Category Archives: Commentary

Marketing commentary

Hit Capturing SEO

Serinda Swan as Zatanna Zatara on Smallville.
Serinda Swan as Zatanna Zatara on Smallville. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Getting the right Search Engine Optimization is crucial to any website. Have the wrong key words and your site will generate the wrong traffic. Content is king and SEO is how the people find the king. It is not something to get wrong.

I have long wondered if it is possible to use SEO as a method of subterfuge. That is, choose words that are not actually correct for a website, but pull in interesting traffic anyway. What to do though is the question.

I wrote an article about a date with Nikki Dial. The story was based on a long reoccurring dream. Perhaps more correctly as a day dream. I’ve held Nikki in high esteem for years. Did having Nikki Dial in the site content bring in more visitors? Yes, it did. As my site is not geared to making conversions to sales, it didn’t mean more money. It did mean, however, more spammers found the site and have left crap comments that do to bogus selling sites. Not really what was meant.

What about using other names? Perhaps an article about Serinda Swan? Write about her loveliness being in TRON: Legacy. The wonderfully tight outfit that showed her curves to every 12 year old boy living in us all. The eyes. Oh my, there is much there.

Not into movies? Serinda Swan recently posed for Maxim. The pictures are hot, of course, and Serinda looks marvelous in everyone. Makes for wanting her to pose in other, more revealing magazines.

Serinda Swan isn’t the only lovely lady one could use for some SEO. The overly boobed German model Jordan Carver is another. She augmented her 5’6″ frame with implants that give her 32HH breasts. Even without her surgery, Jordan is still very lovely and could easily make a post about her. That is, if you want a great deal of traffic from people looking for pictures of Jordan Carver nude.

Don’t like any of these names? It is easy to choose more. Keegan Connor Tracy played in Jake 2.0, Battlestar Galactica and Once Upon A Time. The lovely and cruel character Regina Mills as played by Lana Parrilla would make a good article. Her ass is enough to write about for days. A Lost fan? Emilie de Ravin was a lovely blonde on Lost and is now a lovely brunette on Once Upon A Time. There’s an interesting twist.

Search Engine Optimization is a sticky wicket. Finding the right mix is key. Finding the right mix is the hardest portion. Play with them all.

 

 

 

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Content Is King

Lifesize Religious King Statue with Spear
Lifesize Religious King Statue with Spear (Photo credit: epSos.de)

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), there are two main ways to go: do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you. The techniques used by either path are the same, though the professional may have access to more tools and options. Create content all over the Internet that points back to your site. Use the proper keywords the right number of times and SEO will be yours. Spam them too much and Google will ignore you.

Many people go at the keywords with reckless abandon. They use Google’s Adword Keyword tool and make list and after list of good keywords. They do all the can to work these keys words into articles to make them look like Search Engine Optimization wizards. They create content that seems odd and fantastic. They forget a key element.

Content is King.

In the early days of Internet marketing, it was easy. Find several blog sites and copy the same article to them all. Perhaps change a few words here or there, but that was about it. Post the article and let the search engines find them. Leads poured into business opportunities and people made money. People also complained and Google struck back: the infamous Google slap! Leads dried up overnight. Adword accounts were closed. The money makers had to find a new way.

The content makers realized they needed to create a few different versions of the same article. Someone figured out to use a formula to the paragraphs of the article and them made a routine to randomly swap them out. Those posted all over the Internet lead to hit rates climbing again. Come across one of the pages though and they were not humanly readable.

Google got smarter. Along came Panda.

More and more, the search engines look at context, as well as, the content. Does the content flow? Is it human readable? Is it duplicated? Is it just greeking? With each update, both Google and Bing learn the context. Along cam mobile and raised the bar again. Google search on an iPhone is not only optimized for text, it is also optimized for time and place. Google knows where you are and what the time is. In the same spot it may return different first pages depending on if it is 10am or 6pm. Your content needs to reflect such changes.

Content, after all, is King.

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It is time for 2013…More sharing…More Awakening…

Happy New Year 2013
Happy New Year 2013 (Photo credit: Mark Kens)

The year that was, 2012, has left me changed in more ways than I ever would have believed. I have shared of myself on this blog and on my YouTube channel in ways that I never imaged and the response has been incredible. From the questions and comments that people have been sending me, it looks like 2013 will deliver new avenues to explore and share.

I am looking forward to writing and creating videos sharing more of myself and my world. I do have requests to explore more of my INTJ-ness and what it was like growing up with that personality. Some of you want to know what it is like have Fi as a tertiary function and I look forward to sharing it with you.

Writing of the YouTube channel, I have found several videos that I shot near the end of 2011 that I neglected to publish. Many of them are about marketing: what it is, how to do it and why. These are quite informative and need to be shared. These videos were created in response to questions and answers are overdue.

