Anatomy of your Web Presence - Part 2: The Eyes

July 31, 2007 | 4 Comments

OK, Part two of our 13 part blog extravaganza: The Anatomy of your Online Presence.

The eyes represent watching. In part one, you used your brain and set your goals. Now you have to watch and see if your strategy works.

The great thing about the web is the level that you can measure results and maintain an accurate history of trends. I am going to discuss some of the different things you can use to watch your strategy unfold.

To begin with, do not just watch your results – react to them. If something gets great results, do it again. If something seems to be under performing, make some slight changes and see if it improves the performance.
 

Don’t just watch traffic

Don’t just watch your basic traffic trends. Sure these are important, but unless your website traffic is converting to buyers or subscribing to something, more traffic has very little value.

Here is a list of key things to measure.

  • Purchases – What percentage of visitors visit the purchase page? What percentage of visitors complete the transaction?
  • Subscribers – How many people subscribe to your eNewsletter? How about to the RSS feed of your blog?
  • Inbound links – How many other sites are linking to your site? Which are generating the most website traffic?
  • Comments – How many people are interacting with your website or blog?
  • Contacts – How many leads (Email or phone) are generated from the web?
  • Search engine ranking – Are you on the first page of major search engines for your target keywords?
  • General traffic trends – How many pages on average do visitors read?

Important stats facts

It is easy to get caught up in your own website or blog and forget the diversity of people that are arriving. If someone finds you via a search engine they may have one expectation for the site and after arriving, see that it is not what they are looking for a click away. A certain percentage of visitors to your website will always click away quickly and pull your stats down. If your average page reads is 1.5 per visitor, see if you can increase it to 2.0 by cross referencing your pages better. This does not sound like a lot, but it is a big improvements.

Some of the tools for measurement will depend on what technology you are using. For example, you eCommerce should have good reporting in it. The system should have the ability to measure every step of the purchase process and tell you how many people abandon the purchase part way through.

If you use an eNewsletter system like the eNewsletter system AWeber you will be able look at the performance of your eNewsletter sign ups and even do split tests – splitting the visibility of different forms automatically to see which one performs better. I think of it as a fun game as I try different things to see what works.

You can also measure your RSS subscriptions with Feedburner. www.feedburner.com – This site not only has the metrics advantage. It also gives you an advantage of being able to move your blog and migrate your readers with you.

Google Analytics – www.google.com/analytics is the best free service I have seen. It gives you great stats on your site and gives accurate stats on things like page reads, referrals, etc. If you have an eCommerce site, look around on the Google Analytics settings. You can request secure stats which enable it to run even on secure pages.

There are other specialty services like www.Hittail.com that will help you identify and improve your results from organic search engines.  Services like Handshake HQ help you graphically track how many new contacts you make each month, which can drive you your traffic very well.

Once your systems are doing the majority of the tracking, figure out what other things you would like to keep track of. Inbound links, Technorati authority number, comments, etc. can all be recorded in an Excel spreadsheet once a month so that you can review your results and see if you are making progress.  Sure, there is SEO software out there too, but unless you are going to actively look at improving SEO, you do not need to purchase these.

By keeping your eye on the stats, you are going to understand how your web presence works and be able to improve it on an ongoing basis.

Part 3: The Nose >>

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Dean Hunt - Buzz Marketing Guest Post

July 28, 2007 | 8 Comments

Exactly How I Got a Stampede of Web Traffic

Dean here from www.deanhunt.com – Today I will show you exactly how I milked an article to get a stampede of web traffic.

Today I am going to show you a step by step guide on exactly how I got a random story onto the Digg.com main page LAST WEEK.

Here is the back story: My biz partner bet me $1000 that I couldn’t get a random article onto the Digg.com main page.

He found 3 random articles:

1) A self help article

2) A gadget review article

3) A religious article

He game me a time limit of 3 weeks to transform one of these articles and get the new version on the Digg.com main page. I could modify the article, but couldn’t do a complete re-write:

Spoiler Alert: I got the self help article onto the Digg.com main page 48 hours later. I didn’t even need to use articles 2 and 3.

