Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Internet Marketing in the 2010s -- The Rise of the Little Guy in Blogging
It used to take years of working your way up the corporate ladder and developing serious social connections to achieve a position of influence in whatever field you wanted to influence. Today, all you need is an Internet connection and a solid understanding of how to market yourself there.

Many bloggers have risen from obscurity to positions of great influence in their market. That only stands to increase in the next decade.

News bloggers whom the big media companies once considered eccentric cranks now erode listeners away from the big behemoths. Similarly, big companies outside the news industry have felt the effect of a negative comment from popular bloggers. "Little guys" have shown themselves fully capable of bypassing the old power structures to have massive influence through their blogs.

That's not to say that anyone and everyone who starts a blog will automatically exert great influence on the world around them. You still need a solid understanding of how to find, attract, and engage an interested market to have any chance to rise to a position of influence in whatever field you have a passion for.

Even getting that understanding of marketing no longer is a big obstacle anymore, though. You don't have to go through the old power structures to get it. You just need to get it online and put it to work for you in building your business.

How can you take advantage of this opportunity? A quirky little blog called John Cow.com offers a free ebook that walks you, step by step, through the process that they have used to build their profits and their influence as bloggers in a number of different niches.

They walk you through all the steps from how to determine whether the niche you're eyeing even has potential for profit, through building your site, through promoting it successfully. It helps you build a profitable blog and an influential position for yourself. And it does all this for free.

In short, you don't have to be one of the "big guys" to have influence in whatever niche you have a passion for. All you have to do is use your passion -- and a bit of marketing know-how -- to build your own audience and become a recognizable name to them. In doing so, you can become a mover and shaker in that field.

I won't lie to you. You don't reach a position of influence overnight. You'll need your passion to motivate you to make the effort it will take to build that position of influence. If you're willing to make that effort, though, the opportunity is there.

Many people bemoan the fact that they didn't get in on the Internet riches when it first started. Those people miss an important fact. The opportunities are still right there.

In many ways, the opportunities are even greater than they were fifteen years ago. The Internet has spurred the development of many tools that didn't exist back then.

Those tools now give anyone the chance to leap past the gatekeepers that used to hold "the little guy" out of any chance of grabbing the limelight. You can use tools, like blogging and the print-on-demand capabilities that I described yesterday, to do things that would have been impossible for you to do in the "Wild West" days of the Internet.

Take advantage of the opportunities that this upcoming decade offers. Those opportunities make it possible for you rise to a real position of influence in the decade to come.
Jeff

Labels: blogging, marketing, predictions

A New Blog
I've been experimenting, the past month with something a little different. I've set up my first WordPress blog for Marketing Secrets Decoded, on which I'll focus specifically on Internet marketing strategies.

I'll also be opening that one up to some specially invited guest bloggers. I've worked with Blogger for five years now, but it's time to also familiarize myself with "the competition."

So check it out for some more of my marketing tips, as well as tips from other marketing writers.
Jeff

Labels: blogging, news

Finding Your Writing Rhythm
I got a question the other day about how I overcome the "blank screen" syndrome when it comes to writing.

I don't think I had ever laid it out anywhere before, so I thought it might be something good to share with you, too. Here's what I do.

I usually schedule my projects so I can do them over a couple of days. I know this doesn't work for everybody, but it works well for me.

On Sunday I'll lay out my writing for the week. Each article I plan to write, I plan a compelling (yet limiting) title, something that has a solid hook in it, yet is specific enough to keep me from trying to cover too much ground. Under each title, I write the words, "Intro" and "Conclusion" on separate lines. Then I write two to four headings for each article between those two lines to establish my structure.

Sometimes, I jot down notes about specific analogies, facts, or ideas I want to cover under the headings. If inspiration strikes as I write all this down, I follow it. If not, I let everything sit until Monday.

Then I tackle one article at a time. I don't look at any article except the one I've chosen to start with. That focuses me on the task at hand. I read over the headings and notes and start wherever the first thought hits me. I fill in the other headings and, eventually, the introduction and conclusion. If content under one heading gets too long and involved, I pull it out to write as a separate article the next week.

I take each article in turn, taking enough of a break in between to clear my mind. By the end of two or three days, I have first drafts of all my articles for the week.

