Jill Whalen recently published a good article in her High Rankings newsletter about what kind of search engine optimization (SEO) efforts are realistic. Interestingly, what she wrote was based on an article she published in 2005. Ironic, since although so much has changed in SEO… some core principles NEVER change.

Here are some of the concepts Jill Whalen articulated which I think deserve special mention:

• Websites that are a few years old have an advantage. Most SEO experts agree that all things being equal, the search engines will rank older sites higher than newer ones. Similarly, if you’ve just registered a new domain name, don’t get too hung up over your initial SEO results. As Jill Whalen says, this is a big reason why SEO is a long-term proposition.

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PlaySpan, a marketplace and micro-transaction payment system for virtual goods in over 200 different video games, has raised $16.8 million in series B funding from existing investors Easton Capital Group, Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, and STIC.

PlaySpan’s investors have reason to be impressed. Over $50 million worth of transactions have gone through PlaySpan this year, and the company is generating revenues in the millions of dollars.

Source: Erick Schonfeld, “PlaySpan Raises $16.8 Million For Virtual-Goods Marketplace”, TechCrunch, November 2 2008

Today I reproduce an email sent to me by a Kikabink News subscriber (published with his permission).

WARNING: if you are easily offended, don’t read on.

If, on the other hand, you’re ready for a rather confronting article, go ahead. It’s controversial… I don’t necessarily agree… and it’s definitely food for thought (if you think deeply about the underlying ideas)…

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“Websites that Hypnotize Your Prospects… and COMMAND them to buy! Hypnotic Websites, Hypnotic Email Messages, Hypnotic PR… We’ll show you step-by-step how to create marketing that literally tricks your prospects into obeying your every command…

“Steal this”

“Murder your job”…

and the list goes on.

Can you show me any reason other than greed, as to why anyone would tell you they have a way to MAKE people buy your items? Can you tell me why we have to “steal” this or that to make it on the Internet?

What is wrong with the old fashioned way of selling?

Do a sales page and whatever else it takes to bring prospects to you, and if they want, they will buy. Hell, do a 33 page sales page as some do, but do it right and honestly. Would you want someone to sell you something you do not need just because they found a way to MAKE you like it or think you want it?

Here is an example for you and a crude one at that: would you want someone to put a drug in a drink and take advantage of you, against your wishes? Now you may ask, “what has that to do with Internet marketing?” The reason is that in both cases someone is taking advantage of you in a way you would not normally want.

In your right mind you would not want to go anywhere with someone who spiked your drink, just as in your right mind you would not buy something you really don’t need.

And what about the people who tell you to “steal this” from someone.

Why should I have to “steal” anything? I know it’s a gimmick, and the idea is not really to steal anything. But the use of “stealing” still leads people to believe they’re getting something for a cheaper price. And, if you think about it, such language is appealing to that part of people that is negative and greedy.

I don’t need to steal anything and I don’t need to cheat or dupe people into thinking they need to buy from me. This Internet marketing business should be honest, but it is getting worse every day. Why not call it the “IM419 Marketing”. If you don’t know what a “419er” is, go to Google and search on it. You will find out what I am talking about.

Why should anyone have to “trick” “steal, “kill”, “hypnotize”, “lie” and so one to sell a product? All of those words are negative and appeal to the base side of all of us. Do we need to be criminals to participate in the Internet marketing arena?

If a product is good and serves our purposes then we can buy it. We do not need to be browbeaten and lied to. Nor should we be told how to cheat others to sell. A good sales letter of a few pages to a few dozen should do the job. I don’t think anyone should advertise for a company that advocates what these people are saying.

Besides… what happens when someone wakes up and realizes they have been screwed? Refund time and a host of other problems they wouldn’t have experienced had they been honest. If your product is good, then sell it proudly and with honor. If it is bad, then redo it and try again. How much more simple can it be?

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What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Whatever your thoughts on the election of Barack Obama as United States President, I think we can all agree that the U.S. Presidential election was a victory for the Internet.

I don’t mean the election result… I mean the election itself.

