Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Thursday, 17 of January , 2008 at 12:32 pm
One of my favorite blogs, Marketing Pilgrim, wrote up a nice piece today about Internet marketers using Twitter. I’m assuming you know about Twitter by now. The interesting thing about the article is that it lists 75+ Internet marketers who use Twitter. Now, I know there are more than 75 Internet marketers in the world. But I also know that the best Internet marketers don’t jump on a bandwagon unless there is some value in it. I was surprised to see some of the biggest names in SEO and Internet marketing on the list. Here are just a few:
- Andy Beal
- Brian Chappell
- Andy Beard
- Bill Slawski
- Duncan Riley
- Graywolf
- Greg Boser
- Jason Calacanis
- Jennifer Laycock
- Jill Whalen
- Jeremiah Owyang
- Lee Odden
- Lisa Barone
- Problogger
- Rand Fishkin
- Rene Lemerle
- Rusty Brick
- Robert Scoble
- SERoundtable
- Sugarrae
- TheNanny612
- Vanessa Fox
And that’s not even the whole list. There are many more!
Twitter has a PageRank of 8. That’s at least as high as many social bookmarking sites that have been around a lot longer. Del.icio.us is at a PR 8. Digg has a PR 8. StumbleUpon has a PR 8.
With a PR comparable to the most trafficked social bookmarking sites online, you know there has to be some serious link juice in using Twitter. I know that’s not why these savvy Internet marketers are using it. The social benefits are just as powerful as the SEO benefits, but that does give you something to think about, doesn’t it?
Category: Internet Marketing, SEO, SEO Tools
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Monday, 14 of January , 2008 at 7:55 am
Gene Marks wrote an article in BusinessWeek that drew the ire of every SEO and Internet marketer in the business. All you had to do was Google his name and you’d see the backlash. Even my post about him hit Page 1 on Google.
Interestingly, there’s at least one person agreeing with him and search marketer Jaan Kanellis is taking issue with that defender on yesterday’s WebProNews.
I’ll have to agree with Jaan Kanellis again. The only reason Gene Marks wrote the article that he did was to get link bait. Either that or the man is a total and complete idiot.
I focused my last article about him on his misrepresentation and lack of understanding of SEO. But he was wrong on so many other counts as well. Jaan Kanellis only mentions a few of them in his latest article:
- RSS
- Blogs
- SEO
- CRM
- PPC
- Web 2.0
Interestingly, Jaan and I both agree with Gene Marks’ comments regarding Web 2.0 and CRM. So we really don’t have an argument on those points with Gene Marks or with Adam Senour. CRM is pretty much useless for most small businesses. A simple spreadsheet will meet most of your needs. And hardly anyone can agree on the definition of Web 2.0. It’s just some buzzword that some marketers are capitalizing on to make themselves appear more important.
But blogs, RSS, SEO, and PPC are marketing tools and strategies that anyone and everyone can benefit from. OK, maybe you’re not interested in running PPC campaigns, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t benefit from it if you were. Blogs are such simple tools to run and operate that Adam Senour’s comment about the time it takes to maintain a blog is simply ludicrous. But I love Jaan’s point even more:
If you’re not willing to learn and work with the components that make the web what it is then forget about all together. Keep yourself in a box far, far away from technology.
The bottom line is this: Are you using the tools of the Web most effectively? Most small businesses are not. There are things they can do to improve their marketing effectiveness as well as their efficiency. Tools like RSS feeds allow you to do that. Instead of spending hours visiting blogs just to see if you want to read what they have to offer today, you can get all of your news feeds in one place and scroll through them to see which ones you do want to read and which ones you don’t want to mess with. Is that a time saver? You bet it is. A huge one. So why ignore it?
Gene Marks doesn’t have a clue. Neither does anyone who is defending him.
Category: Internet Marketing, SEO Myths, SEO Tools
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Thursday, 10 of January , 2008 at 3:01 pm
This article on SiteProNews really says nothing new about SEO. Just look at the suggestions for the Top 10 Internet marketing tips for 2008:
1. Optimize your website’s content
2. Create a content development strategy for your website
3. Invest in a paid search (pay-per-click) campaign
4. Publicize your website through article marketing
5. Develop a social media marketing strategy
6. Create a Company Blog
7. Experiment with video marketing
8. Engage your audiences with web widget marketing
9. Discover the benefits of mobile marketing
10. Create an effective email marketing strategy
This actually reads like a top 10 list for 2007. Nothing on this list is even remotely outside of the box thinking. All of these have been suggested before - like last year - and if you haven’t started doing all of these by now then you are likely behind the competition. The first four items on the list are actually from 2003 or before. The rest of the list is 2005-2007.