I took a few screenshots, and I am going to show you the EXACT tricks and techniques I used to do this.

Here is the article that I had to transform into viral gold: http://www.procrastinationhelp.com/humor/procrastinators-creed

Here is my version of the story: http://retiredat21.com/10-step-guide-to-thinking-like-a-loser/

Here is my version at Digg.com: http://digg.com/offbeat_news/10_Step_Guide_To_Thinking_Like_A_Loser

I thought that the original article was pretty good, but there was no way it was going to get on the Digg main page. So I knew I had a lot of work to do to create some viral content.

The Dilemma

Many people contact me and say “Dean, I would love to get some viral success for my site, but I don’t have your creativity”. My answer is that ANYONE can get millions of visitors for ANY article. But 99.99% of marketing experts prefer to talk the talk instead of walking the walk, so the only way I could prove just how easy it can be, is to use an EXISTING article and transform it.

My dilemma was that I was technically using someone else’s content. This was a catch22 for me. If I create an article from scratch, people will just say it was my creativity that did it, if I use someone else’s article, then it is not morally correct.

However, this case study should help thousands of webmasters achieve viral and buzz marketing success.

To be honest, the content in the original article is nothing new, but I have credited the original article anyway.

Below are nine of the main techniques and tricks I used to transform the article into a buzz article. Remember, this mini-series is not just about Digg.com, if you create buzz with your article then you will be mentioned on authority sites and powerful blogs.

Trick 1: A Global Appeal

This trick is based on the law of averages. I am sure you are all familiar with the term “niche”, well here is the trick… niche-focused articles often aren’t as successful with viral content as content with a global appeal.

Here is an example: Let’s presume that 100 people see the original procrastinator’s article. Of that 100, 40 of them have never heard the term “procrastination”, so they are not going to enjoy it. Let’s also assume that another 20 are not going to fully understand or appreciate the humor in the article. Finally, let’s presume that a further 10 people don’t understand the word creed.

Note: Don’t make the mistake of presuming all your readers speak fluent English.

So from this example we have alienated 70% of all the readers.

An article simply cannot go viral with ease if 70% of all readers are not going to understand it.

So clearly I had to make it have a more global appeal.

Step one was to change the focus from procrastination to not being a loser. What % of people are familiar with the term loser? I am guessing close to 100%.

In one simple step I have increased the probability of this article being a success by 70%, simply by changing the focus/topic.

Trick 2: The Negativity Slant

This is an area I have studied a lot over the past few years. Here is how it works:

Content with a negative slant will get discussed more than a positive slant.

“Bad news travels faster than good news”, and we can use this knowledge to our advantage. Have you noticed what % of the news is bad news? It is a HUGE %.

Look at the buzz stories of the past month and here are some of the articles you will see:

  • iPhone disappointments
  • George Bush (almost always negative)
  • Paris Hilton prison stories (mostly negative)

Did you know that Paris Hilton created an official petition to prevent her from going to prison?

Did you know that there was also a petition at http://jailparishilton.com/ by some entrepreneur that claims: “She did the crime, she should serve the time, no special treatment!”

The “Jail Paris Hilton” petition got more than three times as many names as the official one, and the site has had millions of hits.

Trust me, a negative slant will ALWAYS have more chance of going viral.

I personally saw the effects of this phenomenon with the “Bizzare Google request” blog post that was described as the “viral marketing success of 2006”: http://deanhunt.com/bizzare-google-request/

So here is what I did to the original article… instead of saying something positive like “How to procrastinate less” or “How to succeed with procrastination”, I made it negative with my title “10 Step Guide to Thinking Like a Loser”, you can see my version here: http://retiredat21.com/10-step-guide-to-thinking-like-a-loser/

Trick 3: The Killer Headline

Unlike the other two tricks, this one is common knowledge…

You can have a great piece of content, but if your headline sucks, your content will NOT get seen.

ORIGINAL HEADLINE: “Procrastinator’s Creed”

Do you think this is a good headline?

I have already shown you why around 70% of Internet users will NOT like this title. So let’s look at my headline again:

VIRAL GOLD HEADLINE: “10 Step Guide to Thinking Like a Loser”

Which do you think will grab people’s attention?

