Devour The Web

Seth Godin commissioned a massive list of nearly 1000 Web 2.0 sites with live ranking data of popularity and traffic. The list is an amazing resource for blog marketers looking for new sites to interact with based on the traffic those sites receive.

Check out Seth Godin’s Web 2.0 Traffic Watch List and see if you don’t find scores of sites you’ve yet to explore for traffic and link building efforts.

The list also shows who has dropped a lot in the last 6 months in traffic, which should help you assess whether your involvement in those sites for viral marketing is still worth the trouble.

Tags: blog marketing, seth godin, social marketing, web 2.0 traffic

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One Way Linking Campaigns II
 by: Vikas Malhotra

We have been discussing trips & tricks to generate one way incoming links into your site. To read the first part of this article read one way incoming links generation.

Then there is a way to generate links with the content that you have not as yet created. For this contact the established authorities (writers, publishers ) in your domain area & let them know that you are available as a resource for researching & writing on any topic from the chosen domain. When they will use you they will credit you for it. Also submit your articles to them. If they ever quote you they will link to you & the added advantage will be that their articles will get published in good places. Imagine an incoming link to your site from TIME or NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.

What if you don’t have great content writing skills or the necessary expertise. Then do the next best thing. Ask for permission from writers to host their content on your site in exchange from link from it. So, if you are able to create a good selection of articles people will still link to you for a good compilation.

AOL’s video search engine Truveo gets a reported 40 million users per month, according to comScore data. AOL says a large percentage of its traffic comes from outside the U.S. and is launching localized sites in key markets including France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the U.K.. AOL has plans to continue an international roll-out with video search portals Australia, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Russia, and Turkey. The plans to reach other countries with video content in their local languages and matching regional interests comes just days after Google and YouTube launched Chinese language sites in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The pair had recently set up targeted versions of sites in Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and The U.K., according to Search Engine Journal.

With the Truvio announcement, AOL also said it launched in India with content available in Hindi and Tamil languages. “India is a very important market for AOL, and these announcements show our commitment to serving online consumers here with a robust portal and industry-leading video search tools,” said Ron Grant, president and COO of AOL, in a corporate statement. “These are important steps in our ongoing efforts to make AOL a truly global company.”

Google is handing out a Halloween treat to Web developers today by making its OpenSocial common API available. With OpenSocial, developers will be able to write one application that can be distributed in multiple Web sites and social networks, if they go along with it of course.

Social networking firms including LinkedIn, Hi5, iLike, Ling, Slide and Google’s own Orkut network have signed on as part of the launch of OpenSocial, but distinctly missing are the big names of social networking…Facebook and mySpace.

Facebook made big news and developed a lot of momentum by opening its platform last May, but still holds the reins over its more proprietary APIs. It’s worth noting that both iLike and Slide have been major Facebook developers. As more advertisers try to get in on the social networking marketing bandwagon, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Google may bring more partners to its OpenSocial system and Facebook and mySpace will be obligated to provide access to their networks via OpenSocial APIs.

I love the background images on MTV.com, all of which are originally commissioned artworks. Go to the site and hit refresh a bunch of times or click around a bit and you’ll see what I mean. The frequently rotated graphics spill out to the right and left of the central pane, so if you’re seeing the site on a large screen it’s pretty powerful.

I learned recently MTV’s about to start plugging ads into that space, beginning with a sprawling placement for upcoming Robert Zemeckis flick Beowulf. Now I’m usually in favor of such experiments but this move strikes me as a mistake for two reasons. First, you’re replacing something very cool (indie drawings: non-commercial and an MTV tradition) with something uncool by comparison (pitch for a special effects blockbuster). But media companies do that sort of thing all the time (see: Campbell-sponsored recipes on AOL Food). The bigger error is that from what I’ve heard the Beowulf ad in its current form makes heavy use of the wider aspect ratio on the site, so they’re building the full experience for 10 percent or less of the audience — the ones with monitors over 21 inches.

