HUGE State-Of-Traffic 2008 Analysis Issue
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Hello,
Marlon here.
This is a HUGE issue on what's working and what isn't in
terms of traffic to your web site.
I highly recommend you take the time to print and read this
article. Today's article:
“Web Site Traffic — Marlon's In Depth Analysis of What's
Working and What Isn't In 2008
Subtitle: The 5 major traffic sources reviewed and analyzed
in light of current developments and changes.”
See announcements below for an update on the coming Red Factor
conference call.
Also, see the note if you bought Matt Bacak's offer I emailed.
Post this issue on your blog or pass it along. This is quality
content. But it has “potty” words in it the email filters don't
smile on. So if you're getting this, consider yourself fortunate!
Marlon Sanders
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Marlon's Marketing Minute
Electronic Newsletter
http://www.promotemarlon.com
Vol. 3, #13, April 19, 2008
******************************************
This issue contains:
A. Announcements from Marlon
B. Main Article: “Web Site Traffic — Marlon's In Depth Analysis of What's
Working and What Isn't In 2008
Subtitle: The 5 major traffic sources reviewed and analyzed
in light of current developments and changes.”
C. Marlon's Mini Product Catalog
Brought to you by: Marlon Sanders – Publisher
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Are You Gonna Trade Your Time For Dollars Or Products
For Dollars? The Choice Is Yours
If you're still trading time for dollars, maybe it's time
you get on the products for dollars train.
http://www.productdashboard.com
I've made it as step-by-step, A to Z and no-brainer as I
possibly could.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A. “Announcements from Marlon”
1. Customer Support Issues
Do NOT email us for support. We don't get the emails half
the time. Please use the live chat and support desk. Click
the support link at the top of any of our web sites.
2. Matt Bacak buyers — If you bought the $1.00 offer I
emailed you from Matt Bacak, be aware you WILL go into
monthly recurring billing for his newsletter in the amount
of $29.95 unless you cancel.
I think the newsletter is a solid value. Some of you don't
read. I explained the trial in my email and in the sales
letter. I just don't want you to be surprised.
4. Red Factor Conference Call — For all of you who bought
my special Red Factor re-launch, I will be announcing the
conference call. It'll likely be in 2 weeks.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
B. “Web Site Traffic — Marlon's In Depth Analysis of What's
Working and What Isn't In 2008
Subtitle: The 5 major traffic sources reviewed and analyzed
in light of current developments and changes.”
By Marlon Sanders
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This article reviews the latest developments in
getting traffic to your web site.
I'll try to remove the fluff and just tell you
what's going on.
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1. Social marketing and web 2.0 properties
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This is all the latest buzz. The idea is that you
use web 2.0 sites like Propeller, Tumblr, Squidoo
and others to create mini sites that target key
words.
If the Google gods smile on you, they spider your
site, list it at the top under your key word and
all is well.
There are also clever bookmarking methods using services
like onlywire.com that tag your site in a number of the
sites.
Bottom line? All of these methods are designed to get
you organic seo positioning. “Organic seo” is a term
used to distinguish between the non-paid listings on
left side of your Google search results and the paid
listings at the very top and the right side of your
results.
So you have organic or non-paid listings. And you
have the pay-per-click listings.
Methods, secrets, tricks and techniques for getting
top positions in Google have been around since day one.
I have dozens of pieces of software on my box that
originally were supposed to be the “magic bullet” of
seo.
Now, they're not worth the space they take up on my
hard drive.
These methods DO work. But they also go out of style
quicker than fashion. If you have the money and time
to muck around with a method that may only get you a
year of results, or less, go for it.
I tried creating a bunch of these sites and links and
nothing happened. That means there's a substantial
learning curve.
On the other hand, creating the sites is free. So
your main cost is the cost of buying the know how
and the time to implement the methods.
The best approach is to take the articles you create
for article marketing and spin web 2.0 properties from
them.
