Web Professor » Content Creation

Where to buy content

Scott — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:38:08 +0000

Hire Copywriters

You can hire professional copywriters to create in your content. These people are in high demand so they cost a lot; The ability to create a compelling story, effective sales letters, or motivating blurbs is a very rare skill that is developed over a long period of time.Â You might think the cost is to much but when you think about the difference it can make when it comes to the effectiveness your sales letter or link bait the cost is quite low. One of my online friends for generic copywritng that I recommend is Cshel she offers seo press releases and seo copywriting.

Craigslist or Problogger

Advertise in the writing gigs section there are many people who will write content for you for reasonable prices. You might have to try several people out before you get a stable of writers you can count on. I have had great luck with this especially when I am looking for writers from a particular region.Â Prices and quality vary widely when get writers from here but often times I only need competent and honest writers not necessarily the best.

As an alternative you can pay to post a job offering on Problogger to hire bloggers.Â I have never done this but Michael “Social Media Consultant” Gray gave a ProBlogger review that was glowing.

Article Writing Contests

People love to win things especially when its for doing things that are easy or they are already interested in. Using instinct can be an affordable way to purchase content or buy links. One website I offered $20 Amazon gift certificates to hear the best stories about their experiences at a local amusement park.Â For just $60 dollars in gift certificates I got content that would have cost me several hundred dollars. An added benefit was the content was personal and passionate since it was about a topic they already loved.

Article Writing Services

I have never used them but there are lots of article writing services out there. Quick searches search engines or webmaster forumsÂ likeÂ Digital Point will turn up many of them. My friends say they can be quite good but just like when your hiring off of a site like Craigslist its a buyer beware market. Remember that anyone can appear to be a big company on the internet so make sure you check their background or only start with a small order.

Paid Article Banks

Some are very professionally run like Constant Content and offer different variaties of purchasing of content. I am dubious though of the upside of buying content thats going to be purchased else where. In a world where someone can amass and republish peoples content you want to be the source of the content inorder to get the full value of that article as it gets scrapped to bits. How is a search engine supposed to decide what publisher is the authority when its faced with several people publishing the same article you paid 20 or 30 dollars for? A better option would be just to buy website content in bulk from me or elsewhere since your likely not going to get any authority for it anyways. Be sure to add and feature original writing to the website using article bank content so you don’t dilute your authority.

111 of the Most Important Spinns on Sphinn

Scott — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:33:39 +0000

The importance of Sphinn can’t be stressed enough. Knowing how to successfully use Sphinn, whats going on in the Sphinn community and whats the hottest Sphinn news is can be the difference between success and failure in the internet marketing community today. To ensure that my colleagues are in the know I compiled the most important articles as judged by Sphinn about Sphinn.

If you ever wanted to know anything about Sphinn the answer is in one of these posts.

Word to the Wise
Sphinn Sucks
OMG Sphinn is the greatest!
Sphinns about the Sphinnerati
Making Sphinn a Better Place
Sphinn Spam
Sphinn Community
Sphinns about Sphinn News
Congratulations You Found the Post Button!

Word to the Wise

If you need help figuring out how to use Sphinn then you haven’t read Sphinn. Many of the top stories are all about how get the most out of the social media darling of internet marketers everywhere. The very best “How to Sphinn” articles as selected by top Sphinners are listed below. With articles ranging from step by step guides for beginners to in depth statistical analysis it’ll be hard to pose a question that hasn’t been answered in this list.

Who’s the top “Word to the Wise” Sphinner? AndyBeard submitted the most articles about how to Sphinn.

