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By Juste Gnimavo

There are two types of marketing: unsolicited e-mail (cold selling), and opt-in selling. Keep them in mind when you create your messages and build your subscriber list. I highly recommend you do not engage in cold selling. This is considered spam. If enough people report your address as spam, you will be banned from ISPs and search engines. The occasional sale you see from cold selling will not be enough to compensate for you being blacklisted on the internet.

On the other hand, building an opt-in list is a perfectly acceptable and highly successful method that will keep you from being labeled, bad business. With an opt-in list, people ask to be added to your subscriber database because they are interested in your topic. Opt-in subscribers should always be given the option to opt out.

However, you would be surprised how many people do not bother clicking the unsubscribe link, and eventually make their way to your site to investigate your product further.

When preparing your autoresponder messages, it is imperative to strike a balance between excitement and hype about your product.

You must avoid wording your messages so they look, feel, and smell like spam, even if they have been requested. This means following the rules of creating direct and simple messages. For example, no writing in ALL CAPS, or putting seven exclamation points at the end of every paragraph.

Here are also a few other deadly spam sins to avoid:

Just about every e-mail program has built-in spam filters that route unwanted messages to a separate folder, often called a "bulk" folder, whose contents are routinely deleted by either the program or the owner of the account. Following the suggestions above for avoiding spam-type messages will go a long way toward ensuring your autoresponders is not diverted to an early grave.

Here are more tips on beating spam filters and verification programs:

1. On your "Thank You" pages, remind your subscriber:

- His must check his email for a confirmation message from YOUR NAME (or your email address) and must click on the activation link in order to receive YOUR OFFER.

- If he is using spam blockers such as SpamBully, SpamArrest, Earthlink, KnowSpam or FilterMy, and did not get your email: it may have been blocked by his computer's, or ISP's spam filters, or trapped in his spam (or bulk) folder.

- If he does not receive your welcome email, indicate to him to check his trash or spam folders.

2. 4 steps to follow in sending your messages in the mail box of your subscribers.

- Never, begin your subject line with ADV: or include the word "advertisement".

- Never use the word "free" in the subject line-especially in all caps.

- In fact, never use the word FREE (in all caps) anywhere in the message. If possible, avoid using all caps altogether.

- From address: When you set up your web site and associated e- mail accounts, do not name any account sales@yourdomainname.com - this guarantees you an automatic trip to the bulk folder.

- Within the message: Never say "for free? (!)" or use the words "extra income" in the body of your message. Recently, many internet marketers attempting to bypass spam filters have begun breaking up the word "free" anywhere it appears in their sales copy: f-ree or fr.ee are the most commonly used methods.

3. Formatting your autoresponder messages.

Every e-mail program is different, allowing different line lengths for their viewing windows. If your e-mail program allows 75 characters per line, it may look fine on your screen-but when you send it to someone whose program allows only 70 characters per line, those last five characters get moved to the next line and break up your message with those pesky > signs.

Another potential problem is the font you choose.

Fonts like Courier New are fixed-width: every character takes up the same amount of space. However, fonts like Times New Roman and Arial have varying width according to the character.

Do not write your message in 16-point Impact Red or other "flashy" font styles and sizes.

This does not draw attention to your product. It draws attention to your inexperience. For the most part, keep your entire message in the same font and type size, (10-point size is best in nearly every case) and make sure each line is 60 to 65 characters long. When you reach the limit, use a hard return to start the next line rather than allowing your word processing program to wrap the text.

Use emphasis like color, bold and italics sparingly for effect.

4. Structure your messages and make sure you easily keep reading.

Do not stuff your messages with "cool" graphics, animated smiley’s, or a dreaded Flash presentation. This slows down load time considerably, and many people will not wait for your incredible pictures to appear on the screen. Tell them exactly how they will benefit from it, and put substance in your send-outs. People want to know that you know about what you are sharing!

5. Do not use chat language in the text of your message.

Even to people who know what LOL, IMHO, or IOW stand for.

This is not professional and does not score you any "friendly" points. In addition, if your subscribers do not know what these abbreviations stand for, they will be quick to dismiss you as inept. In case, you do not know yourself: LOL=laughing out loud, or laughing on line; IMHO=in my humble opinion, or another meaning.

6. Do remind people that:

1. They are receiving your message because they requested more information, or a friend suggested they would like to receive the information.

