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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Affiliate Masters... an intensive 5-day e-mail
course on becoming a high-earning affiliate champion.
How?By building income through content.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have a friend who would benefit from taking this
course, please pass this on.Or tell that person to
receive the 5-day course by sending a blank e-mail to...
tamsalliesunme@sitesell.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I guarantee that you'll refer to this course over and over
again as you build (or rebuild) your affiliate business.
Print each e-mail out, pour yourself a beverage of choice,
bring along a pen to jot down some ideas, and take it all to
your favorite sofa.Learning a serious subject is so much
more successful when you're comfortable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you print out this e-mail, keep it in a 3-ring binder.
Here's a super little printing utility that will allow you
to print 2 or 4 pages to a single 8.5" x 11" piece of paper.
It saves you paper, space, and money...
http://www.fineprint.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<<TODAY>>
Affiliate Masters 404
Hi Ho! Hi Ho!
It's Off To Work We Go...
by Ken Evoy, M.D.
President, SiteSell.com
-----
Yes, finally!...We're ready to start building!
Just to be sure, though, get out your syllabus again and
double-check our progress.We want to do this right... the
first time.
Affiliate Masters 101
oBusiness Basics
oIncome and Expenses
oTraffic, Click Throughs, and Conversion Rates
oPRE-selling... why
oPRE-selling and your visitor's MINDSET
oPRE-selling... how
Affiliate Masters 202
oBrainstorming concepts for your site
oPicking the concept with the most profit potential
oDeveloping HIGH-PROFITABILITY topics for your site
oDEMAND, SUPPLY and BREAKOUT tools, and the
MASTER KEYWORD LIST
oThe CUSTOMER END vs. the KEYWORD END
oHow to pick the HIGHEST-PROFITABILITY topics
oAnalyzing (and using!) the competition
Affiliate Masters 303
oFinding affiliate programs for your concept
oHow to reduce risk by diversifying
oPicking the best, safest programs
oRefining your concept to just the right scope...
oThe "Valuable PRE-selling Proposition"
oCreating and Protecting the PERFECT domain name
oPreparing for your own mini-vertical-portal
Impressive work!You truly do have a rock-solid foundation
to build upon.So let the construction begin!
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
DAY 6 -- Build a Site that Gets the CLICK!
Rome.com was NOT built in a day!
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
Goal-of-the-DAY... Build a home page, and
one TIER 2 Keyword-Focused Content Page.
Ongoing Goal... Create one Keyword-Focused
Content Page per day. Start with the TIER
2 pages. Then keep adding TIER 3 pages, 1
per day.Create 50-70 maximum. Then start
a new Theme-Based Content Site.
(If your time is limited, reduce the goal
to a page every 2 or 3 days.Even then,
you'll have a traffic-building, income-
earning site in three months.Consistency
and discipline are the keys, not speed. It's
OK to be the tortoise, as long as you stay
the course... THIS course, that is.:-) )
Whether you know HTML or NOT, it's just
not necessary to fiddle around with coding,
FTP'ing, etc.Focus on creating content
that OVERdelivers to both your readers and
the spiders by using Site Build It!'s
through-the-browser site-building tools...
http://buildit.sitesell.com
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
Showtime!
Like any great show, whether it's baseball, or the theatre,
or the Olympics... success is all about preparation.And
boy, have you prepared!
And all that preparation has convinced you that your show
should be...
> WORLDSBEST-FashionFactory-outlet-stores.com
Yes!What started out as "fashion" has turned into a site
about fashion factory outlet stores.After all, you
yourself LOVE buying clothes and shoes at a great price...
oh the thrill of stopping by a new freeway-side outlet mall
and finding beautiful, cheap buys at a Tommy Hilfiger outlet.
----SIDEBAR-----
While you LOVE the idea, money talked, too.Site Build It!
Manager calculated a terrific PROFITABILITY for it.And the
cost for bidding on these sites was ridiculously low. Your
methodical research has uncovered a HIGH-POTENTIAL business!
----SIDEBAR-----
Now it's time to build income through content... i.e., to
build a site that gets the CLICK!
Since I'm still in "2-line-summary mode," let's boil down
the essence of "building income through content"...
-------------------------------------------
Deliver VALUABLE content to your readers...
... *AND* tasty content to your spiders.
-------------------------------------------
Your site must be a WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN proposition for four
parties...
1) YOUR VISITOR
2) the Search Engines
3) your merchants, and...
4) ...YOU!
Let's look at each WIN...
1) YOUR VISITOR must get what she is looking for --
outstanding information.OVERdeliver with original,
HIGH-VALUE info.If you don't do this, she simply clicks
the BACK button to the Search Engine and says... "Next!"
2) The Search Engines are in business.Their product is the
quality of their search results.Help them make their
product better, and they'll love you.How?
Search Engines use computer programs called spiders to go
out and bring your site back to its home (i.e., the Search
Engine's database).Then when someone looks up, say,
"factory outlet stores," another program decides whether
your site, or another, is more relevant.
You must HONESTLY convince each Search Engine that you are
the most relevant (at least in the Top 20, preferably in the
Top 10) for the KEYWORDS that you target.If you TRICK the
engine, your success won't last long, and when it discovers
the trick, it will ban you.Why?Because tricks hurt the
Search Engine's product rather than help.
Help the searcher, your potential visitor and your merchant's
potential customer, solve her problem or her quest.Satisfy
the whole reason WHY she is doing the search. If you do
this, you ADD VALUE to the Search Engine's product.
-----SIDEBAR-----
If you do this properly, you never have to worry about the
Search Engines, because they and you become partners in an
effort to deliver QUALITY content to searchers...
o No tricks in comment tags or invisible links or anything
else that is not natural for a true content site.
o No hoping that the SEs don't change their attitude towards
your "tactics."
o No worrying about just the right number of times to repeat
a keyword in the META Keyword tag.
o No time-wasting, constantly "staying on the cutting edge"
ahead of the engines
o No 8 versions of the same site, one for each major engine.
Focus on creating one "best fit" site that scores well
with most of the engines for most of your words most of
the time.Then spend your time creating another site.
No games.
o No off-target keywords to suck in untargeted customers.
("Hey, this site's not about Monica Lewinsky! What gives?")
o No fretting about whether competitors will complain about
your tricky methods.
o No multiple domains, hidden inter-linking, etc. -- since
every page is for the customer first and foremost, and since
you are simply writing to ALSO satisfy the Search Engine,
none of this is necessary.
There's simply nothing to worry about.Sleep well and enjoy
solid, stable results by doing it ALL right the first time.
-----SIDEBAR-----
OK, on to the third WIN of WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN...
3) Your MERCHANTS want sales.As we have seen, the best way
to deliver that is through outstanding content that gains
your visitor's confidence, then using "in-context" TEXT
links to refer/recommend/direct those visitors to places
that you believe will deliver great value.
4) YOU must WIN, too, of course.How?
Ah, that's the easiest part.If you get the first three
WINS right, you WILL succeed.Think about it...
