Browser stats

If you are attempting to monetize your blog. This is one statistic that will tell you quicker than anything if you are getting "good" traffic to your site.

Quite frankly, Firefox users don’t click on ads.

Go check your statistics, Find a day with a lower click through rate than you normally have. I will bet you that your Firefox percentage was higher that day.

Firefox (depending on where you look) make up about 40% of the internet users. If your statistics are showing that you are getting more than that. You are seeing the "wrong" type of traffic for an advertisement funded blog.

Why is this?

1. It’s already well known that some traffic is pretty "useless" for ad conversions. Stumble, Digg, Propeller, and all the other social bookmarks don’t convert well into clickthrough. Google Organic searches and "surf traffic" do.

2. It’s also well known that bloggers, social bookmark users and other "net-savvy" visitors use Firefox to a much greater extent than the average 40%

Since the users that arrive from social bookmark sites are normally "bad clickers" and since they often use Firefox. You can tell that you are getting the wrong type of traffic by simply reviewing your Firefox percentage.

On days where I have a "normal" distribution of about 57% IE users, 40% Firefox users and 3% "other". I get almost a five times higher click through rate than I do on days when I have a Stumble or Digg heavy traffic day which brings 90+% Firefox browsers.

IE Users Surf - Firefox Users Probe

An IE user is more likely to actually surf the web, In other words to follow the links from one page to the next. Going with the natural flow of the net, they are there for enjoyment and recreation as much as information gathering. When one of your ads looks interesting enough, they will follow it.

Firefox users on the other hand, do pokes; they start at their favorite place on the web. Digg, Propeller etc. and they will hit a link only to return to the hub when they are done. The "Back" button is a Firefox user’s greatest friend. He or she will poke and probe only so far, and return to the "safe" surrounding of peer reviewed and recommended reads. Ad clicks are not their game, and this is not going to change anytime soon.

If you are a blogger, you probably started out on IE, and as you got more into social networking, you switched to Firefox because of its lower system requirements and better plug-ins. (like those that completely block ad networks.) You probably were a lot more prone to click ads before you got "wise" and switched to Firefox too. If you are a blogger that have been considering to switch to Firefox, I’m betting that you are fairly new to the game.

Links are Firefox Filters

Since Firefox users are less inclined to venture further out than one click from their preferred social media or bookmark site, getting links to your blog will effectively send much more IE users than Firefox users to your blog. IE users will follow links, Firefox users won’t to nearly the same extent. So getting inbound links to your site is imperative. You need them to get both an increased Page rank and since they will send mostly IE users.

This supports what I’ve been saying in the past articles of "The Blogpreneur." You have to build a strong blog with great content, when you do that, you will get links, which in turn will give you both Google, and referrals from other sites. And those hits will probably be much more IE heavy and thereby more click friendly.

Check your browser stats, it will tell you a lot about whether the hits you are getting are likely to hit an ad or not. If your traffic is Firefox heavy, you are not getting what you are looking for.

Check Firefox Ratio Before You buy Ad Space

If you are going to advertise on a site to drive traffic to your site. Ask them what their Firefox percentage is. If its high, it’s probably better to pay per click than to pay a flat monthly rate based on their traffic.

—

Whenever I buy something that says "batteries sold separately." I calmly dream that this will be the store redeeming my basic faith in a company’s ability to seize the most self-evident opportunity for customer service.

(I’m starting to think I am a hopeless idealist.)

1. If you are selling an item. TEST it before you let the customer walk out with it. Take out a pair of batteries. Put them in and make sure everything works.

It really doesn’t matter that the item is made by Widget Industries in Upper Mongolia. YOU sold it, and the customer will be angry with YOU when it doesn’t work.

2 . (This is where companies make fools of themselves) Turn off the object and put it back in the box before closing the sale. But LEAVE THE BATTERIES.

Yes, I said it! Save your key rings, forget about the complimentary Frisbee. Take the unusually smart step of actually making sure that the item will work when they get home without the customer needing to buy batteries.

In fact, if I come home with an object without batteries, but a complimentary branding Frisbee, I’m probably going to be even more fuming than if I didn’t get the Frisbee at all. At that second I am going to wonder what moron came up with that idea instead of just giving me a pair of bloody AA’s! Now I’m both angry that I have to go back out and get batteries, and convinced that your establishment is owned and operated by a cretin. Not the customer experience you should be shooting for.