2. They can opt out of further messages using a link you have provided at the end of the message.

Keep your messages out of spam oblivion by adhering to these guidelines, and you will see your sales and response rates climb.

Juste GNIMAVO is an Internet Marketer and Owner of http://affiliate-internet-marketing-tips.com. To find Advanced Internet Marketing Secrets and email marketing software visit => http://affiliate-internet-marketing-tips.com internet-marketing-tips.com

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By David Perdew

You know its Christmas time when two things happen...

1) People stand in line for 48 hours, camped outside Best Buy for 48 hours, waiting for the latest PlayStation release, or...

2) The Internet giveaway fever really heats up - More about this later.

The current Play Station mania is an incredible lesson in marketing. However, I missed the importance of what was going on until a friend smacked me in the face with it this morning...

DUMB LIKE A FOX...

Our friend -- I'll call him AJ -- reported this morning that he and his wife had just returned from Wal-Mart where they had been camping for 48 hours to get one of four available PlayStations 3, when they went on sale...

Unbelievable! I thought he was insane when he told us this. Who wants a PlayStation bad enough to stand in line 48 hours?

Well...

He said with a smile, "We got two!"

So! It was still 48 hours in front of a store, right. Do your kids really need PlayStations THAT badly?

"Oh, they're not for the kids! We listed them on eBay within an hour," he said, still smiling. "And they're averaging 5 to 7 thousand dollars. Some have sold for more than $14,000." Search for "PlayStation 3" on eBay. The prices blew me away.

I was stunned. Not because of the price, (people pay extravagant prices for just about anything), nor because my "insane" friend actually made about $390 per hour, if he sells them both for $7000, but because I had totally missed the entire marketing lesson expertly laid out by Sony and Wal-Mart.

The six basic marketing persuaders from Robert Cialdini's classic book, "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion", are in full view!

** Authority -- Wal-Mart. Love 'em or hate 'em, they are the big kahuna in mega store retailing. If they advertise that they have four PlayStations in stock...they have four and only four in stock. However, they promise they can get more because...well, they can.

** Liking -- People practically live at Wal-Mart. Convenience and service translate into customers with an undying loyalty to them, often because they have become the only game in town.

** Commitment with Consistency -- Let's see. Stand outside in November in the rain for 48 hours to be the first in line for the release of a new product. That's serious commitment!

** Reciprocation -- Wal-Mart provides a free (and massive) PS3 buyer's guide on their site that provides all the information you need to make a decision between the $500 and $600 basic units, and all the accessories required. Giving such, complete information not only sets up the authority persuader, but also makes you value the content and feel indebted to the retailer. Call this reciprocity.

** Social Proof -- The press has been lapping up Sony's press releases about the PlayStation launch date, and the lack of product. In addition, the gaming blogs can talk of nothing else.

** Scarcity -- Sony is really smart! They do this every year. Release only enough of the hot product to create an insatiable appetite for it. They may have warehouses full of PlayStations, but they won't release them until the market begs for more.

HOW DID I MISS THIS!

AJ knew -- before he invested the time to stand in line --that the market was clamoring for the product. In addition, he saw an opportunity.

He had no intention of keeping the PlayStations himself. His research on eBay confirmed that PS3 fans were rabid and would pay any price!

Like any good marketer, he remembered the first rule: Determine what the market wants and sell it to them. As Mark Hendricks, a master marketer, and creator of the Christmas season giveaways, likes to say, that's the difference between "marketing" and "selling" -- it's much easier to make money when you're providing a much-wanted service.

Selling something no one wants is hard work, indeed. Marketing is easy.

I should have seen it too. I've studied with some great internet marketers. Most teach the basic principles of Robert Cialdini's book.

CHRISTMAS MADNESS...

During the Christmas season, online marketers flock to the Internet to collect gifts -- usually informational products and software tools. Always free, hence the name giveaway, the purpose is to drive traffic. All of Cialdini's uses the six persuaders to create the buzz, exchange the gifts for e-mail addresses and names.

The 12 Days of Christmas is the granddaddy of the online giveaway extravaganza and Mark Hendricks is the father of the concept. For several years now, Mark has brought together more than 75 top marketers to giveaway hundreds of products during the month of December.