OVERdelivery to your visitor ensures repeat visits,
confidence and ongoing sales.The Search Engines will never
ban you. And, as you become a SUPER-affiliate, your
merchants will pay you more and more, perhaps even giving
you special bonuses and deals!
--
I call the road to *YOUR* WIN...
>"FIND-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-kaCHING"
Why?Because here's what has to happen for you to WIN...
oFIND
Your POTENTIAL visitor must FIND you in the Top 10 (no
worse than top 20) of the search results for your keyword.
If your potential customer does not find you on the first
or second page of the Search Engine's search for your
keyword, well, you simply don't exist for that word.
Game over.
oCLICK
Your POTENTIAL must read the Title and Description that
the engine uses in the search results, *AND* must find
it sufficiently compelling to CLICK to your site.If
your Title and Description are boring or tacky, your
POTENTIAL visitor will probably not click to your KFCP
(Keyword-Focused Content Page).
Game over.
oCLICK
Your VISITOR finds HIGH VALUE content, learns to trust
you as someone honest who delivers, and so follows your
recommendations... CLICK again!If your page delivers
poor, LOW-VALUE info (or even worse, a SALES PITCH), you
still get the CLICK... on the BACK BUTTON to the Search
Engine's results page."Who's next?":-(
Game over.
oCLICK-kaCHING
Finally, your VISITOR arrives at your merchant in a
"feeling smart about myself" and open-to-buy mood,
ready to CLICK that BUY button!
Did I just hear a cash register?... kaCHING!:-)
Ahhh... if you get the FIND-CLICK-CLICK right, that last
CLICK-kaCHING is almost in the bag!:-)
FIND-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-kaCHING...
To accomplish that, all you have to do is...
Get the first three WINS right.The fourth WIN, your WIN,
must follow automatically.And all you have to do to nail
down those first three WINS is...
-------------------------------------------
Deliver VALUABLE content to your readers...
... *AND* tasty content to your spiders.
-------------------------------------------
-----SIDEBAR-----
We're about to discuss building your site.I'll try to keep
it as non-technical as possible.And I'll refer you to some
outstanding techie sites below, for those of you who are so
inclined.
Whether you are a tech-expert or a newbie, however, Site
Build It! is a product that makes all the technical issues
invisible to you. This lets you focus upon what's REALLY
important -- getting your knowledge out of your brain and
into your site.All you need to know is... what you KNOW!
Here is what you do *NOT* need to know...
o no html required
o no ftp or any knowledge of how Web hosting works -- this
works purely through the browser!
o no Search Engine skills -- Site Build It! will take you by
the hand as you create SE-effective pages.You don't even
need to know what a META tag is -- Site Build It! creates
all these for you.
o No techie stuff at all.
Site Build It! is all about building SE-attractive sites
that simultaneously PRE-sell through great content. Use it
to create a Theme-Focused Content Site that ranks highly
with Search Engines (SEs), and that gets your visitors to
click through to your affiliate programs.Its invisible-
to-you technology delivers...
o a powerful PRE-selling, "get the click" Themes-Based
Content Site
o an ethical, effective way to attract targeted customers to
your site
o satisfied visitors who find what they seek and who click
to your merchants' sites
o happy SEs who deliver what they promise... accurate
searches.They score your site highly, and love doing so.
Since the site is all yours, you can build pages around a
central theme (say factory outlet stores, or pricing, or
fashion models, or Leprechauns, or whatever you know and
love).So you'll rank highly at the engines.
Since it's a full site in every respect and not a free site
(engines score freebies NEGATIVELY for many reasons, even if
you have your own domain), you will score much higher at the
engines than with any free site.
Everything you read in all 5 days of this Affiliate Masters
Course is included in Site Build It!. All you'll have to
do is...
Build your site, following the online help if you ever need
it.The online help takes you through every step of
building a Theme-Based Content Site that will score well at
the major Search Engines.And it goes well beyond that...
helping you build traffic in other ways, too.
Formore information...
http://buildit.sitesell.com
-----SIDEBAR-----
Still ready to build?Let's start with the physical layout
of your new site...
--------------------------
The Structure of Your Site
Your Theme-Based Content Site is made of a home page that
gives the "what's in it for me" about your site. It
elaborates on the VPP ("Valuable PRE-selling Proposition")
and delivers the major benefit statements (more on
content-building in the next section).
Think of your site as a PYRAMID, with the home page CROWNING
the pinnacle.Your home page should link to SEVEN other
pages.These seven Keyword-Focused Content Pages will
contain content that is about your MOST PROFITABLE KEYWORDS
*AND* that fit with the whole Site Concept and VPP.
Review your MASTER KEYWORD LIST and select your seven best
keywords (select on the basis of PROFITABILITY *and* FIT).
You will link your home page to these seven, both within the
body copy, as you outline what the site is all about, and
from within a text or graphic navigation bar (navbar).
Your home page should not link to any of your merchant
partners -- it's too early.Its job instead is to link to
your HIGHEST-PROFITABILITY pages. It must GET THE CLICK to
at least one of these seven pages.This is important for
two reasons...
1) Your visitor hits a "money page" -- your HIGHEST-
PROFITABILITY Keyword-Focused Content Pages weave
"in-context" TEXT links to your merchant-partners while
OVERdelivering great content.This is how you make your
income, so we want to lead your visitors to your HIGHEST
POTENTIAL pages ASAP.
2) Your spider-buddy follows the links and indexes (i.e.,
brings back to the Search Engine's database) your most
important pages first, and most reliably -- the deeper a
spider has to go, the more likely it is that he misses and
FAILS to bring YOUR bacon back to his database home.So we
want to structure our site so that the HIGHEST PROFITABILITY
pages have the best chance of being dragged back to all
those spiders' homes.
We'll call your SEVEN HIGHEST-PROFITABILITY pages "TIER 2"
pages, since they are on a second TIER below the home page.
Each of these pages can themselves link to 5-10 pages ("TIER
3" pages).
-----SIDEBAR-----
You likely won't pick the absolute 7 HIGHEST POTENTIAL
keywords. Some will be too close in meaning.Others may not
easily lead to a TIER 3, as we'll see in a second.So you
pick the 7 that make the most sense and help to form the
strongest site overall.
-----SIDEBAR-----
TIER 3 pages should relate to the TIER 2 page that links to
it. For example, let's say that "outlet malls" is one of
the most PROFITABLE keywords that your research has found.
What do you do?
Create a TIER 2 Page ("outlet-malls.html") called...
> "Top Factory Outlet Malls Where You Can Shop Via The Net"
This page links to TIER 3 pages...
oa page that ranks the top shoe outlets that allow you to
shop via the Web
oanother that rates the top clothing outlets
oalso to the best fur discount malls, clothing outlets,
Nike outlets, etc.
Here's a key point about TIER 3... your main keyword TIER 3
might be not so profitable.There is not much DEMAND for
"fur discount malls."But that does not mean that your
"best fur discount mall" page has to suffer.Find a
stronger, more in DEMAND, related keyword.For example, I
would focus on "fur coat" (use your DEMAND window to verify,
of course).Offer great content about fur coats, and then
lead into the best places to get great bargains on these
expensive items.
