October 1, 2008 by ian
Landing pages are a great way to generate sales from pay-per-click ads and e-mail campaigns. Folks click the ad and get a page tailored to their exact needs: You get more conversions, the customers are happy. Unless, of course, your landing page sucks. A few tips to make an instant improvement: Remove unnecessary fields. If you're getting signups for an e-mail newsletter, why do you need their mailing address? Or their phone number? Remove those fields and your conversion rate goes up, I promise. Make a clearer button. For whatever reason, the Big Red Button works better than the little…
Continue Reading 14 Instant Landing Page Upgrades »
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September 29, 2008 by ian
President Bush could have seen his bailout package passed two weeks ago, by a clear majority. But he spoke to the wrong audience. His audience was not Congress. His audience is American citizenry. If he'd thought about that, he might have said: "This bailout will reduce foreclosures because banks will have more money to lend. You'll get to keep your house." Instead of: "GAAAAAAAAAAH pass this right away OH MY GOD THE SKY IS FALLING HELP HELP?!!!!" Persuade the voters, and they'll persuade Congress in short order. The message the President chose came off as him getting his cronies…
Continue Reading 5 Tips To Make Sure You're Speaking to the Right Audience: Congress Bails on the Bailout »
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September 11, 2008 by ian
Disclaimer: I'm a Marketing Sherpa Affiliate. I was not paid for this review. But if you buy the book from this link I will get a bit of cash. Pretty please? I re-read this book every year, and make most of my staff read it (or at least try to) as well. There are plenty of books out there that talk in broad generalities about internet marketing. They say great stuff like 'Write great content' and 'Offer value to your visitors'. Duh. The Bad First, this book is HUGE. I would've ruptured a disc lifting it if they weren't already…
Continue Reading Book Review: 2008 Landing Page Handbook »
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September 6, 2008 by ian
It Costs WHAT?!!!!! I'm tired of hearing that. Budgeting your internet marketing project may seem like a crap shoot. But I can simplify things for you: If you're building a new site, expect to spend 2X that amount again in the year after the site launches. Unless you want it to sit there, all alone, with no traffic. If you want a site built by a single untrained individual who 'learned how to use Dreamweaver', expect to spend less than $2000. Also, expect to build a new site within 3 months. If you want a site built by a 5-10…
Continue Reading 10 Rules for Setting Your Internet Marketing Budget »
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August 22, 2008 by ian
People will copy your web site. Why? I don't know. Laziness, stupidity, whatever. You can check occasionally by doing a quick search on Google: Copy a sentence from your web site. Something that won't show up on many other sites. Go to Google.com Paste the sentence, with quotes around it, into the search box. Click 'Google Search' If you see other sites that say the same thing, have a quick look. I did this for my own company site today, and lo and behold: Some pimply-faced Eastern European teenager decided to copy my site between porn viewing sessions. Here's their…
Continue Reading Use Google to Find Copycats »
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August 7, 2008 by ian
SEO. PPC. Social Media. Pagerank. Link authority. What the hell? If you're not an internet marketer, here's a list of terms so that you can translate what someone like me spouts at you in a caffeine-induced rush. This isn't a comprehensive internet marketing glossary. Just the terms we'd probably use without thinking about it. Print this list and hang it next to your phone: A-list bloggers. aka A-listers or Those Miserable Buggers (when I'm feeling jealous). All those writers who dominate the Technorati rankings (see Technorati, below). Getting a nod from one of these folks can mean exponential growth in…
Continue Reading 33 Internet Marketing Terms You Should Know »
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August 4, 2008 by ian
Yup, I'm back! Had a great vacation, and as always spent time wondering if my office would still be there when I returned. Of course it was. I have a great team. You can build a great internet marketing team, too. Not by saying "I need a developer" and "I need an SEO expert". That'll get you something resembling an Edsel, only less functional. Instead, make sure you have a few folks that fit these basic internet marketing zodiac signs: The Muskrat The Muskrat is the ultimate generalist. This person understands both the technical and the marketing side of internet…
Continue Reading Internet Marketing Zodiac: Building the Perfect Team »
