Welcome Fellow Internet Marketers,
This post is long. I'll apologize in advance. On critical topics such as why Google does what it does, you want a complete marketing picture in an effort to spare yourself these mistakes. Please note: on all of my marketing blogs, my goal is to do 1 thing. Give you content you can use to make a solid business purchasing decision.
Top Rule For Solid Marketing
My top rule for solid marketing with all of my marketers is to only share the methods I directly use.
Check out the resource here if you like:
http://tinyurl.com/2dthu69
"Google Had 100,000 Marketers Shut Down"
I cover what marketers did... and I tell you why these marketers were stumped. The goal is to show you what NOT to do.
HINT: If you're not doing a thorough job of really looking out for consumers' best interests... and you've gotten too focused on bottom line $$.
To Avoid The Google Sting
To avoid the Google Sting, I pull in differences between white hat and black hat marketing because it's what altered the way Google works now. I've talked about how these styles of marketing differ
in prior posts on my home-based business blog. You can find that blog listed below my signature for further reading.
White Hat and Black Hat Marketing Conduct (Ethical VS. Unethical Practice)
White Hat -- is what it says. We hope that it's pure marketing. It involves giving major search engines what they want. It means giving people 3 things: 1) relevancy by search, 2) content people can use so that they can make solid buying decisions, and 3) a happy shopping experience that is valuable. So it's about getting your biggest bang for your buck.
Black Hat - Is what it says. I call it shortcut marketing and it doesn't consider anyone else involved online. It's brutal. It means cloning websites, stealing content without permission, taking other's commissions, lying, and more. You get the idea.
In an effort to position yourself for very profitable business, you should not resort to this form of marketing. I tell you why below:
1) These folks will say that you don't need a website so here's the full story by looking at this issue from a true and false perspective.
TRUE: From the perspective -- if you're new and don't yet really understand online marketing, you can use an affiliate website that promotes someone else's product/service. That's a starting point. It's not where you want to permanently live.
FALSE: From the perspective -- if you're going to be in this business profitably for the long run, you must eventually obtain and operate your own website.
Here's why website ownership is more true than false.
Consider e-business. Think about how it should work if we're all in need of solid, repeat business. Doesn't it mean giving people what they want without exceptions? Doesn't it mean always finding better ways to deliver quality asap? Then you already know what's involved:
1) Those who say they have Mastered Google Adwords will tell you otherwise. They'll try to lead you down some thorny path by stating, "you can make heaps of monthly revenue with this source alone".
The white hat marketers tell you..., "You should know what's involved before you take this plunge...you should have many business alternatives..., and you should have multiple marketing plans just in case one plan unexpectedly heads South."
What black hat marketers don't tell you is -- Google saw this trend for what it was -- lots of money-making without satisfying real consumer needs. Some call this grey marketing. It can fall somewhere in-between white and black marketing. To me, it's just poor business that can never be rationalized. In the end, you're shooting yourself in the foot.
2) Those who think or tout that you can achieve major success by tricking the search engines may not be fully aware of the dangers involved..., or they're simply thumbing their noses at any authority.
I run into this latter mindset all the time and it's frustrating.
Don't fall for this marketing at all. It will only lead to heavy fines and a closed business.
NOTE: Those who support black hat marketing are interested in moving a product supporting a win-lose model. I call it a zero-sum model where you pay but they win at your expense. NICE.
Learn the accurate way:
http://tinyurl.com/2dthu69
Why is "tricking Google" a bad idea?
If you're new -- these are mere marketing gimmicks designed to move a product or service not necessarily serving you.
In all things, whenever you have a question regarding a purchase, you should be able to get all of the facts right away without "silence", "partial information", or "the truth distorted".
Enter Internet Commerce
In early days of Internet commerce, we had plenty of poor marketing going unnoticed. People were making gobs of money by tossing up some banner ad, offering something totally unrelated on the back end..., and yes...consumers were not happy. That's irrelevant search and seizure of your hard-earned moolah.
Now... with Google being the top search engine, it wants 3 things:
1) Give consumers an easy search and trustworthy shopping experience (based on the things they really want), and 2) get relevant content offered at a decent price offering unbelieveable value.
In the past 8 years, the Internet has evolved even further. It's far from perfect, and while Google doesn't possess every answer in the Universe, they want to make sure consumers get their value in timely ways.
Add FTC 2010 Regulations
The earth-shattering news under FTC rulings for 2010 basically stated that on any website, you had to have privacy policies listed.
* You had to tell people how their information was being used
* Network marketers had to disclose annual earnings to an inquiring public (amongst those who might consider MLM entry)
* Those who would pull in affiliate marketing online had to do these things -- 1) tell people "if you click on this link, I get paid a commission", ) in all of their e-mails, consumers needed to have a clear ability to opt-out (ask for no further e-mails please) at any time they chose to leave.