Then I set them aside for a day or two and go back to polish them. By Saturday, everything is polished and ready to distribute. The rythym of this process works for me, although finding this process took quite a while.

I think that's what it ultimately comes down to: experimenting to find your own rhythm. Each of us is unique. What works for one won't work for another. But once you find your rhythm, writing is even more of a joy.

When it comes to writing blog posts, I'm a little more spontaneous and a little more casual. I'll usually log on when I have an idea (like this) that I want to share. I'll write it in one sitting. First I'll write whatever comes to my head. Then I'll read back through it and polish it a little.

Overall, my blog posts are a bit less polished than my articles, but it's more of a casual medium, I think.

I hope this helps anyone who's struggling with writing online. If nothing else, it's a little look behind the scenes.

Jeff

Labels: article marketing, blogging

My Experiment with Experience
I've been talking for the last couple of posts about the difference between knowing something in theory and knowing it form experience.

That subject has been in the front of my mind lately because of an experiment I started a week ago. I've long recommended blog commenting as a way not only to get a feel for what others in your field are saying, but also as a way to invite visitors to your site.

I've read other people's blogs on an irregular basis and have often commented on them. I've gotten a lot of great ideas from reading other marketers' blogs. I've also noticed that I'll usually get a sprinkling of visitors into my site who followed the link from my comment.

Other marketers have suggested that commenting on five relevant blogs per day had brought them hundreds, and even thousands, of targeted visitors over time.

I've occasionally used a free tool called Comment Kahuna to find little-known blogs that have posted on specific topics relevant to my business. Overall, though, I usually have stuck to posting on better-known blogs of big-name Internet marketers.

So I decided to do a test to see what I could learn (from experience!) about blog commenting. I decided to spend one hour per day, every day, posting five posts. One day I'll post comments to higher traffic blogs of well-known Internet marketers. The next day I'll hunt for lesser-known blogs on more specific subjects and post comments there.

So, every other day, I switch my blog reading and commenting. After a month, I'll compare how this has affected both my traffic and my rankings.

After a week, I'm already pleased with what I've learned. After a month, I should be able to draw some conclusions about what can be accomplished with each method.

I'll be sure to share those results with you as I come to the end of February.

Feel free to share any experiences you have had with blog commenting! You can comment on commenting!

Until the end of February, why not find something you can test in your business, too?
Jeff

Labels: blogging, increase traffic

Hot Offers for August 29, 2008
This summer, admittedly, has been a surprisingly slow time for good offers. But as we head into fall (yeah, I don't like the sound of that either), I'm seeing some good offers starting to pop up again.

Here are two current ones I recommend:

• New FREE ebook on how to make money with a blog
• Back-to-Work discount on SiteBuildIt! training/site-building package

Click the links above to find out more information on these offers on my Hot Offers page.

Or click below to go straight to the offers:

• Build a Business, NOT a Blog
• SiteBuildIt! Back-to-Work Special (check out the SiteBuildIt! page, then click the Back to Work banner near the top of the SiteBuildIt! page to find out more about the offer)
  

I hope this helps!
Jeff

Labels: blogging, hot offers, site building, SiteBuildIt

Remembering What I Forgot
Sometimes it's easy to forget even the things that you think are second nature to you.

That's what happened to me the other day.

I checked a blog that I've followed pretty regularly lately and saw a post in which the blogger announced his intention to start a new series on how to successfully run a contest on your blog.

"Big whoopee," I thought. "Just what I need. Another new traffic-building tutorial to add to all the traffic-building tutorials that I already don't have time to try. I can definitely skip the next few days on this blog."

I read the post anyway and was quite surprised. Instead of breathless hype about how to skyrocket your traffic through this "new" technique the blogger had discovered, the post was a simple, heartfelt story about how the blogger's wife, who had never had any use for all this Internet marketing stuff her husband did (other than it providing money to support her clothes shopping), had decided to start her own blog on a topic that was close to her heart.

See, she had been afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis. At the age of 30, she was walking with a cane, because it was so bad. She decided to share her experiences and the helps she had found with other people who had the same need.

Her husband agreed to help her get started. And since he had had some great success drawing readers to his blog through contests (including me, by the way), the first thing he was going to do in promoting the site was to set up a contest for it.

