http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/make-more-money1.jpgEvery website has a bunch of web pages which get more search traffic than others. These pages are constantly visited daily by new visitors, people who have never seen the site in question before. I call these ‘money pages’ because they are a reliable source of immediate and future income.

 

But they’re not just ‘money’ because they bring in revenue: they are one of the easiest ways to grow your audience without much work. If you learn how to optimize these money pages (its not hard to do), you’ll really improve your website in so many ways. More revenue, more members, more influence and authority. Doesn’t that sound good?

 

I’ve talked very briefly about money pages in my previous post on analyzing your site visitors and decided to expand a little more on this topic because I think its often overlooked by webmasters. We’re always focused on creating new content and getting new visitors to these new pages that we forget about what’s going on in other parts of our website.

 

This is tailored towards content publishers and bloggers but the main strategies here apply to other site types as well, you just need to find the right tools to do it. So lets get started.

 

 

How to Optimize Your Money Pages

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/money-pages.jpg

Image Credit: marissa cap

 

There are many things you can do to money pages, in order to make them better or more profitable. It’s important to decide the extent of your work according to your goals and resources. How much time do you want to spend and what’s most important to you? Do you want a bigger readership? Or are you just concerned with increasing your daily revenue?

 

Here are a list of things you can do for your money pages:

 

1. Monetize. The aim here is to get more revenue out of each page. There are various ways to achieve this and they generally involve the placement of ads both around and within content. There is also an indirect future revenue from lead capturing.
2. Capture Leads. The money page is optimized to encourage a visitor to subscribe to your mailing list, site feed or register for your website. The main aim is to find a way to continue to reach your visitors after they leave your money page. This helps to grow your site audience and is also a component of revenue generation.
3. Improve Relevance. This involves revamping the money page in order to provide up-to-date information or better content in order to accommodate visitor needs. This provides an improved user experience for all and can result a host of benefits like more referral/citation links and greater visitor loyalty/trust. Relevance is also important when your main goal is to capture leads or increase revenue.
4. Make it Rank Better. Doing on-site and off-site optmization will help specific money pages to rank better on the search engine result pages, hence driving more traffic back to your site. This increases your site reach and revenue at the same time.

Step 1: Find Your Money Pages

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/monetize.jpg

Image Credit: TW Collins

 

Open up the web analytics program you’re using for your website. There should be a section which reveals which pages have the highest unique views per month. Extract the urls for the top 10 pages and put them somewhere for easy access. Or bookmark them on your browser. If you don’t currently use an analytics tool, I recommend setting up Google Analytics.

 

How many pages you choose to optimize really depends on your website and preference. If you have a lot of webpages that get solid traffic, you can do more. If you don’t have many pages that get web traffic, then you have a lesser amount to work with. I like to focus on the top 10 because if its a manageable amount of work for an acceptable returns on investment.

 

My personal guideline is to only work on pages with a minimum of 200 unique views everyday. It’s a basic number that’s good for some decent conversions. Adjust this figure to something you can work with, if your website is new or gets less overall traffic.

 

The point to remember is that not every page is hot. The goal is not to optimize every single web page you have. There has to be a limit. So learn to prioritize and work only on the pages that are currently receiving the most traffic to your website.

 

 

Step 2: Improving Content Relevance

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/relevant-content.jpg

Image Credit: jesse.millan

 

Visitor search queries reveal what people are looking for and what they want to get from your web page. It tells you what information they expect and is a way to understand their desires or needs. Many are ready to pay for a solution or subscribe to get knowledge in their inbox.

 

Better relevance = better conversions. It’s that simple. By making your website as relevant as possible to search queries, you’re making visitors more likely to stick around, opt-in or buy. Users are going to click away if they find that your web page doesn’t fulfill their info needs. So the first step is closely examine your money pages in relation to search traffic terms.

 

My goal is to include every search query in my money page. Every question typed into search engines by visitors who access my site must be answered. One very easy and quick way to do this is to add a simple FAQ to the page to address the visitor’s specific needs. Just phrase the same exact search query as a question. Then write an answer which responds to it.

 

Another method for search query relevance is to create new content and insert it into the money page. It’s important to edit your pages so that it doesn’t display content that is simply outdated or useless. You’re not going to presell anyone with stuff like that. It won’t work.

 

Either rewrite the entire money page or include update notes specifying new information and linking to other pages on your website with newer content. Whenever new information or changes occur, go back into the money page to make necessary adjustments. This is one reason why I asked you to keep those 10 URLs bookmarked or easily accessible.

 

Note that by increasing your money page’s relevance and informational value, you are also increasing its linkability: People are more likely to link to it because it is a detailed and useful reference page on the topic. Whenever possible, I try to fashion my money pages on blogs after Wikipedia in terms of comprehensiveness.

 

 

Step 3: Monetizing Your Money Page

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/money-optimize.jpg

Image Credit: Gaetan Lee

 

While you can monetize your money page and capture leads at the same time, I find it better to optimize for one goal instead of trying to achieve both. Because when it comes to monetization, captured leads are usually a good source for long term income anyway.

 

There are formats for each goal (monetize or lead capture) and you’ll get better results if you either choose to monetize fully or go all out to hook your visitors by making them sign up or subscribe to your website. If you put up too many well blended ads, the visitor can easily click away instead of subscribing to your newsletter, so either pick one goal or balance both.

 

Let’s talk about monetization first. This is easy if you’re using ad networks like Google Adsense. Go to your money page and insert an additional ad unit, blend it well with your content and make sure that its quite visible while not being too obtrusive.

 

A well placed Adsense unit can really increase your overall daily income. I’ve seen a jump of more than $20 a day for a site that I own when I took the time to test and optimize a few money pages. While you may have default ads already on every page of your site (sidebars, header etc), these may not be truly optimized for a money page.

 

Money pages need to be treated differently from the other pages on your website. They’re the ones that bring a lot of visitors (big sample size) so you can really use this opportunity to test the profitability of specific ad schemes. You can even remove the default ads specifically for this page so you have more room to experiment. That’s what I do for some sites.

 

Other ways to monetize include the use of commission-based affiliate programs which range from digital products to established eCommerce retailers like Amazon.com. Clickbank is a digital product marketplace you can use. Sign up, search through the marketplace for a product, grab your affiliate link, insert it on your money page.

 

You can also try CPA networks with relevant pay-per-lead or pay-per-sale programs. Commonly used CPA networks are Market Leverage, Max Bounty, NeverBlue, PepperJam, Copeac, Azoogle and Hydra Network, among many others. Affiliate programs can work well but remember to keep them related to your content.

 

Alternatively, you can promote your own products on your money page by including a short pitch for it and linking to a proper sales page. Or you can try to sell your visitors away from the money page by getting them to first subscribe to an email list. This brings us to the next step.

 

 

Step 4: Optimizing to Capture Leads

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/free-offer.jpg

Image Credit: sindesign

 

The goal is to capture not just the email of the visitor but his/her permission to allow you to reach them away from your website. For some of you, you want visitors to subscribe to your RSS feed so they’ll continue to read your content or hopefully participate on your site.

 

Many set up email lists and auto-responders with the aim of eventually monetizing by selling their own products or recommending those of JV partners. Their aim here is to get users to opt-in to receive newsletters or special offers. The same goes for online retail stores.

 

Good email marketing providers are Aweber and GetResponse, both of which charge a monthly fee that you should be able to earn back easily. There are free alternatives available but you’ll often lose out in terms of features. If this doesn’t bother you, you could try starting with any of the free email software or plugins available.

 

To optimize a money page to capture leads, you’ll need to do some offer customization. Look at what content/product is on the page and create a specific offer that’s relevant to it. Provide an incentive for someone to sign up: perhaps a free digital product with related or more in-depth information. Or simply the promise of future discounts or special product offers.

 

To get into the mind of the visitor and understand what entices them, you’ll need to go back to the search queries you’re getting. If someone is interested in ‘what causes wrinkles’, you’ll know they’ll be interested in an ebook on natural anti-aging remedies. Do up a free guide and offer it to them only if they register as a member or sign up to your email list.

 

How about lead capture for communities and membership sites? Apart from providing incentives you can use teasers. Restrict visitor actions by only allowing them to view a limited amount of content or interact in a limited fashion. This limit will be removed when a user registers with your community. These are methods commonly practiced by paid membership sites, forums and social media sites to entice signups.

 

 

Step 5: Sending Internal Traffic to Your Money Pages

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/traffic.jpg

Image Credit: leeds at night

 

Now that you’ve optimized your money pages for maximum conversions, you can also send over visitors from other pages of your site. You’ve already done the work to make the pages incredibly relevant and usable, they shouldn’t just be seen by search engine visitors.

 

If your money pages are related, by sure to interlink each one so that each visitor is funneled to another optimized page. This not only improves your bounce rate but makes sure that each visitor is given two opportunities to convert if they aren’t persuaded the first time around.

 

Another method is to use a script to autolink specific anchor keywords or phrases on your entire site to the specific web page. This helps with SEO and is very easy way to get more eyes on your money page. If you’re using Wordpress, try the Internal Link Building plugin or the SEO Smart Links plugin. Both help to auto-link keywords on every page of your blog. There are quite a few similar plugins out there but these two work well for me.

 

If you’re a blogger producing content daily, endeavor to link to the money pages whenever it’s pertinent to your post because you’re driving traffic to pages that will perform well. Alternate the links to each money page so your audience won’t get sick of seeing them all the time.

 

There is an alternative way to highlight your money pages: Group the ones about a similar topic together and list them all in a reference page, which will funnel traffic out to different locations. Instead of linking to each individual money page, you can just link or promote the reference page, which will then direct the visitors you get to each money page simultaneously.

 

A simple example of this is my reference page on social media marketing, which collects both money pages and less visited pages together under a specific theme. There’s also the option of creating special banner ads or images to link to either your money page or the reference page, it doesn’t always have to be promoted in the form of a link within content.

 

 

Step 6: Improving Your Search Engine Ranking

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/search-engine-ranking.jpg

 

This is the final step in the process and should always come after you’ve optimized your money pages for maximum results and set up a method to promote it internally on your site. After you’ve done all that, it’s time to look at boosting a major factor for earning more money: your website’s ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

 

This is an optional step because if you’re getting a lot of visitors, you’re should already be ranking quite well. But if you’re on the second page of Google or not yet in the top 3 queries for a keyword/phrase that is sending you a good amount of traffic, why not bump it up and get even more visitors per day?