That is, the Internet truly shone as the medium with, if not the most influence, then the biggest rise in influence of all media forms over the past few years.

Along with the candidates’ websites and news media coverage, we had all kinds of people using various aspects of the Internet to participate in the election. Whether it was facilitating pro-Democrat or pro-Republican websites, blogging, podcasting, discussion forums, online videos, Twittering or various other activities, the Internet enabled a political discussion that was unprecedented in terms of both personal touch and global reach.

And the Internet will likely play an even bigger role in elections to come.

Which is just one more reason why the Internet is the most exciting place to be when it comes to doing – and being in - business!

If you’re not satisfied with how much money you are - or are not - making in your Internet business, you’re probably desperate to know what is holding you back…

Well, chances are, it’s not because you lack information or access to information. Honestly, I can’t think of any other field where there is so much information on how to start a business or implement tons of marketing tactics, than in Internet marketing.

That’s not to deny that you may legitimately feel as though you lack certain information. But arguably even finding the ‘missing information’ you seek… may not really help you build that successful Internet business. Not if something else - something much more critical - is missing.

And that ’something else’ is clarity over, and commitment to, the purpose of your business.

A few weeks ago I conducted a presentation about the importance of having a business strategy. But even that is worthless unless you know exactly WHY you’re building your business and are absolutely COMMITTED to doing everything necessary to make it successful.

Call it a vision, purpose, mission, goal - different business writers attribute different meanings to these terms - but the point is… to have a point. To have a ‘why’ or reason for doing what you’re doing, and to believe so utterly in that ‘why’ that you never for a moment consider doing anything else.

When you have a powerful ‘why’ propelling you forward, you will find out what you don’t know… you will take action when you need to take action… and you will make the necessary sacrifices to achieve your goal. You will be willing to spend weeks, months or years working towards the achievement of that goal. You will do whatever it takes. Because it’s that important to you.

On the flipside, when you don’t have a compelling enough reason to inspire you… it can be all too easy to give up, take a half-hearted approach, or just plod along… while becoming increasingly frustrated at your lack of progress.

Ironically, it’s the plentiful information, along with the incessant sales pitches promising ‘turnkey solutions’ and ‘instant riches’, that are probably substantially to blame for the frustration so many aspiring Internet marketers feel.

With all the sales pitches promoting the latest ‘push-button businesses’ and ‘money making tactics’ it can be incredibly tempting to jump onto the latest idea without taking the time to assess how and whether such an idea fits into our business strategy.

In fact, it can be highly tempting to jump straight into tactics without devising a strategy, let alone setting a business goal, in the first place!

Ever bought an ebook or piece of software for generating traffic or converting customers… before actually having a niche, target audience or product or service in mind? Don’t worry - you’re not alone! I’ve certainly done so.

Unfortunately, focusing on tactics before having a strategy - let alone having a goal or purpose - is a recipe for ongoing frustration and misery.

That’s not to say you’ll avoid problems or challenges when you do have a business goal you can dedicate yourself to achieving or a business you can pour your heart and soul into. After all, what is a business person but a problem solver! But at least you’ll be on a meaningful, fulfilling journey… as opposed to a largely meaningless, fruitless one.

Of course, sometimes we’re so close to our daily situation that we lose objectivity, making it difficult to see just what we need to do to break out of the ‘not-making-money-online’ rut… and start building the business and achieving the success we’ve always wanted.

If so, it may be time to get some outside help.

Here at Kikabink, we have traditionally focused on providing Internet marketing services, rather than coaching, but I was inspired by a new client to consider offering Internet marketing coaching. If this is something you’re interested in, let me know, as I can probably work with one or two more people on this basis. Just send an email to anna@kikabink.com?Subject=Interested-In-Coaching with a little about you and what you need help with.

Just one thing - please don’t get in touch if you’re not able to invest a couple hundred dollars per hour of coaching. This isn’t any kind of pre-planned, discount group coaching. What I have in mind is personal, one-on-one coaching where I focus exclusively on fast-tracking you from where you are now, to where you want to be, based solely on what you need and want (not on any preconceived idea about what you may need and want).

