Why Google is the Recording Industry of the 21st Century

If you’ve been following any of the news in the music and recording industry you know that Radiohead announced they will be releasing their music for free, eliminating the recording industry middle man. Nine Inch Nails followed suit a few days later, followed by Oasis and Jamiroquai. The music wants to be free from monopolistic middle men who want to limit it’s reach, manage it’s distribution, and control it’s pricing. However the problem is music doesn’t need the middle men, once the technology and the delivery infrastructure have developed, the middle men act as an impediment to growth and progress. Right now the musicians have outgrown the middlemen and no longer need them. Just because the music business dies doesn’t mean there won’t be great artists producing great music. This story follows an interesting parallel to Google’s desire to control, and manipulate advertising, most recently text link advertising …

Let’s cover the basics, in case you hadn’t noticed Google has been on a slow and steady course to manipulate the online advertising market, in fact they’ve been doing it slowly and methodically since the summer of 2006. I documented my first hand experience with this price gouging in July of 2006 Google Adwords Quality Score - Set to Pillage and Plunder. The exact same process was repeated again November of 2006 Adwords Quality Update II = Price Gouging Round II. Then Google set about tightening it’s grip on the online advertising world yet again in August of 2007, obfuscating price increases with a Byzantine algorithmic update purported to improve the user experience - New Google Adwords Formula = Just Pay Us More.

With advertisers beaten into submission on pricing, the war shifted fronts, this time to people offering alternatives to Google, in the form of text link advertising. The first attack was straight out of 1984 by George Orwell, by encouraging citizens to report dissidents who didn’t follow “the rules“. What happens next, take a few high profile sites and make and example by banning them, or hitting them with a penalty.

Where’s the parallel … the recoding industry developed an infrastructure to distribute music. Google developed an infrastructure to distribute advertising. Both industries profited immensely being the middleman in a monopolistic marketplace. Now that the monopoly they enjoyed for so long is under market pressure to open up, and they are fighting to maintain control. The music industry looks to shut down the consumer with burdensome DRM. Google threatens to de-index web publishers who don’t implement official Google approved advertising methods. Google maintains that these actions are to prevent people from “buying their way to the top of the SERP’s” however their actions speak louder than their words, and their hypocrisy is crystal clear.

SEO 101 Needs Your Feedback

We’ve had some internal debates (friendly, of course!) about which topics would be of the most interest to the SEO 101 listeners. Because our arguments were largely based on anecdotal evidence, we decided that it would be best to solicit feedback directly from the listening audience. So… if you all would be so kind as to go answer our little SurveyMonkey survey thingy, we would be eternally grateful.\]

Mainly, what we’re hoping to get from the survey is data on the general experience level of the listening audience, what types of topics most interest the listeners, what guests the listeners would like to hear on the show and the average age of the listening audience.

Things that aren’t included in the survey, but that I’m dying to know are:

* Are you currently, or are you trying to get into SEO consulting for clients?
* Are you an in-house SEO? If so, for what size business? What industry/sector?
* Are you listening because you’re seo-ing your own small business website?
* Are your sites targeting a national audience? (International, regional, local, etc?)

Feel like sharing your marketing budget with us? If not, should we just operate under the assumption that the budget is somewhere bewteen zero and shoestring?
Feel free to reply to these questions via comments. I’d love to hear more about what specifically the listeners are hoping to get from the show.

Top 10 Internet Marketing Strategies

Internet marketing can attract more people to your website, increase customers for your business, and enhance branding of your company and products. If you are just beginning your online marketing strategy the top 10 list below will get you started on a plan that has worked for many.

1. Start with a web promotion plan and an effective web design and development strategy.
2. Get ranked at the top in major search engines, and practice good Search Optimization Techniques.
3. Learn to use Email Marketing Effectively.
4. Dominate your marketing niche with affiliate, reseller, and associate programs.
5. Request an analysis from an Internet marketing coach or Internet marketing consultant.
6. Build a responsive opt-in email list.
7. Publish articles or get listed in news stories.
8. Write and publish online press releases.
9. Facilitate and run contests and giveaways via your web site.
10. Blog and interact with your visitors.

By following the above tips you'll be on your way to creating a concrete internet marketing strategy that could boost your business substantially.

All Bloggers should join Ojeez!

All Bloggers should join Ojeez! Why do you blog? ...To make money?

Then blogging becomes a home business. ...As a hobby and for fun? Then you need more readers. Where's the fun if no one reads your 'fun stuff' or 'hobby stuff'? ...Other reasons?

You still want more readers. Whatever the reasons may be, I suggest you take a really close look at Ojeez and join the community.

Good place for you, I believe so. Ojeez is the place to network all your home business opportunities, get connected and find more prospects while at the same time build your Ojeez Network to Earn Company Shares! "One Stone, Two Birds" Wouldn't it be nice!

