone that’s part of your demographic counts as these are the people most likely to care about what it is you have to offer.  If you run a review that speaks of restaurants that specialize in steaks, you’re not going to want to advertise to people that may be members of PETA or other animal rights group.

This is why taking the time to have an effective marketing strategy is important.  Despite what some “experts” may tell you, telling everybody who’s on Facebook or Twitter is a waste of time.  If you’ve taken the time to create a niche brand as opposed to a general interest (think spicy vegetarian or vegan products versus new frozen food products by everyday manufacturers), then why chance losing something this valuable?

In other words, why waste time creating another campaign and waiting for traffic to build?  While it’s great to have a reserve campaign as marketing is a never-ending process, there is no reason to start new when your numbers are steadily dropping or you are seeing more comments like above.  Stop crying, put on some steel draws and deal with it.

Opportunity Doesn’t Always Knock

Don’t you hate when you’re at home relaxing and there’s someone who just barely taps the door?  It may not occur to them to ring the doorbell or maybe you door is solid like an oak tree.  Yet you feel good when it’s someone you haven’t seen in a while or positive news you weren’t expecting.

Now if you were asleep, on the phone or had the TV turned up, chances are that you would have missed the person  or whatever.  They may come around again, and they may not.

Same goes for blogging, if you write too infrequently, not enough or worse, content that contradicts your brand, you could be committing e-suicide.

Like anything else, when someone takes the time to reach out to you, listen carefully.  While you will never please everyone in your viewing demographic all the time; if complaints or negative feedback are frequent, now’s the time to take action.

And with the market becoming more competitive, it most likely will cost you more money and time than when you first started.

Of course, you know that not everyone who decides to start an e-business in January will still be in business by June but why put yourself through the trouble?

Facing the Naysayers

Now that you’re in uniform or at least have a brave face on, the first thing is to read the complaint.  Is it really hateful or are they telling the truth?  We all know that the more popular a blog gets, the more people will make comments, positive and not.  Some commenters get a little too technical (Is it really yogurt or yoghurt?), fanatical (What’s Beyonce’s real age anyway?) or they may just be abrupt in telling you that you didn’t do enough research or your information is dated.

In this age of evergreen content, it’s easy for a blogger to look up information from an online source and realize that it’s more than 10 years old.  In that time, an industry could have changed greatly.  Or, their source may have been biased and the blogger is not experienced enough to know the difference between speculation and the facts.  Don’t be afraid to edit information so that you will be protected from a lawsuit or monetary loss. Remember too, that drops in traffic or too many negative reviews can affect your standing with marketing campaigns.

Once you realize that the damage may be on your part, post an apology, correction or have a promotional giveaway (or better, all of the above).

If you’ve ever heard the expression, ‘Keep your friends close but your enemies closer’, that holds true, even if the competition are your actual friends.
It happens and many who have been in business for a while find ways to remain successful while maintaining healthy relationships with others in a similar business.
Find Them and Memorize Them
Some new online business owners may feel that their concept is really unique and stands out from the competition, especially those businesses that deal with visuals as their product. Chances are very strong that they are more wrong that leather in the summer.

One popular online business is retail, and yes, there is competition. In some cases, heavy competition as getting the initial inventory and necessary paperwork may cost little to nothing and unlike real estate; there is no required license to start a legitimate business.

So while it takes a special person to successfully sell a property, setting up an online shop can be done in as little as half an hour. While you may have an excellent promotional strategy, visitors may know about someone that offers the same thing but with perks.

Here are some places you can locate the competition –

• Better Business Bureau
• Clients
• Industry periodicals
• Libraries
• Networking
• Online forums
• Search engines
• Trade shows
• Websites
• Yellow pages

Staying Ahead of the Enemy
Not quite like the schoolyard bully as you don’t want to avoid the competition entirely. Here’s a great example below –
Sarah and Kelsey have been best friends since grade school. They both went to fashion design school in hopes of opening a boutique in an industrial district (cheap rent and this area was slowly becoming the “in” place for their target). Once they graduated, they found that their styles were like oil and water, so they opened smaller e-stores that were similar in design and selection.
Though the individual stores made decent sales on their own, the truth was that they sold the same items – only the colors may have been different. They even noticed newer grads from their alma mater as well as career-changers that were getting in the boutique biz. Sarah had an idea.
She would contact a DJ friend of hers to come in during peak periods to spin a few records and sell his mixtape, which sold fairly well. On the website, she set up a music player that would play samples of the mixtape. After a couple of requests from out-of-town clients, she placed it on the shopping cart page. After a while, she was able to make this arrangement for aspiring DJs in the area and she was able to hold fashion and art show.
Two years after their separation, Sarah was able to buy Kelsey’s shop as a second store. And though some of the newer stores tried the same idea, their execution was not as cost-effective as they did not use a barter system and used strangers that demanded pay.