This article from Jaan Kanellis is actually more helpful. Just look at the difference in quality between the suggestions. This is fom Jaan’s article:
- Internal Navigation
- Tell Why You’re The Best
- Build Links
- Develop Your Content
- Use Title Tags
- Avoid Duplicate Content
- Know Your Competitors
- Consider your Finances
- Track Your Stats
- Increase Your Load Time/Decrease Your Code
- Evaluate Only One Change At A Time
There is a lot of elaboration that could take place here on each of these points, but they all are important to increasing your SEO benefits. Should you take the first list to heart? Yes. All of those strategies are important. But if you don’t get down in the weeds on your website content, blogging strategy, link building methods, and other important webmaster topics then just knowing that you need to develop your content is like saying a cowboy needs a horse. Sure he does, but he also needs to learn how to ride it, put the saddle on, bridle it, shoe it, feed it, and train it to come when he calls. Can you do all of that with your website?
Category: Content Development, Internet Marketing, SEO
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Thursday, 27 of December , 2007 at 1:02 am
An interesting article appeared in Web Pro News recently concerning the top three search engines. Aaron Wall posits that the biggest difference between Google and Yahoo is with their marketing techniques. Google has marketed very effectively. Yahoo! on the other hand seems to have missed something. A few interesting points were made in the article concerning Yahoo!’s lack of marketing prowess:
Overture Keyword Selector - their public facing keyword tool is unreliable and does not even promote their own brand or their own network on it.
Want to sign in to Yahoo search marketing? Go to sem.smallbusiness.yahoo.com. Yup…2/3 of the companies revenues come through a subdomain of a subdomain.
Yahoo powers millions of domain landing pageviews every day, and are afraid to put their brand on it, all while Google puts their brand (and typically search box) on everything they touch.
Yahoo! is the only search engine with the potential to take on Google. Despite this fact, they have continued to bleed market percentage year after year. One has to wonder if they would do better if they took a leaf out of Google’s book and became a little more aggressive with their marketing approach. Aside from Google Documents, Google is not offering anything that Yahoo! didn’t already have. Why then has Google been able to dominate such a large portion of the search engine market?
Category: Internet Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Friday, 9 of November , 2007 at 3:46 pm
(Source) It is important to get your search engine optimization company involved as early as possible before you build your new website. Not only are there many technical issues that you should be aware of before you begin design (such as linking architecture, types of text to use, and balancing your SEO efforts with your brand), but there are also strategies that can be set in motion at the outset that will counteract some of the stumbling blocks listed above. If you involve your search engine optimization company after you have built your new website, much of the work you have done will likely need to be redone with a long term strategy in mind.
This is perhaps the most useful bit of advice I’ve read in a long time. Too many businesses hire an expensive web designer to build them a pretty website, or buy into some expensive system that delivers useless PLR content, only to later call on a search engine optimization expert to dig them out of a pit. Before you spend dime one on any Internet marketing related product, even a website (or hosting service, for that matter), you should learn everything you’ll need to know about running an online business. That means talking to search engine optimization experts, web design consultants, hosting providers, content writers, and even graphic artists. In a word, you need to count the costs. Counting the costs in Internet marketing means knowing what you are getting yourself into, right down to the last link. Otherwise, you’re going to spend more money in the long run fixing mistakes you could have avoided.
Category: Internet Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Friday, 5 of October , 2007 at 9:03 am
Search Engine Land recently asked the question, “Which Google Products Should a Small Business Use?” I liked their answer, but it seems incomplete. Here’s the list of services they suggest small business owners should use:
- Google Analytics
- Google Maps
- Local Business Center
- Google Base
- Google Website Optimizer
The list is incomplete because it leaves out the most important Google service of all: Google AdWords.
Of course, they may have left Google AdWords off the list on purpose. You can’t use Google Analytics unless you sign up for Google AdWords first. But just having a Google AdWords account doesn’t mean that you are using the product. Or maybe they left Google AdWords off the list because they believe that not every business owner can benefit from a pay-per-click campaign. That could be true. But most businesses, I believe, would do well to start a Google AdWords campaign to drive targeted traffic to their website.
