by Vince on September 15, 2008
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I’m one of those guys that has a hard time coming up with fresh content for his blog (at least something that hasn’t been regurgitated several times already, that is). It can be even more difficult to put together a good form of linkbait for readership or for viral promotion on Reddit, Digg, etc. Yahoo Answers has been a godsend when it comes to this. You want to know what people are asking? This is one of the perfect places!
I’ve been coming here for the last couple of months gathering ideas for my clients’ social media campaigns and it has been a goldmine not only for gathering new ideas, but actually getting the answers/content that I need. Now, I don’t know much about triathlons (I know from looking at my social profiles that this blows you away), but I can find the answer and help I need here. I could create a simple “How to” checklist for running your first marathon or using a numbered list and say “10 Unforgettable Items for Your First Triathlon“. I have a good deal to start with using JUST this page:
- Checklist (basic items such as bike, swim cap, wetsuit, water bottles, etc)
- Bucket & Towel to wash feet after the swim
- Dry Socks (for after the swim)
- High-Carb meals 1-2 days before the meet to avoid muscle cramps
- Practice your transitions (i.e. swim-to-bike, bike-to-running)
- Food & Water (high-carb bars, energy goo, recovery drinks)
- Encouraging note to self (many answers included creating a positive mental attitude)
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Technorati Tags: brainstorming, content creation, social media, viral marketing
by Vince on August 6, 2008
Thanks to ChrisG’s post on finding post ideas when you’re stuck, I headed to the DP forums for some juice and found this little nugget:
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=814856
Smitts has $5,000 to spend on his 2 websites and is curious on what to spend it on. Up until this point, he mentions he has spent his marketing budget on the following:
- PPC
- Blog Posts
- Social Networking (mentions he built up the network within each site himself)
- CPM
- Yahoo Directory
He’s had little-to-no success at this point and wants to determine where to go from here with his much larger budget. The discussion gets somewhat heated and everyone seems to have their own opinion, but it all really just boils down to people recommending SEO, PPC, Social Marketing and the like.
I asked around (mind you, my Plurk account is no doshdosh or problogger) and it seems people are recommending things more like design & content, which is what I agree with. I believe it’s important to focus on usability and customer interaction before you start considering where to get links and what blogs/social sites you should promote yourself in. A design from this guy would do you well and would help reach you clients in a way that you may not have thought about on your own. There’s been plenty of regurgitated blog posts on design and I don’t know a thing about it, so I’ll leave it at that.
Content is going to be great benefit to you in both the short and long term of your marketing campaign. Content is not only just great for Google’s spiders, but it’s great for getting new links (if you’re focusing on writing quality content, of course). Jim Boykin did a great post a while back on creating content pages for the sake of link building that is a must read.
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Technorati Tags: content, link building, marketing budget, seo, social media marketing, Web Design
by Vince on July 15, 2008
As someone who has been doing SEO for about 6 years, but who just recently left his job to do it full-time on his own, I would like to share with you some of the keys to my success that has gotten me to where I am today. I realize that each individual may experience different situations than myself, but the concepts are similar and still helpful.
1. Get the Results
In order for you to promote yourself and get people to trust you, they need to know that you can deliver! Hopefully, at this point you have your own websites on the side that you have generated rankings for…use those as your examples when sending out your credibility email to potential clients. I found, in the very beginning, even showing clients that I ranked websites for long-tail words, they still seemed impressed. There’s a couple things you can do here to quickly build some credibility:
- Do some pro bono work - Don’t have any clients yet? Offer to optimize and market someone’s site for free. Local companies are perfect for this! You can easily get a local shop ranked for their specific keywords and spend very little capital and/or time in doing so.
- Trade - One of my personal favorites! Find local companies that offer services and/or products that you are interested in and pitch the idea of doing SEO for trade. My wife loves massages, so we found a local day spa in the area and helped them get ranked for their locally-related keywords. It worked out great for the both of us (especially my wife). I’ve also been offered trade for family portraits, karate lessons, gym memberships and more…easy to do and a double-benefit for you.
- Promote a Friend or Co-Workers Blog - In this time of social marketing, it’s simple to help out a friend with their individual website or blog. BOTW’s blog directory is still cheap and highly effective, as well as other high-quality directories that you can post to for free or for a minimal price. You help out a friend as well as yourself with experience and further credibility.
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Technorati Tags: build seo clients, networking advice, seo business, seo business tips, staring seo