Below I am going to show you in detail why this headline is an absolute killer headline.

Trick 4: 10 Steps to Viral Heaven

Ok, here is the trick… people love lists! There have been many discussions about why lists are so powerful in Digg.com, but we can save that for another time… all you need to know is that Internet readers LOVE lists. Anything in list format is a surefire winner with the Digg crowd.

Note: Apparently “top 7” is the magic number: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/05/22/top-7-lists-lead-the-pack-on-digg

This was another killer mistake that the original author made. He ALREADY had the content in list format, he just messed up the headline by not including a top 10.

So to improve the original article I simple added a number to the headline. Easy!

Trick 5: Stand out from the crowd

This trick applies to both your headline and your content. The Internet is a VERY crowded place, and there are millions of webmasters who are trying to grab some attention. So if you want to get noticed then you MUST stand out from the crowd.

Seth Godin uses this as the focus of his “Purple Cow” book http://www.sethgodin.com/purple/

There are hundreds of thousands of articles on procrastination, and I knew that I had to stand out from the crowd with my version, so I created a headline that would achieve that.

I guarantee that my headline really stood out from the crowd at Digg.com

If you are struggling to think of ways to be creative with your content, then grab a pen and paper and just start writing as many wacky ideas as possible. Be creative, controversial, edgy, wacky, unique… try it all.

You can never be too creative!

Trick 6: Curiosity Killed The Cat

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but with buzz marketing it is a killer technique.

The key to this is to create a headline that raises people’s interest. You can do this by giving a teaser in your headline.

Looking at the current Digg.com frontpage content, there are some articles that attract curiosity:

Gas consumption per day: U.S. vs. Rest of the World
Thanks for dying Jesus! [PIC]
The 9 Most Meaningless Corporate Slogans

Wouldn’t you want to read those stories?

Note: The gas consumption article breaks my “Global Appeal” rule, but they get away with it because the vast majority of Digg readers are American, and a decent % are America Haters (ouch).

Trick 7: Image Is Everything

This is one of the easiest tricks. All you have to do is simply add an interesting photo/image to your story. It is that simple!

I don’t know the exact reason for why this is so effective. Personally I feel it helps with the packaging (See trick 8), and it helps present the content in a superior manner. I actually did an article recently that got on StumbleUpon simply because the image I added was so amusing.

So here is what I did for the procrastination article: I added the following image to the article:

Trick 8: Perfect Packaging

Packaging = website template.

If your site looks crappy then you are reducing your chances of going viral. There are some exceptions (Craigslist), but generally you will get more attention if your site looks great.

I recently posted part one of this buzz marketing study on my personal blog: http://deanhunt.com/my-buzz-marketing-101/

Then I was asked to guest blog for a major web development portal. So I published the same article here: http://fadtastic.net/2007/07/10/a-buzz-and-viral-marketing-case-study/

Guess which article was featured by Darren Rowse at the hugely popular Problogger.net?

You guessed it, the awesome web template at fadtastic meant that the case study was packaged much better there.

Tip: Ensure your site looks great, also try and make it look like an authority site (add a feed, contact-us, disclaimer etc…)

Trick 9: Shifting the Focus

This is a powerful trick that I used to great effect on the procrastination article. What I did was shift the focus of the article from first person “me/I” to second person “you”.

In the original article the tips were in this format:

ORIGINAL: “1. I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.”

I simply switched this tip to second person:

VIRAL GOLD: “Learn that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.”

So why is this trick so powerful?

There is a reason that Internet Marketing experts talk in second person in their sales letters… example: “Do you want to know how you can make $1000 per day?”

By focusing on the reader you make them seem more involved in the story. It also helps keep their attention.

Have you ever been chatting with someone who is talking constantly about themselves? Boring isn’t it!

I re-did the article and switched the focus on the reader. This was very powerful, and helped ensure that people left loads of comments both at the blog and at Digg.com.

SUMMARY

Above are 9 of the tricks I used to transform a decent niche article, into a global viral success.