The formula is the same... OVERdeliver great content.Then
get the click to your merchant partners.
FIND-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-kaCHING!
--
So, your TIER 1 home page links to 7 TIER 2 pages (not more,
because your navbar starts looking pretty congested).And
your TIER 2 pages each link to 5-10 TIER 3 pages.
This clean, 3-TIER approach yields an easy, navigable
site... for both your visitor and your spiders.Spiders
always come in through the front door (as long as you submit
the home page to them... more on this tomorrow).From
there, you've left them a nice trail to follow.So they can
easily index the rest of your pages.Humans, however...
Humans may find any page, TIER 1, 2, or 3, via the engines.
So each TIER 3 page should provide a link back to its
related TIER 2.And the same for TIER 2 to TIER 1.
Otherwise, keep internal linking only to what's really
necessary and relevant.Remember, your REAL goal is for
your visitor to CLICK to your merchants!:-)
After 3 TIERS and 50-70 pages, it gets tougher to get pages
indexed. By this time, however, you should pretty much own
this little niche. And your time will yield greater
returns if you set up your NEXT niche site.For example...
>WORLDSBEST-ElectronicFactory-outlet-stores.com :-)
-----SIDEBAR------
Remember, each niche stands on its own...
oWORLDSBEST-SportsFactory-outlet-stores.com
oWORLDSBEST-ElectronicFactory-outlet-stores.com
oWORLDSBEST-FurnitureFactory-outlet-stores.com
oWORLDSBEST-MusicFactory-outlet-stores.com
oWORLDSBEST-WhateverElseExistsFactory-outlet-stores.com
;-)
But once you have three niches established, there's one more
TIER, above all the other ones.Let's call it TIER ZERO...
oWORLDSBEST-Factory-outlet-stores.com
This "SUPER HOME PAGE" links to all the other home pages and
again, delivers the VPP and major benefits of your
mini-portal.
By now, too, you are likely offering pay-per-click banner
advertising and even linking to your own store.Yup, you've
got a thriving business!
But that's a bit down the road...:-)
-----SIDEBAR------
As the spiders gather up your TIER 1, 2, and 3 pages, the
computer programs that analyze them are getting smarter and
smarter... and theme-focused.What does that mean to you?...
1) They'll analyze all your pages in their databases and
decide upon the overall theme of your site.So none of your
pages should be off-theme, or you'll confuse it.If you
have a great idea for a HIGHLY PROFITABLE Keyword-Focused
Content Page that is off-theme, save it for your NEXT niche.
2) Have you already created a bunch of "gateway pages" by
simply duplicating one of your pages and then replacing one
keyword with a different one? These "almost identical"
gateways were successful through 1998 and 1999.But they
are losing effectiveness rapidly and will soon be compressed
out of existence by these smart programs that look across
all the pages in your site... even across DIFFERENT sites!
Time to make a change.
----
So much for the STRUCTURE of your site.Now let's fill that
structure with CONTENT that accomplishes our critical two
goals...
-------------------------------------------
Deliver VALUABLE content to your readers...
... *AND* tasty content to your spiders.
-------------------------------------------
--------------------------
The Content of Your Site
Let's start this section the same way as we did for "The
Structure of Your Site"... with the home page...
Your Theme-Based Content Site is made of a home page that
gives the "what's in it for me" about your site. It
elaborates on the VPP ("Valuable PRE-selling Proposition")
by expanding upon...
1) *WHAT* SPECIFIC and HIGH-VALUE information does your site
deliver?
2) *WHAT* is your unique positioning for this delivery
(i.e., what is your angle of approach)?
It accomplishes this while focusing on your Concept Keyword.
What do I mean? Well, like I said above, you have TWO
audiences... your visitor and your spider.
Your home page delivers the above content to your visitor.
The other pages of your site, your Keyword-Focused Content
Pages, deliver content about HIGH-PROFITABILITY topics.
As you write each Web page, you focus upon using a single
keyword slightly more than your high school English teacher
taught you was "good English."This is the keyword that you
want the Search Engines to rank highly.We'll call this
word the "Specific Keyword" from now on.
-----SIDEBAR-----
Choose your "Specific Keywords" from the MASTER KEYWORD LIST
of HIGH-PROFITABILITY keywords that you developed during DAY
3 (and continue to develop).Each of your Web pages will
focus upon a Specific Keyword to do double duty...
oas the PRE-selling topic for the page
and...
oto rank highly with the engines.
The term "General Keywords" refers to more generic words
that are ASSOCIATED with your Specific Keywords.You'll
never win the Search Engine war for General Keywords by
themselves -- you don't really want such non-specific
traffic anyway.
But many people use "WORD COMBOS" to search.They'll enter
a Specific Keyword and also a General one.For example, a
searcher might enter...
"penny stocks and investing"
or
"+penny stocks +investing"
or
"penny stocks investing"
or
"investing penny stocks."
As I said, you'll never win at the engines for the General
Keyword "investing" -- there is just too much competition.
In any event, even if you win, the traffic is just too
non-targeted to be interested in your specific niche.
But if you include the General Keyword "investing" in some
of the major parts of your Web page (outlined below), you'll
do well when searchers use WORD COMBOS. And these are
excellent, highly targeted visitors!
So...
Blend some General Keywords with your Specific ones.You
only need to include them once or twice -- you're not trying
to win the war for General Keywords, just for the WORD
COMBOS.So no need to use them nearly as many times as your
Specific Keyword for that page.
This is definitely worth doing. Why?Let me repeat...
WORD COMBOS bring excellent, highly targeted visitors.
-----SIDEBAR-----
OK, back to our home page.For your home page, the Specific
Keyword is your Concept Keyword... "factory outlet stores"
in our example.
Just before the SIDEBAR, I mentioned that your home page
establishes your Valuable PRE-selling Proposition.In other
words, it answers what SPECIFIC and HIGH-VALUE information
you deliver, and it develops your unique positioning, your
unique angle of approach. That does *NOT* mean that you
should start like this...
"Welcome to WORLDSBEST-FashionFactory-outlet-stores.com,
your home for news and information about fashion outlets. I
have spent a lot of time searching for information and will
be giving all the best of it right here."
No-o-o-o-o-o...
Keep it fun, bright, intriguing!Bring out the appropriate
emotions for whatever your topic happens to be.For
example...
--------------------------------------------
"Ever been on the road, far from home, when
what do you see?...
... a mall jammed with fashion outlet stores!
Clothes outlets by the dozens.Shoe discount
stores.Tommy Hilfiger.Polo. Other big
names, and some intriguing ones you've never
seen before...
Nirvana, right?The pulse quickens in
anticipation.The wallet tingles in fright!
Is that you?If so, welcome!You may be
reading this at home, but you're on the
road... a cyber-road to "Outlet Heaven."
--------------------------------------------
Yes, you *CAN* write like that.Really, it's a snap since
you have lived this stuff.First, just feel the emotions
that YOU feel. What are they?How do you feel? When do you
feel them?You KNOW this, right?