Giving It Away Increase Sales

The amazing thing is that your sale of batteries has a great chance of increasing too. Why? Because if you don’t have a policy of testing each item, your sales clerks are going to forget to remind the customer they will need batteries x amount of times out of a hundred.

If clerks test everything as a policy, they won’t forget as often and that will improve sales of batteries as well. And here is the kicker, the customer probably has other things that need batteries, so even though you just gave them batteries for the item they purchased, they will often end up buying them for other items.

It All Goes In the Plus Column

If the item you are selling is $2.49 with a profit margin of 30 cents. This is admittedly not a great idea. But if you are holding a profit margin anywhere over $3 per item, you can’t really lose by doing this.

AA batteries are about 7 cents if you buy in bulk. You are paying more for those fancy brochures used to staple the receipt to in case the product doesn’t work. Now you will have to deal with less customer returns as well, which also saves you money and bad will. (See the math here?)

If you have a profit margin that is high, Say $70. You will have to convert 1 sale in every 250 to a returning customer or a referral for it to break even.

I guarantee you will be head and shoulders above the competition that are still standing there like misers, taking them back out of the gadget before asking you if you would like to buy batteries. To me, that is not just a missed opportunity of customer service. It’s downright counterproductive and borderline rude.

I can also promise you that the statement "I’m going to leave these in here, if you would like to buy extra batteries, this item takes Double A’s" will do more for your customer satisfaction than a Frisbee ever will.

I am convinced that being religious, in combination with being a smoker is a great combination for business success. Now, before the atheists and puritans out there have a coronary, - I don’t believe its about the religion, or the tobacco.

Perspective

What I’m talking about is the need to get a break and some fresh perspective. I remember reading a study in the late 90’s that smokers were more productive than non smokers. Why? Because they took the 5 minute break for a cigarette every so often, giving them a chance to clear their head and stop staring at the same problem for too long. Those that didn’t smoke tended to keep working, although they appeared to be more productive they actually only were the first two hours of the day. Although the actual facts can - and have - been debated until the cows come home. I am a firm believer in the concept.

The same goes for religious people. Many entrepreneurs will slowly let work cut into their free time. Soon they are working day and night, 7 days a week.  While the religious person will hopefully take their holy day off and attend a service. The religion isn’t really the issue; it’s the break from work. Socializing with friends and family, and actually having a little time to recharge the batteries in between is what matters here.

Working too much and not letting yourself take a break and actually enjoy life and the people around you will not work for long. Overworking is an all too common problem among entrepreneurs in general.

Although I can’t recommend smoking, I do recommend taking short breaks throughout the day. The religious concept of keeping a day a week where you don’t work is as brilliant as it is old.

Don’t want to take up smoking, or go to a service? Join a Charity!

Working with charities produces much the same result. Think of how many times you’ve heard successful people talking about how important it is to give back to the community. As much as it is socially responsible and a good thing to do, it also gives you a break from the daily grind, and you get to do something that makes you feel great about yourself and your surroundings. And feeling great is the first step to being great.

Entrepreneurship Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Your business needs you, but it needs you at your peak performance. Once you are burned out, you are not much good to it, yourself, or those that love you. Find what recharges your batteries, and make sure you always keep time aside for it. Unless you pace yourself, you probably won’t last long enough to see things really bear fruit.

Clear Your Head and Get More Done

Once you break the constant working habit, you will begin to be more productive. The breaks will get your thoughts organized, your motivation recharged and you will look forward to the work you need to do.  A little time off will actually allow you to do more with less time.

Smart v. Hard

You became an Entrepreneur for many reasons, and one of them was probably to get more time for the things you love. This is not about working Smart v. Hard, no matter how smart you are, an entrepreneur will almost always work hard.

Work a little less, and you’ll be able to work both harder and smarter.

—

Are you running a small business on the side?

Maybe you have a small online store, an affiliate site or a monetized blog? If you are, and it’s not making much money, it could be your mindset that’s slowing you down.

If your business really is mostly for fun, it’s no big deal. If you are looking to do as little actual work as possible, and you are happy with whatever income it generates, then great. Keep up the good work and for goodness sake enjoy it. But, if you ever sat and wondered how to squeeze a little more juice out of it’s time to sit back and take stock.