How To Get to The Top of Sphinn on Your First Try: Poster: andrewsho – SphinnLink
Become a Power User of Sphinn in 5 Steps: Poster: AndyBeard – SphinnLink
A Very Beginner’s Guide to the Sphinn Network : Tips and Tricks: Poster: floppy – SphinnLink
How to Dominate Sphinn in 4 Easy Steps!: Poster: jeffquipp – SphinnLink
Spurring Discussion (Posts) on Sphinn: Poster: billslawski – SphinnLink
How NOT To Manipulate Social News: A Sphinn Experience: Poster: SlightlyShadySEO – SphinnLink
Is it a sin to Sphinn? yourself?: Poster: JamesDuthie – SphinnLink
Fool Proof Sphinn-Bait Tactics to Reach the Front Page: Poster: Lyndon – SphinnLink
One Week of Sphinn SEO Lessons: Poster: martinbowling – SphinnLink
2,500 Hot Sphinns Reveal Patterns and Trends: Poster: jeffquipp – SphinnLink
Confessions of A Sphinn Vote Begging Whore (Not Really): Poster: AndyBeard – SphinnLink
How to time your Sphinn Submissions Perfectly to Hit Front Page: Poster: cmiddlebrook – SphinnLink
Sphinn: 30 Minutes of Moderating, 7 Common Mistakes: Poster: MattMcGee – SphinnLink
Getting on the Sphinn Front Page: Basic and Advanced Concepts: Poster: SlightlyShadySEO – SphinnLink
Sphinn & The Hidden Value of Social News Bookmarking Immersion: Poster: DoshDosh – SphinnLink
Sphinn, Stumble, Tweet and Drop Your Way Into the New Year!: Poster: TheNanny612 – SphinnLink

Sphinn Sucks

Some people think Sphinn sucks, some people think the people who voice post “Sphinn Sucks” posts suck more. Obviously these deluded people just haven’t seen all the goodness that is Sphinn. Despite their obvious confusion their complaints got Sphunn to make it easier for the Sphinn community to mock them. The top “Sphinn Sucks” Sphinns are listed below so you can begin to mercilessly tease them for their shortsightedness. Now get to work!

Who’s the top submitter of “Sphinn Sucks” posts? scottclark! Good job Scott for bringing these ridiculous claims to our attention.

What the nF? Sphinn adds nofollow!: Poster: TimDineen – SphinnLink
Sphinn Needs A Ho-Hum Button: Poster: bwelford – SphinnLink
If I see one more Sphinn post about BlogRush I think I’ll puke: Poster: Jill – SphinnLink
When Did Sphinn Get to be the Get Rich Quick Article Repository?: Poster: Jill – SphinnLink
Is This the End of Sphinn: Poster: swags2804 – SphinnLink
Please Don’t Ask Me to Sphinn Your Stories (and How to Use Sphinn and Similar Social News Websites): Poster: tamar – SphinnLink
Sphinn.com is basically a popularity contest.: Poster: TannerC – SphinnLink
Doug Heil Hates Sphinn: Poster: onreact – SphinnLink
Why Sphinn Needs a Dumbass Button: Poster: SearchBuzz – SphinnLink
It’s Come to This – Grovelling for a Sphinn!: Poster: Kimota – SphinnLink
Sphinn Hates Nickycakes? A Question of Sphinns Rules: Poster: slightlyShadySEO – SphinnLink
Sphinn is a Dysfunctional Social Network Because Internet Marketers Don?t Understand Social Networking: Poster: lorenbaker – SphinnLink
Is Sphinn Bad For The Industry?: Poster: scottclark – SphinnLink
Sphinn, Mixx and other social sites’ credibility – Voting for vapor.: Poster: scottclark – SphinnLink
Sphinn’s Wisdom: 60% success: Poster: ViperChill – SphinnLink
I am a little offended…….: Poster: promoinnovations – SphinnLink

OMG Sphinn is the greatest!

We know how great Sphinn is but we need to others to realize it. Sharing salacious stories of our enduring love for Sphinn on Sphinn is the only way to do that properly. The most heartfelt and popular examples selected by Sphinners around the world are listed below.