Now... put yourself into the skin of your reader.Put those
emotions into your visitor.
The few intro paragraphs above establish your VPP while
quickening the pulse of your reader.From here on in,
you'll deliver the benefits of your site... you'll answer
the "what's in it for me" question that every visitor asks
when arriving at a site.
As you do this, you continue to work your Specific Keywords
(and, to a lesser degree, your General Keywords) in
everywhere and often... but not TOO often.Where,
exactly?...
1) TITLE tag
2) META keyword tag
3) META description tag
4) H1 and other header tags
5) Body copy
6) Link tags
7) File name/domain name
8) Image ALT tag and name of image
Let's look at each quickly...
--------------
1) TITLE tag =
>WORLD'S BEST Fashion Factory Outlet Stores,
>The Cream of Cyber Discount Fashions
oMust contain your Specific Keyword at least once, no more
than twice, and with some kind of variation or synonym.
Try to include your most important General Keyword, too.
oUp to 70, even 80 characters. Get your most important
message in, right at the beginning.If the engine cuts
your title off at 60 characters in its listing, you've
still fired your "big gun."Meanwhile, some engines
will show up to 90 or so characters.
oRemember, the title appears as the link in search engine
listings.It must "get the click" -- so make sure it's
attractive, without being misleading.Getting your Title
right for both your reader and engine is the single most
important thing you can do.
---------------------
2) META keyword tag =
><META name="KEYWORDS" content="factory outlet stores">
oSimple.The page is about "factory outlet stores."
Don't dilute your META tag with a million synonyms.
oYou could add a few General Keywords that people might
add when they search (ex., "discounts, shopping").
oAnd consider adding a common synonym that has the
a near-exact same meaning (ex., "outlet malls").
oif you do put more than one keyword in this META tag
(separated by commas), always put your most important
one, the one that this page focuses upon, FIRST.
Here's an example of an expanded META keyword tag...
><META name="KEYWORDS" content="factory outlet stores,
>outlet malls, shopping, discounts, mall">
-------------------------
3) META description tag =
><META name="DESCRIPTION" content="Ever been on the road,
>far from home, when what do you see? A mall jammed with
>fashion outlet stores! Nirvana, right? Welcome! Take
>this cyber-offramp to "Outlet Heaven.">
oThe META description is the other half of what searchers
see in the Search Engine's listings.So, like the Title
tag, make sure it's attractive, without being misleading.
A gentle, good-natured tease, like the above, will do well.
o150-200 characters.Some engines cut off the title listing
at as little as 140 characters.So again, make sure you get
your "#1 benefit statement" up front.Remember, a "benefit
statement" does not have to be "in your face" -- read the
META tag above.
oShould contain your Specific Keyword at least once (try
twice if it fits and see how it ranks).Include one or
two of your most important General Keywords.Also, use
common synonyms 2-3 times more (ex., "outlet" and "mall").
(Synonyms will work better and better as engines become more
and more sophisticated.But your first priority is to place
sufficient focus on your Specific Keyword.)
oRemember, do not repeat the TITLE in this tag. The reader
will just see the same phrase twice in the Search Engine's
listing, once in the title and once in the description.
That's wasting valuable "word real estate."
---------------------------
4) H1 and other header tags =
>Fashion Outlet Stores Nirvana
The headlines are more important than your regular body copy.
That's true for both "human readers" and for the engines.
And remember this... some engines don't use the META
description tag to form the second part of their listings
(i.e., after the Title) in their search results.In those
cases, they will usually use the first words on the page,
which are...
oYour H1 tag (first headline), and
oThe first words in the body copy after that.
Here are the key "musts" for your HI tag...
oContains your Specific Keyword at least once.
Try to include an important General Keyword, too
(different from the one you used in your Title).
oNo longer than 80 characters, 40 is better.Long
headlines feel rather "hypey."
oHelps to "get the click" -- so make sure it's attractive,
without being misleading
oDoes not contain your Title.Otherwise, if the engine
uses your H1 tag, your listing and H1 tag will both say
the same thing... needless repetition.
A good strategy.Take your META description tag and chop it
into two pieces... part for the headline.And part for the
opening paragraph of your body copy.
-------------
5) Body copy
We started the body copy at the beginning of this day (DAY
6). Let's see what our search result listing would look like
for those engines that don't use the META description tag...
First... the Title appears as a link...
>WORLD'S BEST Fashion Factory Outlet Stores,
>The Cream of Cyber Discount Fashions
This is followed by the H1 tag and the beginning of the body
copy...
>Fashion Outlet Stores Nirvana Ever been on the road,
>far from home, when what do you see?... a mall jammed
>with fashion outlet stores!
Yup, that would pull me through to your page!So you see
how important it is tostart your body copy STRONGLY, as we
did above.Now don't blow it!OVERdeliver great content in
your body copy.
Your intro paragraphs establish your VPP while quickening
the pulse of your reader.After that, you'll deliver the
benefits of your site... you'll answer the "what's in it for
me" question that every visitor asks when arriving at a site.
And you'll do it while blending in your keyword. You should
not only work "factory outlet stores" into your copy, but
also common synonyms and variations like "outlet stores" and
"fashion outlets" and "fashion malls" and "discount
fashions" and "discount outlets" and "discount malls."
And also work in General Keywords that would likely be
associated with your keyword (ex., shopping, shops, savings,
discounts, etc.).If someone searches with part or all of
your Specific Keyword *AND* one of these General Keywords,
you'll have a good shot at being found.*AND* you'll have
a high-quality, interested and motivated visitor!
Remember though, that synonyms and variations should not
reduce your main keyword ("factory outlet stores") to near
invisibility.Establish your main keyword and then sprinkle
in the synonyms and variations.
How long should a page be?As long as it needs to be, but
no longer!Don't worry about what the Search Engines think
about length -- that's only important to your reader.
-----SIDEBAR-----
One technical consideration.For technical reasons, don't
make your page TOO long.Vector-based analysis could start
to hurt due to its compressions algorithms.Keep pages to
a reasonable length and you'll be fine.
-----SIDEBAR-----
It makes no sense for an engine to score a short page any
better than a long one.If length is of any importance,
it's minor (except, perhaps, at the extremes).As I said
before, do use your Specific Keyword more than your high
school teacher would have liked -- this "keyword density" is
of some importance.
And so is "keyword prominence" -- make it a point to use
your Specific Keyword more heavily in the opening two
paragraphs (it *MUST* be in your OPENING SENTENCE), and also
in the closing paragraph. And then, like a good chef,
sprinkle throughout!:-)
-----SIDEBAR-----
In general, it's a good idea to position your Specific
Keyword near the beginning of every "piece" of your HTML...
Title, META description, headline, body copy, etc.
-----SIDEBAR-----
Your "scatter pattern" should look like an hourglass...
bigger (i.e., more frequent) on the top and bottom, and less
(but still present) in the middle of the page.
Change your approach somewhat from page to page...