 

You’ve already got your list of top money pages based on search queries. Now you should find what these pages are ranking for, which is something you can easily discover through your stats trackers. If you’re already using it, Google Webmaster Central is a free tool that shows you the top 20 search queries visitors use to reach your site.

 

Off-Site Search Engine Optimization

 

SEO is a pretty big topic: its hard to cover everything that needs to be done so I’m going to simplify it into one fool proof method of improving your search engine rank for Google. This is something that is unanimously agreed upon by everyone.

 

All you need to do is get links from other sites, especially with the specific anchor text you are trying to rank for. But not just from anywhere. You want links from quality, relevant websites.

 

Let’s see what Google itself says about ranking:

 

Sites’ positions in our search results are determined based on a number of factors designed to provide end-users with helpful, accurate search results. In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of

high-quality sites that link to their pages

.

 

One more. From Google’s warning on link schemes:

 

Your site’s ranking in Google search results is partly based on

analysis of those sites that link to you

. The quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating. The sites that link to you can provide context about the subject matter of your site, and can indicate its quality and popularity.

 

It is not only the number of links you have pointing to your site that matters, but also the

quality and relevance of those links

. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial votes given by choice, and the buzzing blogger community can be an excellent place to generate interest.

 

Links matter a lot because Google’s algorithm is set up to use the collective intelligence of the web to determine a page’s importance. High quality links boost the trust, relevance and authority of your web page. This is somewhat the same for search engines like Yahoo or Live.

 

Ideally, the best type of links you can get are from the websites that are already ranking well for the keyword or phrase you are targeting. But these links might not be easy to acquire, since you’re likely to be viewed as a competitor and a threat.

 

So, what I personally like to do is to do some research on the people ranking for your keyword/phrase on the first two pages. Dig into their backinks by using something like Yahoo Site Explorer and find out who is linking to them. Try to get those same links if possible and even more quality links that your competitors don’t have.

 

There are many ways to build links, some are blackhat and others are more compliant with search engine guidelines. As I’ve mentioned in my previous post on long term social media marketing, I favor the strategy of creating valuable services, tools and content in order to attract links from bloggers. It’s stable and works extremely well for every niche out there.

 

If your money page is optimized for relevance and is high on informational value, it is already a potential link magnet. So here’s something you can do immediately. Send email pitches about your money page to relevant blogs. If you contact 1,000 blogs, you might easily get 50 to 100 extra links (or more), which may be enough for you to outrank other websites. Sometimes all you need to do is to get the word out.

 

And there are many other ways. Article directories. Blog/web directories. Social bookmarking websites. Social news sites. Social media communities (Flickr, Youtube etc). Contests. Link exchanges. Blog comments and carnivals. Donations/sponsorships. Forums. Press Releases.

 

On-Site Search Engine Optimization

 

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/finding-money.jpg

Image Credit: Mario de Leo

 

On top on link building, another aspect of ranking better is on-site search optimization, whereby you make your webpage compatible with search engine requirements and the specific search query you’re targeting. Google’s webmaster guidelines, Yahoo’s Webmaster Resources and Live Search’s Webmaster Center has a list of the most basic stuff you should be doing and ways for you to track your site in their search engines.

 

Basic pointers for on-site optimization involves having a good site architecture, where pages with similar themes are grouped together with a focus on great navigation and usability for visitors. On site-optimization also involves having your targeted keywords in the title tags and an appealing meta-description, which may affect SERP clickthrough rates. For the WP users out there, you might find this excellent guide to Wordpress SEO useful.

 

Other on-site factors include keyword density, which is the number of times a keyword appears compared to the total number of words in a page. And latent semantic indexing (LSI), which examines a page in relation to groups of associated words/terms used within it.

 

I wouldn’t worry too much about latent semantic indexing and perhaps even keyword density because a content heavy page is likely to include the associated terms and keywords naturally, because of its depth. The main point to note is to maintain a tight focus on your chosen topic and not divert too much from it in your content.

 

And then there’s the controversial topic of PageRank Sculpting: using the nofollow tag on internal site links to optimize the strength of specific pages, thereby enabling them to rank better in search engines. Perhaps a useful tactic, although one that isn’t quite necessary. Any possible success here partly depends on how knowledgeable you are with SEO.

 

On-site optimization isn’t a difficult process, as long as you have a good site architecture set up from the start and follow search-engine guidelines. The hard part is really the task of getting people with relevant/quality websites to link to your money pages.

 

 

Time for You to Do Some Work…

These are the fundamental factors involved in optimizing your money pages. After completing the first step of finding your money pages, you don’t need to work on the other steps in a sequence. As I’ve said earlier, it depends on your goals. Personally, I go through all six steps when I’m looking at money pages that receive a substantial amount of daily web traffic.

 

The good thing about money pages is that once you optimize them, you can just leave them alone for a while. If you’re busy every day, you might want to spend an hour during the weekend on your money pages. Or just assign them to a colleague or a member of your staff. Set aside some time to optimize them and you’ll definitely see the results.

 

If you found this article useful in any way, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments as well!

 

Don’t miss any future tips on improving your website, subscribe to dosh dosh today (It’s free!).

 

6 Fool-Proof Steps to Make More Money With Your Website

 

http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doshdosh.com%2Fsix-steps-to-make-more-money-with-your-website%2Fhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DoshDosh/~4/R885M17zCOE

 

View the full article

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/dofollow-blogs.jpgIf you don’t know what ‘dofollow’ means, read this first before continuing.

 

Many webmasters or bloggers are infatuated with dofollow blogs. Not everyone is obsessed with them, but there are many who spend time or money trying to leave keyword comments on dofollow blogs, in order to improve their website’s search engine rankings.

 

They sell tools to find these dofollow blogs, they build apps to auto-fill blogs with pre-prepared generic comments. Some enterprising individuals offer blog commenting services: you can buy hundreds of dofollow comments left on blogs with your choice of keyword anchor text.

 

It is one of the easiest ways to get your link up on a webpage but this mass fetish with dofollow links conditions webmasters or marketers into thinking that blog comments should only be used for the sole purpose of getting immediate benefits like backlinks.

 

“Well, a link is a link. It’s better than nothing.” So they think to themselves at the end of an hour spent clicking on the auto-fill button and paraphrasing articles to make comments look ‘natural’. Don’t want to trip the spam filter now, do we?

 

Everything is streamlined towards one goal, to get that keyword link up. The bulk of one’s efforts are spent running some crappy do-follow search tool so one can go over and ejaculate comments on hundreds of blogs, discarding most of them once the deed is done.

 

Such promiscuity. And perhaps, such a waste of time and money. Why? Because these dofollow comments are junk compared to a high quality link recommendation within a relevant blog post. A blog post providing exposure that may result in a snowball of more citation links.

 

To be fair, the tactic of using dofollow blog comments as a link building tool is not entirely useless. They can direct some juice to websites you don’t care about, the ones you don’t intend to develop as a reputable brand. Basically, adsense or affiliate sites where you just want visitors to go in and come out via your referral link or ad click.

 

But even in these and other scenarios, blog comments can do more than just give you a few easy links. After all if your goal is to rank well in search engines, you should be pursuing a method that gives you a higher returns on investment. And such a method exists.

 

But to achieve that, you need to first do two things:

 

1. Abandon the obsession with dofollow comments. Focus on all blogs equally even if they have ‘nofollow’ turned on and don’t directly influence your rank. Blogs you comment on should only be selected based on factors such as their relevance and audience size. </br>
    
   
2. Use blog comments as a first step to get more. Comments should be a preliminary and foundational step in an overall link + traffic building strategy. They are part of an overall plan to extract more valuable links from selected targets in the long run.

I used to think that in order to build links to my new niche site, I should just go find dofollow blogs and comment spam them. That’s all they were good for. After I gained some experience in site building and marketing, I eventually dropped this myopic focus on link building. I realized that there’s a much better way to use blog comments.

 

I’m not even talking about warm and fuzzy stuff like ’contributing to the discussion‘ or sharing knowledge, even though that’s a nice thing to do. I’m talking about a better way to use comments to get long term links that are better than dozens of dofollow blog comments.

 

You must be wondering: is there really more to blog commenting as a link building method?

 

The answer is yes. Having been a newbie before and gone down this path, I will offer some useful advice: If you only see blog commenting as a way to get instant links, you’re not maximizing their full potential. You are missing out on a lot of good stuff.

 

From my point of view, comments should be used holistically within a masterplan for getting what you really need: direct link recommendations from bloggers or site owners with a loyal audience, sending you high quality visitors that will convert well.

 

That’s the jackpot to aim for. That’s the ultimate goal. Not a bunch of approved comments with your precious keywords on a hundred semi-irrelevant blogs. Or even a thousand.

 

I’m not going to leave you high and dry. Next week, I will give you the exact comment strategy I use to build new sites into reputable authorities in their niche.

 

You’ll learn how to integrate blog commenting into a marketing strategy that gives you quality links and traffic. If you don’t want to miss that, consider subscribing to dosh dosh.

 

So what do YOU think about using dofollow blogs as a link building method? Do you do it and how well does it work for you?

 

P.S. Please don’t pitch any dofollow products, blog lists, commenter tools or search engines in the comments below. As you can tell, I’m trying to de-emphasize link building/spamming via dofollow blogs. Just a note for those who love to drop links without reading the post. ( ^ _ ^)

 

The Unhealthy Obsession With DoFollow Blog Links

 

http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doshdosh.com%2Fobsession-with-dofollow-blogs%2Fhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DoshDosh/~4/kTfe97oJYbY

 

View the full article

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/product-marketing.jpgPreselling is the art of conditioning potential customers and making them more likely to buy products/services. It is usually performed at your website before you send the visitor over to the vendor’s store or landing page. The goal of all presell tactics is to get prospects into a frame of mind whereby they not only feel comfortable about making a purchase but desire to do so.

 

A presell strategy can built upon months or years of contact with prospects: people are more likely to like or trust you when they’ve been reading or interacting with your blog or email newsletter. But a history of prior contact with prospects is not essential for effective preselling. One can pre-sell just as well when you have a reputation as an expert in a specific field.

 

A big part of pre-selling is how you present information in a way that subdues doubt, while placing prospects in a mental state that is ready to buy at your call-to-action.