You've probably had those experiences where you couldn't get out of "Hotel California" for any reason, and if you're like me, I strongly dislike being a member at any website telling me that I can't leave for whatever reason.
What the FTC Did
This was a needed change. First, the FTC shook up network and affiliate marketing (industries) by challenging marketers to "knock off lying". They were doing this by using testimonials people had not knowingly offered permission for use..., and worse, they were cutting/pasting random testimonials they hadn't directly generated themselves (by obtaining permission from consumers they had worked with inside of a campaign (moving products/services).
Results of Black Hat Marketing (With White Hats Tossed In)
1) It booted many unethical companies out the door
2) It got some to shift their business models in what one might hope as being more ethical
3) It forced large numbers of merchants out of business.
So here's the interesting part. I bet you're someone who's very amazing. Here's why. It's not a coincidence that you're here reading this message. I'll bet you belong in the best of inner marketing circles otherwise you wouldn't be reading this post. Pat yourself on the back. Better times for you are coming!
Well now you do. There are more of us who want to do the right thing.
And..., for those of us in white-hat marketing had a tough go of things appearing unequal. We clapped our hands because we were offering what the consuming public and Google wanted (relevant content + a website that was direct and transparent + prices on products/services people hugely valued). Even then, some of us were still getting slapped.
What was the major problem with a lot of "low quality marketing"?
Guru's were taking people's money for very little in return. They were doing it at network marketing levels, and they were doing it at affiliate levels.
Here's a Universal rule worth remembering and I talk about the Golden rule in all of my blogs (see also http://bb-home-based-business.blogspot.com).
In all things, whatever you put out there for better or for worse, it will all come back to you in it's exactly form.
NOTE: Some online marketers went as far as marketing "data entry", "acai berry", "get paid for google ads", and more.
There is a major shift underway in many Internet realms of business.
Shifting Rule #1: You can't have unethical intentions
If you recall, I mentioned that 100,000 affiliates were booted out the door. This major "baseball bat of a Google slap" included major network marketers and affiliate marketers.
"100,000 GOOGLE ACCOUNTS HAVE BEEN SHUT DOWN!", (Kyle & Carson, Wealthy Affiliate).
Sure, this fact has angered a lot of people..., but no one ever was a real victim when they touted that anyone should circumvent Google. This search engine has seen every trick in the book.
There are some who say, "Don't play in the Google pond". That is true if you're not ready for this search engine. Alternative idea -- start elsewhere. You have Yahoo (Bing) and MSN.
http://tinyurl.com/2dthu69
The Deal With Google Adwords
Now..., the deal with Google Adwords (just putting ads up at Google) meant many were becoming very successful with Google Adwords while they were marketing plenty of tricks. Consumers could see this reality for what it was -- veil thin rubbish but not until they had spent their last dollar.
Did these marketers focus on really helping people? You could say "yes" and "no". In all things, business should be about pure intentions.., but the golden road called success was rarely ever paved with pure intentions. No more. "Google saw this trend as market shares dwindled", (Kyle & Carson, Wealthy Affiliate) .
"Why should Google let you promote your "promo" site alongside their natural search results high in quality?", (Kyle & Carson, Wealthy Affiliate). What this means to new folks is that Google happens is talked about more often than Yahoo or MSN because many marketers know that Google attracts the heaviest traffic (inquiries potentially leading to purchasing). A lot of advertisers were losing through Google core business.
You may or may not be in this boat. Many ethical marketers were hit hard.
Enter Wealthy Affiliate
I'll talk about Wealthy Affiliate University, the world's largest interactive forum and Internet marketing learn realm.
Whether seasoned or new, the site owners in this place did NOT get slapped by Google because they knew that relevance (meaningful content people could relate to and identify with) was key.
Marketers online talk in terms of "conversions" (where people opt-into (get) something you give them in exchange for following your newsletter). But...,"for 7 years, being relevant was enough to master Google Adwords and now things have changed", (Kyle & Carson, Wealthy Affiliate).
Website Or Not?
Case in point for having a website of your own -- people who don't have websites are fighting a losing battle because it means that there is:
* No more Google Adwords for you
* No more article marketing
Promotion of the idea that you should have your own website will always be emphasized. This was true in 2002. It was true in 2007. It will be true today in 2010, and beyond.
I'll tell you more about Wealthy Affiliate --
* There's a 3-click WordPress site builder
* There are 1,000's of sites already at Google getting traffic built by using this simple, new system
* It reduces the intensive learning curve by a good 2 years
* It saves you major money, major frustration, and lost moolah.