Another use for Google AdWords is keyword research. If you run a business of any kind then you can use Google AdWords for your keyword research. It’s free so why wouldn’t you?
Suffice it to say, I’d add one more Google service to Search Engine Land’s list. Google AdWords.
Category: Internet Marketing, PPC, Search Engines
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Friday, 28 of September , 2007 at 8:24 am
Small Business Branding posted an excellent blog post two days ago on marketing plans. While I agree that marketing plans are essential for traditional businesses, they are less so for Internet businesses - at least, as they exist for traditional businesses. Internet marketing plans are a good way to keep you focused on goals so I wouldn’t say they aren’t necessary at all. But you have different considerations for your Internet marketing campaign.
A traditional business plan usually follows this outline:
- Business Summary and Overview
- Market Analysis
- Competitive Analysis
- Product or Service Outline
- Marketing Strategy
- Production Processes
- SWOT Analysis
- Business Structure
- Management Team
- Financial Information
Your Internet Marketing Plan
First, there is a distinction between a business plan and a marketing plan. Your business plan, in its completion, could include an Internet marketing plan, which would fall into the Marketing portion of the overall business plan. When you put together your Internet marketing plan, here are some things you need to think about:
- Summary and Overview - Is your Internet business an extension of your brick and mortar business or is it a stand alone entity?
- Market Analysis - Yes, you need to study the market online for your particular industry.
- Competitive Analysis - Your off line competitors may or may not be competition online. It is likely that you’ll have a whole new set of competitors online.
- Product or Service - Will you provide the same services online as you do off line?
- Marketing Strategy - You need to think about what Internet marketing strategies you will use in your online business. Will you use pay-per-click, affiliate marketing, blogging, article marketing, banner advertising, all of the above?
- Management Team - Are you a sole proprietor or will you have partners?
Financial Information - This is just as essential for your online plan at is for your off line plan.
This may not be all you need to think about for your Internet marketing plan, but these are the bare essentials. No Internet marketing plan should be without these elements.
Category: Internet Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Thursday, 27 of September , 2007 at 12:35 pm
If you do business online then you need Internet marketing. Whether you run a small business or a large mega-corporation, you need an effective Internet marketing expert who know how to get results. When you hire Nick Stamoulis (that’s me!) to run your Internet marketing campaign, that’s exactly what you get.
I highly recommend the blogging service no matter what kind of business you run. There are several ways you can use a blog.
- You can use a blog to drive targeted traffic to your website
- You can use your blog as an SEO tool
- You can use your blog primarily as a marketing tool and to start the sales process
- Some people use their business blog as a sales tool
- A blog can also be used to gain permission to contact prospects with future offers
Whatever you use your blog for, you can rest assured that I will manage your blog just like it was my own. I’ll make sure it is crawlable and you get the SEO benefit you deserve - even if you use your blog for other purposes! I will also make sure the content on your blog is written well and closes the deal. Whatever the purpose of your blog may be, I will meet or exceed your expectations. There is no need to delay your decision to start your blog today. So what are you waiting for? Come see me.
Category: Blogging, Internet Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Sunday, 23 of September , 2007 at 6:20 pm
Which Internet marketing method is for you? Some people swear by the free marketing tools available to Internet businesses, tools such as SEO, e-mail marketing, affiliate marketing, etc. Others swear by the pay-per methods like pay-per-click advertising. Personally, I think a combination of methods is best. You don’t just want to use one method of advertising because you’ll be missing out on some great opportunities. The following Internet marketing methods have been very successful for businesses who try them. I suggest you pick two or three to try for yourself and see what results you get:
- Search engine optimization
- Search engine marketing
- Pay-per-click advertising
- E-mail marketing
- E-zine/newsletter marketing
- Affiliate marketing
- Video marketing
- Social networking
- Local search marketing
- Blog marketing
- Article marketing
- Press releases
This is not the exhaustive list. It is a good start, though, for businesses that are new to Internet marketing. Learn a little more and grow your business the Internet marketing way.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Internet Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Sunday, 16 of September , 2007 at 7:03 am
(Source) But while we try to be open minded about new sites, the BlogRush idea does hark back to “Web 1.0″ traffic exchanges. In these systems, you would earn exposure for your site by browsing other sites. However, these services eventually flamed out when they failed to deliver on their promises. Our take: don’t get your hopes up, because this one may not last forever.