Because the concept worked so well and has become an Internet marketing staple, a gazillion giveaways pop up. It's now a standard tool in every marketer's toolkit. Why does it work so well? It's based on one of Cialdini's persuaders -- reciprocity.

I give you something and you'll feel obligated to give me something back. It's a technique used everywhere. When you go to the grocery, clerks stand at sample stations offering everything from cubes of cheese to portions of spaghetti and meatballs. Why? If you take a sample, chances are really good that you'll buy the product.

However, at Christmas...Whew! It's tough to keep up and maintain enough free disk space on your computer for all the online giveaway opportunities.

The six persuaders (all included above) are real. Until I got involved in the Internet, I had no idea I was being "persuaded" at every turn. We all react to them, will forever, and have ever since the first caveman tried to sell the first hunk of meat to his neighbor.

It took a PlayStation 3 and AJ to point me back to the "real" world to see it in action there too.

David Perdew is an enthusiastic Internet Success System student (http://www.the60dayexperiment.com/recommends/iss.htm) and contributor to 12 Days of Christmas (http://www.the60dayexperiment.com/go/12Days.htm). You can read about how he incorporates Mark's marketing techniques on his blog (http://www.the60dayexperiment.com/blog/12day.htm).

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By Jason Lam

Keyword research is an integral part of any SEM initiative, whether it may be PPC or SEO, so it is important to do it right. It is also important to do it right from the start. Google spiders (the bots that indexes web pages) can take months before they cycle to your site, so if you target the wrong keywords initially, it could take months to fix.

We have briefly listed the top five things to consider before you begin your fun journey of keyword researching.

1. Define your targeted pages.

Recognize what goals you want to achieve. If you are looking to sell cars, you want to optimize the pages containing information on a specific type of car, or pages containing content that will lead them to buy a car. Pages such as the About Us page and History page will not need optimization since no one is specifically searching for those pages. Make a list of the pages you feel would provide a lead for your business, and target the keywords on those pages.

2. Speak the way your audiences speaks.

While the correct term to describe your product may seem obvious to you, you need to speak your audience’s language in order to show up for their searches. For example, if you are selling “GPS navigation systems”, a person may have searched for GPS systems. It may not be the most politically correct term (Global Positioning System Systems), but if this is the term everyone uses to find the item you are selling, you may need to consider it as a keyword to target.

3. Know your competition.

Sure, ranking number one for “cars” would drive up your web traffic exponentially. However, what are your chances of obtaining that ranking? Typically, one-word keywords are extremely difficult to optimize. Millions of pages on the web are already well optimized for it, without even knowing it, (unless you want to optimize for kukukabo)

If you are in a very competitive industry (in the internet world) such as gaming, gambling, insurance, and such, you may find it helpful to pin down your keywords to a further niche and targeted level. For example, if you are selling cars in Toronto, you may want to combine “Toronto” with “cars”, or if you are targeting a specific demographic, you may want to include that it in the keyword. You may find that the competition for that term drops significantly, thereby, increasing your chances of success.

By increasing your presence for these targeted key terms, you are in a better position to optimize for keywords that are more ambitious in the future.

4. Using the right tools.

By no means, are the following the only tools you should use. They are some popular free keyword research tools that are simple, straightforward, and ideal to help you get started in keyword researching.

Overture Keyword Selector Tool

- Type in your keyword and it will show you some popular related searches and its search volume during a one-month period

- Be cautioned however that the words within each key phrase are rearranged in alphabetical order. For example, if you search for New York Horse Racing, it would show up as Horse New Racing York

Google AdWords Keywords Tool

- Type in your keyword and it will show you the search volume, competition levels, synonyms, and display some useful data for budgeting when setting up your PPC campaign in Google

NLC Keyword Competition Index

While this is currently in development, we are providing a tool that shows you the competition you face for each keyword. This index will help you determine your chances of success at optimizing for each term. The NLC folks here are using it internally and its one of the best things for Search Engine Marketers since sliced cheese. We will provide more details to this tool in our blog in the future, so stay tuned!

5. Snoop on your competitors.

After having a good set of keywords, go ahead and search for them in Google. Take note of the top results, if they are selling or promoting what you are, these are competitors. Browse through their site and keep an eye out for keywords they are using. It may help to view their Meta tags and description by going into the page source code (View > Source).