Experiment with different numbers, frequencies and patterns
of keywords until you find what works best.Use common
sense, and avoid abuse.Keep your content focused to a
single theme per page.Focus on one Specific Keyword. Blend
in 2, maybe 3, General Keywords (that are related to your
Specific Keyword for that page) to cover "multi-word
searches" (as mentioned when we discussed META keywords).
And blend in common synonyms for your keyword... Not too
much, though, or you'll dilute your most important keyword.
Do not, ever, get off-target.Keep each page focused on
material related to your keyword.Never, never, NEVER
introduce a second theme to a page -- *NO* mixed messages.
Each page focuses purely on its "keyword topic."
And that goes for your site.The more you laser-beam on a
single theme, the better you'll do with the Search Engines.
Now here's the hard part... the body copy has to do double
duty as a Search-Engine-optimizer and click-through-
generator.While emphasizing your keywords, you must build
original, valuable information.Meet the needs of a visitor
who was searching for that keyword. This will convince the
reader to click-through on your links.Don't make the page
read badly, or all your efforts to get your potential
visitor this far will have been...
... for nothing.
------------
6) Link tags
We discussed the structure of your site above.Links create
the TIER 1-2-3 structure.And they belong in the flow of
the copy. Text links must flow naturally, and beautifully,
with the content.
Think of your links as providing a SERVICE to your readers.
You offer your links as recommendations or tips or "Top 3"
as a service for your readers to see and use.So don't just
save them for the end, where you impassively list them.
And it's not just your readers who see the links.
Yup, the engines do, too.So include your Specific Keyword,
and variations/synonyms thereof, in visible, blue-underlined
text in your links to your merchants.What about your links
to the next tier down?...
Don't just say "Click here."Say "Click here for the best
outlet malls, region by region."The word "outlet malls" in
the link to your "outlet-malls.html" page (see next section)
reinforces "outlet-malls.html" for *ITS* Specific Keyword.
For that matter, even try to get your Specific Keywords
included in the text of INcoming links.For example, if you
are link-exchanging (more on this tomorrow), specify that
you would like "factory outlet stores" (or whatever the
keyword of your "receiving page" is) to be contained in the
text of thelink.
Every little bit helps you get the edge on your competition.
------------------------
7) File name/domain name
Include your Specific Keyword in the filename of your html
page. It just might add a relevancy point or two with the
engines. So if your Keyword-Focused Content Page is that
TIER 2 page about "outlet malls" that we discussed earlier
("Top Factory Outlet Malls Where You Can Shop Via The Net"),
let's name the file...
"outlet-malls.html"
The full URL, therefore, would be...
http://www.WORLDSBEST-FashionFactory-outlet
The only exception to this, of course, would be your home
page. The home page must be named "index.html" -- but that's
OK.We already have its Specific Keyword included in the
DOMAIN name, because it is your Concept Keyword!
----------------------------------
8) Image ALT tag and name of image
This is probably the least important, but what the heck.
Name one or two of the graphics on each page after that
page's keyword focus.For example... outlet-malls.gif.And
make its ALT tag "outlet malls," too.
Ask a techie, if this is a bit complicated.:-)
--
OK, that's basically how to put together a HIGH-VALUE
content page that hits both key points...
-------------------------------------------
Deliver VALUABLE content to your readers...
... *AND* tasty content to your spiders.
-------------------------------------------
We concentrated on the home page, but the approach is the
same for the TIER 2 and TIER 3 Keyword-Focused Content
Pages. While the home page, of course, focuses upon the
fundamental Concept Keyword, the other pages each focus upon
one of the HIGH-PROFITABILITY keywords that your MASTER
KEYWORD LIST has identified.
Ultimately, you create Keyword-Focused Content Pages that...
ofit with your Site Concept AND VPP
AND...
ohave a good SUPPLY/DEMAND ratio
AND...
othat you enjoy writing about.
Each page wraps a HIGH-VALUE topic around each Specific
Keyword, following the guidelines outlined above.
-----
Whoops!What's that?Some hands are up.Questions?...
QUESTION
"How is this different from gateways or doorway pages?"
ANSWER
Tons of people use "trick sites" called gateways or
doorways. In general, these are low-value pages that score
well with the engines but fail to deliver good content. They
may get the visitors, but they don't get the CLICK through,
the purchase, or the repeat visit... or much money.
Some use better content, so do better.Still, they use
tricks like "invisible links" to lead the spiders through a
site.I know.I used to do it quite successfully. Tricks,
though, die a painful death.And they usually have poor
side effects (like visitor disdain and engine bans).And
then you have to start all over.
Your site, on the other hand, will both OVERdeliver great
content *and* play fair with the engines.It will lead the
spider just as reliably through your site.By planning your
site out in advance, visible links do just as good a job,
and will never fade in effectiveness.
Actually, there's no way that I would call your fashion site
a "gateway" site.You're building a true content-driven
site. And you're simply writing it to maximize your chances
of being ranked highly by Search Engines.You're selecting
content on the basis of its PROFITABILITY.
This goes far beyond the use of even PHASE III sites that I
discuss in Make Your Site SELL! and in the 5 Pillar
Affiliate Manual.There's a FUNDAMENTAL ATTITUDE SHIFT...
***********************IMPORTANT***********************
Gateways simply try to pull the engines.Put a page in
front of the visitor.Most have little or no value content.
Even if they have content, they don't tie all together into
a theme.They are built backwards, basically, thinking
about how to fool the engines.
The Site Build It! approach is 100% different.Your first
goal is to find a theme that you know and love *AND* that
will be PROFITABLE.From there, you create a site with
great content, and along the way...
... you simply make sure that you conduct your writing in
such a way that you'll rank highly at the engines.
You are creating REAL CONTENT, not SPIDER BAIT!
That's a big difference.It yields a huge, long-term
advantage over doorways.
***********************IMPORTANT***********************
Another question...
QUESTION.
"What is the future for Search Engines?"
ANSWER
In Make Your Site Sell!, I "slammed" my own Phase II Gateway
Sites since their pages were really nothing more than
billboards.
Yes, they provided a bit of content.And no, they did not
fool anyone.So they were ethically OK.But still, the
content was low "copy-and-paste" quality for many of the
pages.And the SEs were bound to object to "being stuffed."
And, in fact, these kinds of gateways are losing their
effectiveness.
I also talked about how Phase III Keyword-Focused Content
Pages were the way to go.Each page was individually written
for a certain keyword, much like above.But the pages did
not necessarily all tie together into a theme. As we'll
see in a moment, this is a powerful step forward.
Meanwhile, though, while Phase III gateways are effective,
it is not so easy to...
ocreate the site and write the pages optimally
osubmit the site to the right Search Engines and
according to their policies
otrack the rankings at the Search Engines
omake changes as necessary
ofollow traffic and click through rates
oetc., etc.
And that's where the idea for Site Build It! was born. To
create a technology that makes all techie stuff disappear
and that allows people to focus purely on content.And to
tie all that content into the wave of the future... themes.
How do I know themes are the wave of the future?
Instinctively, deep in my gut, it makes sense.If you work
*WITH* the engines, and construct your site and pages in
such a way that they score you well, how could it NOT do
well?