Top finder of “OMG Sphinn is the greatest!” post? SpostareDuro

Best Thing About Sphinn Are the Comments: Poster: incrediblehelp – SphinnLink
Thank you Sphinn & All You Wonderful SEOers: Poster: TheNanny612 – SphinnLink
Confessions of a Sphinn-o-holic: Poster: theGypsy – SphinnLink
People is What Makes Community Sites Different and Why Sphinn is Best: Poster: ANOnym – SphinnLink
Why Sphinn Matters So Much to Me: Poster: northrock – SphinnLink
Happy New Year and Thank You Sphinn!: Poster: SpostareDuro – SphinnLink
There’s Something About Sphinn: Poster: SpostareDuro – SphinnLink
Sphinn – The Social News Site Every Search Marketer Should Be Using: Poster: randfish – SphinnLink
Sphinn Wins Best Search Engine Community/Forum of 200: Poster: rustybrick – SphinnLink

Sphinns about the Sphinnerati

The top Sphinners are important don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. To keep in the know of who the top Sphinners are and the one off Sphinners who appeared briefly on the red carpet that is known as the hot list read on!

Top poster of “Sphinns about the Sphinnerati” ? DoshDosh, a regular Sphinn paparazzi that guy.

Top Sphinners – How Much Are Their Blogs: Poster: DazzlinDonna – SphinnLink
Sphinn – Many Voices or Just a Few?: Poster: DoshDosh – SphinnLink
20 Top Sphinners You Should Know: Poster: DoshDosh – SphinnLink
Top 20 Sphinn Users: Poster: onreact – SphinnLink
BUZZER! Lyndon Climbs Past Danny to #1 On All Time Top Sphinner List.: Poster: aimClear – SphinnLink
In Praise of Sphinn?s One-Hit Wonder: Poster: MattMcGee – SphinnLink

Making Sphinn a Better Place

There is always room for improvement or so the complainers say. Sphinn is a perfect peach ripe and ready to be enjoyed. Despite that these Sphinns are about ways to improve Sphinn. You might find them useful…. for myself.. Sphinn is perfect.

Top Sphinner of “Making Sphinn a Better Place” Sphinns? I’ll have to go with DoshDosh on this one as well.

Desphunn Comments should be Comments: Poster: bwelford – SphinnLink
Hiding the Sphinn Button When a Post Fails to Go Hot: Poster: DoshDosh – SphinnLink
Sphinn Google Gadget: Poster: patrickaltoft – SphinnLink

Add Sphinn Bookmarking To the Share This WordPress Plugin: Poster: BrendanPicha – SphinnLink
Sphinn It Plugin for WordPress! It’s now that easy to Sphinn it!: Poster: imnotadoctor – SphinnLink
The Smartest Sphinn It! FeedFlare ? Now with comments counter: Poster: HamletBatista – SphinnLink
20 Sphinns To Go Hot = 4 Day Old Content On Home Page: Poster: AndyBeard – SphinnLink

Sphinn Spam

Evil abounds, even at Sphinn it can be found in the form of spam. Some of the top Sphinners have been keeping us up to date on the state of spam and how to fight it.

Top “Sphinn Spam” poster? MattMcGee

Sphinn – Deterring Spam Whilst Rewarding Great Stories: Poster: evilgreenmonkey – SphinnLink
Fight Sphinn Spam: Win Cash And Search College Course w Kalena!: Poster: Gab – SphinnLink
Is the BBC spamming Sphinn?: Poster: patrickaltoft – SphinnLink
New Spam Fighting Tool for Sphinn Users: Poster: Michelle – SphinnLink
The Importance of Quality Content on Sphinn: Poster: evilgreenmonkey – SphinnLink
Does Sphinn Allow Infomercials?: Poster: HamletBatista – SphinnLink
Dear Sphinn: We Have a SPAM Report Button, Please Use It: Poster: MattMcGee – SphinnLink
You (Yes, YOU!) Can Help Kill Spam on Sphinn: Poster: MattMcGee – SphinnLink

Sphinn Community

Sphinn is all of us together in a community. Without everyones participation it would just be another link dump site. Thankfully these Sphinns keep us together by bring the news about the Sphinn community direct to us.