Opinion: If you build these web 2.0 properties
or sites with quality, unique content — your sites
will have staying power.
If you outsource your content creation to the lowest
cost bidder, well, keep your fingers crossed.
——————————————-
2. Article marketing
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Article marketing in one form or the other has been
working for years.
It's still an organic seo game.
The current vogue is to write articles and submit
them to a small set of directories that get a lot
of Google love.
The downside is that tomorrow Google could change
its mind. Google is like the proverbial sailor
joke:
“You number one sailor. You number one.”
Then the next day…
“You number ten sailor. You number ten.”
You have no control over fickle Google love.
Having said that, article marketing has worked for
years and will continue to work. For a person on a
limited budget marketing on a national or global
basis, it's a good choice.
If you're marketing locally, I would think local
pay-per-click ads would be a better choice.
A lot of marketers are hiring others to write articles
for them. I have mixed feelings about this.
My guess is that in the long run, unique, valuable
content will get Google love. And run-of-the-mill
content won't.
The current vogue is article spinning where you use
software or services to write variations of your
articles, so you don't submit duplicate articles to
the different directories.
It's a constant cat and mouse game between Google
and marketers. Google started penalizing duplicate
content, so marketers started spinning articles to
avoid the penalty.
The next move is Google's.
I'm not really on board with the article spinning idea
in that it isn't evergreen. However, some view it as
whatever gets traffic this month.
They'll worry next month about what it takes to get
traffic then.
Opinion: Stick to evergreen article marketing methods
and provide the Google gods the unique, valuable content
they request.
If you outsource articles, go for higher quality writers
and vendors who use a brain when they write. My opinion
is that over time, Google will find a way to weed out
mindless, low quality content.
Opinion: If you have little or no budget, use article
marketing.
——————————————-
3. Viral marketing
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Viral marketing is good traffic when you can get it.
But can you get it steadily and consistently? That's the
million dollar question.
Of course, the best and brightest minds can. But what
about people who are less than marketing gurus?
The best method of viral marketing I know of is still
Mike Filsaime's Butterfly marketing concept.
That means you create high quality content that is
given away by others to their list for free. And you
make money from an immediate upsell, or as Mike calls
it “the OTO” or one time offer.
The reason this works is a lot of people will email
valuable content to their list where they might not
email a pitch or offer.
As you'll notice, article marketing and viral marketing
come down to the ability to provide quality content.
The good news is that with Elance and other freelancing
sites, you CAN have content created. The issue becomes
the QUALITY of the content.
The least talented and laziest people will have content
created by the lowest cost bidder. And you don't have
to be a rocket scientist to figure out others may not
want to email low quality, rehashed, brainless content
to their list.
Opinion: Either hire writers who have a brain and use
it or develop some expertise on a specific topic yourself.
If you zero in on a specific topic, it doesn't take long
to learn more about it than most others.
Opinion: Viral marketing has a higher skill level than
article marketing because you have to find people willing
to email your content to their list.
If you have your OWN list, and the content is compelling
enough that your own members will spread the word, then
you've reached the ultimate scenario.
Maybe easier said than done in the days of over-marketed,
over-communicated, over-saturated markets. Still, it's
doable.
Opinion: Getting the software set up and running correctly
isn't a piece of cake. Do you use a stand alone installation?
Do you integrate with Amember or other systems? Which
software? Do you create separate viral sites for each
product? If you use the email feature built into the software
programs, where do you host it?
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4. Video marketing
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One of the latest crazes to hit the scene is creating videos
and uploading them to the video sites.
Software programs like Traffic Geyser (and others) will
handle the uploading part for you.
I know of one marketer getting 200+ opt ins per day from
video sites at no cost. Not a bad deal.
As more and more marketers all rush to use the same method,
Google will undoubtedly show less and less love to
these videos.
Part of the play is organic, meaning that Google has
shown these video sites its love. That love is likely
fleeting…”You number ten sailor.”