But don't believe my gut!In the last few days, some
serious SE guys have weighed in.These guys are on the
cutting edge of Search Engine analysis.Let's take a look...
Ralph Tegtmeier, from fantomaster.com, puts out a
newsletter, fantomNews, that is as brilliant as it is long.
I mean, it's chock-full of challenging, cutting edge info
about SEs, spiders, etc., etc.
Here's what he says in the current issue...
------------------------------------------
However, this basically linear approach is
gradually changing now: as mathematical
linguistics and automatic content recognition
technology progresses, the major search
engines are shifting their focus towards
"theme" biased algorithms that do not rely on
analysis of individual web pages anymore but,
rather, will evaluate whole web sites to
determine their topical focus or "theme" and
its relevance in relation to users' search
requests.
Ralph Tegtmeier
http://www.fantomaster.com/
------------------------------------------
OK, OK, so he's not the most "accessible" read.But it all
boils down to... THEME-BASED sites.
Ammon Johns, "The Dark Knight," wrote a flat-out brilliant
article on theming.Don't miss this...
http://www.google.com
Note this paragraph...
------------------------------------------
What themes should do is make sites with more
content about a subject rank higher than any
single page site can do, no matter how well
optimized.
Vertical Theme analysis should greatly reduce
irrelevant results, and will virtually
eliminate those doorways where a few
irrelevant keywords are thrown into the mix
just because they are popular words.
For those of us who want to attract qualified
leads for sales, themes are generally a good
thing.
Ammon Johns
http://www.aim-pro.com/
------------------------------------------
Bingo!...
Theme-based sites will be *THE* PERFECT AFFILIATE TOOL.
And finally, Michael Campbell is less academic than these
two guys -- he concentrates on practical applications of the
theory to build sites that pull traffic.Yes, I can
actually understand what the heck he says at times!:-)
Even then, though, in a recent issueof his "Vault Update,"
he took me as far down the "theory road" as I would care to
go.Like the other experts, he talks about how the SEs will
become very theme-focused.
He goes on to discuss concepts like "term vector databases"
and "page vectors" until my head hurt.Major technological
changes are coming over the next 3-6 months.Those with
old-fashioned gateways will be swept aside as the irrelevant
billboards that they are.
But those with theme-focused content sites will be singing.
I'll skip the tech stuff, because all this is built into
"layman-understandable" online help in Site Build It!. But
here are some of Michael's important ideas and conclusions...
------------------------------------------
i) Name your web site purpose in two words.
Can you do it? What is your web site theme?
Two words, three max. Themes are the new big
winner in long-term search engine
positioning.
ii) What's a theme? It's all about narrowing
the focus of your site, and the links to, and
from your site, down to one keyword phrase,
and alterations of that one phrase. You want
to leave NO DOUBT, to the search engine, what
your web site is about, in two or at the
most, three or four key words.
iii) ...if you have and entertainment
section on your web site and a business
section on your web site, you should in
theory, split the topics into separate web
sites. Otherwise your site may not to get
listed at all if you are not closer to any
one category than another.
iv) What's really scary is the next wave of
compression. It will be set up to eliminate
redundancy "across" vectors. Translated this
means, the removal of nearly identical pages
for slightly different keyword phrases. The
days of copying and pasting keywords in and
out of an html template, for similar keyword
phrases, may soon be over.
v) Terms (keywords) are collected and
weighted within the document and corpus
(collection) of documents. This means that
keyword density will continue to be important
not only on each page, but across your entire
site.
vi) Bottom line... Pick one topic and stick
with it. If you need to focus on another
topic, put it on another web site.
vii) How much time do we have? Well, based on
the history of things like link popularity,
click counting and PageRank, new stuff gets
implemented fairly quickly. Usually within 3
to 6 months. And some these new technologies
are already in place on a couple of search
engines.
Michael Campbell
http://www.1-internet-marketing.com/
------------------------------------------
The experts have spoken.And I'm delighted on two points...
1) Site Build It! is perfectly timed.Don't worry if all
the above seems very complex. Part of Site Build It!'s job
is to make all that invisible to you.The BIG POINT is...
THEME-BASED sites will THE way for affiliates to succeed
over the next 3 years, starting right now!
2) All those spammy, self-replicating, duplicated gateways
will be "compressed" into nothingness.In a preview of
things to come, a couple of major companies have seen their
sites dropped from AltaVista for this very reason.
I've always had a deep philosophical objection to this
approach...
Ultimately, people with passion who produce themed sites
with their own, original content, produced from their own
brains, will win. And THAT's the way it *SHOULD* be.:-)
For more information about Site Build It! and what it does...
http://buildit.sitesell.com
-----SIDEBAR-----
Mastering the Search Engines is getting more and more
complicated.But if you love a good technical challenge,
here are a few more resources that I would recommend...
Planet Ocean
http://www.searchenginehelp.com/
WebPosition Gold
http://www.clickbank.com/marketplace/?r=alliesunme&s=1&i=10&t=ClickBank_Marketplace
As I said, if you enjoy the challenge, these are excellent
resources, as are the ones quoted above.
But if you just want to write great content that meets the
needs of searchers *AND* engines, with all the technology
working behind the scenes, hidden from you...
http://buildit.sitesell.com
-----SIDEBAR-----
-----
What's that, you have a question about what Michael wrote
above?Sure...
QUESTION
What does Michael mean when he says...
-----------------------------------------
iii) ...if you have and entertainment
section on your web site and a business
section on your web site, you should in
theory, split the topics into separate web
sites. Otherwise your site may not to get
listed at all if you are not closer to any
one category than another.
-----------------------------------------
ANSWER
Good pick up!That's a critical paragraph.Engines will
focus on themes more and more.If your site is about
"factory outlet stores," it's fine to use all the variations
and synonyms that we discuss above.It all reinforces the
main theme.But...
If you add a section that starts talking about Saks Fifth
Avenue and other high-end retailers, you start to water down
your site.The more off-theme your content, the greater the
risk.
Focus on your theme and stick to it.That's why an idea
site is 50-70 pages, no more.That should just about cover
any niche.After that, your time will be more PROFITABLY
spent by building the next content site on your "mini-portal
list."
-----
I was just about to call it a day, but...
ONE MORE QUESTION
"What about design?How important is it?"
ANSWER
Not as important as most folks think.Sure it's important
not to use 18 garish colors and whirling kabobbies.But
take a look at these highly successful content sites...
http://www.associateprograms.com/
http://www.useit.com/
A clean and welcoming look and feel is a good start. A
half-decent logo is a nice plus.Make it fast and easy to
navigate.Then get out of your own way and let your words
do the talking.
-----
Geez, I've really got to leave.My wife is conceiving a
baby tonight, and I wanted to be there.
(Actually I stole that from a guy who got off a speeding
ticket with that line!).
QUESTION
Can I follow this approach on a free Web hosting service?
ANSWER
Absolutely.But remember, success is much more than just
putting up a site.Free sites have two huge strikes against
them... they're treated with disdain by BOTH the visitor and
the engines.
Let's talk about humans first...