I don’t know how many visitors the original article got, but mine has had over 65,000 unique visitors thus far.

Please note that these tricks will require some practice and patience. But with time you will be able to master them.

Personally I have used these techniques to get over 2 million unique visitors to my articles for FREE.

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, as always I welcome your questions and feedback.

The next chapter will expose some of the myths about viral marketing.

Dean

Note: I was recently asked to compile more of my tactics and tricks. So I am busy working on that right now. If you would like to be kept informed of any updates and tips from me, then send me a blank email to: contact@deanhunt.com

If you want to read more from Dean then see his straight talking business advice and the non profit young entrepreneurs portal for more tips and tricks.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

100 Daily Must Reads for Entrepreneurs

July 25, 2007 | 3 Comments

Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing Blog made the 100 most important reads list for entrepreneurs.  Thanks.

Go look at that list.  It is full of great blogs with great advice and insight.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

My Buzz Box by Laura Stamps

July 23, 2007 | 3 Comments

Guest Post: Published with Permission

MY BUZZ BOX
by Laura Stamps ©
 Laura StampFor 19 years I’ve run a small press publishing company called Kittyfeather Press (http://www.KittyfeatherPress.blogspot.com). I’m a novelist, and I write a series of magickal urban fantasy novels. Women are my primary market, so I also fill my novels with useful information of interest to women, like how to shrink uterine fibroids naturally, how to survive perimenopause (grin!), how to care for feral cats, etc. You could say I write entertaining as well as nourishing fiction.

We all know markets fragment and change from year to year. Last year my niche markets shifted almost entirely to the internet for much of their shopping, so in February I changed 99% of my marketing to online tactics. A large part of that involved creating a consistent buzz on the web for my novels.

First, I studied SEO (search engine optimization) techniques and learned how to redesign my site to be Google search engine friendly. Next, I researched the major keyword phrases for my niche markets and restructured the copy on my site to include that information. This is what I anchor my “buzz” to, channeling all my marketing efforts toward the same goal, which is to increase the flow of quality traffic to my site. And quality traffic converts into a steady stream of novel sales.

I discovered lots of buzz techniques that worked for me, and in order to keep them organized I created what I call my “Buzz Box.” I store my buzz marketing plan on index cards in a 3×5 index card box. I created a category divider for each buzz strategy and file the different parts of each strategy on individual index cards. For example, when I join a new forum, I make a separate index card for that forum containing the link, my user-name, and password information, and then file it under the “Forums” category. My Buzz Box sits next to my computer, so I can easily work from it every day. I quickly realized it was unrealistic to think I could hit every category every day. It just takes too much time. But if I work from three or four different categories each day that is enough to insure my buzz campaign remains consistent.

These are the categories in my Buzz Box:

1.) Classified Ad Blaster (http://www.AdSubmitter.com). Every day I place classified ads for my novels through this service on 1070 free classified ad sites across the internet. In my case, the value of this for buzz is not so much in the response I receive from my ads on those 1070 sites, but in the fact that many of the ads show up in the Google search engine. That means an online classified ad should not be structured in the same way as an ad appearing in a print magazine. The titles of my ads contain the major keyword phrases for my market. I word the body of the ad in a way that makes it easy for someone using the search engines to go to my site from there. Because of this, my website link is listed first in the ad, rather than last. There is only so much room in a Google search engine listing, so it’s important for your website to be the first thing they see after the title of your ad.

2.) Press Release Blaster (http://www.sanepr.com). This free service places my press releases on hundreds of websites. Once again, if the headline of your press release is keyword rich, your press releases will show up in the search engines for months, creating a constant buzz for your products.

3.) Article Directories. This strategy allows me to write articles on topics of interest to my target markets, which end up on hundreds of websites seeking free content. As the author, I am given a resource box at the bottom of each article to include a line or two about my business and a live link to my website.

4.) Blogs. I make it a habit to comment on high traffic blogs of interest to my target markets. All of these blogs highlight my website link with each of my comments. This is a great way to expand my market and funnel more traffic to my site.