Yeah, that was my thought too. If you’ve been a member of a banner ring or link ring then you know you don’t get a lot of traffic from them. People join hoping that new traffic will flood into their websites and blogs and that the dynamite sales copy on their web pages will close the sale. Most of them are dreaming.
First, the only people likely viewing your ad are the people in the ring. They joined the ring for the same reason you did - easy traffic. They have no intentions of skipping over to the websites of other members in the ring. And if you were honest, you’d admit that you don’t either. Why then be taken in by the myth that this might be different?
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Internet Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Wednesday, 12 of September , 2007 at 5:31 pm
(Source) That is wrong. Go to rentacoder.com, or elance.com, or any of the other sites that cater to ghostwriter services, and you will find people seeking high quality articles of 500 words or more, yet they are only willing to pay $1 - maybe $2 at most.
These are people who have no idea of how articles can be used to enhance your SEO efforts. The main reason why I say that is this: If you can get someone to write a high quality, 500 word article for peanuts, then you are dealing with an idiot. Idiots do not write high quality articles. They are idiots.
This is a bit harsh, but I’ll have to agree. Article marketing itself is a time-consuming art. You can’t rush it and you certainly don’t want to try to rush results. I’d have to that while article marketing is an effective way to market your online business, it is much more effective to combine article marketing with blogging. Both of these methods on their own are effective, but together they are very powerful.
To be maximally effective, you should put a link to your website and to your blog in all of your article author bios. Use your blog as a way to communicate with potential customers in a way that builds your credibility and gives your readers valuable knowledge that they can use. You don’t want to tell them everything you know about your subject, but you do want to tell them as much as you can and by providing the most in-depth knowledge of your topic that you can part with you ensure that you are giving your readers a reason to believe that you are the expert. Both articles and blogs improve your credibility quotient and when used together they are very powerful.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Internet Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Tuesday, 4 of September , 2007 at 8:27 am
Obviously, the answer this question is “Yes,” right? Well, uh, no. Actually.
You would think a guy like me would try to convince everyone to start an Internet business so I can snag them as customers of my SEO business. But that’s not the way I do things.
Truth be told, I love doing business online. I think it is fairly safe despite all of the talk about phishing and online payment schemes. If you’re careful, though, e-commerce can be safer than doing business off line. But that’s an aside.
The question asked in the title of this post gets to the heart of passion. Namely, what is yours?
Is Internet Marketing For Everyone?
Internet marketing isn’t for everyone and everyone won’t benefit from running an Internet business. I know, I know, you’ve heard it before … everyone needs a website in order to succeed in business. I don’t think so.
Of course, I think most businesses would benefit from a website, but a website isn’t absolutely necessary in order to succeed in business. A friend of mine decided to start a business and found out that most of his business was coming from online sources. He had been attending a local networking breakfast and did so for a year, but got no business from that commitment. He quit going and put more of his energy into pursuing online relationships. Today his business exists entirely online. Good for him!
It could easily have worked the other way around. What if 90% of my friend’s business was coming from his local relationships, networking breakfast, billboard advertising, etc. and none of it from online? Well, then I’d tell him to focus his energies where his money is coming from. Hey, that’s just business.
How Do You Tell If Doing Business Online Is For You?
The first thing I would tell someone who is thinking about doing business online is to first go up and do some feeling around for your area of interest. Hint: If you do decide to do business online, do business in area that you know and understand and that you have a passion for. One of the biggest mistakes people make when starting a new business is doing something they don’t enjoy. You’ll burn out and won’t make any money, which will only discourage you more. If you are successful to any degree, your lack of passion will show through and it will hurt you in the long run.
OK, so back to the discussion …go to message forums, blogs, and other social media sites to see what other people are doing in your area of interest. Ask a few questions about how Internet marketing works. Be sincere and be yourself. You’re only feeling around right now. Ask who the leaders are in your niche. Which websites do people visit for _________________ (fill in the blank). This is an information market study, a necessary step in your business travels.
