I just lost a customer. Likely for life…

This neither burns nor bothers me, but it is a lesson in attracting the right market with the right product.

My customer (I actually prefer to call them clients if I must have a name for them) was happier with the content of the old Stampede Secret. He liked the ’secrets’ better (which were widely distributed all over the internet just a few short weeks after Dr. Joe Vitale and I released the report, so they weren’t exactly ’secrets’ after all).

But Don (we’ll call him that) liked the ‘idea’ of immediate traffic, liked the ease of creating and promoting RSS feeds better, liked the fun and hype Joe and I wrote into the report, better.

Does it matter that those old techniques are all but neutered now?

It doesn’t to Don, but it certainly does to me!

What About Your Customer?

Could Your Customer Also Be Looking For A Slice of Hype?

I can’t sleep at night knowing that my heat is paid for by clients purchasing old news. That’s why I took the old Stampede Secret off the market as soon as I saw the techniques didn’t have the effect they once had.

Apparently reality has nothing to do with it.

Some customers are happy to just buy a slice of hype. And no amount of jumping up and down, gnashing of teeth, or showing my stats is going to make a lick of a difference to that type of person.

I was warned. Read the rest of this entry »

Honestly I couldn’t believe the number of people who flocked to MySpace with their online business promotion ideals - making ugly web spaces and creating lists of ‘friends’ that they hoped would somehow amount to ‘worth it‘ in traffic and sales.

I ranted long and furiously about this in another post so I’m not about to get tangled up that negativity again, but you must know this:

“As a writer and tester for the best types of free traffic generation and gaining top search engine ranks, and with a MySpace marketing ebook to sell, I never told you about it. Nor promoted the material. Didn’t even offer it up on one of my top ranking resale rights pages. And I did not share the techniques.”

Why, when I could have raked in a few thousand selling that material? Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of online promotion experts are finally awake to the fact that Web 2.0 sites are now the high traffic hot spots.

These experts have been thinking of, testing, and tracking their ideas and results - and as a result are now teaching their proven techniques. It’s about time, and there’s still plenty of time to promote your site through these channels so don’t buy into any hype about ‘the window of opportunity closing’.

The options wide open to a small business owner are many - the hardest part is pre-determining where your promotion energy is best spent for best results.

Find your target market and get your offer in their path.

Telling you where your target market is, generically, is impossible. That is if I truly want to help (and not hinder) your success. Every market differs. You need to know your market, their interests and passions, and then ‘best guess’ what Web 2.0 website they’ll be hanging out on. Because if you believe me and the research that’s taken me to this point, they’re hanging out somewhere. (More users spending more time online - but not necessarily showing up on our websites to coincide with the research numbers.)

Here is a very simplistic example…you sell a relationship-related product, your market is lonely hearts, they’re hanging out at the dating or singles sites - network (on a free web 2.0 social network site) with your message and gain traffic.

Another simplistic example…you sell truck parts, your market is the young, rural male. When they’re not working on their trucks, they might just be watching online videos (on a web 2.0 video sharing site) - post a few fun clips of 4×4 trucks and gain traffic.

Website Promotion Using Video Sites - YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video…

I’ve been doing this with video for the past year and it works in spades! From one of my online marketing websites (which I’m happy to disclose to the masses, but my niche markets I keep very hidden from prying eyes) I created a 3 minute clip that led to my website and has made me a top affiliate (and now one of only a few partners) for a very popular website building script. That little video has also increased my visitor traffic by about 30% and holding - even after 11 months (March 9, 2006) and even though I only posted that video clip on Google Video. Just last night I uploaded it to YouTube to experiment, test and track the viability of that Web 2.0 site.

At the end of this article I’ll post some of the hottest Web 2.0 video sharing sites today for you to consider.

The question still remains however…is this Web 2.0 traffic technique right for your market?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say “I don’t care what market you’re in, this should drag them in.” Read the rest of this entry »

Search by: Web 2.0, online videos, Google Video, YouTube, Web 2.0 traffic

People are flocking to Web 2.0 sites where the focus is on socializing.

As a known recluse, I’ll tell you my initial thoughts (last year) on this phenomena were a little sad for the state of our world.

“How terribly lonely and unsatisfied people must be in our heartless world that they have to interact with an unknown via a keyboard just to feed their hearts and souls…”

I realize a year later how skewed that knee-jerk reaction was.

People are not socializing just for the sake of socializing!

They’re flocking to those Web 2.0 sites for a purpose other than to connect. Which explains why the market is both male and female.

Sure, some are looking for love on dating sites, but even more are networking for career goals, interacting over hobbies and interests, connecting for intellectual advancement.

I’ve talked about ‘like minds’ before so I won’t get into it again…

We really should be discussing the build of a Web 2.0 site with a socializing focus. The big question is, “Should social networks be primary in their focus or employ other features where the social networking aspect is just one of many attractants?” Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s talk about the main reason social networking and bookmarking Web 2.0 sites have grown in popularity and capitalized on visitor traffic and time. (If you don’t think Web 2.0 sites are capitalizing on the average user’s online time - social networking sites or other Web 2.0 styled sites - you need to see some of the usage reseach reports I’ve been reading! Those stats will blow your mind!)

Why Social Web 2.0 Sites Are So Hot - And Why the Trend Isn’t Going Anywhere, Anytime Soon

You and I are likely very much the same. We look at online time as a time for learning, expanding our marketing reach, and creating new income opportunities. You might, like I, have dismissed the idea of openly sharing contacts, desires, ambitions and favorites online as a passing fad - surely the only thing really worth sharing is research and information!

But you and I are only a small percentage of internet users - a miniscule representation. The rest of the world is finding that creating lists, sharing stories and photos, personal achievements and goals for the future is satisfying their need to connect to the world on a more personal level - and the web is just the place to do so.

I invite you to take a step back from the time you spend online and look to the average internet surfer. Why are they spending more time online now than they are sitting in front of the television? Reading books? Or for that matter frequenting bars, theaters, and the like?

It’s all about the human need to connect, the need to share, and the need for acceptance.

Finding like minds. Read the rest of this entry »