However, these sites get a LOT of traffic. So video
marketing is likely here to stay, although the results
will dilute over time.
Matt Bacak is turning his articles into videos and
uploading them. That's a sound strategy that leverages
content in a rational way.
Opinion: Video marketing is here to stay but measure
the results and watch your return on time and investment.
——————————————-
4. Pay-per-click marketing
——————————————-
I hate Google. Sometimes.
They keep turning the screws on marketers tighter and tighter,
even for those PAYING for advertising.
I really wish there was someone else in the game who had
traffic and considered more the interests of marketers.
Unfortunately, Google IS the game. Well, there's Ebay.
But they just put the clamps down on ebook marketing.
So they're following the footsteps of Google.
The good news is the instant traffic IS there and you CAN
buy it. Until Google changes their ever loving mind
again, the game right now is about relevancy. Meaning
the more closely your ad exactly matches the search
term and the content on the landing page, the lower your
CTR (click through rate).
The WHOLE problem and issue with this is it takes away
the advantage you had in pay-per-click to freakin' begin
with — scalability.
Now, the best and brightest minds do find ways to hack,
get around, or comply with Google's whims and demands.
For example, one of my friends found that by selling
ebooks for $17.00 on highly specific topics, he could
get the advantages of relevancy, positive revenue and
scalability.
I think he's onto something. This is the best strategy I've
heard about lately.
Opinion: You can't trick Google in the end. So you have
to find ways to create landing pages that match the search
terms. And then figure out how to scale that.
My personal solution is to try to hire someone. My first
hire didn't work out. I'm going to round two. If you can't
afford to hire someone (perhaps overseas), you'll have to
invest a lot of your personal time and keep your fingers
crossed that in an overnight Google slap your marketing
doesn't fall apart!
Opinion: Stay away from gimmicks, do your best to give
Google what they want and keep it evergreen.
——————————————-
5. Affiliate marketing
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The final option I'd like to discuss is affiliate marketing.
For many years, this has been my chosen method for obtaining
traffic. The landscape has changed in Internet marketing.
Nowadays, affiliates are driven by the launch of the week.
That means you aren't likely to get the continual traffic
you did in the old days.
However, in protected niches, this isn't so. And affiliate
marketing can still be a huge tool for you.
In the arena of Internet marketing, the competition for
affiliates to promote an offer is voracious. Mostly, it's
built on small groups of friends and “inner circle camps”
promoting each others offers.
Opinion: Affiliate marketing is still gold in niches.
If you're in the Internet marketing arena, you better be
ready to run with the big dogs or you won't get much action.
Opinion: Affiliate marketing has a higher skill level than
other methods because you have to network and get others
to take action. The payoffs can be sweet but it's a game
best played by good networkers.
——————————————-
The final analysis
——————————————-
Social marketing — Google loves these sites right now. But
how long before Google withdraws its favor? Who knows?
Article marketing has always worked and still works. Some
of the methods change. Focus on quality content.
Viral marketing — Not as simple as article marketing. But
the basic “Butterfly Marketing” strategy has legs and will
continue to work. Hey, people love free content. The key
here is to have content high enough in quality that others
will want to send it to their list.
Organic seo — The rules change frequently. Are you smart
enough and swift enough to keep Google's love?
Video marketing — Video sites have big traffic. Watch your
roi. Turn your articles into videos and leverage your content.
Pay-per-click marketing — Focus on evergreen strategies.
Find a way to outsource or hire talent so you can scale.
Affiliate marketing — A more difficult game for newbies.
Plays to the strengths of networkers. Still works in niches.
A tough game in the Internet marketing playing field.
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“Marlon's Marketing Minute is copyright 2008, Higher Response
Marketing Inc. All rights reserved.
You have permission to reprint the above article without changes.
Visit my web sites at: http://www.marlonsanders.com
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Here are the products I have to help you in your quest:
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