6. Smooth Integration with page content.

PPC

While in PPC, you have the freedom to target more broad terms and loosely related terms. You must also consider that people who have clicked on your ad are expecting to see what they searched. If your site has no relevance to what their keyword was, you probably just wasted $0.50.

SEO

When choosing keywords for SEO, you need to be much more selective. Remember, you will need to put these keywords on your page, and if you want to do SEO well, these terms are probably going to be in very prominent areas on your page. Make sure these terms make sense and can fit well into the context of your content.

Remember, when doing keyword research for SEO initiatives; do not ONLY aim for the terms with highest search volume and lowest competition. While that is generally a good rule of thumb, you must not forget the main point of search engine optimization. You are delivering more web users to your site, but you will ultimately need your web content to speak to your potential customers. Using keywords that make sense, and are related to your content is just as important as choosing obtainable keywords.

Jason Lam is a member of the Search Engine Marketing group at non-linear creations; Jason has a wealth of experience in everything SEO, PPC and SEM while working with many clients from varying industries.

http://www.nonlinear.ca/pages/search-engine-marketing-toronto.htm
http://www.nonlinear.ca/pages/organic-seo-services.htm

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By Michael Hepworth

This kind of attitude is not unique to high-tech firms. It was definitely a dominant theme one day last week when I was a guest at a discussion group for technology companies selling health care.

There was a fascinating discussion about what is happening in health care and how technology is changing the landscape in this rapidly changing environment.

Yet, despite these great opportunities, there was a lot of discussion of how prospects in this industry do not really understand what these technology firms, are offering. There was much complaining about their un-willingness to take risks, and in general, it sounded like the customers were to blame for many of the problems these firms were experiencing.

It sounded to me like many of these firms had it backwards. They had fallen in love with their products instead of their customers. It is not your customers’ responsibility to understand what you sell, and how it could help them, it is yours. This is one of the most fundamental principles of marketing.

These firms did not understand their customers’ needs, as clearly as they should, and as a result, blamed the customers when the sales did not materialize.

The only way to sell is to start from the prospect’s side. If you do not, you will generally get the same result as these unfortunate firms.

Starting from the prospect’s side means you cannot pitch a solution simply because you think it is a good idea. Alternatively, talk about how wonderful you or your products are. No one cares and there are hundreds of firms who offer the same undifferentiated “stuff” you do.

You have to stop talking about yourself. People like this at social events have trapped us all. In that environment, it may be difficult for you to get away, but not so, for the sales prospect, they will just ignore you.

You have to remember no one wants to be sold. Therefore, you have to approach it from the perspective of serving the customer.

A good mindset is “You Matter. Your well-being is important to me. Let me see how I can help!”

This mindset forces you to focus on the customer first, and for your firm to become the champion of your customers and prospects, ultimately making certain you are their most trusted supplier, because you leave them in a better condition than when you started. From this position, it is much easier to gain acceptance of your ideas.

So how do you begin this process?

The first step is to convince your prospects to give you their attention.

The only way you can do this is if your marketing messages speak to their desires, frustrations, and fears. You must convince them you are worth spending time with or that your web site is worth visiting.

You have to be different from your competitors. If you are saying the same thing, you become indistinguishable in the crowd.

A good headline for a letter, brochure, or web site is a good start…but it is not enough. You have to have substance that will keep them involved with you, reading your letters, listening to your suggestions, or reading what is on your web site.

You can only do this if you provide value. Not simply that you have a great product or service, but how you can help them solve a problem. Good products are a table stake in business and bad products do not stay around very long.

The moment prospects no longer perceive value, you lose them. There are too many competing messages out there, to expect them to listen to you any longer than it takes them to decide you are worth listening to, or to cut and run.

Testimonials are critical for new products and services. Social proof is very effective in encouraging undecided people to move forward. Few people want to be pioneers unless the risk is very low. The newer the product, the greater the perceived risk!

You have to find ways to remove the risk, if not; you may have a great product or service that never sees the light of day. It may even be necessary to work free, on occasion, in exchange for testimonials, if what you have is unproven. Think of it as a marketing cost.

You also have to convince prospects that what you offer has good value, but better still a bargain. You do this by making dramatic comparisons with the current situation and presenting this information in a compelling way.

Finally, you have to make it very easy for them to buy. You can do this with extended payment terms, limited offers to early adopters, guarantees, and other incentives.