5.) Google Groups (http://groups.google.com) and Yahoo Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com). I am a big fan of these groups, and have sold lots of books to their members. No matter your market, there is a group for it. Probably more than one. Join as many as you feel comfortable participating in. I say this because some groups are very large and have thousands of members. To create a buzz with groups always sign your posts with a “sig.” Your sig (signature) should include your name, company or tagline, and your website link. Some groups don’t allow live links in a post, so only join those that do. My experience has been that I will begin receiving book orders within a week of joining a new group, probably because I am reaching a large group of people with each post.

6.) Forums. Join the largest forums that cater to your target markets. Like groups, most allow a sig. And only join those that do. Also fill out your profile completely, and include live links to your website. I have found it takes a little longer to begin receiving orders from forum members, but well worth the wait. And it goes without saying if your sig is rich in the keyword phrases for your target markets your forum posts will begin to show up in the search engines, creating even more buzz.

7.) Social Networking sites. There are so many out there now besides MySpace. I belong to Linkedin and Goodreads. Social networking sites are perfect for networking with your target markets and channeling quality traffic to your website. Once again, be sure to fill out your profile page completely with as much information about your business as allowed, including live links to your website.

8.) Viral Mailings to My In-house Email List. Every day I gain new people for my in-house email list through my buzz marketing. It is only natural that some of the people you meet during the course of your buzz marketing campaign will become friends as well as customers and will ask to be on your list. I send viral email mailings to my list every month. These email mailings feature news about my novels, articles I have sent to the article directories, or my current press release. I always choose something with great pass-along value, and I encourage the people on my in-house list to forward these mailings to friends of theirs who would also benefit from this information. Once again, this viral technique creates more buzz for me.

The important thing to keep in mind with social networking sites, groups, forums, and blogs is these are primarily opportunities to network. Since your sig or profile contains advertising for your company/product you should never mention your product in a post unless someone asks you about it. Posts are not for advertising, and if you abuse that rule, you will be labeled a spammer and kicked out or worse. So have a good time and let your sig/profile do all the buzz work for you. It’s also important to only join groups and forums centered around topics you enjoy. Then a buzz strategy becomes a lot of fun. Now you can spend your marketing time networking, talking about subjects you love, and making lots of new friends, while your sig and profile pages do all the selling. What could be better? For me my Buzz Box is a win/win marketing strategy, and I look forward to opening that box every morning!

Thanks Laura! It is really valuable to see a complete picture like this of what is working with someone. I am off to buy some Index Cards.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

The Anatomy of your Web Presence - Part 1: The Brain

July 17, 2007 | 4 Comments

The Anatomy of your Web Presence

Part 1: The Brain

Welcome to the 13 part series:  The Anatomy of your Web Presence.  We will be looking at different issues around web development, promotion, management, writing and buzz marketing.  This series is not just about your website.  It is about having a life on the web.  Developing your web presence is more than a website.  It is interacting with people, setting strategic goals, working, playing and growing.

Part 1 is the brain.  We start with the brain because it is the most important aspect of having a successful web presence.  The rest of the body is just a bunch of tools that should be aligned with accomplishing the goals set by the brain.  This web view mirrors our real brain.  Our brain is the control center for the central nervous system.  Instead of pumping blood, our web presence will be pumping information.  Information is the life source of who you are on the web.

The brain is where you will think about your goals and desired outcomes.  Your brain will have to analyze the time you spend on the web and assess the value that is gained.

The questions and activities in this document are some of the same kinds of thing that a high-priced web analyst would ask when reviewing your website.  It is also the kind of thing a mentor or coach will help you explore to improve your business.

The reason these people are successful at helping you is that they are not blinded by the big picture and they focus in on specialized questions and topics that they know can have a big impact.  This does not mean they are easy.  What it does mean is you can develop a list of activities to improve your web presence and work towards your goals.

What stops most people from doing this?  Unfortunately, the brain is often overlooked by people when developing a web presence. Here are some of the attitudes and behaviors people adopt because they do not take the time to think about their goals.

I never get results from the web

This common statement can be heard from many business owners who spent too much money or time setting up a basic website and then waited for people to start coming to them.  When their giddy excitement died they assumed it is the fault of the Internet, and could not actually be their unrealistic expectations and limited web presence.