Top “Sphinn Community” poster? Its a tie between TheNanny612 and evilgreenmonkey.

SphinnCon North Carolina: Poster: evilgreenmonkey – SphinnLink
SphinnCon North Carolina – 2nd May 2008: Poster: evilgreenmonkey – SphinnLink
Shana’s Sphinn Fairytale, Will You Still Love me if I’m Not on the First Page?: Poster: aimClear – SphinnLink
Are You the Underdog in Sphinn? Where’s YOUR Vote?: Poster: martinbowling – SphinnLink
Guy Kawasaki Chooses Sphinn Stars for Latest Venture: Poster: Kalena – SphinnLink
Sphinners unite! (In the twitterverse): Poster: laurac – SphinnLink
Are You a Sphinn User or a Contributor?: Poster: flyingrose – SphinnLink
The Sphinn Awards Are Coming!!: Poster: theGypsy – SphinnLink
The First (un)Official Sphinn Awards – Day 1: Poster: TheNanny612 – SphinnLink
The Sphinn Awards Part 2: Poster: TheNanny612 – SphinnLink

Sphinns about Sphinn News

People Sphinning about Sphinn features, Sphinn site issues, or just general Sphinn announcements keep us up to date on the latest ways to spend our time. Thank goodness its a job done well.

dannysullivan is the top Sphinner of “Sphinns about Sphinn News”. No surprise since he’s the captain of the ship.

Spam Jail, Desphinns & Other Coming Features: Poster: dannysullivan – SphinnLink
My Network Sphinns, Story Subscribe, Best Of Sphinn & More Coming: Poster: dannysullivan – SphinnLink
New Sphinn Editor Announced, Rob Kerry: Poster: dannysullivan – SphinnLink
Tips On Using Sphinn: Poster: dannysullivan – SphinnLink
Sphinn Wishlist: Poster: dannysullivan – SphinnLink
Dealing With Dupes – Which Sphinn To Kill?: Poster: dannysullivan – SphinnLink
Welcome To Sphinn!: Poster: dannysullivan – SphinnLink
Sphinn Stories By Domain: Poster: northrock – SphinnLink
Desphinn Feature Now Live: Poster: evilgreenmonkey – SphinnLink
New Sphinn Moderators Announced: Poster: evilgreenmonkey – SphinnLink
New Sphinn Feature – Desphinn – Give Us Your Feedback: Poster: Michelle – SphinnLink
Sphinn’s search: Poster: AndrewGirdwood – SphinnLink
The Mighty Desphinn Arrives – Power to the People: Poster: aimClear – SphinnLink
Editor’s Picks on Sphinn? You Decide!: Poster: evilgreenmonkey – SphinnLink
1 to 1 ratio for Sphinn/DeSphinn?: Poster: Gamermk – SphinnLink

Sphinn Profile Updates: who, what, when, where, how?: Poster: planetc1 – SphinnLink

Staring at Sphinns Navel

Self examination is an important part of any enlightened community. Sometimes that means examining things about ourselves in ways that might not matter to an outsider. Thankfully Sphinns about Sphinn, the Sphinners Sphinning, and the world as it revolves around Sphinn are not hard to find. The most important of those are listed here.

The top Sphinn Navel Gazer? Its a tough call but I have to say it has to be johnandrews. The man who has us all Sphinning for Sphinnings sake making many of us question the purpose of our existence.

Has Sphinn Traffic Increased?: Poster: UtahSEOpro – SphinnLink
Banned From Sphinn? No Worries, Your Vote Counts Either Way: Poster: mvandemar – SphinnLink
Front Page Spanning Over 50 Hours… Is The Sphinn Bar Too High?: Poster: mvandemar – SphinnLink
Breaking News: Sphinn Has PageRank: Poster: planetc1 – SphinnLink
Sphinn Now Offering Mutual *&%@ News!: Poster: SpostareDuro – SphinnLink
xposed! Sphinn, Live, Yahoo, Digg, Seomoz, even Google: All Buying Links From fantomaster! ::: Poster: fantomaster – SphinnLink
Seattle SEO John Andrews challenges Sphinn to top 300: Poster: johnandrews – SphinnLink
Gooruze — Sphinn Has Competition Already?: Poster: qwerty – SphinnLink
51 Favorite StumbleUpon, Sphinn, Twitter & Facebook Posts of 2007: Poster: toprank – SphinnLink