Next, do a little bit of keyword research. Don’t know what a keyword is? Google it. Before you do anything online you’ll need to learn the terminology and the rules of the game. Don’t just jump in. Find out what people are search for and how they are searching for it. If you want to start an Internet business because someone told you it is easy to do and doesn’t cost much then you aren’t ready for an Internet business. Nor are you ready to take your off line business online. Before you do anything you need to survey the playing field and find out
- If you like being online
- If you feel comfortable in that venue
- Who your competition will be and what they are doing
- Is there an online niche you can fill?
Bottom line: There’s more to starting an online business than just throwing up a website and selling a product. Like any business, you have to plan and that requires starting with research.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Internet Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Saturday, 25 of August , 2007 at 8:46 am
There are really three levels of business enterprise. It helps if you know which one you belong to as you will be better able to market your services to the right market. Here are the three levels of business, and this applies online as well as off line:
- Small Business Enterprise
- Small to Mid-Size Business Enterprise
- Corporate Enterprise
These three levels of business likely have other names, but this is how I categorize them. The first category, small business enterprise, is made up of local DBAs, mom and pop shops, freelancers, artisans, crafts people working alone, small co-ops, and most local businesses. In short, the small business enterprise category is largely a local market with some variations. I make the exception for the small business that operates solely online. You can run a successful small business or freelance entirely on the Internet.
The second category, Small to Mid-Size Business Enterprise, is comprised of large companies that operate outside of one specific locale market. This would include regional companies, LLCs, small corporations, professional associations, and freelancers who have built up an organization around themselves such that they have several freelancers working for them.
The third category, Corporate Enterprise, is perhaps the easiest to define. Multi-national corporations and organizations that operate internationally, across country geographical lines and on a more local level may operate across state lines if in the U.S. or regionally within the boundaries of Europe.
Do you know where you sit? Who is your market?
If your ideal customer is the man who lives down the block from you then you fall into the first category. If you are a construction material supplier who delivers within a three-state area then you likely fall into the second category. If you are IBM or Apple then you fall into the third category.
This matters because how you build your website and perform your online SEO depends a lot on this picture of yourself. Who are you trying to reach? Answer that question and I can better tell you how to implement your Internet marketing strategy.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Internet Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Friday, 24 of August , 2007 at 4:07 pm
Greg Howlett is tough on e-tailers. I don’t blame him. As I’ve said before, Google sets up barriers to entry for small businesses. I think this trend will continue as money becomes a more influential factor in the success of Internet businesses.
Anyone interested in starting an online business of any kind, particularly retail businesses that require a lot of inventory, should pay attention to these points Greg makes:
- Startup costs for online retail now exceed startup costs for offline retail.
- It takes far more knowledge to compete online than it used to.
- SEO is becoming more out of reach for small companies.
- No paid advertising options are lucrative for small companies.
- Inventory costs are climbing.
- The trends indicate that startup conditions will get worse rather than better.
If you’re starting your own retail business online, I’d recommend learning more about SEO and Internet marketing before you ever get started. In order to compete online, you’ve got to be able to think long term and set a long term strategy. Don’t go into it blind.
In the early days of e-commerce, a lot of the software that companies are using now didn’t exist. You can easily spend thousands of dollars on software that the big companies use and you will just be spending thousands of dollars. You’re much better off doing it yourself, but you’ll have to learn how to earn a living online and if you’ve never done that then you’ll have a tough go of it. That said, it can be done. Here’s how I would suggest small businesses start off today:
- Don’t go it alone. Get a partner. It is so much easier to work online in a partnership than it is to do it all yourself. Find someone who is in a similar business to yours, but doesn’t compete, and share the costs for a website, e-mail, and other Internet marketing expenses. Share the expenses, share the revenues, more business for both of you.
- Divide the responsibilities between you and your partner. One of you can learn about SEO while the other learns about web design. That way, you can each become an expert in your areas and not step on each other’s toes. This doesn’t mean you’ll actually do all the work. You might hire a web designer to do the work for you, but if one of you knows how to communicate with the professionals that you do business with then you are more likely to get what you want and not get taken advantage of.
- On paid advertising, I’ve seen businesses benefit from it online and I’ve seen businesses not benefit. I agree with Greg. Pay-per-click is probably the most lucrative in terms of ROI for most businesses.
- You’re much better off with a service business online than a business that requires inventory. If you must retail, cut down on your overhead by using a drop-ship method. Otherwise, it could be years before you’ll be profitable enough to make your business pay.