When you demonstrate in believable ways that you have your prospects’ interests at heart and are intent on helping them make the right decision, then you will reduce the resistance to your products and services.

Michael Hepworth is the Streetsmart Marketer. You can sign up for his free marketing tip newsletter by visiting http://www.streetsmartmarketer.com/. There you will find this article and hundreds more free marketing tips.

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By Susan Friedmann

It is time for a visualization exercise. Are you ready?

Picture this:

You are standing, with your staff, in your exhibit booth at a large tradeshow. This is one of the best shows you regularly participate in. It attracts a sizeable number of your target audience. Your team is prepared. Your display looks terrific. You have interactive demonstrations. You have sponsored a speaker. Your giveaway items convey your marketing message, appealing to your target audience, and are in plentiful supply.

Looks good, right?

There is something in this scene, something I have not mentioned yet, that could make it all even better. Something that will not only boost your ROI, but will create that most vital of marketing tools.

What is it?

It is a secret weapon that is more than come of age. In fact, it has been around since the beginning of time, but only now is it realizing its full potential. This build up and suspense is all about “word of mouth marketing” and how you can use it to your advantage on the tradeshow floor.

I have recently read Seth Godin's “Flipping the Funnel", and it really brought home the concept of how underutilized tradeshow attendees are as a marketing tool. Attendees are more than prospects and contacts: they are a potential sales force, just waiting to tap on your behalf.

According to Godin, we should:

Turn strangers into friends.
Turn friends into customers.
Turn then ... do the most important job
Turn your customers into sales people.

Why?

Why would you want to recruit a whole bunch of amateur salespeople, you might ask, when you already have a perfectly competent, fully trained professional sales team? After all, you have spent considerable resources recruiting, training, and retaining your current team. Isn't that enough?

Frankly, no. Regardless of how big your sales force is, there's no way they are going to be able to connect with every person who might be interested in your products and services. Even working flat out, as Godin suggests, they are not selling as much as you would like.

This is where your friends and customers enter the picture. If you view them as assets, as allies in the world of sales, you have already expanded your potential marketplace. When more people are working on your behalf, you will reach more customers. It is simple mathematics.

There is another benefit as well. When your friends and customers recommend your products and services, their words carry far more weight than anything your sales team can say. People value the opinions of colleagues, peers, and relatives far more than they do the assurances of a salesperson. It is the difference between editorial speech and advertising, played out in a face-to-face setting.

So Now What?

Being convinced that recruiting tradeshow attendees to act on your behalf is one thing, convincing them to do it is another. According to Godin, we continually spend a tremendous amount of time and energy attempting to spread our marketing message to more and more people. This particularly holds true at tradeshows, where the focus is often on how to attract more people to your exhibit. As well, as talk to several people at once.

A slight shift in the priorities might be in order. While starting new business relationships will always be important, a new emphasis exists on strengthening and maintaining existing relationships.

Consider your current customers. Ask yourself -- or even better, ask them, how they feel about your products and services. How about your customer service? What makes doing business with your organization unique, enjoyable, and/or remarkable?

Whatever the answers, what are you doing to help your customers spread the word? Godin offers a number of technical solutions in his free e-book http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/files/flippingfunnelPRO.pdf which I highly recommend that you read, but here are a few more hands-on tools to implement at your next tradeshow:

Be Honest

Tell your best customers how much you appreciate them and how much you would value having more customers like them. It's no secret that you're in business to make money. No one thinks you are at the show as a philanthropic endeavor. Appealing to your customers to spread the word carries with it an implied compliment: You are reinforcing the fact that you think they are important, by extension, that other people think they are important, and that their opinion of you matters.

Encourage Referrals

Do you know how often your customer thinks about your company? It is probably less than 1% of their daily life -- after all, they have their own companies to worry about, and their own customer base, not to mention their own personal lives and world events. Sometimes people need a little prompting to spread the word -- otherwise, it might not occur to them.

Offer Incentives

If you want your customers to do something for you, you need to do something for them. Godin's idea is that by offering superior products and services, in a remarkable fashion, you will transform customers into fans.

Having strong advocates and supporters never hurts. Offering incentives for spreading the word can be a simple thing – an attractive discount on their next order, for example -- or something more elaborate. Remember, as tradeshow attendees skew younger, more than financial savings or benefits to their company may motivate them. Consider offering something more personal: a gift that would appeal to your target audience.