___

Once you note what the competition does – that you could possibly do better without losing money – or, does not do that may be an added feature, find the least expensive ways to make this part of your image.

Slander in the Name of Love
In all communication, keep things professional. Never speak ill of the competition (though it’s more than OK to emphasize what you DON’T do) unless you know for sure that they are retiring from e-commerce altogether in the near future.

One person who started a successful blog some years ago, found herself in pretty hot water as she described, in great detail, the inner workings of the publishing industry. She had no shame in naming names and describing incidents in full detail. Even those who could care less about the industry, loved to hear the dirt. While she used a pseudonym, it was still easy for others to find her via IP address. So when it came time to lay off staff, she was one of the first to go and there were initially no job prospects in the industry.

Surprisingly, she promoted her blog, networked with others and landed some freelance work before deciding on law school.

While forum posters can say what you allow to be posted, take the upper hand and use more energy promoting what you can bring to your demographic.

You may not have an auto-tune single that’s being played non-stop on iTunes or were rejected for the next big reality TV show (maybe it’s a blessing) but you can use your online profile to get traffic to your blog or website.

Let the people get to know the  ‘you’ that you want associated with your brand.

Let’s look at two ads for the personals and you can judge as to which will stand the test of time.

• Just gorgeous with perfect physique, loves cats, dogs, emus and you.  Hobbies include skydiving, camping, gourmet cooking, stamp collection and hanging with my friends when I’m not with you.
• Average-looking person who loves to stay at home, watch the news and play solitaire – even on weekends and holidays. 

While the second ad may be the most realistic, don’t be surprised if you found that more people were intrigued by the first ad.  Some curious enough to click any link that leads to pictures, landing pages or even a virus that would take professional to get rid of.

Drafting the Online You

The beauty of this is that you don’t have to tell your life story nor do you have to be all about business.  If you are a single parent, whether male or female, there will be many that can relate to any struggles you may have outside of your brand.  Same goes for pet lovers or people dealing with personal challenges.

However, you will want to craft an image that people take seriously.  What you may have seen is some people list every single credential and degree they have ever earned in life.  If a person is a lawyer now, the public does not need to know about their associates’ degree in Office Technology.

Same goes for majors that are not relevant to the brand.  If you are using an online image to get into the increasingly-competitive world of culinary arts, we don’t need to know about your degree in accounting unless you want to use this as a way to advise others on budgeting who may want to start a catering business.  Otherwise, if your specialty was corporate accounting, you can leave it off your profile.

List what is necessary in order to be taken seriously, and then finish with associations and personal information.

Determine How Much You the Public Should Know

If you use the 30-second, or elevator, pitch you should be able to squeeze in enough relevant information but in case that does not work, here is a practical formula to apply to marketing campaigns.

1. Engage your audience first by relating to their problem or reason they would want to visit your site.
2. Describe what it is you do or the purpose of the product.
3. Finish with how what you have will benefit them.

Say it in 10/25/100 words

Sometimes you may not want to copy your mission statement on your business or marketing plan.  Or you have a catch-phrase that is hard to remember every single time, especially when on the road.

When applying for marketing campaigns and social bookmarking and networking, you will be asked to talk about who you are.  Though you may be comfortable describing your brand in a few little words, the powers that be of the marketing program may want for you to use close to 100 words – sometimes more.

By crafting and saving to your hard drive, three versions of what your brand is about, you can always save yourself the anxiety and possibility of forgetting.  Here is a template that can be adjusted accordingly.

10- Mission statement, the benefits of your product or service or a blurb about your credentials

25 – Mission statement, intended demographic, product or service benefits and credentials

100 – This may be the place to speak in the first person.  Look at other bios and see how they are structured.  However, name your benefits by the second or third sentence so that it will be seen in engine searches.

Back when I began working online, I was happy to write a 400-word general article about turkey products or advantages of having a gift-basket business and receive enough upfront pay to have lunch at a casual sit-down restaurant.

These days, a person who writes the same article will probably get enough for a small cup of coffee and dessert at a franchise food retailer. And in some cases, it may not be in upfront pay but pay-per-click (PPC) based on a certain number of views.

If promoting a brand, realize that your passion for truffle butter should not upstage articles on budgeting if you want to build a business that deals with consumer finances.