The problem here is the thought pattern of having a “Hobby Business”. It’s a contradiction in terms.

A Hobby COSTS money - A Business MAKES money

You shouldn’t have a Hobby Business, but you can have a Business Hobby. It’s all about the mindset in how you approach it.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a small operation on the side, with the intent of earning some pocket money, what I AM saying is; the way you use the time allotted, will determine the outcome. Treating it like just a hobby, will result in it becoming one – which means it will probably cost more than it generates.

Even the Small Should Think Big

Whenever you deal with your business, you should think like a mogul. Make solid decisions, stick to them, and see your plans through. How long it takes will depend on how much time and energy you spend, just avoid sitting down on Saturday morning to “see what’s going on.” You’ll flounder around and probably end up fixing what isn’t broken. Approach each and every decision with the clear intent of being Rockefeller. Even if this is your hobby, its more fun to have a hobby that you are successful at.

Set your goal – Make the plan

First step to any successful business is to have a goal, and a plan on how to get there. If you have a side business that you want to do because you think it’s fun, then by all means, set those goals low. But set measurable goals. It’s the single most important way to ensure that you are in fact doing things right.
Once you have your goals, figure out what to do to get there. Pick your plan of attack, and sketch out what the steps are. This way, you can spend the time you have on your side business the most effectively. Not having a plan of attack figured out is the best way to end up wasting your time.

Make your Schedule

Take your steps, and set a schedule on when you want it done. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time every day or week, then spend a little time - But follow your schedule.
When you are running a business as an extracurricular activity the big risk is that you keep getting off track. Having a plan and schedule keeps you from running around in circles.

Measure and Correct

If something isn’t working right, find out why and make the adjustment. Just don’t adjust every time you sit down and do some work. Try to consider that the less time you put in, the longer it will take to get anywhere. So allow things to level out a little before you decide that it isn’t working.

Success is Fun – Having fun Breeds Success

If you break down your overall goals to smaller steps, little things that can be reached on the way, you’ll find yourself being more motivated to get to the next one.

When you reach a goal, celebrate your success. Even if it’s just coffee and donuts with your friends or significant other, allow yourself to be proud of your successes and reached milestones. Sharing your enthusiasm will make those around you enthusiastic about it, and that will be a great motivator.

Give it a Try

Running a business on the side is rewarding in so many ways. It can generate a little – or a lot – of income. It will however with certainty be a growing and educational experience that few other hobbies can measure up to.

If you run it right, it might even become your new career

Good Luck!

Getting Your News Out There

The most time consuming part of press release marketing is to build a media list. This is why the companies that distribute press releases charge so much to do it. They have built extensive databases with every possible piece of information they might need. You are not paying for the service as much as you are for the use of their database.

Building your media list requires a lot of legwork on your part to find, classify, and target your contacts.

Start with the publications you already know. Your local media, the papers and magazines you already read, the channels you watch. Use the knowledge you already have to find your targets.

When you have completed the list of your known outlets, it’s time to broaden your horizons.
The internet is full of directories; it’s the perfect place to start to find media outlets that fit your idea of what you would like to spread yourself to.

Media Directories

US Newspapers - http://www.usnpl.com/
Yahoo Media Directory - http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/
News link - http://www.newslink.org/
Refdesk - http://www.refdesk.com/paper.html

Create a Database

As you identify the publications you want. Add them to a database of some sort. A basic Excel Spreadsheet or a simple Access Database works well for a job like this. Even your email address book can be used.

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You can download a Basic Spreadsheet here
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Target the Right Journalist

Once you have a publication, the most important step you can do to improve your chances is to target the right journalist. It’s far better to send a press release to a journalist that normally writes about your topic than to send it through the “catch all” emails and fax numbers.

Go to the publications website; see if they publish an online version. If you are lucky, this will also include the e-mail to the author of the article. This is the goldmine. You get the name of the author that has shown an interest in your topic area, and a direct channel to their inbox.

– Warning –

Try not to cause unnecessary work

If you intend to send the email to more than one writer at the same publication; Do NOT send separate emails. Send it to all of them in the CC Field. So that they can clearly see who else got it. You don’t want two people from the same publication working on the same story. That will happen once, and the next time they won’t touch it again since they wasted time before.

