OK, now that we know that I am getting old -
What does this have to do with Search Marketing?

I saw a post on Webmasterworld about the Overture Inventory Tool coming back!

Sadly, when I tested it the results were STILL from January 2007.

At least once a week I almost go there for a quick check and I feel sad when I remember
that it is DEAD.

So where do you turn for keyword research these days?
Google!

Google is doing a good job of sucking attention from webmasters and marketers

• Google Analytics
• Google Webmaster Central
• Google Trends 

And the WORST NAMED MARKETING TOOL OF THE CENTURY
Google External Keyword Tool

What an awful name, you can't even easily find the URL as they keep changing it!

Minus the awful name and Google 'hiding the url' - its an amazing resource.

Here is a case study on using the Adwords External Keyword Tool

 Yeah there is a link to my KeywordSecret tool in the video.

Technorati Tags: Internet Marketing Marketing seo Searchingdot Searchingdotcom Search Engine Keyword Research Blog Overture Inventory Tool Google keyword

• Not Yahoo - they will probably wind up being acquired
• Not Microsoft / MSN - they can try but Google is just to far ahead
• Another startup?  Not likely, when your mom refers finding something
  on the web as "Google-ing it" - its kind of a lock.

Then one of my blog feed subscribers sent this over:
"Facebook Killing Google? Um, No"

Its an interesting read and comments on this longer article where Danny curses
SearchEngineLand

Its kind of a funny read as its like watching "Clash of the Titans".
But there are some really interesting points on the development of new services
that aren't the same old search engine that we are used to.  It also comments on
these services being SEO-resistant - which is the exact opposite of the word that
I want to work in . . .

Basically my thoughts are there will always be a place for pure search engines
and that Google is not going anywhere . . . and that we SEO guys don't have to
go and get a real job just yet

I look forward to your comments!

Technorati Tags: Internet Marketing Marketing seo Searchingdot Searchingdotcom Search Engine Search Engine Optimization Blog Seo Resistant Web 20 facebook

Hmm lets see, Google knows / tracks:

• general web traffic with their Toolbar
• conversion data from Adwords
• publisher performance / bounce rates from Adsense
• domain details as they wish (Google is a registar)
• linking data (they have more linking data on who-links-to-who then anyone)
• more detailed traffic data with Analytics (they acquired Urchin)
• personal  / search history
• feeds you track and your interests (feed reader and Google IQ)

Look I am NOT a "big brother" is watching us type of guy.  And to be honest - I really don't care!

Google can track whatever they want, I gave up "defensive" marketing (worrying about what Google
knows / tracks)

So to me I just don't care as I use Adwords Conversion Tracking and Google Analytics

There is an interesting discussion going on over at Webmasterworld about "Trusting Google"

Some of the thread is a bit paraniod / 'tin foil hat' for me, but an interesting conversation.

I look forward to your feedback / comments

• I am Superman (I can wish and wear the Underoos) 
• Or I hired a call center with hundreds of people

Or I used a "Phone Call Autoresponder" - its not the best definition but its the easiest to grasp.

This is a REALLY COOL service, probably the coolest thing I have played with in a while - VoiceShot

(This is NOT an affiliate link - I make nothing if you use this service, minus that you can come back here and leave a comment to thank me!)

And its really simple too as these guys got their user interface right (which is nice for a change!) 

• You upload a list of your customer's phone numbers (I will cover HOW to acquire phone numbers and expand the value of your list in a future post)
• You record your message, either by dialing into their service or by recording a WAV file on your computer / mic (I choose the WAV as I was able to edit it in Audicity - great FREE audio editor).  I actually choose to upload two messages - one for a "real person answering the phone" and one for answering machines.
• You schedule the "voice blast" - just like you would an autoresponder broadcast and POOF the calls are blasted out.

 So why do I think this is SO COOL? 

1. Email deliverability SUCKS - actually SUCKS is too nice of a word but this is a family blog
2. Email deliverability SUCKS (sorry I guess I said that already)
3. You are demonstrating to your customers / leads that you are a real person / real company - not some faceless / voiceless website in cyberspace.  And as you will see below below respond and they take action.
4. You are reinforcing your marketing message / brand by "reaching out" to your customers / leads in a new medium / way.
5. And oh yeah - email deliverabilty SUCKS!!!