If this describes you, don’t despair.  Many website owners set them up and forget about them when the phone does not start ringing off the hook.  You need to reassess your goals and set realistic expectations.  Then you need to begin using your brain to build up your web presence bit by bit.

I can write a script….

Some people give up quickly, and others are on a never ending quest for short cuts.  Sometimes these short cuts can pay off and generate revenue but there are a variety of reasons they are a bad idea.

If you are practicing techniques to build lots of information that is pulled from other resources, you are hoping to capitalize on other people’s brains but not using your own.  Google and the other search engines are always combating these kinds of activities.  Even if you find a trick that works, it is only a matter of time before it gets shut down.  Then you are off on a new quest to find a new trick to make money.

If you are writing scipts to pull in data, you know that your techniques can change any day.  Develop a great online presence that does not use these black hat techniques and begin to phase out the old short cuts while building up a legitimate audience.

Voyeur Tendencies

A voyeur is a brain that reads other people’s writing or watches their video but rarely contributes.  This is also sometimes called a lurker in chat rooms, message boards and such.  If your goal is to help people get to know you are find your website, you cannot stay invisible. 

People yearn to see their message boards and blogs commented on.  One of the biggest complaints I hear from people that run these kinds of sites is that it is difficult to get people to comment.  People visiting, on the other hand, often doubt that what they have to say is valuable enough so they do not say a thing.

Do not be a voyeur.  Make meaningful, interesting comments and it is OK if they are not a masterpiece.  Just don’t do the old “Nice site” comment as it will probably get marked as SPAM.  Instead, say something about the topic that is interesting.

Techno-phobic Brain

You have met people like this before. “I don’t know technology”, they say.

This has less to do with skills and abilities, and more to do with your brain’s ability to get outside its comfort zone and try something new.  I bet many of the people that say they do not have technology have a cell phone and a DVD player.  Those are technical.

The key to getting your brain past its techno-phobia is to be willing to try something new and to understand that technology continues to get simpler.  Writing a website used to be somewhat tricky for non-html people.  Now there are many content management systems out there that make it simpler than using your word processor.  And if your website is still too difficult, you cannot possibly tell me a blog is too hard.  You will in the title and write the paragraphs.  Two fields and hit save.

Not technical is not an excuse.  Just say you are not interested in being successful on the web.  That is far more sincere.

Busy Busy Bee

Some people spend a great deal of time on the web and never get anywhere.  These are the people with huge networks or lots of websites, but they are not making any money.  This happens with someone is focused on activity and not outcome.  Your brain, and a deep breath, are what help you set goals and deadlines so that you can analyze your activities and eliminate those that do not pay off.

Of course, it is not always about the money but at some point there has to be a reward for your effort, unless is it strictly recreational.

Put your brain in charge

So now let’s agree on a few things.  The brain is in charge.  The brain does not do things for the sake of doing them.  It is goal driven and seeks to create good, healthy habits that will enhance the health and well-being of your entire web presence, and it will work to eliminate those things that damage the web presence or take away valuable time and energy.

The brain must set goals, collect and disseminate data and change activities and objectives when necessary.  Without being emotionally attached to your current products, websites and activities, I’d like you to turn on your web presence brain and focus on setting goals and objectives with the following website goal worksheet.

Overall Web Presence Mission: 
Instructions:  A good web presence strategy keeps the mission in mind but understands that some people will move faster than others.  For this reason, a tiered set of goals must be created.  We look for a three by three set of goals for optimum results. Tier 1:  These outcomes are usually the purchase of your premium items or services.