Using Content Companies
The number of content companies that are around now can mean a plus and a minus for the aspiring online writer. There are many that will allow you to write with a byline and have payment programs that, with careful marketing and exposure, can guarantee you a casual lunch a few days out of the month.

The downside is that there are constant changes in the content management industry that makes it challenging for the person that does not have a specialty, stuck in a particular writing style or not knowledgeable about keyword density.

Now if you choose to ghostwrite short articles for a payout, that is entirely up to you but make sure it does not take time and energy away from you. In other words, what breaking insider news do you have about your industry? Are there new advancements or tools that will save time and money? What do you know that makes different from the next brand?

Once you have an answer to these questions, it should be easy to come up with a marketing strategy that should include ownership of your articles. And the sooner you find a way to market to the proper channels, the bigger your revenue.

Finding a Home
Anyone who writes for strictly for content companies online can tell that the changes can be dizzying. They may have began using a company that only wanted a sample to join but now that same company wants for all writers, regardless of history, to take a writing test and fill out a comprehensive profile to be viewed by prospective clients.
Depending on the rapport and page views a person gets, this could open doors – or be a complete waste of time. You will already need to gauge your time carefully so you don’t want to waste it at a place that seldom has finance articles and those only pay $2/300 words.
So you can do an engine search on who has the best Alexa rating or who people in your favorite writing or business forum feel is the best but realize that it’s best to find out for yourself who will be the best fit.
Getting and Maintaining a Blog
You are in complete control. From choosing the layout to the colors and even managing your marketing campaign, you pay a small amount (recommended) every month to have a piece of intellectual property.
Besides making sure that the summary can be seen in a search, you want to ensure that what you have to say is worthy. Some bloggers have the desire to ramble in the first paragraph or two and this is not bad when you have established traffic but it can kill a newbie’s image quickly.
So for the first 25-50 posts, you may want to keep things simple or at least engaging, no rants about kids or how much you hate your boss unless that is part of your brand.

Get Money and Exposure from as Many Sources as Possible
Though you may read about a new content company or new place to write, it is best to stick to where you have the longest history and/or bigger payouts. Don’t spend too much time on “getting exposure only” unless there is going to be a direct benefit like every view is guaranteed to show on the first page and pay will go to your Google Adsense account.

If there is a content company that works directly with a marketing firm, then you may want to examine carefully. Once you become a respected authority and have a distinct writing style, you can attract new opportunities that will add freebies to your perks.

Many times we hear about the PR, or public relations, machine and speculate that one has to be crafty…or sneaky to rescue an image that may have been tarnished.

And that it must be a pretty nice job because entertainers, politicians and big-name business people use them frequently.

Even though you may never publicly sing the National Anthem off-key, fall down a stage or runway or upset a public figure, there is a way to rebound after your brand has hit a wall.

Knowing When it‘s Time to Leave the Party

You had high-traffic and ranking, revenue from marketing campaigns like Google Adsense and your inbox was constantly filled with new marketing prospects that you barely had time to read.

Now things are a little quiet…and they have been for some time now.

Before losing any more money, ask yourself these questions –

• When was the last time I visibly updated my online brand?
• What competitors in my field have come along in recent and what can I do that is different without losing money?
• Who now makes up my demographic?
• Where is my industry going these days?
• How can I find new ways to gain exposure?
• Why did they leave?

The last question is common as many new business owners balance work life with running a new venture.  In some cases, they are also responsible for taking care of another family member.  Finding a balance is crucial as staying at the top of your game requires that make sure your image is never compromised, you’re on top of your social networking strategy and making sure that your clients receive excellent service in an efficient manner, as often as possible.  Otherwise, there will be no clients.

Who the Clients are NOW and Where to Find Them

It seems like yesterday that the media spoke non-stop about Generation X/Y.  Look at a calendar and you will realize that anyone who was 25 in 1993 is nearing middle age.  They could even be a grandparent by now.  As people are taking measures to live a full life, it wouldn’t necessarily mean that this  demographic is sedentary but things have definitely changed.

The person in the last post that owned the feminist brand added a parenting section that focuses on tough love strategies to discipline children.  In her ads to recruit contributors, she realizes there are men who also have the primary parenting role.  So she recognizes that confessionals about how cute kids are may not set her brand apart from anyone else but real success stories about unpopular decisions may be more in touch with today’s parent and that the role of a mother does not have to be a female nowadays.

By doing an online search, you can find trade shows, meetings, publications and a host of other resources that relate to your brand or industry.  Take time to look them up and get on their mailing lists.  Get to know them, propose submitting content to their online or print publications and just make your presence known.