 My statistics from my FIRST campaign on VoiceShot - I am a stats junkie:

• I used a really tiny section / sample of my customer list (11,808 records / phone numbers)
• 38.6% (4,563 calls) were answered by 'live people' - which is kind of funny, as the system waits for someone to say "hello" and then it plays the recorded call message - I can't even imagine how many people today were trying to 'talk back' and ask questions
• 39.4% (4,651 calls) went straight to voice mail (again I used a different recorded message for these)
• 21.9% (2,594 calls) were 'unsuccessful' - which basically means it was a non working number, someone entered their number incorrectly (by accident) or they entered a crap number to get past my lead capture form.
• Cost: $1,105.68 = .12 cents a call and you only pay for the successul calls (live answer or voicemail) which is cool.

Results / ROI (all that really matters)
If you are NOT tracking every marketing campaign then you are wasting money!
So how did this campaign perform for me?

• My inbound call center RANG OFF THE HOOK - volume was 10X + a normal weekday afternoon
• I received a TON of email replies - some were - why are you calling me?  who are you?  normal B.S. that you have to have customer service address.  Most were legit questions about the service that was being marketed.
• I reinforced my company brand to EVERY single delivered call.  They now know that we are "real" and a serious company that is worth doing business with / spending money with.
• And at the end of the day the only thing that really matters - my merchant account was ON FIRE - it is not my style to throw out dollar amounts but I will say we did 4X our normal hourly transaction volume this afternoon (the calls hit about 4 hours ago so this is ALL real-time data).
• And without bragging about numbers, I easily saw a MULTIPLE TIMES RETURN on my investment within the SAME day . . .

Summary
This was a NON IM (Internet Marketing) niche!  Yep, believe it or not there are OTHER niches that are profitable out there . . .

As you can tell by this post, I am really jazzed about the immediate response to the voice broadcast and my offer.  It was a great experience and I would happily recommend VoiceShot (they even have a real account manager who called me back with answers to my questions).

So what can you do with this information?  TAKE ACTION - if you don't have phone numbers from your customers / leads - you need to START ASKING for them!  (I will blog about "real" lead generation in the near future)

And remember how I said that email sucks!  That is why you need to subscribe to my RSS Feed right now

I look forward to your comments.

Technorati Tags: Internet Marketing Marketing VoiceShot Searchingdot Searchingdotcom Autoresponder Email Blog Voicemail Voice Broadcast ROI

Oh the anticipation . . .

Jerry West!

I had the opportunity to interview Jerry on "What Really Matters in SEO"

I wrote up a long introduction for Jerry and the interview but I threw it out as I really want you to JUST LISTEN!
(After you listen to the full interview, the link that I mentioned in the audio recording is below)

Click below to listen to the interview now:

MP3 - The Greatest SEO Artist In The World" - Interview with Jerry West

Click below to grab the RSS feed of our Podcasts.
 

OK - here is the deal with the link that I mentioned in the audio.  I have been a paying member of Jerry's membership site SEO Revolution for well over a year (yes I actually pay for this).  Jerry's site is currently closed but he opened up a link for my readers / listeners (which is you).  This is NOT an affiliate link, its actually the OPPOSITE - I am taking the commission I would have been paid every month and paying for part of YOUR membership.  That is how strongly I feel about the site and how much respect I have for Jerry.

Here is my NON-affiliate link that helps pay your way into SEO Revolution

See wasn't that easy
Wouldn't it be nice if everyone disclosed their affiliate links and called out what they are really doing? Here is what I am going to do on THIS blog - if I ever use an affiliate link I will clearly label it AND also provide a NON affiliate link for you. This way you can use whatever link you like - if you feel I added value in your research you can use my affiliate link, if I didn't - buy direct! Transparency and honesty is nice isn't it . . .

If you enjoyed this expert interview with Jerry West, then please subscribe to my feed or my email

 Please leave your feedback / comment on both the Interview and my approach to affiliate links.

Technorati Tags: SEO Search Engine Optimization Jerry West Searchingdot Searchingdotcom Podcast Interview Blog Marketing Internet marketing Online marketing

1. How did I score an interview with Seth?
2. How can I get an interview for my blog?
3. What do I need to do to interview an expert in my niche?

