The Silent Avatar Speaks

The world of Internet Marketing is a highly competitive place. As a beginning internet marketer there are some basic things you should know about how search engines spider and index your web site. Unless the search engines find your web site and index it, there is no way the general public will know that it is there.

After you have created your web site and chosen the products or services you want to provide, you will be ready to get your site listed with the search engines. When developing your marketing strategy, it is important to include a plan to get your web site spidered quickly. In order to get your site indexed you must let the search engine spiders know you are there in the first place.

You may have wondered if there are ways to lure the spiders to your web site other than manual submission. The good news is that many SEOs recommend the following methods rather than submitting your pages directly.

The best way to get your site spidered quickly is to link your web site to another site that is already indexed, that is related to your site, and that is spidered frequently. Having your site mentioned in news releases, blogs, and so on can get your site your web site spidered very quickly, sometimes within days.

You can also use the more traditional methods of Online Marketing included posting in forums and providing articles for the various article directories. If you choose this route, be careful not to spam. Follow the posted rules, give helpful answers, and do not go overboard on your “sig file”. Private forums are not always indexed, so make certain that the forums where you post display recent posts and are listed in search results.

No matter which method you choose to get your web site spidered, you will need a good site map. A site map lists and links to all pages on your site. If your site consists of over approximately one hundred pages, consider using a multi-page site map. Make certain that every site map page links to all other site map pages. You should have a link to your site map on your home page and preferably on each of your pages. You should make sure your web site pages are simple and free of useless clutter.

Getting your web site spidered quickly is the most important thing you can do to achieve success in Internet Marketing. Using the methods suggested above can be very helpful in getting your web site indexed.

I’m the silent avatar.. and I have spoken

Tags: Internet, Web Design by the silent avatar
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If you’re into Internet marketing then maybe you can relate to to the title of this post….( or am I just being a touch sensitive to others marking shite loads of money straight from the wallets of “newbies”, and anyone else looking … looking …. looking … to make a quick buck? (sorry successful online business).

Let me explain…

My email inbox has been (yet again) bombarded with product launch emails.

If it wasn’t Mike Filsaime’s Traffic Fusion at $1495 (oops $1497) , it’s Rich Schefren’s Guided Profit System (at $2495.. oops $2497), or how about …

Look.. I’m not saying that these “systems” are not worth what they are asking for.. but either people are being crazy and digging deep into their wallets until they hit their credit card/s (Ker Ching),  or I’m just a tad disillusioned with the whole “up the ante lets rake in the money while we can game”.

In the space of 3 years I have seen product launches go from $97 to $497 to now $1497 and Rich’s latest offering at $2497!

Put your wallets away.. there is nothing that these guys can teach you that you can’t find by some diligent surfing of the Internet. Yes.. It may take time, but how about putting that $2497 into a BIG advert in your metropolitan paper and see what that gets you.

How about thinking strategically about where you spend your money for your online business?

How can this money be best spent right at this time to move me towards where you need to go?

$2497?

Think about it… a shite load of PPC! Just monitor your competitors, their ads, and see if the same ad keeps coming up week after week, after week. If it does? Just duplicate it with your own branding. Look.. no one keeps paying for PPC if it isn’t working.

$2497?

How about paying a crack SEO dude to really ramp up your site and get the traffic flooding in?

$2497?

Rent a Billboard for a week (or how ever long it gets you), in the most prominent spot in your city and stick your web address on it and a “tease offer”.

$2497?

How about outsourcing all the stuff you’ve never finished, never got around to, always wanted to add to your website, or have them blog like crazy for you, submit articles, research a niche? Hell for $2497 I could bring on board an outsource from from some far flung land that is prepared to work for months for me for that sort of money.

$2497?

How about hiring a PR dude to get you to speak at a Wealth Building Conference? (not for the faint hearted but definitely doable).

$2497?

For that I could catch a return flight from Australia and knock on Rich Schfren’s door and bug the hell out of him day and night until he sat down with me and talked turkey.

Now for all those reading who like to spend money on “Personal Development”, I say “You go girl!” (or guy). I am definitely an advocate for learning more of what you need to know about yourself, your self sabotaging patterns, and if you need to pay $2497 to find out what your constraints are then go for it.