#1

#2

#3

Tier 2: These outcomes are mid-range purchases.  Books, eBooks, sign up for a webinar, etc. #1

#2

#3

Tier 3: Free outcomes that can later lead to higher tiered outcomes.  Sign up for newsletter, download presentation, etc. #1

#2

#3

Now do a complete review of your core website or blog.  You should have one central location as your primary brand and focused resource for accomplishing your goals.  For example, http://www.buzzoodle.com/ was simplified to only have items that can be purchased or signed up for on it.  One week after the simplification, our target pages went from 3% of the hits to 22% of the hits.  We used our brain to focus on the goals and get rid of the fluff. Does this mean we eliminated content?  No.  Content is too valuable to be slashed and burned when you are making changes.  We simply stopped internally linking to the old pages that were making the site seem busy and we produce most of our new content on our blogs and other websites, such as http://blog.buzzoodle.com/ and http://marketing.buzzoodle.com/.  Those sites act as engines to draw in readers and the interested visitors end up on the website that is focused on the goals.

The web has the ability to help people anywhere find you and follow your lead to your goals.  Use the brain to think link someone else that has stumbled upon your website or blog.  Ask these questions for every page you create:

  • Is the subject of the page clear?
  • Who is the company or person behind the site?
  • Is the next step clear if I am interested in the subject?
  • Do you ask for the sale?
  • Does this resource provide value to the reader?

Every single page of your website or blog could be the first page someone starts on, if they arrived via a referral link or search engine.  Do you build every page with a goal in mind?

Next, ask yourself if the next step is compelling.  The figures vary depending on what study you look at, but it is well documented that people spend a few seconds at the most on a webpage.  Do you have headlines or something else compelling enough to stop them in their tracks and get them to pay attention?

The brain is there to think and plan.  Go back through your goals and look at how easy it is to achieve these goals from your main web resource.   Can you remove things that are distractions to your goals?  Can you make it easy to spot your main objectives in one to two seconds?  Are you giving people a reason to stay or junking up the property with advertisements and links?

Your success depends on your ability to use the web presence brain to make decisions on the kind of materials you put on the web, the clarity of the

This concludes Anatomy of Your Web Presence:  Part 1 – The Brain.

You may view all thirteen parts of Anatomy of your Web Presence at http://blog.buzzoodle.com/index.php/2007/07/16/do-you-have-a-living-breathing-web-presence/ once they are complete.

Next:  Anatomy of your Web Presence: Part 2 – The Eyes

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzz with Blogs, Branding, Internet Marketing 

Do you have a living, breathing web presence?

July 16, 2007 | 6 Comments

Is your web strategy a whole-body strategy? 

The world works well when systems work well.  A brain is a jar does not function as well as a brain in a living body.  We are systems and each part of us has a specialized purpose.  We function best when we have all the necessary parts and they are working in unison to achieve goals.

So I decided to use the body as a basis for you to think about your web strategy.  I believe that all the major body parts are here, but I apologize in advance to any organs I missed.  I am not a doctor. 

Below is a quick summary of the various areas and I will be writing a post for each one of these and linking to it over the course of the next couple of weeks.  You might want to bookmark this page and check back.

Brain Brain – Are you using your brain?  Do you know what the ideal outcome for your web effort is or are you just tossing up a website because you think you have to?  Start with your brain and know what your strategy is.Read >>
Eye Eyes – Are you watching your stats?  Great tools are out there with all kinds of eye candy (pretty graphs) that will tell you how you are doing.  Keeping an eye on your traffic and referrals will increase your effectiveness.Read >>
Nose Nose – Are you sniffing around new social network tools regularly?  Getting in on the ground floor of a new social network tool often results in much high buzz than being a late comer to the party.  Develop a nose for new opportunities.Read More >>
mouth Mouth – Are you talking back to people that contact you?  Not following up promptly is a key reason many businesses lose opportunities.
ear Ears – How sharp are your ears?  Are people able to send you messages in lots of ways and are you receiving them?  Conversations are going on all around you.  Do you hear what is being said about you on the web and are you making it easy for people to contact you?
Stomach Stomach – Feed me!  If you are investing time and energy in an online strategy you had better have a way to make money.  How can you make money and how do you think beyond today’s meal (product) to tomorrows feast?If you avoid addressing the issue of stomach, it will remind you very soon that it is an important element of your effort.
heart.gif Heart – Do you care about the people that care about you?  Developing an advocacy program and showing you care will keep your heart and organization healthy.
kidney Kidney – Are you filtering out the flow of bad information?  With the flood of information, you need to have filters that take out as much of the bad stuff as possible and allow your ears to focus on the good.
lungs Lungs – Are you breathing every day or holding your breath for weeks at a time?  Having a living, breathing web presence means you have to breathe life into it every day.  What are quick things you can do to keep fresh air coming in?
Reproductive Reproductive Organs – Are you courting people that may eventually feed the stomach?  Online dating isn’t just done at match.com.  Business to business, you are getting to know each other and deciding if you want to get serious.  Have you combed your hair and brushed your teeth?
Hands Hands – How many hands do you have helping out?  The great thing about a virtual body is we are not limited to our physical two hands.  How do you recruit other people’s hands to grow your online presence?
foot Feet – Are you standing on a firm, healthy foundation?  Before running off into 30 social networks, setting up 10 blogs and starting 3 eNewsletters, build a solid foundation.  Everything is better when the core foundation is strong and dependable.
ass Ass – Are you eliminating waste?  If you are trying something new, decide a realistic goal of what you want out of it and in what amount of time.  There are too many options out there to do everything.  Don’t be afraid to eliminate the waste and move onto something new.