In Conclusion

Transforming customers into fans may not have been the top priority on your exhibiting list -- but it should be. Recruiting an all-volunteer sales force to augment your existing efforts is one of the most cost effective ways to get your marketing message out there.

Remember: people like to share stories about what they find good, interesting, or unique. By offering that at your next tradeshow, you are giving yourself a vital leg up on the competition -- those who are concentrating on the next new thing miss the value of what they might already have.

Written by Susan A. Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: “Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,” working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. For a free copy of “10 Common Mistakes Exhibitors Make”, e-mail: article4@thetradeshowcoach.com; website: http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com

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By Scott White

When you are a search engine that accounts for over 46% of all searches on the Internet, you are a bona fide 'Big Daddy'. However, for Google, it is more than a nickname-it is the future.

For months now, the 7-year-old search engine has been testing new crawling and indexing systems with the hopes of making web searches more intuitive and accurate. The project, called "Bigdaddy," is much more than a software update. It is a total refit of the search engine's infrastructure and software.

"...It's not just a data push or algorithm update," says Search Engineer, Matt Cutts of Google. Three data centers have been updated with new ones coming online every 10 days, a pace expected to increase. Web users can access the updated Google search by typing in the IP address of the updated servers in their address bar: 66.249.93.104, 64.233.179.104, or 216.239.51.104. All of Google's reported 85+ data centers are expected to be updated around the end of February or early March, and the closer we get to that time, the odds increase that your Google search will hit a "Bigdaddy" data center.

What 'Bigdaddy' addresses.

The biggest issue "Bigdaddy" will fix is hijacking redirects of URL requests-what happens when someone redirects a request for one website to another though illicit techniques. These kinds of redirects are called "302 redirects."

"Bigdaddy" will also add something Google calls "canonicalization," which will instruct a search engine how to decide which of a series of URLs is the proper one to insert into the Google index. For instance, most people would consider these the same URLs:

www.example.com
example.com/

www.example.com/index.html
example.com/home.asp

In reality, these URLs are different and could conceivably return completely different content for each request. However, Google's "canonicalization" will pick the URL that best represents what the user is likely asking for.

What 'Bigdaddy' does.

"Bigdaddy" will also bring different crawling and indexing criteria, the groundwork for algorithms that are more advanced, larger databases, and faster, more effective indexing of content.

Additionally, Google will be able to index new kinds of content. Testing is underway on a new search engine spider based on the Mozilla browser that can read links within images and even within Flash video.

What "Bigdaddy" means to you.

Brand Identity Guru has spent the past week researching what the implications of "Bigdaddy" will be for our Boston Search Engine Optimization clients. By comparing the results, we found that "Bigdaddy" powered keyword searches returned improved rankings for 77% of our clients, while 17% stayed the same, and 6% (mostly those without a good number of incoming links) experienced a decline.

"Bigdaddy" data centers also reported much higher numbers of search results: searching for "landscape software,"the non-Bigdaddy, search engine returned about 30 million results while "Bigdaddy" returned over 60 million. We have concluded, then, that sites ranked well because of solid on-page SEO techniques and inbound linking will benefit from this update. However, there are still many unanswered questions about the implications of "Bigdaddy." However, Google (as usual) is remaining mum on specifics in the hopes of preventing people from taking unruly advantage of the system.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm located in Boston, Massachusetts. Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

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By Scott White

"What have you Googled lately?" Ten years ago, you would have received strange looks for asking that question to anyone. Now, Googling is a part of life. When we need something, we search for it on the Internet.

From a branding perspective, Google has much in common with the Kleenex's, Xerox's, and Rollerblades of the world. It is a brand name that has become the name for a category; very different from, a 'not so long ago' time, when only the urban hipsters with Tony the Tiger shirts knew what Google was.

The Yellow Pages may not be gone, but their star is fading quickly. More and more people turn to Google, (or other search engines), when they need to find a product or service. Why? It is a way to locate more complete and up-to-date information. No contest. When someone looks up a company in the phonebook, they get their address, phone number, and maybe some flashy ad graphics; depending on how much money they spent on the ad. On a Google search, they get a link to the company's website, where you can find as much information on a company and its offerings, as you need.