Hell..  welt KNOW what our constraints are TIME and MONEY. But I’ll give you the link to shoot on over and sign your self up if you really want to…

You can do it here: https://ssl2.strategicprofitsystem.com/gps/

For $2497 I could get a one on one with someone like Rich Schefren for .. hmmmm.. maybe an hour or two.

Do you think I would pick his brains to bits.. do you think I would tell him what I want to do and then ask him “How do I get there”.

Do you think I would have a list of questions..take a recorder… video… do the whole shebang (and even take ‘em for lunch is that’s what was required?)

But you know what?…..

Do you really need to know what you don’t know?  Or … do you just need to know that you don’t know, and get someone who to find you the information you don’t know?

It reminds me of a story I read once.. it was about the guy Ford.. (you know the one.. the guy who made the first car.. the “Model T”). The story goes like this…

Henry Ford (congrats to those who got it right), wagered a bet with a friend that he could answer any question his friend put to him and get the answer right.

The friend accepted the challenge, and up for grabs was a considerable amount of money…

The friend asked him the question (insert your own wildly insane, hard as you can, bet you don’t know the answer question ’cause it doesn’t really matter what the question was he was asked).

The point is this…

Henry Ford picked up the phone, called his personal assistant, told him the question, and said get back to him with the answer.

Touche! Mr Ford!

Did he NEED to know the answer? No.

All he needed to know was how to find the answer, and he only had to pick up the phone and he had his answer. Do you get it?

You work hard for your money.. damn hard. Make it work for you, and stop making others wealthy, because now you know.

PS. This post comes with a disclaimer. Rich Schefren is the only man who I have got up at 4am in the morning to join a live video seminar he was hosting. The man’s a legend. However  he relies on people not to think about what else their money could buy. His list is so big, his contacts so far flung, his wealth (well.. I’ll leave that alone ’cause we know he’s not short of a dime) that he has at his disposal people just like Mr Ford had.  In a nutshell he has gotten rid of his constraints to building a successful business by finding out what he needs to know and then getting others to do the groundwork for him. How on earth do you think he manages to conduct workshops, teleseminars, run Strategic Profits, do product launches, and the thousand and one other things this guy does?

$2497 for the Guided Profits System?  Now it’s a choice not a “must have”.

I say.. Ease up fellas.. our wallets are not that FAT (and I’m not about to make yours fatter).

Of course, if you agree or disagree you comments are always welcome

Sphinn

Tags: Advertising, Business Tips, Internet Marketing, Online Business, Promotion and Marketing, Web Design by the silent avatar
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I’m talking web image here ( not personal image)

As someone who designs websites a significant portion of my time is spent on the Internet.

Through scanning thousands of websites, will the sole purpose of looking at the site from a designers perspective, I’ve come to know a good image from a poor image and downright %^$# awful images.

Images are the first thing the eye is drawn to, and a website with lots of graphics is encouraging to form an opinion about the website just by viewing the images.

The use of images sets the “tone” or theme of the website. We’ve all seen websites which are bright and colourfully presented, and other websites which are dark, and very business like.

We’ve also seen our fair share of “home-made” websites, produced by what I call web “hobbyists”.

These crudely designed works of art (yes.. they are a creation of their author) , brings to mind how many people haven’t discovered Joomla! or Drupal CMS websites. These “hobbyists” sites just make me cringe.

Often times I have seen a great product image, but completely lost in amongst a haze of a dozen different fonts, and hideous blinking banners and guest books.

Anyway.. that’s getting a little off track… Images.. ah yes…

Good images convey the intent of the image.

If the intention is to show a good product image, it should be a great product image.

Take into consideration how the image presents from a site visitors perspective.
Does it “sell itself”?

Consider a suitable size of the image.
Consider the size in context to its surrounds.
Consider the impact of the image
Is it too big or too small?

Consider editing the image in something like Photoshop, where you can enhance the brightness, contrast and sharpen the image so it is crisper.

Consider the background of the image. Does it detract from the subject (like a product), or does the background enhance the product or subject?

If using product images are the images all the same size and is the subject centered? Images which are taken without considering uniformity in the site presentation produce sites which are a bit “higgledy piggeldy”.

These are critical issues you need to consider when taking photos to add to a website.