 

As the vendor’s website usually includes all the features and specifications of the product, the job of pre-selling goes beyond simply duplicating what is already available. You should try to offer complementary or first-hand information on the product, this can be done in the form of a simple review or product comparison.

 

As an affiliate marketer or product owner, you’re often trying to make money by promoting someone else’s product or selling your own merchandise. Both marketer and vendor use similar tactics: The vendor creates a sales page flaunting all the benefits of the product, while getting targeted traffic through various means, the use of affiliates being one of them.

 

There’s usually some preselling involved: Both the affiliate and product owner often warm up the prospect through their email lists. Instead of sending visitors directly to the salespage, some affiliates prefer to presell by first getting traffic to their reviews of the product before sending them to buy at the vendor’s site.

 

But there’s an even more powerful way of preselling a product. This method allows you to easily dispel any buyer hesitation even if you do not have a long-standing relationship with your prospect or the reputation of an expert, although having both elements can boost your success rate even more.

 

This particular method has worked tremendously well for me. My conversions have improved dramatically by using it, instead of the usual presell review or a basic list recommendation. Interested in learning how it can work for you? Let’s look at it in detail.

</br>

 

 

Creating the Presell Blueprint and Learning How to Sell Indirectly

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/selling-indirectly.jpg

Image Credit: 0olong

 

This presell tactic is simple and can be explained easily. All you need to do is to try to sell to your target market indirectly by promoting a method which uses the product.

 

People are far more likely to purchase something when they can use it immediately to achieve a desired result. They don’t want to get a product and then struggle to find some way to get value out of it. Give them the blueprint to achieve their goals and they’ll gladly buy the product so they can put what they’ve learned into practice.

 

After all, most products are not ends in themselves, they are developed as means to acquire specific benefits. A weight loss ebook gives one the knowledge to get slimmer. A website template does nothing until it is customized and used for a specific purpose.

 

Here’s a detailed example of what to do. Let’s suppose you’re in the ‘make money online’ niche. As an affiliate or vendor, you’re trying to promote a keyword tool that helps people find search terms to target niche markets online. You want people to buy this tool from you (if you’re the vendor) or through your referral link (if you’re the affiliate).

 

So what do you do? Instead of just doing a review of the product, focus on creating and promoting a method that offers step by step instructions on making a lot of money online. Because that’s what people really want. They don’t want a fancy looking keyword tool. They want to make money online, buy the things they love and pay off all their bills.

 

The keyword tool is just something that gets them there. So do up a short report called something like “The Secret of Passive Income: 10 Foolproof Ways to Make $1000 a Day.” I know it sounds really tacky but something like this attracts attention instantly. If your content is good, don’t worry about the headlines sounding scammy.

 

The report can be in the form of a PDF ebook, an autoresponder course or even a series of blog posts, if you’re more comfortable with that. In this report you’ll offer some detailed tips on ways to make money online. No fluff or abstract theory. Just actionable steps and solid information. A key point to remember: Always structure your content around the product.

 

In this scenario, start by including a section on researching niche markets and demonstrate how it can be done with the product you’re promoting, which is the keywood tool.

 

Offer tips on some other market research methods or even free keyword tools, but make sure that you’re showing how your product can be used and how it is superior to others.

 

You don’t have to just stop at one product: you can even squeeze in and promote a few more by aligning certain parts of your report towards each product’s capability/promise. For example, you could recommend an ebook about article marketing after you’ve finished offering tips on the topic. Or a link cloaker/tracking plugin when talking about creating affiliate links.

 

Never let the method degenerate into a sales pitch. Remember, you’re selling the method to sell the product. Don’t push too hard. Don’t skimp on helpful tips. Demonstrate value. The readers will be grateful. They will develop trust. Because you are helping them.

</br>

 

 

This is How You Presell to the Masses

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/selling-method.jpg

Image Credit: itslefty

 

Put a salespage for a keyword tool side by side with a substantial free report on how to make $1000 a day. Which is going to reach more people? Which is more tempting? Beginners and experts… you’ll hook them all with the free report on making money. How about the keyword tool? Just a group of marketers who know what they’re doing and what they need.

 

The method sells itself. Nothing compares to it. What do you think will spread faster? The promise of a better life and reliable daily income… or a keyword tool that may even look alien to someone who is new to internet marketing.

 

The method has natural appeal. Not all products do. No matter how much you dress up the sales page with pretty words, its not going to trump a free lesson plan where everything is in place and ready to go. If your content is built around the product, there is a high chance that readers will purchase it because they see how it can help them achieve their goals.

 

They’re not going to give up so easily once they’ve seen the light, once they know what to do. When they know that certain products will help them succeed, they’ll be more than willing to pay in order to remove the obstacle. All this because your blueprint gave them a sense of direction while stirring up their desires.

 

This presell tactic is extremely powerful. I have used it and found great success in multiple niches, both as an affiliate and product owner. This is by far my favorite method of pre-selling and I think it works better than a simple trust-based recommendation in an email list or the usual try-to-be-objective-and-add-value review.

 

Show your prospects a clear path by removing everything in the way and they’ll follow. To sum up in a sentence: Teach people how to fish and they’ll buy the fishing rod from you.

 

Found this article useful? You might want to subscribe to dosh dosh. (It’s free!)

 

The Most Powerful Way to Presell Any Product or Service

 

http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doshdosh.com%2Fmost-powerful-way-to-presell%2Fhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DoshDosh/~4/QYnH6trbn5w

 

View the full article

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/marketing-search-engines.pngI’m not old enough to remember what the internet was like without search engines. Apparently, there were lists of web-servers: they were manually updated and publicized in news updates like this. And then the search engines came crawling, indexing and sorting out pages. As the web expanded with more users and businesses putting up websites, search engines became an essential way to immediately find information.

 

There’s a common saying: build your site for visitors, not for search engines. A famous Google webmaster guideline asks the question: “Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?” It’s actually quite a challenge: Pretend search engines don’t exist. How can you grow your website, get visitors and make lots of money?

 

I recently built a couple of sites without any focus on search engine rankings and getting organic search traffic. I didn’t block the search bots from indexing the site but I optimized nothing. Didn’t focus on site link architecture, title tags, meta-descriptions, meta-keywords, link building, competitor analysis. Forget about search engine algorithms.

 

I also wasn’t interested in methods of search-based marketing like finding long tail phrases and placing them on article directories or social media properties in order for these pages to rank and send traffic to my site. That would have involved researching search keywords and competition, so I did nothing of that sort too.

 

Ultimately, you’re dealing with a situation where the convenience offered by search engines is non-existent. No quick answers to quick questions for everyone. So how are people going to find what they need? How are they going to find my site?

 

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/search-traffic.jpg

Image Credit: assbach

 

Without search engines, people will do what they’ve been doing for thousands of years. They rely on each other. They rely on the community, on the collection of publications known within their geographic location or industry. They rely on word of mouth. And they also rely on getting information from common resources like a public square, library, forum or marketplace.

 

Go where people gather. There you will be heard. It sounds like rudimentary marketing but quite honestly, until I’ve tried ignoring search engines and focusing exclusively on gathering points, I didn’t realize how much actual marketing I was NOT doing.

 

There were far more forums, social networking sites, blogs than I ever imagined even for small niches. And then there are mega-sites like Youtube and Facebook. If I were to put a number to it, I would say I’m missing out on at least a few thousand visitors every day by NOT being active in these online communities. And that doesn’t include offline marketing.

 

This is a good amount of visitors who are likely to become supporters of your content, clients or buyers. And the truth is I’ve always made money much faster by going to them instead of waiting for them to come to me. It sure beats the usual plan of waiting for my site to get indexed, rank for longtail phrases and THEN hopefully convert into an ad click or sale.

 

Traffic from these sites can be as targeted as search engine visitors: many are looking for recommendations from peers or actively engaged in a specific activity that is relevant to my site. But unlike search visitors, they aren’t coming in blind into your website from a query.

 

They know more than your page name, url and meta-description. They know your avatar, they know your history of contributions. They have a rough idea of who you are. Your words are in their face before they even click over. You’ve already presold them by making yourself familiar.

 

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/direct-traffic.jpg

Image Credit: assbach

 

The most common problem we face is the lack of time. Can we outsource something like forum, blog or social site marketing? Yes, of course. But use people who know what they’re doing or else you’ll be wasting your time. If you’re a one-person operation, it might not be good for your brand to have someone that’s not you out there, even if you have an excellent ghost.

 

But small businesses, big businesses and multi-author content sites? No problem.

 

In any case, the whole experience of marketing without search engines is educational. It forced me to go out and represent my brand. This is me, I own this website. Hello, here’s what I do. Take a look. Here’s why this will be interesting.. and so on.

 

Once again, nothing revolutionary but when you’re not depending on search engines, its a make-or-break situation. How can I not just get clicks but the most value out of each click? What web page should I link to, who should I target, what content angle to use etc.

 

It forced me to work and persuade on a social level you don’t really think about because you’re always focused on existing traffic/users or things that will improve a machine’s reading of your site’s worth. Then you realize the value in having a strong brand and reputation.

 

I would recommend that you try pretending that search engines don’t exist, even just for a week or so. Especially if you’ve got a new website. Search engine traffic is invaluable but there’s a lot of visitors out there just waiting for you to show them your site.

 

If you’ve already reached a plateau in organic search traffic and its not making you as much money as you like, why not focus on promoting your site outside of search engines?

 

So, how would you market your website if search engines didn’t exist?

 

To get easy updates on new articles, subscribe to dosh dosh today.

 

Marketing Your Website Without Search Engines

 

http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doshdosh.com%2Fmarketing-your-website-without-search-engines%2Fhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DoshDosh/~4/VC5FGCiEOWQ

 

View the full article

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/free-traffic.jpgAfter yesterday’s post on marketing without search engines, I decided to follow up with a strategy you can use to get quality free traffic. One of the easiest ways to get visitors to your web site is to spend money. Nothing is more effortless then paying for traffic. But if you can’t afford it or don’t want to pay, there’s an equally simple but free way to get traffic: ad swaps.

 

An advertisement swap or ad swap is simply an arrangement where you agree to put up someone else’s ad on your site or email newsletter in exchange for them doing the same.

 

The goal of an ad swap is mainly to get exposure for a specific purpose, such as selling products/services or improving awareness of your brand/site. This is different from a link exchange because you are not seeking to improve your search engine rank.

 

The link value doesn’t matter at all. What matters is getting visitors into your web site.