Sphinning Out of Control

Sphinn is important, Spinn is serious, its everyones job to protect the Sphinniness of Sphinn. To keep abreast of the latest threats to Sphinn Nation keep an alert eye on the headlines. Sphinners being a vigilant bunch will let you know with a Sphinn.

The number one protector of Sphinn and submitter of popular “Sphinning Out of Control” posts? theGypsy

Thank you, we all feel safer with you keeping the watch.

Gaming Sphinn is not worth it: Poster: theGypsy – SphinnLink
Do You Actually Read What You Sphinn?: Poster: cmiddlebrook – SphinnLink
Network Solutions is Going to Scam Sphinn: Poster: Aviva – SphinnLink
Sphinn: A Dysfunctional Social Community?: Poster: EricLander – SphinnLink
Another Sphinn Spam Rant: Poster: theGypsy – SphinnLink
Can Fake Stories Go Popular on Sphinn?: Poster: ANOnym – SphinnLink

Congratulations You Found the Post Button!

Never let it be said that Sphinners are sparing with praise! One thing we all need is a good pat on the back from time to time and Spinnn provides that. If you can find the post button and submit enough of one thing long enough you can rest assured your perseverance will ber rewarded. I salute you Sphinn for saluting the top Sphinners sphinning their fingers to the bone for you! Who are those top sphinners well their all listed below in the best of “Congratulations You Found the Post Button!” as selected by Sphinn members.

Who is the best “Congratulations You Found the Post Button!” Sphinner? theGypsy tops the list…

The worst? Easily baiduyou.. that guy just doesn’t seem to get it. But never fear baiduyou I congratulate you on your effort!

Congratulations to New #1 Sphinner On Network List: Dosh Dosh!: Poster: aimClear – SphinnLink
Congrats to Marty. 100 Sphinns ‘Gone Hot’: Poster: jeffquipp – SphinnLink
Sphinn drowns in self-congratulation: Poster: baiduyou – SphinnLink
200 Sphinn Submissions – and new friends too!: Poster: theGypsy – SphinnLink
Ian (g1smd) First to Break 1000+ Sphinn Comments!: Poster: Gab – SphinnLink
10,000 Submissions to Sphinn!: Poster: Skitzzo – SphinnLink
Shana Hits 100 Sphinns Gone Hot – Part of the Fab 5: Poster: theGypsy – SphinnLink
Jeff Quipp Hits the 100 Hot Submissions Mark: Poster: swags2804 – SphinnLink

Thank you!

I hope you found the something useful in this list of the 111 most popular Sphinn posts about Sphinn!

Top 7 Places to host Parasitic Pages

Scott — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:07:46 +0000

Are you looking for great places to set up parasitic pages on trusted domains? Of course you are!

Look no further let me give you my top seven recommendations. All of my top recommendations are indexed and poorly policed thus allowing you the maximum amount of time to promote your page.

Bebo.com – Member section
- This place is great for setting up profiles and linking back to the site you need a link to. Seems to stay fairly well indexed and not policed well.
Propellor.com
- Member section Another place were anyone can seemingly set up a profile and link willy nilly all over the web.
Imeem.com
- More member pages being used to spam offers and links to other parasitic pages.
Boards.WebMD.com
- Member Profiles again being used to promote offers. This one is seems especially good to promote pharmaceutical spam since the WebMD name is known and well trusted in the general public.
iLike.com/user
- Hey look at that more user pages that are easy to use to spam! Am I noticing a trend here?
Bloglines.com/blog
- This one is a tough one to fault. The previously mentioned ones I fault the owners for not adding noindex and noarchive the member pages. Bloglines is offering free websites which means editing or noindexing them is out of the question. Still they could do more to police their space. At anyrate until they do enjoy free reign there to promote ehat you like.
Google.com/notebook
- My last but most important pick for places to host parasitic pages….. Google Notebooks! Even if google analyzes and bans the spam from the index the simple fact that its on a google domain is important. You can leverage the trust that the google name brings to promote any offer you can imagine.