An image really does speak a thousand words…

It tells a site visitor if they are dealing with a professional, the images portray the “tone of the site”, they evoke emotion in the site visitor, and Text Images can instruct site visitors what to do and a way which engages them with the site.

Great images don’t just happen (unless you are on a sunset beach in the Caribbean each day) – they are planned. And if you have a product plan to sell your product in the best possible way, with the best possible image.

Having said that…

How many words does a video speak?  Yep.. and that’s where we are heading. Though images will be around for a while.

have a good look at your website and consider some of the points I have offered when next looking at your site. You may find with a few changes in images, your whole site can take on a new look and a new “vibe”.

What do you think?

Tags: Web Design by the silent avatar
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I’m sure you’ve heard about people who have “IT” – that something which makes them stand apart from the rest. Sometimes the “IT” is almost indefinable, but whatever “IT” is we all would like a piece of it for ourselves.

This “IT” is that undefinable something that is alluring, almost magical about the person which draws you into their space, and makes you happy to be there.

The same can be said about websites.

Only after much learning I have determined what makes a good website, and what makes a great website defines for me the “IT” factor.

When I come across a website with “IT”, invariably the site has all the components of a website which makes you come back again and again.

It takes time to know how to define “IT”. I’ve spent thousands of hours looking at websites, and diving into Internet marketing circles, following those who have “IT”, and discovering how they translate their “IT’ to their websites.

If you look at enough successful websites you too will get to know elements which encompass a successful website.

These elements (and they are simple), greatly enhance the chances of establishing customer (or reader) loyalty.

So just what are these elements?

Keep reading and I will reveal all.

1. Top of the list is a way to capture email addresses.
Whether you have a sell a product, information, or offer a service no website is complete without offering a way to capture email addresses. There are many ways you can capture email addresses – offer newsletters, product updates, free reports, competitions, upcoming product launches, notification of “specials”, free giveaways (products). Start looking at successful webistes and see what they do to lure visitors and always offer a way for your subscribers to unsubscribe.

2. A Blog
A blog is a great way for your site visitors to get to know you. Keeping the blog topics relevant to your site is a way to share information about your particular niche. It’s also a great way to add content to your site and keep Google happily indexing your site for new content. Comments posted by visitors are also a great way for them to communicate questions and add to your content.

3. Newsletter
Successful sites offer their visitors the opportunity to keep abreast of what is happening with their business. It’s not hard to put together a newsletter which contains information about your site. It doesn;t have to be a long drawn out newsletter. In fact, with most people being time poor, newsletters which omit “waffle” are appreciated by us all. Writing about your services, tips, advice, and the like will keep your subscribers in contact with you and continue to build relationships.

4. Great sites give things away for free.
Creating a relationship requires you to instill trust in your site visitor. Giving away something free enables your site visitors to get the “warm and fuzzies” about you and your site. Offer quality information, free products (if you can), in fact anything which relates to your niche enhances the perceived value of what you are giving away.

5. Tell-A-Friend
Give site visitors the opportunity to Tell-A-Friend. While visitors are on your site they may find information which they feel would benefit a friend. Make it easy for them to tell their friends about it. Personal recommendation is the best recommendation and using this method allows you to grow your business virally.

6. Their websites are professional.
Credibility starts with your website. If you are intending to present yourself as a professional, then getting a professional looking website is a must.

7. Offer video (or at the least audio)
Video is a great medium for engaging your site visitors in a more personal way. Broadband is becoming more mainstream and using video to present products, show “how-to’s”, or even to introduce yourself goes a long way to putting a face to what really is a faceless medium.

8. Contact details or help desk
So often I go to a website and the contact details are non existent, or worse I have made contact and no one responds (even after repeated attempts). No matter how good the product or service or information you offer, be prepared to offer support for your site visitors when they need it. Lack of support for your customers can seriously damage your online efforts. Remember the relationship with your site visitors doesn’t end with the purchase.

9. Successful websites network with others.
Sourcing a Joint Venture parture is one of the quickest wasy to grow your business. I’ve included an ebook to download on Joint Venturing which is worthwhile reading.

JV Givewaway Secret Special Report.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to post.

Enjoy!

Tags: Hot Off The Press, Web Design by the silent avatar
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