Fax

Some publications want you to fax them the release. If this is the case, find out what the fax is for the journalist you want to target. If that is not possible, Make sure that you attention it to the person you want. Faxes arrive by the truckload to a major publication. And if you don’t target someone, you risk getting lost in the shuffle of things.

Create a corporate list

Often overlooked, you can make a lot of progress if you build a list with companies you want to associate yourself with, potential advertisers, existing and prospect partners, Industry Leaders etc. It is never a bad idea to include these in your list.

Follow Up

Once you’ve sent your release. Try to follow up with those that you sent it to through a phone call, it does wonders to be picked up if you call them, and ask if they got it, if you can send them anything else. or answer any questions. Again, if you do a little of their work for them, they’ll reward you for it in the long run.

If you have a large list, Make sure that you follow up with the most important ones, as well as the ones that you already have a relationship with. Always nurture your press contacts, they are worth every ounce of effort.

Free Press Release Services

You should also consider news aggregate services like the free press release services, as well as posting your press release onto places like Digg, Reddit, Propeller etc.

Here are two free news release services that function as aggregates. and news people do read them. So you definately want to post your release here too since it does increase your chances with no cost and barely any effort.

Free-Press-Release – http://www.free-press-release.com/
Open PR - http://www.openpr.com/

Condition the Journalists

To maximize your chances, you need to condition the people that pick up your press release. If you follow the basic guidelines, you will give them max benefit for minimum work. This conditions them to look for you again when they need something to publish.

You want to become their "go-to" resource when they need something, you can only do that by providing the best possible release - with easy access followup and supporting information. Do that, and you’ll be rewarded.

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Press Release Marketing if done right, is one of the most powerful, low-cost marketing channels. Don’t miss out on the business you can generate from it.

Good Luck!

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Previous Articles on this topic

How to Create a Media Kit
How to Write a Press Release

Have you bundled yourself so tight you can’t move?

Once upon a time…… I worked with a company that provided contracted services. The services were spanning many areas, and of course came in different bundles.

I was tasked with finding the "custom" contracts, those not conforming to any of the standard bundles, so that they could be standardized. Something that many companies try to do to simplify both the billing and being able to provide the service they agreed on. Up until this point, it was nothing strange to me.

When i worked on it, i quickly realized that almost all of the "weird" contracts as they were called, had been sold by one of the senior staff. These contracts were highly customized in both services provided and pricing. This of course was interesting, but what was more interesting than that, was that the company had an almost 100% retention rate of these customers.

After crunching the numbers, it also became very clear that the profit margin on those contracts were on average 7$ over the standard packages. Even after taking the "hassle" of customized billing and keeping track of what services to provide into consideration.

The Senior member had tapped several majorly important resources at once. The customer got a personal relationship which let them buy exactly what they needed. And in the process, the company:

A) Made more money
B) Kept the customers longer, (making even more money.)
C) Made the customer happy
(which i’ve harped on enough already as the only way to get good referrals.)

Simplified Billing be Damned

These wierd contracts were exactly what every customer should have been offered, Customized to perfection, the senior staff member had by "breaking the rules" shown that it was the best option available.

But as always, the "cutting costs" aspect of simplified billing and contract management was what the corporate head office could more easily measure, and therefore wanted. So that was what they got. The profitability and retention went down as could be expected.

The savings of "simplified billing" ended up costing them more than hiring an extra Accounts Recievable staffer would have cost them.

And lets not forget that they had a very powerful accounting and billing package that if used correctly would have made it a non issue to begin with.

Lessons Learned
What i learned from this staff member was that unless you are completely unable to customize, there is no reason not to. It’s simply better to sell them what they want. They are willing to pay a slight premium on the services they do get, if you allow them to cut out the ones they don’t want.

Thougts on Selling Services

-Services, should never be sold as a fixed package unless they are interdependent.

- if they are interdependent, they shouldn’t be listed as two separate items to begin with.

- Bundles are great, some customer likes the no hassle approach, and the rest can use them as a base from where to start. But to not allow customization is the same as saying "Your wants and needs are not important."

For Gods Sake, Don’t Listen to Me!