Network your business at MySpace Social Networking

The growth in popularity of social networking sites has been phenomenal for online business owners in recent years. Communities such as MySpace, YouTube and Facebook, etc, each has millions of members from around the world. As a network marketer my preference is Myspace : - It boasts 200 million profiles, 350K new members/day, 110 million uniques/month. - American MySpace hits 60 percent of 18-24 year-olds, 25 percent of 15-25 year-olds and 36 percent of people 35 and older Myspace is no longer just a site where teens go to post their personal blogs and make friends. The site now gets millions of adult visitors everyday and countless business people are using the site to advertise their goods and services with the hope of gaining potential clients. The site offers many features that attract people to the different pages the site contains. By utilizing a few simple techniques, you can advertise your business to the many people that visit these pages. One way to advertise on the site is to set up a personal profile that includes a link to your business. Use the page to reflect not just your business side but your personal side as well. Start a blog page and begin posting articles on the topic of goods that you’re selling. This will establish you as an expert in your field. Post at least once a day and by the end of the month you will have 30 articles. Make the articles interesting so that you build up a readership and be sure to include a link to your business site in each post and ask your readers to visit your site. Invite your readers to add you as a friend. The more readers that you have will increase the percentage of people that will be drawn to your business website. Another way to advertise is by posting bulletins on your personal page. List the sales and special offers of the goods and services listed on your business site. You can also post bulletins on the pages of your friends to increase the exposure of your business to others. Remember that each of the people that you add as a friend has friends of their own. The more people who see your bulletin, the better chance you have at securing potential clients. Using the “groups” section of the site is an excellent way to advertise your product. The groups are listed alphabetically and you can join the ones that pertain to the goods and services that you are selling. Join more than one group and start posting in their forums. Get to know people there and engage them in conversations. Ask the group owners if they will endorse your product. A group owner who’s members number in the tens of thousands is a powerful ally to have in your corner. Be warned that they may charge you a fee for the endorsement, but if it will increase your profit margin, it’s worth it. Making friends on the site is a sure way to help your business grow. It’s important to be sincere about developing friendships. Your friends will want you to be successful and will let you advertise on their own pages to help you to do so. People who don’t know you won’t afford you the same respect. Each friend that you make has other friends that they can refer to your business site. Making friends is not just a way to advertise your business. It’s a way to enrich your personal life as well.

Using Email Marketing to promote your Affiliate Products

Email marketing can be one of the most effective methods to promote affiliate products, IF * You've already built an opt-in email list, and * You've already established your credibility with your subscribers In fact, I'm such a big believer in promoting affiliate products through e-mail that I've written and tested many different e-mail campaigns over the past few years. The key to successful e-mail content is to imagine that you are writing the letter to one friend, rather than a large group of customers who are all strangers to you. Writing with a single person in mind will help you avoid writing that's too stiff and formal, and make sure your claims are not overstated. Here are seven simple steps to write effective content for e-mail promotions : 1. Keep it personal: Write your letter as though you were sending it to a close personal friend. This is one of the best ways to guarantee that you avoid any exaggeration or hype that will scare away interested potential customers. 2. Tell them "Why": If you believe that you’re recommending a good product that your readers will benefit from, tell them. Be specific about why you think it’s such a great product and how they stand to benefit from checking it out! 3. Be honest and real: If you’ve had personal experience with the product, then let your customers and subscribers know how you’ve personally benefited from it. Results speak for themselves. 4. Be knowledgeable: If you don’t have personal experience using the product, familiarize yourself with it by taking a few minutes to read the product information. Think about how it will benefit your customers and subscribers, and express this in your letter. 5. Keep it short: An effective e-mail shouldn’t be any more than a page and a half. Remember that your job is to get the reader to click through your affiliate link to the product information page with full details. 6. Keep it simple: Don't fall into the trap of trying to fill your letter with big words and complicated sentences to make it sound more 'official'. That kind of language is a surefire way to turn people off. Think about what you want to say in your letter, then imagine that you're sitting down with a friend and telling them these things in a casual conversation. That's the tone you want to capture. 7. Test it! Before you e-mail the letter to your entire opt-in e-mail list, consider e-mailing it to a test group to gauge the response. If the results aren't what you hoped, you can always go back and 'tweak' it before you send it out to everyone. New to email marketing ? Or, your email marketing effort isn't really paying you well? Perhaps you ought to take a look at our Email Secrets to discover how the professionals are doing it !

Marketing Tips To Remember

Here are a few marketing tips to keep in mind when you're considering launching a new campaign.
Most businesses will get 80% of their sales from 20% of their customers. Know exactly who those 20% are and aim your advertising to that segment.
Research is a vital part of your marketing plan. Your effort should produce answers to who your prospects are, and where, why, when, and how they are converted into active buyers.
As your business grows, prepare a strategic marketing plan looking at how your product or service will meet the long-term needs of your customers.
Dramatically increase your odds for a direct mail response by including a self-addressed, stamped or postage paid envelope.