Yes, 2013 does hold some scariness. The United States Congress seems hell bent on never producing no budget and Obama continues to show he has no leadership skills. Too many Americans are voting for free stuff, with no regard from where the money will come to give out so much crap. America is heading to the same place as Greece, if they do not wake up.

David Icke continues to make more sense with his presentations and connecting events. The overlords of the masses are very scared of him. More and more people are waking up, though far too many are asleep. The year 2013 is shaping to be a pivotal year. So much momentum was cared into 2012 it looked to be a breakout year. Alas, the Republican leadership scammed Romney upon the people and the overlords were able to get their fraud in-line for Obama’s re-election. None of the fraud will be investigated and no one will do jail time for breaking various election laws. Their fraud actions show how scared they are of the people. After all, the people cannot be trusted to elect the correct leaders.

So, here we come, 2013. Are you ready for us? This year, more people will wake up. More people will take control of their destiny and refuse to rely on the Government for their livelihood. More people will start a business and more people will find Freedom. And above all, more people learn the meaning of Liberty and how it was stolen from them. They will demand it back.

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Bryon as Anime

This blog is nice, though it has needed a more personal touch for far too long. Using

Beer vendor
Beer vendor (Photo credit: BrainMuffin)

WordPress is a good start and adding a touch of your personality is a good way to place your mark on the Internet. And so, it is my turn.

While it is true I can help businesses in Cincinnati to have a better mobile presence, what and who I am for this blog has been a long unanswered question. I also like to make beer, am on Ski Patrol at nearby Perfect North Slopes, take pretty good pictures and like to help people better their lives. Answering who Bryon Lape is and how he should present himself on the Internet gets, well…sticky.

What should I concentrate on in this blog? Go all beer, all the time? Write endlessly about Photographer? Make every post sound like a marketing article? Well, yes, all of it and then some.

I’ve asked my daughter to draw me as an Anime. I want to personalize here. Capture who I am. Perhaps draw me with a camera about my neck and a beer in my hand. Why not? I want to express myself in this blog and help people succeed in their business.

I want visitors to return and find good information. Want to know about making better homebrew? There will be articles on that. Discuss and share techniques for photography? Absolutely! It is either that or have five different blogs covering all the topics I want to share. Ugh.

No, I’m not saying I’m an expert in all that. I am saying it is time to share. It is time to help each other. For Bryon Lape, those areas are beer, photography, Internet marketing, mobile app development and sex. Oh wait, that’s not right. But hey. We can talk about Spricket24 then.

So, more stuff, more beer, more boobs and more fun. Or something along those lines.

Cheers!

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Are You Voiceless?

Do you feel like you are speaking into a dark hole? Like your marketing efforts are only appreciated by ghosts and crickets? You are not alone.

Many of us feel like we speak, but no one hears our voices. The end result is feeling voiceless in the world. Which is worse? Be able to speak, though not heard or not being able to speak? Is there really a worse? Are not both results the same? No responses. No leads. No customers. No sales.

Pulling from the weeds

Marketing is about placement and message. Where you say is as important as what you say. Writing great copy for the wrong audience will not succeed. First, define your audience and know where they. Pull yourself out of the weeds and into the fairway of success. Do not spend your time and efforts with those known to not buy what you sell. Get out of the tall grass.

Once your audience is defined, now develop marketing to meet their pain or in pull them into their pleasure. Spend your time with them. Get to know them. Build a relationship.

Plotting a new course

There are so many expressions for finding success, they seem like cliches: start with the end in mind, know what you want and get it, define the end and plan backward. All of them have two things in common: a clearly defined goal and a way to get there. Clarity of goal and path are a must. One must know exactly what one wants and how to get there. A poorly defined goal will lead to a poor path.

Suppose you are in charge of building a bridge across a river. They only given requirements is that it must join two particular roads. Is that enough to start building? No? Why not? Why do people start a business with a less defined goal?

To build such a bridge, there are many factors to consider: length, structure weight and strength, type of bridge, building materials, design, function, etc. Scale models of various bridges will be built. Sight lines with the surrounding geography will be considered. Plans have to be approved. Bids for construction have to be made. All of that before one scoop of dirt is moved.

Do not set out into the world of business without defining your goals as clearly. Know your send. Make your plan. Start moving.

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Landing that Job

The resume dance

In many areas of work, there are jobs to be had. There are jobs advertised. There are openings. For each opening, there are many, many resumes. They are all grouped together. They get piled. They all get reviewed. Why do some result in a call while others get ignored?

What is it about one resume that gets attention over another? Is it the experience listed? The education of the person? Surely it is the typeface and the margins. The paper quality?

It is none of those.

Tell your story

Your resume is not just words on a page. Your resume is your avatar. It is presenting you before a potential boss. If it is just a string on skills and experience and nothing more, it will get the attention of no one. That style of resume will get ignored, no matter the typeface or the fancy paper upon which it is printed. This will be made worse when it is either submitted electronically where it may be converted to standard characters.