For things like books, tickets and music, Googling often leads to an instant purchase, if the price is right. However, even for more "considered purchases," where one competes on more than just price; Googling is often the first research step buyers take to arrive at a decision. They search keywords and combinations of keywords, comparing each set of results to the next, looking for the most relevant information.

In a perfect world, people would systematically study three to five competitors in a selection set, write down the pros and cons of each and come to a calculated decision. However, a perfect world isn't the real world. Here's what happens: if a search result looks promising, the buyer will click through to the company's website and investigate the possibilities of a match further. If it looks like a fit, case closed. Customer won. No further research required-even if someone's out there with a better deal waiting.

This is why being on this "short list" of high-ranking search results is imperative in this day and age-the higher the better. Top rankings give you the chance of having prospective customers knock on your virtual door, knowledgeable about your offerings, and eager to buy before you ever say a single word to them.

Don't be ashamed of self-Googling.

Come on, you know you've done it: typed your name into an Internet search engine such as Yahoo or MSN. Don't feel embarrassed. We all do it. It is, after all, interesting to see what others are saying about you.

In a business context, it's not narcissistic at all. It's smart, especially when you're trying to build your brand online. Besides looking for your specific name, try looking for your category. For instance, if you're a Denver widget maker, look up "Denver widget" or any other combination of keywords or phrases relevant to your business. Where do you rank? Top two? Top 10? Top 1000? It doesn't take a genius to figure out the top five results will get a lot more clicks than Numbers 75-80. Are you where you want to be?

How top-ranked websites get their positions

Especially for the most competitive keyword searches, companies must engage in a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy, which encompasses strategic smarts, hard work, and clean code.

How search engines rank your websites.

Computer programs called "spiders" are responsible for visiting, indexing, and ranking web sites. Each search engine has its own spiders with somewhat differing methods for ranking the websites it finds. There are strategies you can use to make yours more appealing, and mistakes that can negatively affect your rankings.

Four SEO Urban Legends.

Legend #1: You can muscle your way into top rankings. Maybe in 1999, but not anymore. Repeating a bunch of hidden keywords on your page or in your tags no longer fools the search engine spiders into giving you high rankings. Algorithms that power the software behind these spiders are more advanced. Employing tactics like this will more likely hurt your rankings than help them.

Legend #2: It starts and ends with traffic. Many people will click themselves repeatedly in the hopes of boosting their search rankings. However, this is a futile effort because spiders don't care one bit about traffic.

Legend #3: I can get rankings cheap from those nice folks sending me all those emails. If you fall for one of those spammer schemes, you deserve to be ripped off! Seriously, though, you'd be paying good money for a clerical job you could easily do yourself. However, even if you did do it yourself, you would run the risk of getting even worse rankings. It's like membership at Augusta National-if you say you want it, you won't get it. Search engines regard repetitive submissions as desperation, which they reject wholeheartedly.

Legend #4: A Search Engine Optimization service guaranteed a Top 10 position on Google. In short, nobody can legitimately do that. Such guarantees are a telltale sign of snake-oil salesmanship. Here's how the scam works: technically, they live up to their end by getting you top billing on a search term of their choosing, which is so specific to you that only your mom would likely search on it.

Smarty-pants spiders.

Search engine optimization is far more complex than it's ever been. The obvious shortcuts to great search engine rankings have long since been identified and shut down by the search engine companies. These days, high rankings have more to do with the structure of your HTML code, your acumen at avoiding "trip wires" that send spiders away, where certain keywords appear on a page, how you use JavaScript and Cascading Style Sheets and where your formatting instructions appear in relation to your website copy. If you used a WYSIWYG code-writing program-such as Front Page, GoLive or Dreamweaver-you almost certainly will get a much lower score from the spiders.

It really does take a team of people, like the kind, we have at Brand Identity Guru, dedicated to monitoring the everyday changes on the battlefield to maintain a high-ranking web presence. In addition, it does change frequently-search engines are notorious for changing their search algorithms often.

What about pay-per-click?

Organic ("free" or "natural") rankings are completely different from sponsored ("pay-per-click" or PPC) links. PPC can be an effective part of a brand's overall online marketing strategy, and many professional SEO companies work with clients to design PPC campaigns that are both cost-effective and eye-catching. However, PPC won't substitute for SEO. High positioning on a relevant keyword search on Google, with its reputation for returning highly relevant results, bodes well for your brand in a way that sponsored links just can't. However, neither is it wise to engage in an all-SEO, no-PPC strategy. Serious online brand marketers get the best results with a comprehensive strategy run by professionals with both the branding and technical know-how to determine the right mix of the two.