Every time you sell a custom contract that adds or subtracts a service from one of your bundles, You are being given Free Product Development . Your customer is helping you improve your bundles and packages with no other consideration than you listening to them.

Consultants like me charge big money to give you the same information that your customer just gave you for free.

So by all means, please ignore this opportunity, and call me instead, I’ll be happy to listen to your customers for you, (and bill you accordingly.)

—

Satisfied customers are your best sales force, but are you paying attention to the ones that are doing the work for you?

Next time you get a clear referral, don’t miss a beat in contacting the person who gave it. Make sure that you thank them for the business. If at all possible, reward them somehow, give them a discount, a gift card, take them out to lunch. Whatever you do. never let a referral go unnoticed.

If you notice and appreciate the business they send you, they’ll do it again.

Major sales teams almost always have bonus programs, are you rewarding your “sales force?”

Press Releases are extremely powerful marketing and branding tools. They are almost zero cost, and becoming a news item carries a credibility that paid advertising can never achieve.

But unless your press releases are actually picked up, they have very little effect, apart from being a useful resource for fleshing out your media kit like i mentioned in that article.

You need to write the press release in a way that will appeal to your target audience. The problem, is that your target audience now is the press, and they are not likely to succumb to sales pitches and hype.In fact, they are highly allergic to it.

It’s time to bring out the Journalist in you, and write news.

Mind your Format

A well written press release should follow a standard format, this is not the time to be creative. You will do better if you appeal to the familiar when a reporter picks up your release and looks at it. Don’t make them think and wonder about where you are.

Here is an example of a standard format that works well.

Breakdown

1. Top - Logo or company name

Don’t forget to be clear about who you are. This is a great way to be noticed on an overcrowded desk for instance.

2. Contact Information

Make sure that the person you put here is the best one for answering questions. And that they will be available. I’ve seen far too many CEO’s demanding that they be put as the contact on Press Releases only to miss being picked up because they didn’t have time to answer their phones.

3. Date It

Make sure you put the date on it. News are perishable, so the release date is almost as important as the actual news.

5. For Immediate Release

Theoretically, you could put a future release date here, I don’t suggest it though because it will get lost in the shuffle before you get to that date. Better to write the text in the press release so that it includes an eventual future date instead. Don’t make it complicated on anyone by asking them to read it now, and publish it next week. Not to mention that your news might get “leaked” before you want them to.

Headline

This is your moment to shine, don’t give them a bad headline. If you normally write for the Web, be extra careful. Web headlines don’t normally work well in traditional media.

A good headline is clear, conversational, and attention getting. Don’t give away the lead in, or the ending of an article if you can avoid it. There are plenty of good resources for writing headlines, but the best you can find is the people around you. Write five or ten versions, and ask people what they like best.

Avoid trying to be sensational if the story isn’t. That’s just going to annoy both the reporter, and probably the reader if it gets picked up as is.

Don’t try to plug yourself in the headline. It’s cheap, cheesy and never flies. No matter how much you think it would be great to have your company in the headline, just remember that it’s better to be picked up at all. And chances are that if you try to sell yourself with cheesy copy. You’ll never get that far.Your best bet is to go and read as many news paper headlines as you can find and learn that way.

Headlines are normally written in all caps in press releases.

Subheading

The Subheading is where you get a chance to sell the story, you should give a little more flesh here, but still keep it so that you don’t give away everything, Clarify the background but keep the real story for the body.

Example

Here is an example using a post i wrote a while back.

———-

Bad Headline and Subheading

AMAZING BLOG ADVOCATES FOUR DAY WORKWEEK

The Weakest link, a fresh new marketing blog has determined that companies should let their employees work longer days and get three day weekends to save on transportation costs.

———-

No reporter worth his salt will pick this up, its clearly a promotional stunt, it’s self-promoting and cheesy and it doesn’t work. Ever!

———-

Better Headline and Subheading

GAS PRICES WARRANT THREE DAY WEEKEND

Employers are forced to consider new scheduling solutions to offset rising travel costs

——

This is better because it has a headline that states the topic, and still raises why questions, the subheading is better because it answers the question, but still leaves a lot to be said.

Lead In Paragraph

The lead in paragraph is the most important part of writing you do here. It has to be interesting, informative, and well written if you are to have any chance at all. I can only suggest reading a lot of articles to get the feel for how this is normally done.