Shifting Rule #2: You must have a website now to succeed. I have been using WordPress Express since July 1, 2010, and I will suggest the same for you. I've tried other variations at WordPress but none come close.
But.., that is not all you need for your online marketing. Nowadays, you need a website that is ethical and relevant.
Shifting Rule #3: You must offer VALUE in addition to relevance.
This seems simple, but I can't tell you how many business people offline or online miss this boat. Therefore, we need the major search engines to spell it out. This fact won't change.
I mentioned that we had a lot of marketers making money with Google Adwords while they were not offering solid consumer value. This was the final event that broke the camel's back.
There have been ripples moving through article directories (places where marketers submit content for search engine ranking). There have been ripples affecting the other search engines, including numerous advertising platforms.
If being relevant is one thing, then being relevant while offering true VALUE is where the Internet is headed. That's why I'm writing this article.
If you're new, you'll stumble across this crazy idea that you only need a single squeeze page, single page affiliate promos, direct links, and plugs of your own pages offering keyword rich content in this effort to fool Google (by thinking that your site is great enough to satisfy their Quality Score rating system (QS)).
New or seasoned, you must center your marketing campaigns around value..., focus on what your visitors want, look for and help them get the true help they need...even if it means referring them to your competitors!
When you do this, you will become known as the "go to" person so you won't necessarily lose business. Those who are meant to be with you will stay. Those who are not will leave.
As an active publisher at Wealthy Affiliate, rather than offering my visitors sales page after sales page, I write Internet marketing tutorials.
Good News
The good news is that there's plenty of help at this place. If you're willing to ask and interact with others, you can speed up your learning, shorten the learning curve, and accelerate your success in ultimate ways you'd not anticipate as you overcome existing obstacles.
I show you how to avoid any new changes that the search engines and other external parties put in place should your website falls short. It happens to many of us until we learn what's really needed.
HINT: If you focus on complete, rich content...and you do this often, and then place "contact us", "privacy policy", "home", and "about us" areas on your website, you'll have less trouble. You will need to carry those phrases over to all other related pages. Specific keywords from one page to another must appear on each individual website page even though content varies from page-to-page.
Others in this realm of Internet marketing education offer training on how to succeed with Google Adwords. Many there have already learned what Google likes and doesn't like these days, and they are actively teaching this information to all members.
About WordPress Site Builder
It is an express form of WordPress. You have more leverage than a typical WordPress.com (where you can't add plug-in's without offering your credit card everytime you want one). With this site builder, you'll have everything at your fingertips. It is self-hosted..., meaning that you need your own domain name. More along those lines soon follow so stay tuned!
You have the ability to build UNLIMITED sites..., and if you're a new online marketer, you can build these sites in less than one minute using this revolutionary technology.
These WordPress sites are highly sought after. Google loves them, and the other search engines pick up on these sites readily.
Personal Support
I and others here offer you 100%, 1-on-1 support. You must take advantage of it by asking questions persistently. If you get stuck, many of us will be there to directly and "personally" answer your question or concerns.
We will give you timely advice. That's a heck of a lot more than I ever got when I first started 4 years ago. You don't have to "sit in the dark" wondering what some guru sold you, and you don't have to worry about getting the support you need to implement when you bought the golden promise that didn't deliver results.
All questions are answered in a variety of ways:
1) Through an active forum of 10,000 members
2) Through help aids I've mentioned before -- tutorials, videos, and more
3) Through help that is published daily to give you what you need asap.
Greater News
It gets better. You can get started right away. If you join now, many of us already there can help you get a website up and running by the weekend!
You will have to apply yourself. You will want to buddy up and meet people..., check out who's talking to whom, and look at live updates.
You can be well on your way to success sooner than you'd expect. You can have instant, unlimited access to everything offered at Wealthy Affiliate University! Don't become "Google's 100,000 Marketers Shut Down".
http://tinyurl.com/2dthu69
Please know that if you click on this link and enroll, I receive a partial commission. May this day find you well. It is my sincere hope that you've learned something valuable today. I can state that hundreds daily accept this offer...and they do so because they know 1 thing -- they are worth it... and so are you!
Please feel free to post your comments and/or suggestions. If you're having a major difficulty, list your top #3 business concerns and I'll get back to you asap. NOTE: To other website owners, if you pick up content on any of my blogs or websites, please include my name along with that article.
Toasting Your Success Using Proven Online Marketing Means,
B. Brinkmeyer, MBA
Brinkmeyer Enterprises
Ranked #18 out of 10,000 Wealthy Affiliate
http://bb-home-based-business.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
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1 comment:
Barbara
Post was long but needed to be, great information. Im glad I was not one of them. Keep it coming and thanks for all you do.
Shellie
http://www.shellies.myhomefortune.com
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