Yes, it's complicated.

However, you get back a lot in return for your investment of time and money. A more "Google able" online branding strategy will quickly yield improved sales and a more visible brand on the web, which, in turn, will also positively affect your bottom line.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm located in Boston, Massachusetts. Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

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By Kurt Mortensen

Word choice in marketing and advertising is critical. When advertisers spend millions of dollars each year, you can bet they have tested every word they are going to use. They want their word choices to lead you psychologically to believe their product is the best, so that it will change your life. Skilled advertisers can get us to absorb their message unconsciously. They might even package an identical product with different words and phrases to reach a wider segment of the public.

Daryl Benn conducted a study on how advertisers use word choice and catch phrases to sell different, but identical in effectiveness, brands of aspirin. Consider the following:

Brand A: proclaims 100 percent pure, claims nothing is stronger. Benn notes that governmental tests also showed no brand was weaker or less effective than others were.

Brand B: Advertises, "Unsurpassed in speed--no other brand works faster." The same governmental tests showed "B" works no faster than others do.

Brand C: declares it used an ingredient "that doctors recommend." Governmental tests revealed that "special ingredient" is nothing more than regular aspirin.

The words we use can hurt others and cause tension and resentment. Words can even cause wars. Humans tend to create and use words that hurt or label. Hitler used labeling and name-calling during his rule in Germany. He called the Jews many negative things, including "vermin", "sludge", "garbage", "lice", "sewage", and "insects." Labels also extend far beyond the names people are given, into the way we describe things in a negative light, such as, "broken home," "single-parent family," or "blended family." Whereas, we think of theses terms as essentially neutral, the words can carry significant negative weight to those people to whom the terms apply.

As you design your persuasive message, you must consider the emotional impact of each word and phrase. When you want to create emotion, choose words that will trigger feelings. If you want to downplay the event or situation, use an unemotional word. Notice the following words generally have the same definition but carry different emotional weight, for example, calling someone "thrifty" versus "cheap," "traditional" versus "old-fashioned," "extroverted" versus "loud," "careful" versus "cowardly," and "eccentric" versus "strange."

Many words are emotionally loaded and represent different values to different people. These words can get people to pay attention and alert them to know what significance the message has for them. It is hard to find a neutral word. Your word choice will paint different pictures for different people because the way we define words based on our belief systems, our experiences, and our social roles. The beliefs we hold about a word will dictate our actions and will dictate how we respond. For example, some cultures view death as a celebration of life; others view death as a tragedy.

Sometimes, if used improperly, positive words can still lead to a negative response. For this reason, persuaders will often avoid certain words, although generally positive, and instead use words that may still bear positive associations, but are more ambiguous. For example, in the world of politics we hear phrases like "freedom of choice," "fiscal responsibility," or "responsible taxation." When politicians use such generalities, people of differing viewpoints can actually both be appeased. They will fill in the blanks and provide their own definitions.

Words can convey emotional color by how long or short they are. Generally, shorter words are more blunt, direct, harsh, or sharp. Consider words like "kick," "hit," "force," "stop," or "no." Longer words, like "lonely," "depressed or "painful" are drawn out to evoke colors of melancholy or suffering.

Advertisers know that changing just one word in their ad can dramatically increase the response rate. One advertiser changed the word "repair" to "fix" and saw a 20 percent increase in response.

There are other words advertisers employ, which are known as "weasel words". These words confuse their audience and do not allow you to put an exact number on the advertiser's claim. They let you justify and believe what you want. They are called "weasel words" because weasels are notorious for breaking into the chicken coop and sucking out the inside of the eggs without breaking the shell. The eggs look fine but in reality are hollow and empty, just like these words. Watch out for these words:

*Helps
*May
*Possibly
*Improved
*Up to
*Almost
*About
*Approximately

Application Questions

Do the words you use trigger a positive or negative response in your prospects?

What weasel words do you use and do these words detract from your message?

What is the one word in your presentation that is taking away from your message?

Kurt Mortensen's trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; you should attract customers, just as if a magnet attracts metal filings. Claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know by going to http://prewealth.com/mistakestoavoid and get my free report "10 Mistakes that Cost You Thousands."

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