Data released by the Shosteck Group and its strategic partner the Mobile World forecasts 3.3 billion mobile subscribers worldwide by year end. Of those subscribers, roughly 2.6 billion are served by GSM, GPRS, and EDGE networks; 190 million operate on W-CDMA networks; and 422 million on CDMA2000 standards. The remaining few use technologies such as iDEN. By 2011 the research anticipates 5.4 billion mobile subscribers globally. The breakdown will be roughly 2.8 billion on GSM, GPRS, and EDGE networks; 1.8 billion on W-CDMA; and 783 million on CDMA2000.

How to use the latest e-messaging strategies to increase profits.

Many types of Internet advertising don’t work as well as they once did. People have gotten used to banners and don’t click on them. Some ezines have failed to keep their readers’ interest and ads sometimes get less response. Search engines are overflowing with submissions. Getting your site listed high is almost impossible.

More and more businesses and organizations are now turning to email marketing to keep profits rolling in. While an increasing number of people say they rarely surf the Net, the vast majority of North Americans check their email every day.

Email marketing is the most effective and efficient way to influence purchases and keep customers informed and happy. It is also extremely inexpensive. Where you might have mailed out one printed customer update every month, you can now email one every week for a fraction of the cost.

Increasingly, companies need to embrace email marketing in a big way in order to stay competitive. Those who formerly used a service to send out their newsletters, sales info, and consumer updates are now doing all the emailing themselves.

If you’re blogging to promote your services, physical products or digital offerings, you understand that getting a return on investment for the time and effort you put into blogging is important. On the other hand, if you spend all your time relentlessly pitching your wares, you’ll find that you alienate a good portion of your prospective audience.

The problem bloggers face from a selling standpoint is that various readers are at different awareness levels, depending on how long they’ve been reading and how much exposure you’ve provided to your offer. I was reminded by the great Jack Forde of Copywriter’s Roundtable that this is not a new problem.

Jack recently pointed out that Eugene Schwartz tackled the issue in Breakthrough Advertising back in 1966. Schwartz broke down prospect awareness into five distinct phases:

1. The Most Aware: Your prospect knows your product, and only needs to know “the deal.”

2. Product-Aware: Your prospect knows what you sell, but isn’t sure it’s right for him.

3. Solution-Aware: Your prospect knows the result he wants, but not that your product provides it.

4. Problem-Aware: Your prospect senses he has a problem, but doesn’t know there’s a solution.

Who says 527s aren’t advertising online yet this election season?

A 527 group formed earlier this year is taking aim at Republican Governor of Kentucky Ernie Fletcher through a $60,000 video ad buy. The Bluegrass Freedom Fund, which aims to “encourage a public discussion about education, jobs, healthcare, and other issues,” is using expandable video ads showing a TV commercial that calls out alleged corruption in the Fletcher administration.

The :30 ad expands to display a form for submitting a name and e-mail address to sign a petition demanding that “the governor and legislature pass real ethics reform.”

My source on the campaign said the ads have run on Courier-Journal.com, Kentucky.com, WKYT.com, BGDailyNews.com, and have been geo-targeted to Kentucky users on Cincinnati.com. Non-video banners are also running on blogs like Page One Kentucky and others.

As of last week, over 2 million of the ads had been served, and 52 percent of those who were served the ad interacted with it. The commercial video had been viewed in full 37 percent of the time.

1. Product or Service That Sells Well

You want to find a product / service that sells, and sells well. You need something that people want, not something that people need. People buy wants a lot more than they buy needs.

Is your product or service targeted towards a niche market? Is there a big demand for it? Are the customers in that market rabid for products like yours? Are they easy to reach?

2. Endorsement

One of the most important factors in the success or failure of your Joint Venture.

You have to send an endorsement (recommendation) to the list. NOT a blatant sales letter type ‘’endorsement'’.

The endorsement has to convey the fact that the list owner is trying to help his client base, not sell them something. The endorser is doing a favor to his clients. He went out of his way for them to bring them this special offer.

That’s why you should always offer a special privileged rebate on the product or service.

Write the endorsement as if you were personally talking to someone and someone only.

3. Price Of The Product Or Service