First off, interviews in my opinion are some of the best content that you can produce:

1. Expert verbiage, industry jargon, synonyms, related terms - basically all of the keyword / theme stuff that Google and friends are looking for - you just can't "fake" or auto-generate this level of content - TRUST ME I HAVE TRIED :)  Also ghostwriters, freelancers will never hit the mark either as they are not "living the niche"   
   (more on Theming / LSI in a future post)
2. Other bloggers TALK about and LINK to interview content - check out the blog reactions on technorati
3. It is an excuse to contact other bloggers directly who did not find their interview on your own - and a great reason to leave a comment on their blog with a LINK back to your interview / post.  This is not spammy at all and I haven't seen any bloggers delete my comments / links related to an interview!
4. Media attention - it's a great excuse to do a press release - which also gets you more LINKS
5. Rich media - if you can score an audio / phone interview you can turn this into podcasts, or you can do a series of video follow ups / case studies

So how do YOU get an interview with an expert in your niche?
It is actually REALLY simple.  YOU JUST ASK
Yep you ASK.  Most people think "who am I - why would this expert, authority, guru ever want to speak with ME"?
If you don't ask you will never receive . . . .

You would be shocked at how many experts really enjoy interviews - it gives them exposure, increases their reach, branding, and its an ego thing too . . . .

So step 1 is ASK.  Step 2 is plan out the subject line of the email you are sending (you need to get your email opened).  Step 3 be really nice - people love compliments they also love when someone wants to hear what they think . . .

Wasn't that easy?  No go and make a list of the top 5 experts in your niche that you feel your audience / customers would love to hear from and JUST ASK!

Please post your comments / feedback / questions below

Speaking of expert interviews - check back here TOMORROW as I am interviewing the:
Greatest SEO Artist on the Planet . . . (how's that for link bait) and a reason for you to subscribe to my feed or email

Technorati Tags: Interview Expert Expert Interview Searchingdot Searchingdotcom Web2 Web2.0 Blogger Blog Marketing Internet marketing Online marketing

This one is short and sweet - "My Dirty Little Squidoo Secret"

I'm not going to tell you what it is about - you will have to watch it yourself

If you appreciated these free video case studies please go to Youtube and leave a rating and a comment.

I am about to publish additional case studies on building traffic to your website beyond Squidoo (including other Web 2.0 properties that you are probably not using YET . . . .

So if you have not gotten around to it previously, now is the time to subscribe to my feed or my email

Technorati Tags: Squidoo Squidoo slap Seth Godin Searchingdot Searchingdotcom Web2 Web2.0 Google Netscape Marketing Internet marketing Online marketing

After this video, there is one more video to go (still all free)

Today we are focused on using Groups and Tags to build traffic on Squidoo.

Enjoying this free video series? - then please visit Youtube and leave a comment and a rating.

Resource Links

Finding Related Niche Groups on Squidoo (enter your own keyword)

Finding Related Tags on Squidoo (enter your own keyword)

The fourth and final video case study on "Squidoo Traffic is about to be published, please subscribe to my feed to be alerted as soon as the next video is posted (email)

Technorati Tags: Squidoo Squidoo slap Seth Godin Searchingdot Searchingdotcom Web2 group Google tag Marketing Internet marketing Online marketing

There are 4 Video Case Studies in total which are focused on "Building Traffic and Lens Rank on Squidoo" (and yes they will all be available for free . . ..)

This case study is focused on updating your Squidoo content and finding relevant lenses to leave comments on to build traffic

If you enjoyed this second video please visit Youtube and leave a comment and a nice rating

The next video case study on "Squidoo Traffic is being uploaded now, please subscribe to my feed to be alerted as soon as the next video is posted (email)

Technorati Tags: Squidoo Squidoo slap Seth Godin Searchingdot Searchingdotcom Web2 Web2.0 Google Netscape Marketing Internet marketing Online marketing

First off thank you for all of the great feedback, links, and comments.

To keep this important conversation going, I have prepared a series of Squidoo Video Case Studies (which are all available for FREE!)

OK so here is the 1st Video Case Study:
(If you liked the Video and would like to see more please click on the video to go to Youtube and rate the video, and leave a comment)

Links and resources for Squidoo:

1st lens reviewed was Squidoo: Free Love Horoscope

The above was developed by my friend Tiffany Dow's new service Build My Lens

2nd lens reviewed on was Squidoo: Retired and Ready

The next Squidoo Case Study is ready and will be uploaded very soon - please make sure that you subscribe to my feed to be alerted as soon as the next video is posted (or via email)

Technorati Tags: Squidoo Squidoo slap Seth Godin Searchingdot Searchingdotcom Web2 Web2.0 Google Netscape Marketing Internet marketing Online marketing