</br>

 

 

Four Pre-Requisites for a Successful Ad Swap

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/ad-swap-prerequisite.jpg

Image Credit: Erik K Veland

 

For an ad swap to be successful and fair, there are four pre-requisites to be fulfilled:

 

1. Equal traffic and exposure: Both parties ought to have websites that receive a steady amount of visitors everyday, or an email list with a decent amount of subscribers. Otherwise, there is no meaning in setting up an ad swap in the first place. Ad swaps are most agreeable when both parties have an equivalent audience reach/traffic count. </br>
    
   
2. Fair and Good Ad placement: Traffic flows more easily to you when your ad is displayed in a spot which is easily viewable and accessible by visitors. While site designs may differ, both parties should endeavor to exchange ads that are displayed in a similar fashion. A pop-under does not capture visitor attention in the same way as a site-wide banner, so seek to use equivalent ad formats too. </br>
    
   
3. High Relevancy: In the best scenario, an ad swap should occur between websites in the same niche, as both parties would benefit from a trade in visitors with an already established interest on the same topic. But it is possible for trades to occur for sites in different niches. The essential point to remember is that your ad/message MUST be relevant to the page or site where it is placed and vice versa for your ad partner. </br>
    
   
4. No Conflicting Purpose. If you’re a merchant selling a product or a firm offering a service, you should not do ad swaps with competitors (other merchants/firms in the same niche). However ad swaps can be done for joint promotion of a specific event or shared project. You also should not do an ad swap with a site that contradicts your brand’s ethos or image (e.g. PETA doing an ad swap with Kentucky Fried Chicken).

There is one more important factor and that’s networking. Webmasters and bloggers are often inundated with requests for link trades: they have a defensive barrier against requests from strangers. Unless your site has some reputation or authority in your niche, ad swaps usually need to be prefaced with an established relationship.

 

People are far more likely to do ad swaps after they become more comfortable with you, when they don’t see you as a leech but a potential benefit. So keep this in mind as well when you aim to fulfill the four other prerequisites.

</br>

 

 

Seek Quality Ad Partners, Don’t Settle For Anything Less

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/traffic-exchange.jpg

Image Credit: andy frankwick

 

You may be familiar with the traffic exchange networks of the past (and present), places where webmasters can go sign up, submit their site and browse through each other’s websites in order to earn viewing credits that can be converted into pageviews for their own site.

 

It’s all about trading incentivized glances in a merry-go-round of self-interest. You look at my site, I look at your site. Everyone is happy. And it goes on ad nauseam.

 

Even though these pageview-trading rings are called traffic exchanges, they aren’t useful because you don’t get truly targeted and interested viewers, people who click through to your site because they were honestly compelled by curiosity or desire, not because they want more hits to their own website.

 

I bring up the topic of the old-school traffic exchanges to emphasize the importance of having a quality ad swap. One should carefully select ad partners because you need to maximize your returns with a limited inventory: you only have that much ad space to trade.

 

Your goal is to get the best quality visitors from your ad. To achieve that, you must try to only trade with websites that have a quality audience. Don’t do ad swaps just because someone asked you to, it could end up being a waste of time and ad space.

 

You probably know how to find quality ad partners already, as you should be familiar with your niche. If not, find them by doing a Google search for your site’s keywords.

 

If you can’t set up a good ad exchange because your site doesn’t get enough traffic, try again after you’ve developed a greater audience. Or you can negotiate with more popular sites by reducing the display length for your ad against their ad, although even that may not work.

</br>

 

 

Types of Ad Swaps You Can Set Up

All ad swaps can be measured with tracking links and analytics so both parties can compare how many hits they received with the clicks they sent out. If you’re doing an ad swap with a friend or prefer a looser agreement, you can forgo click data and stats altogether. The choice is up to you. Here are some ad swap formats you can use.

 

• On-site Banners and Text Links. This includes banners of all sizes and text links on a site-wide basis or on specific webpages. Includes blog post promos. </br>
   
  
• Email Newsletters. Involves inserting a mention of your ad partner’s website or product/offer. This can be accompanied by a personal endorsement or not. </br>
   
  
• RSS Feed Ads. These are either text links or image banners placed within an RSS feed.

</br>

 

 

Some Extra Tips and Recommendations

One guideline I follow is to never send traffic to my homepage or any page that is unoptimized. A custom landing page must be created for each ad swap. I can design it for the purpose of capturing leads (freebie + opt-in) or set it up so that it becomes a welcome page (‘Hello, visitors from Site A!’) with a short introduction and deep links.

 

I also pay special attention to the ad banners used. Banners that reference your partner’s site name or brand tend to get better click throughs, although you should get permission first. Sometimes they do not want to appear as if they were endorsing your site, although they are already implicitly doing so by having your ad up.

</br>

 

 

Ad Swaps Aren’t Hip Now But They Still Work

While it’s a common email marketing practice amongst internet marketers, I don’t often read about ad swaps being recommended as a traffic strategy for bloggers or webmasters. There were a few ad trading networks around but none of them really caught on for some reason.

 

Perhaps it sounds archaic and boring compared to all the super cool social media viral marketing buzz building tactics being promoted right now by all the experts. Yes, ad swaps may sound dull but they still work if you know how to do them right. If you’ve got ad space you can’t sell, why not give it a shot? You have nothing to lose at all. ^_^

 

For updates on more ways to get free traffic, subscribe to doshdosh.

 

Ad Swaps: A Smart and Easy Way to Get Free Traffic

 

http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doshdosh.com%2Fad-swaps-to-get-free-traffic%2Fhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DoshDosh/~4/0rbtzP59NcA

 

View the full article

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/twitter-marketing1.jpgA few days ago Twitter announced on their status blog that all Twitter users are only allowed to follow a maximum of 1000 people a day. This rule was designed to cut down on ‘follow spam’, the act of following many Twitter users in order to get them to follow you back or click on your links.

 

When combined with the already existing limit based on follow ratios, this means that it will be more difficult for marketers or self-promoters to rapidly increase their Twitter follower count by following many people. The old days of following thousands of users a day to get thousands of followers back are gone.

 

That’s not to say the strategy of mass following users to increase your Twitter followers doesn’t work anymore. It does. Why? Because many people use tools to auto-follow anyone who follows them. And there are new users who think its only polite to reciprocate. So you can easily get tens of thousands of followers from this strategy over time.

 

I see quite a few people still practicing this method. Some are social media enthusiasts or consultants, some are internet marketers or bloggers. All of them are people who want to get something in return. They want to:

 

1. Make money. The goal is to monetize Twitter users by linking and recommending products or services, either their own or others if they are an affiliate. They do this by tweeting out links and sending automated direct messages with the same offers when someone follows them back. </br>
    
   
2. Improve their reputation. They amass followers with the aim of improving their reputation in a specific field like marketing or social media. They also use their followers to boost their prominence on other social arenas like Digg or Facebook. </br>
    
   <li>Get more visitor traffic. More followers means more visitors to their websites so they can get more subscribers, readers and members. They also want the ability to make specific content go ‘viral’ and become popular by sharing it with their followers.

Many people think that to achieve all of the above, they need to build a large list of Twitter followers and broadcast links to get free traffic. It’s a simple strategy. The more followers you have, the more people listen to you, and the easier it is to spread your messages.

 

But do you really need a large number of followers to promote yourself successfully on Twitter? The answer is no. Not at all. But many people still persist in mass following users. Let’s look at some of the reasons why you don’t need to use this marketing tactic.

</br>

 

 

Low-Value Followers: Automatons, Spammers and Self-Promoters

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/twitter-robot-automaton.jpg

Image Credit: ittybittiesforyou

 

Many products on Twitter marketing have been released by internet marketers looking to profit from the growing interest in Twitter. These products give you the same blueprint: just get more twitter followers. All you need to do is to follow many users everyday, drop non-mutuals and then follow more. Repeat until you get a ton of followers and look like a social media rockstar. If people follow you, you must be awesome, right?

 

The only problem is that these are low-value followers. Not because they are dumb or socially inferior but because a good amount of these followers are not ultra-targeted, active or responsive. Many of them are self-promoters, spammers or automated feed accounts. These people aren’t interested in you. They don’t care about you. They didn’t REALLY opt-in. They even followed you automatically, didn’t they?

 

If we were to draw comparisons to a email list or newsletter, these types of people are the ones who would use a temporary email address to sign up so they can get your freebie and disappear. Most of them aren’t going to end up retweeting your stuff, most of them don’t even read your tweets. Most of them don’t give a damn about your ideas.

 

It’s not about the follower count, its about conversions. A carefully cultivated list of 1000 followers can beat a list of 10,000 twitter followers anytime when it comes to spreading content or getting traffic/sales. A social media strategy that only involves mass following all sorts of people and shooting out links in order to hook buyers or readers is quite inadequate.

 

Low-value followers are incredibly easy to get and the only positive thing about them is that they’ll make you look good. Judging influence by the follower count is something that people do. It’s social proof. So you have 80,000 followers. You can probably start a social media consulting business and tell everyone that you’re an expert. Or write that ebook and flaunt your follower count on the sales page. You can fool a lot of people and you’ll make money too.

 

So play the Twitter game of mass adding and dropping users for a few months. You may even meet some cool people but don’t assume that you have 50,000 users who actually read your tweets or are interested in you. They aren’t. And you’re irrelevant to them.

 

Remember, you’re not getting natural opt-in follows preempted by interest. All you have is an inflated number. Maybe you think that’s something to be proud of but if a 7 year old kid can press a auto-follow button and get 500 followers in 24 hrs, you’re not that impressive.

</br>

 

 

Twitter Marketing is More Than Just Getting Followers

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/low-value-followers1.jpg

Image Credit: badjonni

 

Unless you are a celebrity or a famous brand, you will never get hundreds of thousands of natural follows from people who are interested in what you have to say. If you want to look like a VIP, you can fake it by manipulating follower counts like most self-promoters.

 

But do you really think that’s effective Twitter marketing? Sometimes I feel that marketers should stop this obsession with volume and carefully think about cultivating a better follower list as well as other more effective ways of using Twitter for marketing.

 

I don’t want to blindly label all mass-following users as spammers. Some are not malicious nor are they aggressive self-promoters. I’m just questioning the overwhelming focus on this tactic, as if its the only way to accumulate influence or market yourself on Twitter. It’s not.