When I notice that a site's URL is at a free hosting
service, I don't bother clicking to visit.If I have a
special reason, I might go -- but I arrive at a free site
with doubts. Most folks harbor the same kind of bias.
And what about the engines?...
Free sites don't get treated with much respect by the Search
Engine spiders, and *BELOW-ZERO* respect by the directories
like Yahoo!.
Here's what Danny Sullivan, the most well-known Search
Engine guru on the Net, had to say about free hosts, in the
August 18, 2000 issue of THE SEARCH ENGINE UPDATE...
---------------------------------------------
... get your own site, under your own domain,
rather than doing it within Tripod.com or any
place offering "free" home pages. Sites
offering free home pages are often looked
upon with suspicion by search engines,
because search engine spammers also make use
of them. It's like sharing a house with bad
roommates. Move out, get your own house, and
you'll probably do better with search engines.
---------------------------------------------
Even on the Net, there's no such thing as "truly free."
Think about it... a company has to make money to survive.
One way or another, hidden or not, it costs you.But the
low credibility of free sites costs you way, way too much...
Your time.If engines don't spider you, or if customers
don't respect it, or if advertising lures your customers
away and hurts the sales-effectiveness of your site...
You're wasting your time.And that's way more valuable than
$20 per month to host your own site.You MUST, MUST, MUST
put a value on your time if you want to succeed.All
successful people will tell you that time is their most
precious commodity.
So...
A NON-free site with your own domain is a prerequisite to
build credibility with your readers *AND* with the Search
Engines.So find a good Web hosting service and put up a
real site. For the $20 or so per month, it's worth it.
Even better, I feel, is Site Build It!Why? Because it
delivers a solid, simple approach.... one that removes all
the complexity and technology away from view.
Site Build It!'s through-the-browser SiteBuilder makes it so
easy to build a site.It removes all the technical
difficulties.You end up with a site that is a powerful
traffic-builder and customer-converter.
Low cost, but since it's a totally normal site, it has all
the credibility of an expensive, ISP-based site.Create as
many pages as you like, no HTML or FTP necessary!
The SiteBuilder includes...
oPage Creation and Editing -- flexible, yet easy to use
oLook and Feel Selector (including logo creator) -- choose
from a wide variety of styles, then create your logo
oLink Library -- store any link to any affiliate program,
and use it at "the drop of a pull-down"
oGraphic Library -- upload your own images for use on your
Web pages
oTracker Library -- create and store special tracking links
for your OFF-SITE promotions (more on this in DAY 10)
oSite Navigation Options -- modifiable per your desire
oOnline help -- shows you exactly, step by step, HOW to
build a site that delivers great content *AND* that ranks
high with the Search Engines!
But Site Build It! goes way beyond the call of duty.Its
InfoCenter provides...
oTraffic Stats -- automated and easy-to-interpret "need
to know" data about your visitors
oClick IN Tracker -- with breakdown stats that allow you
to track the effectiveness of special promotions
oClick Through Tracker -- with breakdown stats that allow
you to track all your outgoing links (Click analysis
service alone costs over $19 per month elsewhere.)
oAutomatic Search Engine Submission -- happens whenever
you build or edit a page, or if the search engines have
not visited within a reasonable time. Submissions are
done exactly as if they were done by your own hand. They
are performed exactly the way each engine LIKES to
receive them... not too often, not too many, etc.
(Some submission services cost $10 per month.)
oSearch Engine & Keyword Reports -- when your pages were
last submitted, spidered, listed, and even how each page
ranks with each major engine for each Keyword (soon!).
(Reports like this can cost you $20 per month elsewhere.)
oDirectory HQ -- all you need for getting listed in the
major directories.
oPay-per-click HQ -- all you need for winning the
pay-per-click wars.
And of course, the Site Build It! Manager tool makes the
MASTER KEYWORD LIST child's play.It even does the DEMAND,
SUPPLY and BREAKOUT windows for you automatically, turning
hours of work into minutes, as it builds and researches your
MASTER KEYWORD LIST. (This service would cost you $18 per
month, significantly more for extra domains, elsewhere,
for less functionality.)
And there's more and more ways to build traffic coming!
For more information about Site Build It!...
http://buildit.sitesell.com
-----
Arrrgh!I just opened the door so we could leave.
OK, one last question...
QUESTION
Geez Ken.You seem to be convincing folks not to market
"marketing programs."Rather, they should build sites of
passion, write about what they know, and then marry that to
profitable affiliate programs.Doesn't that leave you and
SiteSell.com out in the dark?
ANSWER
Hmmmmmm... I should have kept walking out the door.;-)
No, not really.I've tried to convince 5 Pillar Affiliates
not to erect Web marketing sites.One thing the Net does
*NOT* need is another Web marketing site!
But here's a neat little twist for you to think about.You
think that only CONSUMERS search for "fashion model" or
"fashion designer" or "fashion design"??
Nope!
No more than investors are the only ones who would search
for "penny stocks."
When I was marketing my first product, PennyGold (penny
stock investing software -- now sold out in order not to
weaken the strategy -- lucky owners have done incredibly
well with it!), I must have done THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of
searches on "penny stocks"... ALL on the major engines.
WHY did I do that? Because I wanted to see how PennyGold was
doing on these engines, and I wanted to see who was beating
me! And in fact, that's exactly how I found lots of
competitors! So...
Come back in time with me, to when I was just starting out
with my penny stock software (Please, don't ask me about
whether you can get a copy of PennyGold.We no longer
market this -- we stopped at 1,000 copies, as originally
advertised.Those people who were lucky enough to have
stumbled upon a good thing have had great returns.)
Let's say that, when I was doing my searches for "penny
stocks," you had *ALREADY* created a Theme-Based Content
Site that was all about aggressive forms of investing...
"theaggressiveinvestor.com."
After doing your DEMAND and SUPPLY research, let's say, too,
that you had dedicated one of your site's pages to "penny
stocks." You wrote it to provide HIGH-VALUE content *AND* to
also appeal to the Search Engines (more on this tomorrow).
What would have happened?...
I'd still be golfing today!Here's why...
I surely would have found your page sooner or later, likely
several times,on one or more of the engines.Really,
there's no magic involved.After all, you simply followed
the basic principles of how to please the Search Engines.
This is not rocket science.Nor is it spam -- you have
simply created good content that is of HIGH-VALUE to me,
your POTENTIAL visitor who was searching for your info,
*AND* that the engines have ranked highly. So I would have
found you listed in the engines' search results pages, no
doubt about it.And...
If you had written a compelling title and description (as
outlined above), I would have certainly CLICKED to your
page. If your content about aggressive forms of investing
was HIGH-VALUE, and if you recommended Make Your Site SELL!
as a wonderful book that would help me succeed in *MY*
PennyGold business venture on the Net, guess what?...
Sure!I would have bought Make Your Site SELL!. And that
way, I wouldn't have had to write it! And I'd still be
golfing! ;-)
-----
You *CAN* do EXACTLY the same thing.Except do it for a
topic that *YOU* know and love...like "fashion."