Spam Report with a Hidden Secret

For a more complete report of spam I am receiving click here. I suggest you view the linked to spam pages with a text browser or with css & javascript disabled. The pages hidden text and links will be more revealing that way. There is lots to learn that I haven’t mentioned for the curious. HINT: Investigate at the back links for the urls. Do you notice any especially crafty types of parasitic pages?

What is a parasitic page?

Parasitic pages are pages that are set up on domains are trusted and have a high page rank you don’t own for the purpose of:

Getting the pages indexed and a backlink to the site you want to rank well.
Getting the page ranked well and promoting an offer on that page.

FREE BONUS SITE

Digg.com! Yes digg.com believe it or not is perfect. Submit your spam site and target headline then promote that page via automation on a few indexed sites. Since digg is such a high ranking site you only need a few back links to the page your promoting so the effort should be minimal. A little effort and your digg page will be ranking in no time.

Some examples pages:

WARNING: Are you writing about the wrong topic?

Scott — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 04:29:53 +0000

Can you afford to be ignored by your readers? I can’t thats why I consider these two things every time I post.

Writing about the popular topic of the day isn’t usually a good move. After your readers read their 10th post about what every is going viral from sources likely more trusted or qualified than you they are likely to just skip your post. Equally as bad is using old standards to often and adding nothing new. When you write about a well worn topic and add nothing significantly new you squander the attention your readers gave you.

Hot news items burst on the scene but if you are the fiftieth person writing about it in 24 hours what can you add? If you don’t have an important new insight then you should pass. Think about all the press that mybloglog received or blog rush did writing about those topics help you or someone you know? If the writer doesn’t have a particuallarly large readership already its likely the post was ignored.

Equally as destructive to reader attention is writing about old standbys. If you read seo blogs then haw many times in the past have you read a “content is king”, “its all about anchor text”, or “links are everything”? No need to tell me you have read them a lot I know I have to. What happens when you see that topic now? Do you skip it or do you take the time to read it? I know I pass on them unless they are from a particularly great author that I know won’t fail to introduce something new. Its not that you shouldn’t write to all levels of readers if thats what your blog caters to. It just that you need to be aware that if your audience is well seasoned then they are collectively ignoring your post.

Think of these two points every time you post and I guarantee that you’ll increase subscribers.

Really Really Bad Writing

Scott — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:40:30 +0000

Six Things that can make me Totally Think you Really Really are an Idiot!

Use the phrase “really really” to preface something important. I blame the pop culture of the eighties for the really really phenomenon. Regardless you are not a teen blasting Duran Duran anymore so its time to put this to bed. Remember you are a writer not a Hungry Hungry Hippo.
Use the word “very” more than once in a statement to indicate extra importance. Blame it on a the really really American style of writing thats very very bad because we use exclamations for every thing! Try to channel your inner European and use discretion with your exclamations.
Capitalizing words you feel are important willy nilly. Perhaps you’ve written one to many text ads or maybe you really really think Really Bad Writing Is Made Clearer This Way.
No statement as to what the hell your writing about. I get we’re blogging and its kinda sorta informal.. but at least let me know what the point of your post is. Hopefully in the beginning but I’ll settle for the end to.
Totally.. another hang over from the eighties. Stop with trying to sound like your still 16 already and grow up.
Trying to hard to follow stupid rules of writing like these. Slavishly following a formula ( likely from your college textbook ) can make you sound stilted and forced. Keep writing you’ll find your proper voice and read great writing for inspiration

Ahh…. I feel better….