 

This isn’t an attack on anyone. If you think that mass following many users to boost your follower count is great, keep doing it. I’ve got no problems with that. I’m just offering my opinion on why I think its flawed. This comes from having actually experimented with this strategy, so it’s not just theoretical postulations.

 

In my opinion, while having a large number of Twitter followers is not a bad thing, there are some other key factors you should consider if you’re want to use Twitter to market yourself or your website/brand. These are points which I think are quite important even if your ONLY reason for using Twitter is to make money or get traffic.

 

The most important thing you should remember: It’s not about the number of Twitter followers you have, its about who follows you and the responsiveness of your audience.

</br>

 

 

Who Follows You: The People Who Give You Their Attention

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/who-follows-you.png

 

It matters who reads your tweets. Are these people interested in you or your business? An interested follower is naturally more engaged with whatever you put out on Twitter. People who automatically follow you do not count as interested followers.

 

Are your followers active? Active users share your links, they give you feedback, they talk to you. Automated or semi-automated users are not active users that will interact with you.

 

And do the people who follow you have influence? Would you rather get 50 retweets from users with 10 to 100 random followers? Or you rather get 10 retweets from influencers in same niche, with all of them having 1000 to 10,000 very relevant followers?

 

How about tweeting out a link or idea and having someone with a blog in the same niche write about it and link to you? Can your army of auto-followers offer the same? Not every Twitter user has the same audience size. Some users can reach more people much faster and these are the ones that can help you.

 

This is not to suggest that the average twitterer is useless but to highlight the unequal influence of each user. Who follows you matters a great deal because powerful Twitter marketing involves not just link-blasting but networking and relationship development.

</br>

 

 

Responsiveness of Your Audience: Are They Engaged?

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/responsive-followers.jpg

Image Credit: seizetheday

 

Responsiveness is the degree to which your Twitter audience is engaged with whatever messages you put out on Twitter. A responsive audience connects with you, retweeting your links and answering your questions. They interact with your Twitter stream.

 

When we talk about a responsive email list, we’re talking about subscribers who are willing to buy or take action on your offers. Responsive Twitter followers are similar: they take action on your tweets by spreading them or talking back to you.

 

An easy way to measure responsiveness is to ask a question and see how many people respond. The no. of link clicks and retweets are other factors as well but anyone can click on a random link: it just shows that they’re interested in the link title or story. But are they interested in you? Actual responses to your queries are a good measure of that.

 

A responsive Twitter audience naturally develops when people are interested in you, what you do and who you are. Celebrities have the most responsive followers, many of their subscribers even sign up for a Twitter account just to interact with their tweets. They’re actively looking forward to reading new tweets from their favorite personality. This anticipation and interest makes them a perfect audience for conversions and call-to-actions.

 

If you’re not already famous, you will have a tougher time building a responsive audience because you don’t get natural interest in you from the start. One way to generate this interest is to develop a reputation in your field so that your name or brand is known.

 

This means you shouldn’t just spend your whole day following/unfollowing, tweeting links and chit-chatting. You have to work at your brand away from Twitter. If you put out an interesting tool or piece of content, you’ll get interest. If you’re selling a product that solves a problem, you’ll get interest. As you become more known online, you will get people following you.

 

When on Twitter itself, you can develop responsiveness through reciprocation. By actively interacting with other users, you will induce them to pay more attention to your updates. But don’t just send out updates and only talk to people who reply to your tweets. Actively monitor and engage users. Over time they will warm up to you and responsiveness will increase.

 

Remember, you don’t just want a large follower count. You want a responsive group of followers. People who are genuinely interested in you and people who will click on your links, retweet you or respond to your queries. Ultimately this group of Twitter followers can help you popularize your website or grow your business.

</br>

 

 

My Follow Strategy for Twitter Marketing

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/follow-strategy.jpg

Image Credit: e to good resources, I’m more than willing to retweet their stuff. Especially if its great content. I wouldn’t think twice about it. The desire to reciprocate is a very powerful instinct. /p pimg src="http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/natural-followers.jpg" alt="natural-followers" title="natural-followers" width="595" height="277" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2600" /

font size="1"emImage Credit: a href="

 

And if you want to talk about ‘going viral’, just a few retweets from several users with responsive audiences and your link will get all the momentum it needs. You don’t need to build up an account with tens of thousands of users only to send your message out to people who aren’t even half-interested in your content.

 

You will gradually grow your business or website by getting more readers, clients or buyers through the help of that core group. And after you’ve achieved some success, people will naturally start to follow you on Twitter. And these are the best kinds of Twitter followers to have, people who opt-in because they are interested in you or your work.

 

Then you can concentrate on these new batch of followers and by interacting with them, turn them into people who will actively support your content or initiatives. Many of them might be site owners or bloggers as well so this is a great way to network and learn if you’re looking for some help to improve your core business offerings.

 

In terms of making money indirectly or directly through Twitter, I’ve realized that the no. of Twitter followers you have is not always proportional to the income you’ll make.

 

It’s not necessary to inflate your Twitter follow count through an automated game of mass following. But I understand why people do it. It’s the same old strategy used on Myspace, Facebook and pretty much any social site where people can ‘friend’ each other and capture attention. The mentality is go for maximum volume and hook the few that will listen.

 

You can go down that route if you want but I think you can easily achieve the same results and more by cultivating a high quality list of followers and networking smartly with the right people. Marketing on Twitter does not just involve getting as many followers as you can.

 

Think beyond that. If you want followers, you should get them to come to you. You don’t have to chase after them. It’s devastatingly easy once you learn how to leverage other users with established audiences and create bait that entices people to opt-in because of interest.

 

What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment below or talk to me on Twitter!

 

Twitter Marketing: Why You Don’t Need to Mass Follow Users

 

http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doshdosh.com%2Ftwitter-marketing-mass-follow-users%2Fhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DoshDosh/~4/QL_nyLRCPd4

 

View the full article

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/give-before-getting.jpgExperts have talked about this before. How many times have you read about the importance of ‘adding value’ for your audience? How many times have you read about ‘building trust’ with your readers/prospects?

 

Many, many times. You know it well. Every marketing guru has spoken about this topic. I’m sick of hearing it. But it STILL bears repeating.

 

Because some people still don’t get it. What’s the underlying principle for successful online marketing, selling or networking? The art of giving before you try to get. Before you get something from someone, you need to first give them a reason for them to give it to you.

 

It makes sense, doesn’t it? Don’t you know that everyone has walls around them? Don’t you see them at all? They don’t like to be scammed out of their money. That’s why they’re cautious and won’t just click to buy immediately. They don’t like to waste their hard earned salary on crappy products or services. That’s why they do a thorough research online.

 

They don’t want to be lied to. That’s why they are hesitant to believe what you say or claim. They don’t want their feelings to be exploited. That’s why they are wary about trusting you with their true thoughts. They have been fooled before and no one wants to feel stupid again.

 

It’s a defense mechanism designed for self-preservation in a life that is nasty, brutish and short. Living ain’t easy. People are fed-up with hard-sells and sledge-hammer pitches. They’re sick of hustlers always running game on them. Their walls grow stronger, reinforced by the plaster of bad experiences. Once they pigeon-hole you as a ’spammer/scammer’, it’s all over. Don’t bother with getting them to take out their wallets. Won’t happen.

 

There is a fool-proof way to get people to lower their defenses and commit. You just need to manage their impressions of you. You need to change what they think about what you’re doing. You’re not spamming, you’re offering a product that is designed to fulfill needs. You’re not a money-hungry marketer, you’re a passionate individual who loves to help people achieve their goals. Reframing and re-adjusting the prospect’s image of your brand.

 

So here it comes. Here’s the part when I tell you to ‘always add value’ and ‘build trust’. But let’s refashion this proverbial tip on selling. Let’s put a spin on value or trust and combine them into a single actionable guideline: Always focus on giving before trying to get.

 

Give them helpful free content. Give them answers to their questions. Give them a freebie. Point them to tools they need and things they should know. Give them tips they can instantly use in their lives/business. Give them pleasant surprises. Give them interaction. Give them promises you can keep. Develop a history of giving. Be known as a giver.

 

“This person has given me many valuable things. I have benefited from these gifts. I like her. I will pay attention to what she says. I think I will trust her words. I will lower my guard a little and run with it. What else could go wrong? I’ve only had good experiences with her so far. She has proven herself to be beneficial to me. I think I may…. no, I will commit and take a chance this time. It’ll be fine, I’m sure. Don’t worry too much.”

 

These are exactly the thoughts you want them to think. This is the inner dialog you want in their heads as they look at your proposition, as they wander and explore your website. This is how you get them to buy, subscribe, agree and take action on your suggestions.

 

Don’t mass spam your links all over the web and think that you’ll get someone’s trust or money easily. That’s a silly strategy. You’re not selling to robots or animals. You’re selling to people who care about the seller. Get what you want by first giving unconditionally. Manage what people think or feel about you and you’ll get what want easily.

 

To get more free marketing tips, subscribe to dosh dosh today.

 

An Essential Marketing Principle: Give Before You Try to Get

 

http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doshdosh.com%2Fgive-before-you-try-to-get%2Fhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DoshDosh/~4/khi3P8r3tUI

 

View the full article

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/achieve-your-goals.jpgEveryone has their favorite way of using the internet. Many of us search to find what we want, click in to a specific website, read what’s available and click out. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because it’s efficient. We learn to tune out things we don’t need and go straight for what’s essential.

 

This goal-oriented way of surfing the web is largely based on short-term results. For example, finding facts to write a blog post, doing a comparison before making a purchase and reading a news site to find out what’s happening right now.

 

If you do all this everyday it becomes like an unconscious habit. You go to the same familiar sites, click from link to link, extract what you want, linger a little for online chit-chat before drifting somewhere else.

 

So, how is this related to achieving your goals or being successful? Let’s use the topic of internet marketing and making money as an example.

 

If you’re a online marketer or business owner, you want to maximize your profits and sphere of influence. In order to achieve that, many things need to be done: on the practical side of things you need to get more targeted web traffic, optimize your sales page, promote your brand, increase your opt-in subscribers, network with peers, build links, provide customer service, create content/products, test your design/interface etc. All of these tactics are all directed towards the end goal of getting more customers and making more sales.

 

In order to reach this goal, incremental improvements to your business or strategy must be made everyday. You need make small tweaks, adjustments and innovations consistently to build on your success. These gradual step by step improvements will help you to reach your objective. But how do you constantly improve and stay on track to reach your income goal?