The capturing Lead is the difference between journalistic writing and a school report. It is the baited hook that will grab the readers attention.

It should answer most if not all of the who, what, when, where, why, how. Answer no less than three of those. If you don’t get that part right, you are leaving too many holes in the story, and it becomes hard for a publication to pick up without a lot of extra work.

Body

The body of the press release covers all the supporting facts. This is where you can mention your company more specifically. But do not fall to the temptation to push a sales pitch in here. The reporter has no interest whatsoever in helping you make money. And even less to paint you out to be better than you are. So as soon as they smell that particular rat on your press release. It normally goes into the circular archive.

Give the reasons and rationality. Include the supporting evidence and round off with a quote or two. The quotes are very important, most news stories will have at least one if you read through a paper. Get them one right away and you just took that hassle of their table. less work for them, equals more chances of getting picked up.

The Closing Paragraph

The closing paragraph is a place where you can make conclusions. Remember that in News writing, it is perfectly acceptable to end a story with a question. One thing i’ve noticed is that a pondorous statement works really well. A thought as to what this might be, or a prediction as to what may come because of this. A great place to learn this is to listen to the evening news. They almost always close with a cliffhanger of that kind.

Boilerplate

This is an old term meaning text that gets reused over and over. You can simply use the same text about your company in ever press release. Remember to write it in third person, and avoid the standard buzz words. Amazing, Unique, Pioneering, etc. Reporters are bad targets for hype.

Suffice to say - Never BS a BS artist.

Call to action

After the three hashes ### (which marks the end of the press release.) Insert a short paragraph with contact information and a call to action, you can invite them to schedule interviews, Get copies of research for verification etc. make this running text, give them a quick easy way to get what they need to publish it.

This is by far the best way to better your chances. A reporter on a time-crunch will look at a press release and consider what needs to be done before it can hit the press. If you have made those steps easy for them. Your press release will have a greater chance of making it.

Keep it Short

I’ve written and released well over 1000 press releases. And i have never seen one that was more than two pages get picked up. Single page releases get published almost five times as often as two page ones.

Long stories are written by reporters, they work on those for a long time. Press releases published “as is” are almost always fillers. So if you make it too long, there will be nowhere to fit it. If they want a long story on your company, they will do the work to flesh out the release you wrote on one page themselves.

Some thoughts to remember

- Read big reporters in big papers. These guys can write stories, its what they do. Unless you are a star reporter for the NY Times or Washington Post, don’t miss the opportunity to study those who are.

- Write from the journalists perspective - Third person only (unless you are quoting of course.)

- Put the sales pitch away - Reporters aren’t stupid, and they’ll be happy to give you the number to their advertising salesmen if that’s what you want printed.

- Is this interesting? important? most of all, is it newsworthy? Double check everything with the “So What” question. If it isn’t interesting enough to pass that simple point, don’t put it in there.

- Lose the ego, If you are too busy to answer the phone, you are not the person that should be listed as the contact person. You are dealing with people on tight deadlines. Don’t make them wait for information. It’s better to have the receptionist listed, - and get published- than to have your own name in the trashcan.

The Marketers Trick

- Add a little extra white space between paragraphs.

A long time ago, i worked in a news room. And i saw that the stories that got filed close to deadline often had handwritten notes in between paragraphs and in the margin.

It’s simple really when you think about it. When you are running out of time, you will grab what you can finish quickly. Not something where you have to go on an archaeological expedition for your notes. Work with them here and give them something to write on. You’ll see that it works to your advantage.

Good Luck with your writing. In the next article I’ll show you how to distribute your press releases.

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Don’t forget to Subscribe, It is free, and you will get future updates delivered to your RSS reader or email.

I received an email today from a man, (the disclaimer at the bottom of the email clearly states that I was not allowed to discuss the content by the way) So, I won’t mention either his name or the company. I will however take my chances and tell you what his point was. Let’s just call him Mr. T. Rex

He sells mass email lists, and was fairly upset at what I said about direct marketing approaches in the “Extinction of Dinosaur Marketers ” Series.