If you write a wonderful page about "fashion design," lots
of *MERCHANTS* will find your page. After reading your
excellent content about fashion design, you lead into a
RECOMMENDATION about SiteSell.com products, especially Site
Build It!, Make Your Site SELL!, and Make Your Words Sell!.
So not only does your "fashion-passion" site generate income
for you by sending fashion CONSUMERS to a select group of
fashion MERCHANTS, you can also send fashion MERCHANTS to
sitesell.com, creating an additional income stream!
For example, here's how your "fashion design" page could
do this...
First, you write your content.This content must deliver
good "information value" about fashion design.Since this
is your area of expertise, that's a snap.Your content
closes by leading to "in-context" TEXT links (those caught
using banners will have a detention!) for MERCHANTS and
CONSUMERS...
For fashion MERCHANTS...
"Do you teach fashion design?Or are you a designer looking
to sell your fashion designs on the Web?I'm pleased to
tell you about the very best resource of its kind, at any
price, about how to sell on the Web.It's a book called
Make Your Site SELL! -- at under US$20, it's far better than
products costing 10 times as much.Click here for more
information... http://myss.sitesell.com
AND
For fashion CONSUMERS...
"Are you looking for a top-notch school of fashion design?
Click here for the best school in the US Northeast.
Click here for the best one in the US Southeast.
Click here for the top institute in the US Southwest.
Click here for excellence in the US Northwest.
Click here for the 'Fashion School Directory'.
(Please e-mail us if you feel that your fashion
school or college belongs in the directory.)"
NOTE: Each of the "best school" links sends the visitor to a
school that you represent as an affiliate!
This is just an example, but I hope you get the idea. You've
created multiple streams of income... from both merchants
AND consumers... in an area that you love and know about...
and in an area that is not nearly as competitive as Web
marketing (where so many people seem to congregate).
--
Uh-oh.Still not convinced?
You *STILL* think that you can build a bigger business
by targeting Web masters and others who are specifically
interested in Web marketing?No, really -- you'll do far
better by working your "niche of passion."Here's why...
So many people get sucked into the "web marketing game."
They get interested. They read a lot.Pretty soon they
figure that they're experts and that they can sell what they
know.Well, they are good, but...
"Web marketing info" is a jam-packed highly competitive
arena. And you're competing against pros, many of whom are
EXTREMELY good at writing to please Search Engines. Here's
just one simple indicator of the ultra-high level of
competition...
If you look up "e-commerce" in AltaVista, you'll find
983,905 possible competitors (probably many more by the time
you read this!) -- there were only 167,192 for the word
"fashion."Not only is there much more competition, believe
me... the competition is tougher.
--
Still doubt me?Boy, you *are* a hard one to convince. ;-)
OK, go to...
http://www.goto.com/
Yup, look up both "e-commerce" and "fashion."See where it
says "Cost to advertise" at the end of each listing? See how
much the #1 spot costs...
$5.29 for "e-commerce"
$0.78 for "fashion"
(amounts will be higher by the time you read this).
Since these amounts are bid by the companies, it's another
indication of how "hot" an area is.Finally, look at the
kinds of companies on the first page for each of these
terms.Seriously, you'll do far better competing against
"fashion" merchants than e-commerce pros.
-----SIDEBAR-----
That's why you should not be intimidated when you see
that you have 21,307 competitors for the word "fashion
designer." Most of them very likely don't know very much
about ranking high at the Search Engines.
-----SIDEBAR-----
A second reason why you're better off when you focus on a
special "concept niche"...
There are tons of fashion-related merchants who'd love
MYSS!. And you'd have them all to yourself!What do I mean?
Well, people looking for Web-selling information have quite
likely already heard about us, as well as our competitors.
But only fashion-related industries market to these people
-- they're all dying for a great source of Net-selling
information... *YOU* can provide that.
--
The "niche concept site" is a flexible strategy that
*ANYONE* can do. Bend it and twist it -- add your own ideas.
You really *WILL* do a great job with this.
Every now and then, Allan Gardyne focuses on successful
affiliates.You can review his back issues for the success
stories at..
http://www.associateprograms.com/search/newsletter.html
He gives several examples of high-earning affiliates.One
way or another, they ALL follow the "fashion" strategy
outlined in this installment.However, each has their own
little twist and "add-on" strategies.
Here's the bottom line.Every single success story has
focused on a niche that the affiliate knows and loves...
finance, insurance, children, etc.That's the fastest road
for you, too.
And while you are on this road... if I can have just a small
piece of your attention, I'd be most delighted. Our WIN-WIN
5 Pillar Affiliate Program treats affiliates well
financially, and provides them with outstanding tools,
support, and education.
I'd love to have you as a partner-in-sales.:-)
http://www.sitesell.com
-----
Before proceeding to DAY 7, please complete your DAY 6
Goal-of-the-DAY, and take note of your Ongoing Goal...
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
Goal-of-the-DAY... Build a home page, and
one TIER 2 Keyword-Focused Content Page.
Ongoing Goal... Create one Keyword-Focused
Content Page per day. Start with the TIER
2 pages. Then keep adding TIER 3 pages, 1
per day.Create 50-70 maximum. Then start
a new Theme-Based Content Site.
(If your time is limited, reduce the goal
to a page every 2 or 3 days.Even then,
you'll have a traffic-building, income-
earning site in three months.Consistency
and discipline are the keys, not speed. It's
OK to be the tortoise, as long as you stay
the course... THIS course, that is.:-) )
Whether you know HTML or NOT, it's just
not necessary to fiddle around with coding,
FTP'ing, etc. Focus on creating content
that OVERdelivers to both your readers and
the spiders by using Site Build It!'s
through-the-browser site-building tools...
http://buildit.sitesell.com
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
Tomorrow, the final wrap up.Traffic and visitors.Visitors and
traffic!And then...
We'll turn you loose on the world, armed with all the
knowledge and tools that you need to become an Affiliate
Master!
See you tomorrow.:-)
-Ken
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Affiliate Masters series is sent only to those people
who have specifically requested it.It is composed of five
daily e-mail courses. Want to join the exclusive club of
high-earning affiliate champions?Follow the strategies
outlined in The Masters series.Really... JUST DO IT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Allan Gardyne (yes, of associateprograms.com fame) has said
that "if you join only one program, make it the 5 Pillar
Program" and he has called it "the perfect revenue sharing
program." Ralph Wilson (wilsonweb.com) says that "Ken Evoy
has taken affiliate programs to the next level." And the
Five Pillar Program was chosen by AffiliatesDirectory.com as
"The Best Program of 1999."
For more information...
http://www.sitesell.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE
You are receiving the Affiliate Masters Course only because
you requested it, or someone used your computer to request
it.If you do NOT wish to receive the rest of this course...
To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to...
unsubscribetams@sitesell.net
NOTE: You must send it from the same e-mail address that
receives this 5-day course.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contact info: E-mail us at support@sitesell.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Ken Evoy, M.D.
President, SiteSell.com
(c) copyright 2000, 2001 SiteSell.com Inc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Site Build It!" TM SiteSell.com Inc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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