 

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/surf-the-web.jpg

Image Credit: El Fotopakismo

 

A simple way to do this is to surf or use the internet with greater awareness in order to actively archive/assimilate what is beneficial. Awareness doesn’t refer to a serene zen-like consciousness of the websites you visit but rather, the awareness to connect what you do or experience online with the ultimate success of your business or goals. It should all link back to that final end.

 

And the way you do this in practice is easy: Maintain an all-purpose swipe file and record what you find interesting or useful when you surf the web everyday. To set this up for use while surfing the web, sign up for a free online bookmarking site or install a browser addon. Anything that allows you to bookmark webpages and/or write down your thoughts with just one or two clicks. You want to make it as easy and as hassle-free as possible.

 

Some of the tools you can use include evernote, delicious or the simple scrapbook addon for Firefox. It’s important to use tools that allow you to easily tag, categorize and search whatever you archive while also keeping your collection private.

 

Continuing with the online marketing example, I would be using these tools to record the following things while I surf the web:

 

• Web design/usability – Things I focus on include the overall design of the page, font type, site navigation, placement of ads, widgets, custom site features or plugins among many other things. These are details you can easily pass on to your coder or designer on the same day. </br>
   
  
• Graphics/images – See a particular ad banner or button you like? bookmark the page and make a note of it. Or download it and put it in a folder. You may not have the rights to use it but its easy to find someone to create something similar to it. </br>
   
  
• Sales page/Pre-sell pages – I spend a lot of time looking at sales/pre-sell pages everyday because I’m interested in how people sell. What words/images they use and how they arrange everything to make a coherent pitch. I’ll bookmark whatever I find appealing and make a note of what I like about it (important). This doesn’t just include lengthy Clickbank style salespages but e-commerce sites/marketplaces and blogs. </br>
   
  
• Strategies/tactics – This involves marketing tactics that I find to be particularly ingenious. Examples include linkbait methods, product launch tactics and general public relations/advertising stuff. Much of these strategies can be found not just from the direct observation of marketers but from analysis of current news stories. </br>
   
  
• Possible collaborators/JV partners – Whenever I come across a marketer, webmaster or business owner who has a product, site or service aligned with my interests, I will archive their contact details. This also includes people I comes across randomly on Twitter or those I discover via a targeted google search using keywords relevant to my business/product/niche focus. The goal here is to extend your sphere of influence by eventually leveraging another person’s reach. </br>
   
  
• Copy and Content – This includes specific lines from sales-pages or emails/newsletters I receive while being on various mailing lists. Examples include email titles, email content, sales page titles, sales copy, adword ads, chapter listings and book titles on Amazon, language style/lines used by forum users in a specific niche etc. </br>
   
  
• Ideas for social currency – Any interesting piece of information you come across can be bookmarked as ideas for a blog post, shared on twitter, posted to your email list, weaved into a product or used as a conversational topic in your favorite online community in order to build influence/reputation. Generally this category involves information I consume while reading news sites and not stuff I research on purpose. In other words, this is random zeigeist data (popurls.com/google trends and news/twitter trends/digg frontpage) that can be used towards multiple purposes.

</br>

 

 

Notes on Creating and Using Your Swipe File

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/swipe-file.jpg

Image Credit: felipe_gabaldon

 

1. Keep everything organized. Use tags appropriately so everything is in the right category and can be easily pulled up for reference. You don’t want a long chaotic list of webpages you can’t use. You want them to be action-friendly examples that are highly specific. Very useful when you want to hire someone and need to show what ad banner image, design style or site feature you want. </br>
    
   
2. Don’t steal (at least not overtly). Keeping a swipe file doesn’t mean you should just copy and paste whatever you bookmark and use it for your site. One or two lines of copy might not hurt but try tailoring it to suit your persona/style/website. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. Find a good idea and instead of just applying it to your business, think about how you can improve on it even more. </br>
    
   
3. Don’t stay within your niche. For example, you specialize in sports news, don’t just bookmark other sports-related websites. Read widely. A lot of the best sites in terms of content structure/delivery/display will be outside of your niche. Once you find them you can easily transplant their methods to give you a competitive advantage over other sports sites that just follow what everyone else is doing.

You should probably get the hang of this method by now. To clarify once more, I’m not talking about specifically doing research to find and archive data. This isn’t some competitor analysis method where you sit down for an hour and start going through all the websites or people in your industry in order to swipe their greatest hits.

 

The technique I’m proposing in this article simply involves changing the way you naturally surf the web everyday by developing a much greater attention to detail and aligning what you see or do online with a long-term end goal. Your switch is always on and you’re always looking to build on your current success. Always. All the time.

</br>

 

 

Develop a Web Surfing Pattern that Makes You Take Action

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/web-pattern.jpg

Image Credit: eriwst

 

If you’re really serious about building a profitable online business or becoming influential/successful in whatever you do, you should always keep your mental energy focused and your activities directed.

 

This is especially the case when you spend a LOT of time working online. Sure, you can relax from time to time but keep the line taut. If your online activities are always random and short-sighted, you’ll just jump from one link to another. This becomes a huge time-sink. While Wikipedia and Youtube or your favorite forum/social news site is a fun place to hang out, they aren’t always beneficial. Your attention and energy is limited so use it wisely.

 

Of course, if you’re only interested in killing time, you can use the internet anyway you want. But if you’re trying to become rich, influential and successful, you need focus. Eventually this unwavering attention will lead to success because you’re always tuned in towards constant improvement while keeping track of your goals. Every single time you click a button to archive something, you’re reminding yourself of what you want.

 

While the field of internet marketing was used for this example, this purposeful web surfing mindset can be thought of as a self-actualization tool. A well organized swipe file could be thought of as a constantly evolving vision board of some sort.

 

Like a vision board, your swipe archives are a constant reminder of your objective and tasks to be done. After all, you’re constantly collecting inspiring/interesting material you experience while web surfing and arranging them so they motivate you to move towards your specific goals. Be it to lose weight, learn spanish or improve your website. This is different from the old way of casually surfing the web without any particular focus on a long-term end goal.

 

So two things to put into action immediately after reading this article:

 

1. Consciously connect whatever you do online with your ultimate goal. Structure the time you spend on the web so that it always flows towards that objective.
2. Develop the habit of archiving whatever you experience on the web in order to use them as references/methods to improve what you are currently doing.

Keep this focus in the center of your mind and actively swipe whatever helps you reach your objectives. Do this consistently every day and you will develop a natural web surfing rhythm that will in the long run help you to accomplish your goals.

 

For more awesome tips on achieving success, subscribe to dosh dosh today!

 

How to Achieve Your Goals by Changing the Way You Surf the Web

 

http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doshdosh.com%2Fhow-to-achieve-your-goals%2Fhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DoshDosh/~4/aYQZoyj7uo8

 

View the full article

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/influence-people.jpgInfluence can be defined as the power exerted over the minds and behavior of others. A power that can affect, persuade and cause changes to someone or something. In order to influence people, you first need to discover what is already influencing them. What makes them tick? What do they care about? We need some leverage to work with when we’re trying to change how people think and behave.

 

But there’s a problem. You won’t be able to meet and get to know everyone. You won’t have the luxury of learning their life history and what they hate or love. In the online world, people are ghosts. They drift into your website, showing up only as a number in your traffic statistics. Who are these people that come in to your website? Who is viewing your content and checking out your products?

 

If you don’t know the answer to all these questions, how are you going to influence them? The solution is to find and analyze general patterns of human behavior or thought. These patterns are indicators of how most people operate: by learning them you would have acquired the tools to exert influence over them. You don’t need to know everyone personally to understand what drives them and what they love or hate.

 

I recently read Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click by Susan Weinschenk, a book about how our online behavior is influenced by both conscious and unconscious thought patterns. I found it fairly interesting because it provided some scientific explanations to tactics that many marketers have been using for the longest time.

 

At only 130 pages long, the book is a very easy read because its tailored for the average person and not specialists. The downside of this is that it only offers a very general overview of brain science and how it relates to websites.

 

Contrary to its name, it also talks more about psychology than general web design/usability. If you’ve read Robert Cialdini’s work or other books on persuasion tactics you would easily recognize many of the concepts mentioned in the book.

 

While I would preferred a lot more depth on some topics covered, it did offer a handful of helpful tips you can implement immediately to improve your website. I thought I’ll do a quick summary of these tips while adding in my own unique analysis and comments.

 

But before we begin looking at what you should do on your website, you must first understand how your brain works.

 

 

Trium Brain Model – We Have Three Brains, Not One

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/triunbrain.jpg

 

The trium brain model is a theory developed by Paul MacLean in the 1960s to explain how the human brain has evolved. This simplified understanding of the brain became an influential paradigm amongst psychologists and some neuroscientists. As the name suggests, we don’t have one brain but three. These are all layered on top of each other and were developed during different stages of evolution. They are as follows:

 

1. The old brain. Also known as ‘R-complex’ or reptilian brain. The old brain is primarily concerned with your survival. It scans the environments for threats and benefits. It controls instinctual survival behavior and is also in charge of autonomic functions such as heart beats, digestion, movement and breathing. </br>
    
   
2. The mid brain. Also known as the Limbic System or mammalian brain. The primary seat of emotions, memories and attention. This is where your emotions are produced and where positive or negative feelings arise. The mid brain includes the amygdala, which is involved in connecting events with emotion and the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory recall and converting information into memories. </br>
    
   
3. The new brain. Also known as the neocortex. This is the logical part of the brain that involves rational thoughts, thinking skills as well as language and speech processing.

According to this theory, we are only fully conscious of our new brain, the neocortex. But our mid brain (limbic system) and old brain (reptilian brain) are largely unconscious. Our unconscious is incredibly efficient, smart and useful. Neuro-scientists have estimated that our five senses receive 11 million pieces of information every second with our conscious brain only processing around 40 pieces. The rest is being assessed by the unconscious automatically.

 

The unconscious brain helps you to determine what you should pay attention to with your conscious brain. Your decision-making behavior is greatly influenced by the unconscious brain. According to Weinschenk, the best website is designed to talk to all three brains, both the conscious and unconscious.

 

Such a website would be the best at encouraging any visitor to take action. Here’s what you can implement on your website to talk to all three brains:

 

 

1. Show ratings and reviews by other users

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/social-validation.jpg

Image Credit: kygp

 

Allow visitors to rate and review products on your website. Make sure that ratings and reviews are clearly displayed on your site or product pages. Allow users to include more information about themselves such as their gender, name, location and occupation. This makes the reviews even more compelling since it creates an instant persona (e.g. 36 year old stay-home mom from Boston).