I don’t know how many sessions we’ll need – that will depend on where you want to go, what you need to get there, and how much you’d like my help to get you there! But we’ll probably get a general idea of what it will take during our initial session…

In any case, if this article has resonated with you, I urge you to STOP and think about what you really want for yourself. What is your vision for your life? How does a business fit into that? What kind of business fits into that?

These are the considerations that should inform your choice of business, and your business purpose or goal. And once you’re clear on your goal, then it’s time to develop your business strategy (how to achieve your goal) and from there, all the marketing tactics to make that strategy happen.

Have you noticed that some Internet Marketing “gurus” are rather coy when it comes to revealing their non-IM business activities?

They’ll freely tell us about the effectiveness of various strategies and tactics… and they’ll tell us that they get much if not “most” of their money from non-IM niches… but they will not give us actual examples of how they’re using these strategies or tactics in their non-IM businesses…

So why are they so secretive? Why are they so “afraid” of us coming into their niche and competing with them?

Now, I’m NOT talking about keeping specific strategies secret, or keeping secret about a business that hasn’t been launched yet… I’m talking about keeping secret about an operational, profitable business.

I mean, in just about every industry, a successful business person will proudly tell you what business(es) they’re in. It’s no secret how people like Bill Gates or Richard Branson made their billions…

So why are these so-called successful IMers so afraid of telling us what business(es) they’re in?

(Remember, I’m not talking about all successful IMers - just some).

Well, here’s one big reason… and it’s NOT because they’re not actually running any non-IM businesses (I’m going to assume the best here).

This reason is also the reason why YOUR business is vulnerable, if you don’t do anything about it.

And it can be summed up in 4 words:

LOW BARRIERS TO ENTRY

Yes, the best thing about running an Internet business is also the worst thing - it’s relatively easy and inexpensive for anyone to compete in any market.

Compared to most off-line businesses, it’s easy to become an affiliate, to set up an Adsense site or to sell your own infoproducts. You don’t have to do everything yourself - there are plenty of resources and people to help. And the costs of establishing a website and marketing on the Net are also a fraction of those for an off-line business.

That means your competitors can do the same!

So, of course, it’s understandable to keep tight-lipped about your business!

But keeping secret does nothing to help you when the competition eventually finds you… after all, we all have access to keyword tools.

So what do you to build barriers to entry? There are at least five (5) ways to do so. I’ll explain them in the next issue of Kikabink News.

Andrew Warner recently commented on my article, 3 Tips For Viral Marketing Success. It turns out that Andrew recently interviewed viral marketing ‘guru’, Hiten Shah, partner at ACS SEO and a guy who has helped grow online traffic for major tech players such as TechCrunch, Guy Kawasaki, HP and Samsung.

During the interview, Shah revealed a number of powerful techniques he recommends for optimizing viral marketing campaigns. Here are six (6) such techniques - techniques you may wish to consider using in one or more of YOUR viral marketing initiatives:

1. Use a ‘beat me’ or competitive approach. Websites that allow users to challenge each other are inherently viral. For example, eduFire.com went viral by allowing its users to play language games and then challenge friends to score higher.
2. Require people to refer others to the viral application or content in order to benefit. Put it this way, no-one can use Skype… unless others also use Skype. And the same goes for numerous other applications and services, ranging from email to PayPal.
3. Let people show off - let people create or contribute content, and share what they’ve created. Doing so is a major reason behind the viral success of GE’s online whiteboard.
4. Encourage people to share - make it super-easy for users to share and embed your content. Who does this exceptionally well? YouTube!
5. Give people something to boast about - give people something to brag or boast about… and they will! For example, when Feedburner created a badge allowing bloggers to show how many readers they had, bloggers everywhere began displaying Feedburner badges – leading to Feedburner’s growth.
6. Measure your progress - measure your viral growth to see what is working… and what isn’t… and make changes accordingly.

To learn more powerful viral marketing techniques, click here to listen to the full interview between Andrew and Hiten Shah.