PHP Typo Generation Class

Scott — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 20:50:18 +0000

Needing to target typo’s is a common problem but coming up with lists of them is hard to do. I looked around and there were several good tools out there already but none offered the source code so I could use it in other things. I went ahead and wrote a class in PHP to generate common typos.

Check it out here in the free webmaster scripts section.

Typo Types that are created include:

striking the wrong key thats near your intended key
missing a character when you type
a single transposition error
and entering a key twice

The keyboard I based this one is the type used for American English and the only included keystrike typoes it generates are those that would make valid domain names. One of these days I am going to add typos based on similiar phonetics.

73 things

Scott — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 18:18:17 +0000

73 things I have observed, believed, or practiced in 2005.

Search Engine Optimization is fairly straight forward there are no secrets.
Search Engine Optimization is marred by the fact anyone can discuss online and seem like an expert.
Online Marketing is where its at, and that should encompass SEO
The best blackhat stuff is not detectable by the search engines or people.
If you can’t program or pay someone to program you will be stuck using the same tools as everyone else.
Statistics and math are where its at. There are no fast answers in this business.
I’d rather spend time promoting my stuff than a clients. If I fail its my problem and at least I didn’t have to listen to my client
SEO is not a panacea for not having a product of your own.
Go to a conference its so much better discussing this stuff in person and honestly its more fun.
Forums are the suxors but you need to pick at least one to keep abreast of issues you may have missed.
Just because someone can argue well online doesn’t mean they know jack shit.
If you don’t have your own data to draw your own conclusions then you don’t know anything despite how much you read.
Don’t spend to much time arguing online. Its pointless. Spend that time proving or disproving your ideas for yourself.
If you want to make money with affiliate programs and your just starting out keep making sites. Make them big and small and in between but keep making them till your fingers bleed. Once you have a hundred then go back and see what is the most successful and then spend time on those.
The thing that is in the shortest supply online is creativity.
Don’t be afraid to be wrong and listen to the counsel of those who are honest.
Always try to find the successful mans networks, once you do don’t be an ass and out them just look and learn and if you feel like it warn them how you did it.
Google is not as smart as it seems.
Just because a search engineer is nice, smart, witty and reasonably honest doesn’t mean he isn’t your adversary.
Forums are good for getting clients. Help people out when you can for free and you’ll see what I mean.
What might have been true yesterday might not be true today.
Yahoo and MSN have traffic to send too
Don’t assume everyone knows what you discovered already when you study your stats. Save it for yourself.
Don’t underestimate how much your knowledge or programming skills are worth.
Read a book on marketing from a semi unbiased source. I prefer SCORE and the Small Business Association.
Remember its the world wide web and there are opportunities to be had in oversea’s markets.
Someone thinks you are an idiot.
Someone thinks you are a liar trying to fleece them.
If you charge for something make sure your potential customer knows that up front.
Don’t be afraid to tell someone you want money.
Get some exercise
There are two types of people in search & affiliate marketing, the Amway/Quixtar type hoping to get rich and keeping the faith and the business type which gets results and focuses on analysis, statistics, and sales.
There is always a guru willing to sell you a product to solve your problems.
Don’t be afraid to spend money for information, just try and buy it from someone who is honest and not a cult leader.
Write often, it doesn’t matter if your a sucky writer most people never take the risk of writing in the first place.
If you are a sucky writer get your college texts on writing and read them when you can. If you haven’t gone to college go and take a course in writing
SEO is not a replacement for a business plan
Be suspicious of a search professionals that run a forums, many are trying to build a cult following.
Read a few good articles on pricing strategies to make sure your not screwing yourself.
Initially you are going to fail in business often, make sure that if you succeed it is worth it.
Set goals and timelines for evaluations to determine if you business plans are working.
Don’t confuse business strategies with morality.
Read a book on ethics before you try to discuss them.
Integrity is not something you can get back after abandoning it.
Be honest but remember you are trying to make a sale so don’t give away to much. I know its a tough one to resolve sometimes.
You can’t convince customers they need a solution if they don’t know they have problem.
Don’t try to recruit potential customers by pointing out their problems unless asked.
Put yourself in a position where your customers seek you.
Treat your customers as if they were kings and queens. Its easier to retain them than to acquire new ones.
The cost of inaction is great.
A website, building, computer, or desk is not a business people are.
Luck favors the prepared.
Try your best not to flame people or sites. It does you no good and makes you look bad.
Most people are good.
A business budget, even a rudimentary one is required
Roboform is the coolest.
SEOBook was great I wish I had read it sooner it would have saved me a year or more of reading forums.
A Wall Street Journal subscription will pay for itself many times over.
On the web you can make money off of your mind but its still a lot of work.
I don’t care if you think there is a sandbox, I do and I plan for it so its not a big deal but it would be nice if I knew a way around it.
Don’t build your business on another business’s free services.
Its easier to sell a tangible good than a service.
Books that offer advice similar “Buy low, sell high” are crap. Always ask yourself “Is this to good to be true ?”
A good listener is well rewarded.
I hate its promotional “speak” and hyperbole but I actually found “How to win friends and influence others” useful.
Making a sale is a multi step process.
You have to spend money to learn things. Sometimes that means changing an ad layout on a successful page and losing money you would have made the other way. Sometimes it means buying someones knowledge.
If the web page is red white and blue, has four feet of text to scroll through, has red bold letters with yellow highlights, and has an offer where the seller is giving away $1300 of free items along with his great guide to X think of it as a tribute to the late Corey Rudl and close the page.
A bar full of internet marketers is a funny thing to watch.
Email sucks for real communication.
There is a big play to be made in local search and it doesn’t involve making a local search engine.
Reasonable good graphics can set your site apart from others
Usability and seo sometimes are the same thing