 

Why do ratings and reviews work? Social validation. People look to others when deciding what to do, especially when they are not sure of what action to take. This is part of the mid brain’s unconscious urge to fit in and belong.

 

When ratings and reviews are clearly displayed, they help to unconsciously trigger people’s need for social validation while allowing their new brain to rationalize that they are making a smart choice. They work on both the conscious and unconscious: to the rational thinking mind, user ratings and reviews are also more credible than profit-seeking ad copy.

 

 

2. Provide instant gratification and a quick fix

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/gratification.jpg

Image Credit: Tetsumo

 

When deciding to make a purchase, we often influenced by how fast we can have the product (gratification). In an experiment participants were asked to choose between getting $5 now or $40 at a later date. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) reports show that when they thought about waiting, the new brain or pre-frontal cortex was activated.

 

When they thought about getting the money right away, the mid brain lit up. This shows that the emotional mid brain is aroused when people think of getting something rewarding right away. You can take advantage of this even if you’re not selling a digital product or something that ships the next day. You can activate the same emotional triggers by using words like ‘instantly’, ‘immediately’ or ‘fast’ to engage the mid-brain. Integrate them and other similar words or phrases into your site copy.

 

 

3. Put the most important action to be done first

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/putting-it-first.jpg

Image Credit: Marxchivist

 

When you want your visitors to buy a specific product the most, make sure that it is highlighted and displayed as the first item on the page (either at the top or beginning of a row/column). A study of an e-commerce site selling tents showed that visitors picked the first tent to appear on the page 2.5 times more than any others. This is an unconscious preference. Do some similar testing on your website to see if you notice any sales differences.

 

The idea behind this is simple: what comes first is unconsciously regarded as the best. So even if you’re not a vendor but an affiliate, put the product you want to get sales for first. For example if you’re doing a review site promoting a couple of products, make sure that what you want to sell the most is the first to be seen when someone lands on your website.

 

Having had some experience with affiliate review sites, I’ve noticed that you’ll eventually find a ‘winner’, a product that converts the best. If you notice that a product not in the first spot converts better than the one that is, make them switch places. Sales may go up.

 

 

4. Use the illusion of scarcity

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/scarcity-cheesecake.jpg

Image Credit: TW Collins

 

When something has a limited amount to it, its assumed value increases. We will want it even more. Make your product/offering limited by showing a limited stock quantity or limited time frame. This is a common tactic that most internet marketers and offline/online retailers use. And it works. Because we feel good when we gain objects of value.

 

The way you frame scarcity is important. I’ve seen some marketers combine scarcity with exclusivity by restricting access to a limited number of people. The term ‘Inner Circle’ is a widely used in many niches offering paid membership programs to demonstrate exclusive premium value. Scarcity is enhanced when exclusivity is stacked onto it.

 

 

5. Build reciprocity by giving away something for free

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/rock-and-roll-reciprocity.jpg

Image Credit: lucyfrench123

 

When someone gives you something, it triggers a sensation of indebtedness, which you will unconsciously want to get rid of by giving something back. Create this feeling of indebtedness in your visitor’s mind. You can give away things like free product add-ons, free guidebooks, free content, free downloads, free shipping etc.

 

A study mentioned in the book suggested that visitors are twice as likely to complete a survey form after they were given access to free useful information, as opposed to being allowed access to the information only after completing the form.

 

Does this mean that you’ll get better email opt-in conversions after giving away free content first? Research would say so. But I suggest that you perform your own tests to get a more accurate reading of what works best for your website.

 

From my general experience, I do get higher quality subscribers (judging by email open rates and no. of unsubscribes) when I first provide value-added freebies while making opt-ins optional. When I lock content and only allow people access after they perform an action, I inevitably get some tire-kickers who’ll unsubscribe or not open emails later on. When I think about it now, reciprocity DOES seem to play a big role in actual audience responsiveness.

 

 

6. Learn to use food, sex and danger

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/sexy-picture.jpg

Image Credit: Zelluloid

 

These three things are related to survival and appeal to the old reptilian brain. Use headlines and pictures that look or sound frightening to emphasize danger. The old brain is primarily focused on ensuring your survival. It puts your entire body and mind on high alert when it comes across any threat.

 

When you are in this heightened state of awareness, whatever you encounter is more deeply engrained in your memory. That’s why you see TV commercials using exciting and dangerous scenes like a car chase, sky diving or a sexy woman to promote products like credit cards and beer.

 

Use pictures of food on your webpages, it instantly attracts the attention of the old brain. Imply the presence of sex through the use of faces, bodies and things associated with sexual behavior or experience.

 

Are food, sex and danger really so attractive to the unconscious? Think about it. What are you drawn to when you’re bored online? Many people gravitate to celebrity gossip or porn (sex), food sites or thrilling content (extreme stunts/sports/music videos/movie clips on Youtube etc). Maybe you would rather work on math puzzles or read a knitting blog instead. But not many would.

 

Learning how to integrate each of these three topics into your website will be an interesting challenge. A while ago, I wrote about Cracked.com and how their style could help you create super popular content for social media sites like Digg. Cracked.com is a great example of a site that often has all topics (food, sex, danger) in constant rotation, both in their content and their use of images/references.

 

 

7. Limit the choices available and promote bundles

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/choices.jpg

Image Credit: Éole

 

While people think they prefer many choices, the numerous options available often lead to decision paralysis. Too much choice may cause your visitor to not take any action at all. The Paradox of Choice is a fantastic book which examines this issue in much greater detail.

 

So how do you solve this problem? You don’t have to reduce your inventory range, you just need to highlight specific actions you want taken.

 

My solution is to simply choose for your visitor. For example, certain products could be moved into a ‘Editor’s choice’ or ‘Most recommended’ or ‘Top 3 choices’ list which is then displayed prominently on your site. Alternatively, you can create a wizard user interface which asks the visitors certain questions, one after another in order to ascertain what product suits them the best. The final result will show the recommended products for his/her specific needs.

 

Our brain has a unconscious fear of losing and we’ll make decisions to avoid loss, especially when we feel the loss will be painful or disadvantageous. This fear of losing can be activated by bundled products/services. This means that instead of allowing visitors to select the core product first and then choose addons, you promote a product bundle and then allow them to subtract items from their final order. Subtracting is akin to ‘losing’ something.

 

Many e-commerce websites practicing different levels of bundling. Take Amazon.com as an example. Instead of promoting bundles over single products, every single product page showcases a bundled package with a reduced price. On top of that, they promote bundles indirectly by including the buying statistics/patterns of other customers.

 

 

8. Speak to your visitor by using the word ‘You’

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/cellphone-girl.jpg

Image Credit: hernan.seoane

 

A quick and easy way to grab the attention of the old brain is to use the word ‘you’ often in your copy. The old brain is self-centered and focused on what is good for you, hence it’ll often unconsciously prefer what better emphasizes how You can benefit.

 

Here is a comparison of sales copy. The second one should appeal to you more:

 

No. 1: “This software has many built-in features that allow for photos to be uploaded, organized, and stored. Photos can be searched for with only a few steps.”

 

No. 2: “You can upload your photos quickly, organize them any way you want to, and then store them so that they are easy to share with your friends. You can find any photo with only a few steps.”

 

In my opinion, ‘you-centred’ copy is part of the bigger ad strategy called personalization. You’re writing copy that speaks their language. And that entails knowing what your prospect or target market likes/dislikes and desires. Write as if you’re talking to a person sitting right next to you. She is your prospective customer. She is your blog reader. And she is your friend. Don’t be afraid to use slang or community lingo to connect to their thought processes.

 

 

9. Get your visitors to make a commitment

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/personas.jpg

Image Credit: Anna Fischer

 

People are more likely to take action after they’ve made a small commitment first. This is because a small commitment activates a persona which the person will seek to maintain with future decisions. For example, asking someone to wear a small badge to promote breast cancer awareness is an example of a small commitment.

 

This activates a persona which makes them think ‘I’m a person who cares about cancer patients.’ Later on, they will be far more willing to make a donation to a breast cancer charity because the action of donating is completely consistent with the persona they have taken on. In fact, donating maintains that persona and makes them feel good about it.

 

Your goal is to activate a persona within all your site visitors. This persona will eventually push them to take a specific action, be it buy, donate or subscribe. Methods you can use include using quizzes and surveys around a topic that is related to your product or website focus. The simple act of writing, typing or signing something strengthens their commitment to to your website/company/brand. The more public the commitment, the stronger it will be.

 

Getting your visitors to commit to your website is incredibly easy. You don’t always need to get something from them, like their email or vote. By simply allowing comments, you’re allowing visitors to be publicly committed to your website. Polls and surveys work equally well too because they make your visitors interact with you. They aren’t just lurking viewers anymore, but participants within a community. Step it up a notch or two after that.

 

I think its important not to overthink it. Ask for what you want. As long as its not an outrageous demand, you’ll get people to respond and invest their time, especially if you’re already worked on developing reciprocity.

 

 

10. Use images that demonstrate similarity and attractiveness

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/attractiveness.jpg

Image Credit: Fire Monkey Fish

 

Use images of attractive people who are similar to your target market’s demographic profile. People are most influenced by people they deem to be both attractive and similar to them. The old brain is unconsciously sizing up people you see and their attractiveness can rub off on your website itself, much like how an attractive person in a cellphone ad makes the cellphone look more enticing.

 

This doesn’t just apply to images. Most internet marketers know that in order to appeal to a certain group of people, you need a human face that will be the focal point of their empathy and connection. Hence, the widespread use of pen names, stock photo pictures and even a made-up history or life story. While it may be entirely artificial, these methods do work to engage website visitors.

 

 

11. Be a master at telling stories

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/story-telling.jpg

Image Credit: dead redhead

 

Use stories as part of your sales copy or weave them into your content/blog post. When we read or listen to a story, our brains physically react as though we were having the same experience ourselves. When combined with pictures, it is a very powerful way to immediately grab attention, convey information and ensure that your reader retains your message.

 

Story-telling is a fantastic method of persuasion. It’s almost like a hypnotic process. I’ve noticed that I tend to suspend rational thought when I’m thoroughly engaged with reading or hearing a fascinating story.