Source: Andrew Warner, “7 Essential Tools of Viral Marketing - The Hiten Shah Interview”, Mixergy.com, September 5, 2008

Think about any product or service category. There will generally be a number of distinguishable offerings - with varying characteristics, strengths and weaknesses - and then a raft of “me too” products or services.

Those “me too” products or services won’t be designed to offer anything unique or better than the market leading products. The only reason they exist is because their makers are driven by the quick buck. In other words, such products are designed to steal sales from the leading products.

Now, I actually don’t have a problem with the existence of me too products. Not in the sense that I believe in free enterprise and that, if someone hasn’t got the vision, ambition or originality to come up with something different and better, then let them create a “me too”.

But I do ask: what’s the point?

Okay, I get it: the point is to make money. But has anyone really built a substantial business by producing “me too” products? And, on a personal level, can you really look back in pride at what you’ve created… if it really hasn’t added any value to the world?

And when I see marketing departments busting their behinds and spending millions on advertising campaigns to sell “me too” products… only to struggle against the market leaders… wouldn’t that money be better invested in developing something that truly gives people something of value? Something that enables the company to lead the market?

In a free market economy there’s a place for “me too” products. But nothing beats creating something different and unique that truly enhances people’s lives.

Yahoo has little reason to smile. While its revenue was up 6 percent in the second quarter compared with that a year ago, its net income was down by nearly 19 percent.

The company’s revenue was $1.8 billion, compared with $1.7 billion in the same quarter in 2007. Meanwhile, net revenue - excluding commissions to advertising partners - was $1.35 billion, just 8 percent above the $1.24 billion achieved 12 months ago.

Wall Street analysts expected Yahoo to deliver net income for the quarter of $161 million or 11 cents a share. However, the search company reported net income for the quarter of $131 million, or 9 cents a share.

Yahoo was, however, satisfied with the results, noting that profit had been hit by $22 million in costs related to negotiating with Microsoft, the proxy fight with Carl C. Icahn, and related lawsuits.

Despite the poor results, no one, it seems, was all that surprised. Yahoo’s share price increased to $21.89 in after-hours trading after releasing these results.

Source: Miguel Helft, “Yahoo’s Revenue Rises a Bit, but Profit Falls 18%”, July 23, 2008

…how to sell, for one thing. Hey, I know - I worked in a big agency, and was the “client” for a few others!

Don’t get me wrong - I loved my experience as a copywriter working for one of the big, multinational agencies.

And I certainly learned a LOT.

But I can’t help but question some of the ideas that were drummed into me as a “big agency copywriter”… which I had to rapidly unlearn when I went into business for myself… and which are just plain DANGEROUS for YOU if you’re trying to make a buck online.

As I mentioned, they didn’t teach me how to sell - i.e. to write advertising copy that actually compels someone to rip open their wallet and buy the product or service.

They didn’t teach me that… and they won’t tell you that. Instead, they’ll probably tell you that if you want to build your online business, you must:

1. Be creative
2. Build your brand.

Hmmm… that doesn’t seem too bad does it? Well, it is. Because it conveys the WRONG set of priorities.

If you sell online - i.e. you sell products and services on your website - then the no. 1 job of YOUR advertising is to generate qualified leads (or, as we say, “traffic”) to your website.

It’s not to be “creative”. And it’s not to “build you brand”.

Sure, be creative - if it generates more TRAFFIC.

And please DO build your brand - as a RESULT of developing a reputation for satisfying customers with great products and services.

But don’t make either of these the PRIORITY in your advertising… because the result will probably be a creative, entertaining ad, with a big, fat graphic of your logo… that does NOT generate enough (or any) qualified traffic to your website!

So…

If you’re considering hiring an ad agency to prepare an ad campaign to generate traffic to your website - and for some, strange, illogical reason you don’t immediately call me (!) - take heed:

If they yabber on about how:

• creative they are…
• the purpose of advertising is to build your brand…
• every ad has to have a “big idea”…
• they’ve won lots of awards,

… jump out of your chair immediately, pick up your briefcase and RUN!

And in case you’re wondering what they DID teach me that could help YOUR online marketing… be sure to read the next issue of Kikabink News!