Your resume needs to tell your story. The reader should be able to get an idea of who you are, where you have been and why you have gone on that journey. The reader must feel they know who you are after reading it and why you will be able to help them. Don’t let them guess.

It is not, however, a creative writing exercise. It needs to tell a story, but not in a narrative form. Have your skills forward, your experience next and your education. Treat the submission of your resume not as a push to an anonymous person. Treat it as it is, a press release of yourself to your new boss. Don’t click and shoot. Be personal.

You Are Your Brand, Not Your Opportunity

A New Business

It is seen quite often. Someone starts a new on-line business. They are enthusiastic. They are ready to go. Ready to rock. They place ads everywhere. They send e-mails to every list they can find. All of them tout this brand new thing-a-majig. All fail.

Why?

It is the classic misunderstanding of what kind of business they are in. They believe they are in an Internet business. They believe they are in a Marketing business. They believe they are in everything but what they are.

Imagine you have applied to manage a new restaurant opening down the street. It doesn’t mater what kind of restaurant it is. If it help you, suppose it is a McDonald’s. The owner asks you about your experience. They ask what you like about their company. They are quite impressed. They have one more question, “As the manager of this restaurant, what kind of business are you in?” You answer, “the restaurant business.” The owner looks sad. They sigh, shake your hand and thank you for your time.

You leave knowing you did not get the job. You cannot understand why.

Your Actual Business

It doesn’t matter if you are a manager of a restaurant or if you started the latest and smoking hot Internet business. All of these are in the same business.

“Wait!” you exclaim. “They sell food and I see widgets. They are not the same business.”

Yes they are. You are concentrating on the what and not the why. You are not looking at what the course business is. Why you are in business. Why you believe you will be successful. Why is the core, the heart, the very center of your business.

All of these business are in the People business. As a manager, you are mostly in the business of empowering and leading your workers. They in turn are your direct link to the customer. They are the face and the attitude of your business.

As an owner of an Internet business, you are all of those. You are the manager. You are the face. You are the heart. You are your brand. What you are selling is not your brand. What you are selling is not your business. You are your business. And you are in the People Business. Say hello.

Be Potentially Kinetic

In Physics, there are two basic types of energy: potential and kinetic. Potential is energy not in use. It just sits there. Waiting for an opportunity, but really doing nothing. It is all there to be used. It has great possibilities. It could lead to something, but alas, it does not. Imagine a battery, full-charged and ready, but never used; an object held aloft, waiting to be let go, but never released. That is potential energy.

Kinetic energy, on the other hand, is energy in use. It is the roller coaster car moving about the track. It is the battery powering the radio. It is the fuel in the tank being pumped into the engine to make the vehicle move. It is taking full advantage of an opportunity. It is movement. It is useful.

Everyone possesses some level of each. Everyone has potential to be far more than they are. When there is no action, no attempt at movement, there is only potential. Opportunity knocks, but it is not answered. The potential energy never becomes kinetic.

Which are you? Are you all potential and far too scared to try to become kinetic? What is your fear? Will you let it win? Turn that fear into your own source of kinetic energy and succeed.

Take a break, worries or not

The article “Take a break, worries or not” appeared on the original blog on April 12, 2011.

The point of Richard Carlson’s focus changing book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff” is to aide in getting priorities straight. Too often, it is quite easy to get so lost in the little details of life, they become fair more important than is necessary. Does it really matter if a piece of furniture is .001 inches to far to the left? Or if a child leaves half a green bean on their plate? Let the small things take care of themselves and handle the truly large stuff.

In business, these same ideals apply. Far too often, there is such a concentration on marketing (surveying customers, collecting customer data, well placed advertising), that the larger picture is lost. Is one more back link really going to matter? Does a particular print need to be one more shade of pink toward red? The larger picture is why are you in business.

Get passed the “to make money” answer and dig deeper. What really needs to be accomplished? Move the world? Make a change? Nice lofty goals, but what does that mean? Move the world to where? Make what kind of change? A change for whom?

Clear the mind and release the small things. The small goals and details. What is behind? How do business survive and thrive? Stop looking at what is special about your products. Get behind the small things. Of all the things that have impacted the world the most, what was the underlying motive?

Service.

It is by serving others first that allows one success. The greatest movers in this world, from Jesus to Gandhi, looked to serve others first. The well remembered Greek philosophers sought to teach first. Plato established the western world’s first academies. Socrates is not known for what he wrote, but what he taught others and they in turn recorded. Jesus preached that service to others was bound in God’s Law, while Gandhi pursued his non-violent revolution through service to his fellow country men.

Service not bound by expectation of reward is one of the greatest gifts one may give to another. When reward is reaped, the prize is more sweet. Serve your customers not in anticipation of a purchase, but of a grateful attitude. Those who are touched will buy. Not due to some level of coercion, but out of respectful consideration.