All of a sudden, I saw the whole situation in a different way. No longer was I thinking about contests as "just another traffic generation gimmick," but as "a way to connect in a fun way with people who are looking for a solution to a definite need."

Now I have harped on that idea on this blog often enough that I should have known better. I have frequently pointed out that marketers should never view what they do as tricks to manipulate people against their will.

I have always advocated looking at marketing as a tool to connect people who are looking for a solution with a solution that will fix their need.

But sometimes even I become inundated with all the hype flying around the Internet for this or that new big-money, no-effort tactic and start thinking in terms of tactics instead of connecting.

But connecting is what's important. Connecting is what marketing's all about.

By the end of that post, I was actually looking forward to him doing a series on how he planned to help his wife start her own blog—including the contest promotion. Because it sounds like a story of true marketing—learning how to connect with others.

Sometimes it just takes a little something out of the ordinary to remind you of what you thought was second nature to you.
Jeff

Labels: blogging, marketing, mindset

Why a Blog Might Not Be Your Best Way to Start a Business
Bet you never expected to see that as a title in a blog, did you?

It's true, though. As versatile as blogs are, they still have limitations.

I came across an article today that spells those limitations out and describes how to find the best setup for starting your new business.

Enjoy!
Jeff

Labels: blogging, start business

Checking Out a Free Blogging Course

Labels: blogging

Technology 1, Old Fogey 0
I spent a good part of the past weekend trying to expand my involvement in the blogosphere.

I did a bit more commenting in other blogs than I usually have done. And you'll notice a couple of links in my weekend posts to other blog posts that I found interesting. I even tried to use trackbacks to alert the bloggers to whom I had linked of what I had written about them.

Boy, what a mess I created! First of all, I learned that Blogger doesn't support trackbacks. So I tried some third-party trackback tools to ping the other blogs and inform them of my post.

Big mistake! I apparently tripped some spam filters by doing so, because I seem to have lost my ability to interact in any way with Typepad-run blogs ever since.

So I guess technology (specifically the technology devised to defeat blog spammers) has defeated my innocent attempts to become more involved in the blogosphere. I'll still try to keep up with more blogs, but **sigh** I guess I'll be a bit more wary about interacting in the blogosphere in the future.

By the way, if you've had any similar experiences, or know ways to get unblocked from Typepad blogs, drop me a comment below.
Jeff

Labels: blogging

Isolation
I apologize. My blog posts lately have been mainly short announcement posts with links to more information elsewhere. It's not what I've typically done and I may be swinging the pendulum farther than I should have in getting away from the extremely time-intensive (both for you and for me) dissertations that I have done in the past.

I've been focusing more attention lately on creating autoresponder series that help people both get into some of the free ebooks I offer and get more out of them. I've completed one series on how your energy level affects your business to go along with The D-Cell Report. And I'm working on others.

It's meant a little less energy going into my blog as I reassess also how to make it more effective. You see, while I believe in blogging, it's something that lends itself too easily to isolating.

Blogger posts. Reader reads. And unless the reader leaves a comment, there's no contact that goes across the anonymity of the computer screen.

Yet business thrives on contact. I know of a lot of people who start a business because they want to get away from workplace politics that infects every job. They want to get away from a boss who is so unreasonable as to actually require them to do things his way instead of however they wish. They want to get away from that messy thing known as human interaction.

But a business that is free of human interaction is not a business. It's a hobby. Business requires a seller to discover and fulfill the needs of buyers. There's no way to do that without some level of interaction.

Sure, you can put up a website that offers products. But if those products don't fulfill the needs of buyers, there are no sales. If those products don't find a way to draw people into the site, there are no sales.

The dream of getting rich while tucking yourself safely out of the way of human interaction is a myth. I don't know of a single Internet success story who locks himself away, avoids contact with people, and rakes in the dough.

Seek to know your customers. Understand them. Feel their needs. That's a big step toward Internet success.
Jeff

Labels: blogging, building relationships, successful business

Integrating an Autoresponder Into Your Blog
I found an interesting article on how to integrate an autoresponder into your blog. Doing so, you can:

• Convert occasional blog visitors into subscribers
• Notify subscribers when you update your blog
• Drive subscribers back to your blog

I thought you might like to check this out. It's definitely something I plan to look into more.
Jeff

Labels: autoresponders, blogging