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July 9, 2008 by ian
You can improve your web site as a business asset if you've got 3 hours a month for some basic internet marketing. "But Iaaannnnnnnnnn I just don't have any tiiimmmmmeeeee...." It's true. You're busy. You've got stuff to do like answering e-mails, answering phone calls, checking out that YouTube video someone just sent you or otherwise giving in to the information tsunami. Or, you can unplug your phone. Close your e-mail software. Put a little egg timer on your desk. And do this 3-hour internet marketing tune-up. If it doesn't improve your results, I'll quit eating Kit Kats for a…
Continue Reading 3-Hour Internet Marketing Tune-Up »
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July 1, 2008 by ian
Toyota has a social network for people nuts about their cars. Since I've already built my own Prius web site I figured I'd sign up. Here's the form they threw at me: I don't think so! If you want folks to sign up for a social network, where they will do the work, they will create the content and they will support the community, ask for their e-mail address and a password. Get the rest of the information later. Otherwise it feels like you're going through passport control...…
Continue Reading How NOT to Design a Signup Form: Toyota »
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June 27, 2008 by ian
I went and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night. It was bad. Awful. Root-for-the-army-ants-because-they-might-end-the-movie-sooner awful. Seeing a great old franchise turned to so much stinking manure me to thinking about some old things that do still work for us internet marketers: Blogging Carnivals. I always seem to forget about this, but if you want to build links and network with like-minded folks, blog carnivals are fantastic. Try BlogCarnival.com if you want to see what it's like. Very little involved in getting started, and the payoffs are enormous. Pay per click marketing. Yes, it's more…
Continue Reading 8 Old Internet Marketing Tools That Still Work »
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June 16, 2008 by ian
In internet marketing, following the crowd, even if they’re successful, can get you in trouble. A Little Introduction [Skip to the next section if you don't like to read background stuff.] How many people here grew up on the East coast? (Ian raises hand) How many people heard this quote from their mother, father or grandparent? If your friends [insert stupid act here] would you, too? (Ian raises hand) Mine typically involved the Brooklyn Bridge or Empire State Building. They’re big, gravity is a harsh mistress, and generally my parents though it’d make me stop and think. Cough. In the…
Continue Reading If Your Competitor Jumped Off the Brooklyn Bridge, Would You? »
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June 13, 2008 by ian
I hate seeing these: It’s a waste. You put all that work into creating a great site. Someone makes a mistake like mis-typing a page name, or they click a bad link on someone else's site, and you drive them away with the internet equivalent of a wagging finger. By the way, this is a competitor’s site: A marketing agency that claims to offer internet marketing. Why am I not a multi-millionaire? You can have a much friendlier ‘page not found’ page - also known as a 404 error page: It’s easy: If you can create a plain, static HTML…
Continue Reading How To: Create a Great 404 Page Not Found Error Page »
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June 11, 2008 by ian
Internet marketing is better at keeping the ball rolling, business-wise, than any other medium. I swear, this diagram will make perfect sense by the time you’re done reading: Step 1: All Marketing Starts With Discovery You start marketing your product or service when someone discovers it and assigns a value to it. I’m not talking about dollar value. I mean the kind of value that says “This won't end up in the attic a week from now”. Online, discovery happens through search engine results (paid and organic), social media, e-mail marketing, referral and other methods. It works if you know…
Continue Reading How Internet Marketing Keeps the Ball Rolling »
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June 6, 2008 by ian
It's Friday. I'm burnt out on Web x.0, Moo! and all the other drama du jour. So I'm heading back to internet marketing basics. If you're a beginner at all this, or need a refresher, read on. What are the big vehicles in internet marketing these days? Where can you get traffic? What should you ignore? Here's my list: Unpaid (Organic) Search Engine Results Depending on who you ask, search engines generate anywhere from 60-75% of all traffic online. I'm willing to bet lunch that it's closer to 85%. Stop 10 random people on the street. Ask them how they…
Continue Reading Internet Marketing Basics: The Players »
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