And don’t limit this to the online world.  Getting from behind the screen and meeting people is an important part of business.  By narrowing down what you can do and how you will benefit (do you need clients, funding, government resources), you will make a difference.  Have plenty of business cards on hand.

While visuals are important, so is content.  If you realize there are some online features that would be beneficial, narrow down what you can do on your own and what should be left to a professional.

Remember, it’s an investment, not an expense!

Your online business is picking up and you are reaping the rewards as the climb is steady. So naturally, you had to go out and celebrate with a few cocktails and found yourself a little more than hung over the next day. Though your laptop may work just as well while lying in bed, you’re simply not up to it – until two days later.
Just like any other job, a person can take time away from the computer as things do happen. Not just a couple of hours but even a few weeks, if necessary.

But what about my audience, you ask?
Here are some alternatives to having someone fill the time while you are out of the office.
Get a Contractor
There are many online outsourcing companies that have skilled persons willing to work for an hourly or flat rate. The terms are entirely up to you except do not expect work without a contract or agreement. If you would like to see samples of writing or marketing, ask if there is a portfolio or URL link (with their byline) that can be viewed. If not, you can request a short (100 words or less) sample.
It is also important to designate how often their services will be needed as well as turnaround time. If a strong prospect needs a slight adjustment in either area, you can be flexible and fair. Of course, if there is a repeated disregard for your needs, then you may stop the contract immediately. In the case of (possible) outstanding pay, be ready justify whether they should be paid or not. If you have no real ground to stand on, you can look forward to being banned from the outsourcing company or have your name as part of a smear campaign. Yep…it happens.
Get a Company
Many places boast that they can improve a blog or website’s ranking or that they can bring more traffic. While there are some places that can do this legitimately, they may charge an astronomical fee. Or the companies that may charge little money bring almost no results when it comes to ranking or traffic. Either way, it’s not a good investment for the person just starting out.
On the rise is internet or search engine marketing software applications that are supposed to eliminate some of the labor associated with tagging, keyword density and blog post creation. Other programs also claim to integrate social media accounts with marketing and promotion.
While there is little information about the effectiveness of these programs from an unbiased source, they may be worth looking into. However, there is another alternative.
Yes…YOU!
You can fill in periods of absence by writing your own blog posts and scheduling them to go live on a future date. If you have a newsletter or e-zine that you self-publish, then take excerpts that would be considered evergreen content.  These are defined as something that rarely changes. Good examples are financial advice, recipes, how-to articles. Or you can re-tool a post or other information so that it’s current.
Your audience can be very fickle. They may say in comments that they love you or what you bring to the table but too many days without anything new or worse, error messages (one likely factor to consider if going with software you know nothing about) or anything that will prevent them from seeing what it is they are looking for will mean resuscitation for your brand.

Like anything else, the longer you go without breathing new life into your online brand, the longer it will take to remedy.

In Los Angeles where I live, there are a lot of wannabes. They are actors, musicians and models. Problem is that they may work another job to pay the bills. While there is nothing wrong with this in the beginning stages of a career field that is very competitive, no one wants to spend years trying to establish a solid reputation.

Now, what normally becomes of wannabes is that they either (1) step up their game and make their career goal happen so they never have to punch a clock again, (2) go into another line of work; or (3) use gimmicks to remain somewhat relevant.

While some people base their entire career in media on gimmicks (see: Latoya Jackson, most reality TV show contestants and quite a few others) and make more money than they would working a 9-5, doing this brings little staying power or respect.

In the world of e-commerce, being an individual brand determines how much traffic you are likely to get, which determines what type of revenue campaigns you participate in and people will continue to respond to you.

Staying Consistent

I know of a person who started a brand based on modern feminism. It was shortly after the Spice Girls were known for their “Girl Power” slogan but this person wanted a little more substance. The competing brands were either very serious (and sometimes depressing) as this person wanted to focus more on accomplishments and personalities that were not glamorous.

With almost no training, this person built a successful brand from scratch by doing her own marketing which included a newsletter and a blog that was gaining traffic. While their mission was to celebrate everyday women as opposed to beauty, they would not accept paid ads for weight loss products and health procedures that could be dangerous (yes, this L.A.-based blogger turned down A LOT of plastic surgery ads). She also did not accept sponsors like pay day loan companies and similar operations.

While all of this was nice, her problem was that she accepted too many paid ads. Though some were backlinks written as regular blog posts, she noticed that her traffic numbers went down. While she tried to recruit freelance bloggers (with pay and a byline, or name credit), this proved to be somewhat unsuccessful as some were not ready to commit so that relevant content was published regularly.