I quote…

"If my services make more money than it costs, where do you get off claiming that it’s a bad idea! I sell exceptionally well targeted lists, with superior quality prospects that are handpicked for every customer, We have a higher conversion rate on our lists than our competition. Who the (expletive deleted) are you to say that we’re dinosaurs?” You’re nothing but a…
(I’m cutting it here because I want to keep this blog at least PG-13)

—

Well Mr. Rex, it’s easy… It’s the other conversion rate I’m really interested in. You see, I consider potential customers as being on a fence; you have to pay equal attention to how many you push down the other side as you do to the ones that jump down your side. The ones that don’t buy aren’t completely unaffected; they might be turned away too.

What I want to hear about is – How many of the ones that didn’t buy did you turn off in the process?
I’d be better inclined to like it if the list wasn’t targeted at all. Then at least you wouldn’t be turning away your exact target segment by giving them a negative connotation to your company.

If you convert X%, but give as many a bad taste, you just lost out in the long run. Your target segment isn’t going to grow fast enough for you to pick a marketing approach which potentially damages future sales.

Now tell me how drying up your potential customer pool is a risk worth taking?

I do however thank Mr. Rex for taking the time out to email me his thoughts; it’s always interesting to see what the other side of the coin looks like.

Read the rest of the Blogpreneur Series

So you want to go Viral?

Are you sure you haven’t?

When one person spreads your blog or site to another without your direct involvement, you just went viral. When enough people do it at once, you have an epidemic.

What about those 294 hits from Stumble that got you 3 links to your blog? That is the true viral effect of good blogging; the steady spread of good quality posts that will bring a growing flow of readers, which will bring more hits, more readers, more links. The never ending and creeping exponential growth that builds on itself perpetually. This is true viral marketing.

As soon as you realize what viral marketing really is, you’ll realize that what you probably  associated with it, is merely the sensational viral infection. The Ebola level of viral.

Although the Ebola effect is going to be great for your ego the day it hits, it’s going to hit, and disappear. And the traffic you get is probably not going to be based on what you are really about, but more on one single article. If you can’t keep that level, they won’t be coming back for long. The problem here is that the Ebola level isn’t what the smart blogger wants. A blogger wants something that hits, sticks, and keeps spreading.

You Don’t Want to be Ebola, You Want to Be Herpes

Ebola is sensational, it’s a once off event that is hard - if not impossible - to maintain. And since so many are misinterpreting the true value of the “lesser infection” they are all shooting for the sensationalism. Link Bait headlines that are a stretch at best to fit into the article. Fabricating entire stories the list of tricks is long. And it works sometimes, but even when it does, it doesn’t translate to what you want.

You want to target the right people. 100 targeted visitors are better than 1000 random ones any day. Why? because if they are targeted, chances are that you have something they want to see more of. You will get return visits, and referrals, links and comments. As you get those, you’ll get more readers, more people that can spread you to others. That’s viral marketing!

Ebola levels of Viral Marketing are most commonly achieved by creating something amazing that isn’t necessarily well targeted. It’s often funny, shocking, and widely appealing. Which is why it takes off like it does. People like the advertising, but couldn’t care less about the product. Which means that for you to do it again, you have to repeat the feat that didn’t bring you the right people to begin with.

If you shoot for the lower levels, constantly repeating small successes, you will eventually see your spread increasing. When this happens, your chances of hitting those epidemic levels increase every time you post a good article. It goes back to the one percent rule. It’s always better to slowly progress than to have spikes of traffic that quickly disappear.

Instant Gratification - Or Long Term Success?

If you are looking for an ego boost, then it’s great. If you are looking to grown over the long term. It’s better to aim for solid, repeatable quality. When you can bring one person back over and over, you will eventually get passed on to someone else. Repeat readers like RSS Subscribers are your best bet for achieving this.

A company that got it right never had Diggs front page to rely on, for them it was a matter of getting their name out there one person at a time. Every time that person used their service, it spread a little further. No real fireworks, no goofy guy’s home movie to sell them over YouTube.

You might have heard of Hotmail once or twice yourself. They did it by adding their link to the bottom of every email sent from one of their accounts. One at a time, they spread the word.

If you constantly shoot for the Epidemics, you’ll constantly be disappointed. If you aim for a silent spreading infection that perpetuates with every post you make. You are going to see some amazing results.

(Yes, the title of this post is Viral in itself - I’ll let you know how it went)