Each of these articles will be lengthy and informative, so my posting frequency may dip a bit as I try to put together a great resource for you.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

What makes you special?

July 13, 2007 | 2 Comments

Here is a little test for you.  Please, write these down as you read because it will not be as useful if you read the whole thing and then write it down.

This blog post is a quick brain storming session to help find what your unique selling point are for yourself and how you might want to rebrand your image.

List your top 5 personal interests

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List your top 3 work related functions that add value

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What are you passionate about?

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If money and training was not an issue, what career would you take up?

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In what Industries do you have great connections?

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Now lets play Mr. Potato Head!  I want you to start making funny combinations of things with what you wrote before and come up with a new, unique career or brand image for yourself.  Take a few things that seem unrelated and try to find a way to combine them.  Here are some examples.

  • Passionate about cooking and love your dog?  Why not open a gourmet pet cafe?
  • Personal Hobby of Fly Fishing and you are an accountant for small businesses?  Why not conduct a Books and Bass retreat for clients each year combining financial information with fishing?
  • Gambling and Fighting World Hunger?  Why not create an online casino where people are trying to win but winnings go to a non-profit organization or to fighting hunger in the country of their choice?

It is when you break out of your own stereotype that things get really interesting.  Nearly every job is a stereotype.  Take your skills and interests and combine them to make you the only potato head on the block with those funny parts.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Branding, Blog 

Can you use public schools to create buzz?

July 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I just presented at the Solar Energy Conference yesterday and I was very impressed.  Not everyone there used online tools to create buzz, but they did understand advocacy.  One presentation I saw talked about how they had developed vocational programs in their state for repair and installation of renewable energy sources.  These programs were being taught in the schools.

I tend to spend a lot of time focusing on the quick things you can do to create buzz, but if you have a long term outlook and understand that an audience that is educated about your product will be a better consumer, you can build a long term buzz generator like this.  I found it inspiring.

They also showed great programs where they built great relationships with customers and created a strong sense of pride among the solar power users.  Word of mouth from those people helped then grow at a very impressive rate.

Thanks to RELI for including me in their buzz marketing for Solar Power presentation.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Word of Mouth Marketing, Blog 

Are Experts Made or Born?

July 11, 2007 | 1 Comment

An article in the Harvard Business Review states nicely what I have said for some time.  Experts are not born, they are made by many years of practice and pushing themselves.  I created the Buzz Mentoring program that helps people find their voice and then do the activities that will make them an expert over time.  The only downside?  It is hard to stay at it long enough to achieve true expert status.

I found this via the Fast Company Blog.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

RonMcDaniel.com - Thanks

July 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I am launching a new site more focused on me as a coach and speaker.  One of the great things about having a big network is that I posted the site and then sent out about 30 emails asking for people to give me feedback.  About 20 people responded within 12 hours and had obviously spent serious time reviewing it, and gave me great feedback.

So if you would like to take a look, it is www.ronmcdaniel.com and I know I still need to add testimonials and some other things, but it is my starting point.

Thanks everyone for helping out with the review.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

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