Jumping on Bandwagons

Now, you may have seen name or up-and-coming brands hang on to phrases like “eco-friendly”, “sustainable” and others that refer to the green lifestyle. While this sounds nice, you need to tell your audience how you are making your contribution. Is it in the packaging of your product, does your service use eco-friendly products (And who are they?) or do you have a real alliance with an organization that stands for a worthy cause?

Yes, big brands can afford to lie or exaggerate but do you have the funds for a lawyer that will advise you to blame your research or marketing team? Only because others do it does not make it right. And though it may bring some tangible results, it is only matter of time before your brand will be called out. It may not make breaking news but others can tell a “label whore” from someone who really walks the talk.

Taking Time to Make the Right Assessments

Once you have mastered how to read statistics provided by your hosting company, you will want to stay abreast of changes by your competition as well as social media. It can be a little overwhelming but once you develop a pattern, it IS worth it.

Learn what features your competition has added in recent. For instance, a client of mine has many companies and the one that stood out the most is a women’s clothing company. These are things that worked in their favor at first sight of their web site-

• They were clearly for teens or young women who have not yet entered college.
• Out of their features were funny dating advice and trivia that may not appeal to someone over 23.
• They also had videos and other mediums of celebrities in their age demographic.

This is why it’s important to bring your best game when it comes to your online brand.

No excuses, no long wait for uploading and don’t be afraid to give a sample of your best work. This goes for audio, e-books and other tangible items you want to market and sell.

These days, everyone wants something for nothing. Your landlord wants the rent before they make minor repairs. Your employer may pay a nice salary but because you work more than 50 hours a week, your hourly rate is lower than people who work in the secretarial pool.

While the last sentence should stimulate you to start an online business, it can also inspire ways to bring in traffic.

Go Get ‘em, Tiger

There are many ways to bring traffic to your blog or website. One popular method is with pop-up landing pages.

For best results, they should immediately offer a benefit as opposed to asking a question.

WRONG- Would you like to fire your boss for good?

BETTER- Earn online revenue at home in 7 days or less by learning social media marketing the RIGHT way.

(Inside visitor’s head) Of course, most everyone wants to quit their job for one reason,or several. Even if they don’t have a back-up plan in the works. So what is new?

And there goes a potential customer because you just asked a typical question instead of giving them something they can use.

By offering a product that will produce tangible results in a short amount of time, you’re likely to get more people to give away their email address for more information…and anything else that you are promoting until they request to ‘opt-out’ of receiving mail from you.

The Soft Approach

Some online business owners do not feel comfortable using pop-ups as part of their marketing strategy. One good alternative is to let people know through email alerts, Tweets and links to fresh content.

By placing a short, engaging article on your blog or content management site with a keyword that links to a page on a website that gives more information about your product, you can draw traffic without it sounding like a sales pitch. This is also known as back-linking.

Try a Little Empathy

Have you ever found yourself joining a conversation because the subject matter was interesting? Whether it’s celebrity gossip, baby clothes or the best place to buy golf clubs, people will jump in on a lively conversation and add their two cents.

The way to get them in your corner is to appeal to their senses. Do they want to learn how to save on healthy meals at the supermarket? Have a body like Megan Fox or The Rock with little expense or suffering?

Don’t just talk to them, relate!

Example Tweet -

WRONG – Get rid of migraine pain now with this new product! [Twitter link]

BETTER – A migraine treatment that works fast so that you can stop missing out on life! [Twitter link]

Should I Tease Them or Give a Little Something?

Sometimes owners of a brand or product may claim to give away ‘secrets’. In reality, you are either getting a portion of the goods or outdated information. Though few may give something of substance, it is rare.

Teasing is not nice but in business it may be necessary to get the right traffic to come to you.

Not long ago, I was browsing a popular e-commerce site while bored. When I clicked on the books category, there was an except from an autobiography by a veteran rocker known for their candor. Because there was a feature that let me read the first 10 pages (which did not disappoint in content) at no obligation, I bought the book immediately.

Good for me, Amazon, the seller, the publisher and Anthony Kiedis. In less than 10 minutes, little old me made a difference.

So before you go dangle the carrot in front of the horse, make sure that it’s edible and not shriveled up.

So What’s the Big Thing I Have to Offer Anyway?

The list of things that people will buy online that you can create yourself are whitepapers, e-books, newsletters/ezines, images and audio files.

Use these mediums to teach others what you know, give relevant resources and updates that your demographic will find interesting.