Post 100.. by the way :-)

Writing for full effect

Scott — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 07:05:54 +0000

Just a quick thought and tip.

If your writing your own copy for you ~~made for adsense~~ helpful guide site and feel like your producing the same lame rehashed content as every other site out there…. then mix it up.

Make outragous claims and extremely stupid statements in convincing ways.
Try to be as stupid and as outright crazy as you can be while trying to appear helpful.
Take an assembly of facts and come to absurd conclusions.
Point to astrology or medievil science websites and use them as proof of something.
If your talking about a city, find another landmark in a city with the same name and include it in your write up ( never actually say its in the city just say how its great for a city with the name X ).

It might get you links from people who stumble across your nonsense and point to it as lunacy/entertainment.

Besides its fun.

// added: of course be responsible don’t post information that would hurt someone like false medical information ( I have seen that !!! scum! ) and don’t go so far of the deep end people just click away, you have to be teetering on the edge and almost convincing so that once the reader gets it they feel smart.

PPC Statistics Tool – Bid Stats

Scott — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 04:13:26 +0000

I got tired of checking bid prices on keyword phrases I found via Keyword Curious and so I built a tool to automate the process.

The result was Bid Stats, a program that collects bid price information from the Overture bid tool and compiles useful statistics on each phrase checked. The program will allow you to check up to 15 phrases and tell you the following about the bid prices for each: average bid, minimum bid, maximium bid, median bid, standard deviation, and the number of bids present. The grid format should make it easy to scan the list and note which keywords are worth your time developing content for or bidding on.

I hope you find it as useful as I have.
Bid Stats is here

Thread Hijacking

Scott — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 18:32:26 +0000

Just an observation…

Aaron Wall, of seobook fame, posted a tip on finding linkable topics a last week. After some thought it occurred to me this is the perfect description for the Threadwatch strategy of content aggregation.

Find topic thats already popular.
Post topic and some commentary on the discussion on your site.
Tweak it until it to meet the style of your site.
Watch as you hijack the thread / discussion.

The only difference between Aaron’s description of the technique and Threadwatchs implementation it that Threadwatch is a “real time” strategy.