 

I’m fully conscious but my mind is taken over because I’m actively visualizing the situation by generating images to accompany the words I’m reading/hearing. And the images I’m creating are generating emotions at the same time. A skilled story teller can easily embed suggestions or increase one’s perceived value subtly by using stories.

 

This is a really powerful persuasion tactic and something I would encourage you to learn. All of us can tell stories but not all of our stories are as persuasive as they can be.

 

So there you have it. These methods of extending influence are easily applicable in most circumstances so put them into action as soon as you finish reading. Feel free to spread the word and share this article with anyone you know.

 

If you found these tips useful, you should probably subscribe to my blog via rss or email. Just so you’ll get easy updates on new articles about persuasion, influence and marketing. ^_^

 

11 Ways to Influence People Online and Make Them Take Action

 

http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doshdosh.com%2Fways-to-influence-people-online%2Fhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DoshDosh/~4/Ya5YezegZVk

 

View the full article

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/product-website.jpgYou just launched a new product. You want people to tell others in their social network. You want word of it to spread like a virus from person to person, eventually resulting in more buzz, attention and sales.

 

And you want to do it using the internet. Purely online. No TV, newspapers or radio. No print ads. Assume you’ve already done all of the above (you should have) and just want an online strategy that will work.

 

There are many things you can do. Every experienced online marketer will agree that the first step is to set up a home base or launch pad. Some website where people can find you and your product online. Some place where you can funnel attention and traffic towards. It’s where you pitch your work. It’s what people will be sharing.

 

This article will talk about how to create an effective website to promote your new product (or just about anything you want).

 

 

How People Usually Promote Products Online

The most common way of promoting a new product involves the development of a new website or web page to showcase it. In both cases, the goal is to provide information about the product, capture attention, generate interest/desire and sales.

 

If a new webpage is built, it usually takes the form of a straightforward sales page and is hosted on an existing domain. If a new website is developed, the sales page format can be extended into an informational site with a community built around the product.

 

It’s impossible to say what works for every product out there. So let’s avoid generalities and assume a specific scenario. Say your product is a new book and you want to promote it. Here are some of the common methods used:

 

• Method One – Set up a landing page for the book on your existing personal website or blog. A product page is also often created on the publisher’s website or a distributor like Amazon.com. This is usually a page with promotional blurbs or recommendations, along with a synopsis of the book and reviews from the press. </br>
   
  
• Method Two – Buy a new domain name exactly similar or related to the book’s name and set up a website just for the book. This will include a blog where you can share knowledge by posting essays, articles related to current events or updates/news regarding the book. Press reviews, testimonials and author bios are included too.

From what I’ve seen, all book authors or publishers take either one of the above two approaches. If you’re really savvy and smart you’ll do both method one and two: Optimize your own personal website and set up a new hub just for the book. Connect them together.

 

Then proceed to put up regular articles, not veiled infomercials for the book but actual content that informs and benefits the general reader. Provide value first. Sales is almost an after-thought. First thing to remember when creating successful product launch websites.

 

 

Develop a Laser Like Focus on Delivering Maximum Value

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/value-focus.jpg

Image Credit: Dashu Pagla

 

Let’s retrace our steps. You want people talking about your book and telling their friends and family. You want word-of-mouth to spread naturally and ripple outwards. Every day you want someone who has never heard of you to discover your book and tell someone else about it.

 

In order to do that you need to increase the value you offer to everyone who lands on your website. You need to sculpt that value until it has a laser-like focus. It should be extremely engaging and incredibly tangible.

 

For most book marketers, method one and two is the extent of what they will do. But it often results in a pretty boring website. And boring doesn’t help you to get word of mouth.

 

Here’s what I think: Method one and two do work. But they aren’t focused enough to deliver maximum impact. People can be easily distracted online. After getting to your site, they first have to orient themselves and then after that, search for the value you offer. What’s so cool about you or your book? What’s your message? Why should I care about your book?

 

Imagine being a visitor who lands on your website. What do they see? A bunch of testimonials and blurbs floating around somewhere to the side, a blog with content related to the book’s topic, news of a book signing in a city they don’t live in and even if they do get so far… a bio of someone they don’t know and most probably won’t care about.

 

Is that the best way to encourage word of mouth? Refine your website. Make it better.

 

 

Create an Experience to Magnetize the Attention of Your Visitors

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/magnetize-visitors.jpg

Image Credit: roujo

 

Thought-provoking blog posts are valuable for your audience. So is a free chapter from your book. Sure, they are all beneficial. But there are many other types of value. Some of them are better for encouraging massive word of mouth.

 

You goal is to make your entire website a buzz generator. The whole website functions as a congruent whole. Every page has a certain mood. It is designed to elicit a specific thought in the viewer’s mind. That thought could be ‘this is intriguing’, ‘this is really cool’ or simply ‘wow’.

 

Ideally, that thought should end with ‘I have to let others know about this..‘ or ‘XXX will be really interested in this..’. You want them to pull the pass-it-on trigger and share your site.

 

Follow the AIDA model. Get their Attention first with your landing page. The first image they see. Hold their Interest and lead them through your site so they don’t wander off and click away. Make them Desire to know more by teasing with your best bits. Get them to take Action by asking for the sale/share and making it easy for them to proceed.

 

Want an example of how to do it? Check out PhoneSextheBook.com

 

It’s a website set up to promote a book featuring interviews with phone sex operators. There’s still room for improvement but I think it’s a good example of a product launch website. Apart from the naturally stimulating topic, the entire website is designed in a minimalist way which provides maximum value up front. Here’s a picture of the homepage:

 

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/phone-sex-home-page.jpg

 

The only way you can navigate through the simple but inviting front page is to click. And you will click. Because you’re curious.

 

Once you’re in the curious mindset, you’re presented with a short introduction to prime your thoughts. Notice how the minimalist design is maintained after the first click. Just one click after the introduction and you’re IMMEDIATELY in the frame of exploring the product. There’s no need to search for anything, scan headlines, read testimonials or click to download a free pdf. It’s just there. Right in your face. You cannot avoid it.

 

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/phone-sex-introduction.jpg

 

People don’t come into this website looking left and right for something interesting or cool. The juicy value-added content is shown directly in the middle. The best bits come first.

 

Instead of putting out large chunks of text that may be a turn-off, this website uses only brief snippets of content and pictures. This is a great because of two reasons: 1) It teases by providing only a taste. 2) Less information to process facilitates movement through your site. Not everyone has the time to invest 10 minutes on each individual page.

 

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/phone-sex-page-example.jpg

 

If you don’t like just sharing snippets and want to share more content, try using infographics. They can pack a lot of usual information into an image that can be read in a glance or two.

 

The last page of the website has the publisher/author details, link to a PR agent, a downloadable press kit as well as a link to Amazon.com. Not pushy at all. No hard sell.

 

http://www.doshdosh.com/wp-content/uploads/phone-sex-last-page.jpg

 

Personally, I would have included a few other elements to enhance a product website like this:

 

1. A blog. This could be created as a sub-directory at phonesexthebook.com/blog. On the last page, a ‘find out more‘ link to the blog could be added. This blog will use a more conventional layout and will include news, more info on the making of the book and other related topics. It can also be used as the place from which to create content that will attract links and traffic. </br>
    
   
2. More pages. Since the pages displayed are visually engaging and not text-heavy, more of them could be included to make the whole site more substantial. This might not be suitable because the whole book only has 50 pages but in general, giving a little more away increases the overall value for your visitor. People don’t want to share 5 pages and a sales pitch at the end. People want to share something that’s worthwhile enough to add value to their social network. </br>
    
   
3. Click prompters. For additional usability, I would prefer to have a small but noticeable ‘next’ or ‘continue’ button/link somewhere on each page, which will encourage continuous click movement towards a definite end. It’s like turning a page and taking your visitor on a journey through a story. If you design the site well, they WILL keep clicking and seeing what you want them to see. </br>
    
   
4. Opt-in form. Depending on the type of book or product, you may want to collect emails so you can update your prospective audience. They may not buy immediately but want to stay in touch. You can set up an opt-in email newsletter to share news about the book or general research tips on a certain topic. Other types of capturing attention include displaying a RSS of your blog or a link to your Twitter profile. This is all optional of course, but it never hurts to nurture a following. </br>
    
   
5. Pass-it-on buttons. After going through the content, many of your visitors will want to share what they learned or experienced with others. Make it easy for them to do so by including a simple email-a-friend form or post-to-Facebook-Twitter button on the last page or somewhere on your site. Don’t underestimate their ability to generate word of mouth traffic. Assuming you get 10,000 visitors in a day and 1% of them used the pass-it-on buttons. That’s 100 people. And they may refer a substantial amount of people to your site, especially if some of them are influencers with a large social network. </br>
    
   <li>More copy. I liked the introduction used because it seemed like an authentic artist statement. It’s not snobby or sale-sy and it succeeds in giving the book some gravitas. If you’re selling a different type of product you may have to use a different style of copy. The words you use are extremely important because of the minimalistic set up. The introduction page sets the mood for the rest of the pages so prepare your text carefully.
   </br>
   I like the idea of telling a story but choose what works for you. At the last page, it would be useful to include one or two high profile testimonials. This works very well to seal off the experience. Look at it this way. Your visitor has just finished perusing content and their opinions might not be fully developed yet. Testimonials reveal what others think and tune your visitor towards a favorable perspective.

Such a site is noticeably quite different from a salespage or a blog. Simply put, it’s a distraction-free experience that’s 100% content-focused. But careful. Don’t go overboard with the design. The site should be easily usable and the pages must load really FAST. I cannot emphasize this enough. Slow loading pages built with flash or other unnecessary design elements will result in impatient visitors clicking away.

 

Can minimalistic multi-page slide-style websites work for every product type? Of course not. But I think it works really well for many products and offers. Can this work even if you don’t have your own product to sell? Of course. Affiliates, non-commercial organizations, artists and individuals promoting themselves can use this method as well.

 

The key point is to lead them through your web site towards a result you want. Be it a new subscriber, greater awareness on an important issue or an affiliate conversion. Go test it. It may work better than what you’re doing now.

 

How to Create Successful Product Websites that People Love

 

http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doshdosh.com%2Fhow-to-create-product-websites-that-people-love%2Fhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DoshDosh/~4/QZ8dDkUDMf8

 

View the full article

I think you listed the best method to improve any website to make it earn more money.

 

Ecommerce Developers