- On Greg’s last post, I’d amend it to say, “Things will get worse before they better.” I do think we’re reaching a peak in e-commerce. We’ll see a sharp decline in the next few years, but that will be followed up with a larger trend toward more Internet startups succeeding. I base this on Elliot Wave analysis in market trends. We’re reaching the peak in the second wave of e-commerce. In market analysis, wave three is usually the longest wave. That means e-commerce is just getting started, but there will be bumps in the road.
All of this aside, success is still possible, even today and in the near future. Calculate your risks, set realistic goals, and only work with professionals who have a proven track record.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Internet Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Friday, 17 of August , 2007 at 8:53 am
Yesterday’s post on Google might seem a little bit awkward so I wanted to clarify one thing. When I said that Google favors big businesses over small, that doesn’t mean they have a rule that penalizes small businesses or gives larger businesses a boost. All it really means is that the age factor within Google’s algorithms favor those websites that have been around longer. Since those businesses have been online longer than the small business making its migration today, or the new startup, then by extension the search engines have given larger, existing businesses a little bit of an edge. However, it’s not an edge that can’t be overcome.
When I wrote that post I didn’t know of anyone else talking about barriers to entry. I have since done a search and found an interesting list over at Stuntdubl.com. Here’s his list of 11 barriers to entry for small businesses wanting to do business online:
1. Highly intelligent PPC automation tools and arbitrageurs
2. Age factors impacting trust score
3. Ad agencies catching on to SEO
4. User data validation for trust score
5. Saavy affiliates with established sites that don’t like competition
6. SE’s shifting of the content revenue model
7. Diminishing conversion rates for link requests
8. Just like the “real world” $$$$$$ will again = trust
9. Ad agencies playing ball with SEO’s
10. The day Aaron retires from building free tools
11. Leveling of information between buyers and sellers
You’ll notice that the age factor is on the list. But there are other things here too that I tend to agree with. The first one on the list, for instance, is a barrier to entry that may be more difficult for some small businesses to overcome. Let’s face it, small means small. You don’t have a huge budget, right? Any time money is a concern, larger businesses will have an edge over smaller businesses. That just means small businesses have to get a little more creative in their marketing efforts. What are you doing to be creative?
Are Ad Agencies Natural Competitors?
I’m not sure about #3 and why that would be a barrier to entry. Small businesses don’t necessarily need ad agencies, but it could mean that as ad agencies learn more about SEO then they can help their large business customers succeed online. I don’t really see that as a barrier to entry because small businesses can act more quickly than ad agencies or large businesses and in Internet marketing, knowledge is power. Ad agencies cannot be SEO experts because their focus is usually on total packages and integrating complete advertising models. Internet marketing will just be one piece of the pie for them. That means many small business owners can perform better SEO than the ad agencies anyway.
You Are Also Competing Against Your Competitors’ Affiliates
Like Matt at Small Business SEM, I’m not sure what is meant by “use data validation for trust score” unless this is talking about some kind of php coding or something. But affiliate marketers are, in a sense, a barrier to entry because they make the playing field more competitive. You are not just competing against a business in the same field as you, you are also competing against all of their affiliates since those affiliates are usually building their own web pages and running their own PPC campaigns. Again, the age factor contributes to this because an affiliate with an older website is going to have the edge. And all it really takes is 10 very effective affiliate websites to keep you from making the front page on Google for your search terms. This, however, is where the long tail comes in. A barrier to entry? Yes, but one that can be overcome. Find a niche. Better yet, beat them at their own game and start your own affiliate program. Competitive trick to try: Join your competitors’ affiliate program to learn all of the ways they keep affiliates motivated. Then start an affiliate program that outdoes them and rewards top affiliates better than their program does.
The Shifting Of The Content Revenue Model
This one is an obvious one. I’m ashamed I didn’t think of it sooner. A good example would be Google Universal. If you have a lot of money to spend then you can respond to this change much more quickly than a small business can. The essence of Google Universal is that Google’s verticals become more important. To get a top ranking you’ll need to target each of the verticals more as that will increase your chances of ranking in the search engines. But that’s not really all that hard. Add more photos and graphics to your web pages. Do some video marketing and podcasting. Really market yourself to the verticals. Barrier to entry? Somewhat, but you can overcome it. Work harder and smarter.
Diminishing Conversion Rates For Link Requests
As far as I’m concerned, the rules for links are changing anyway. Don’t get me wrong. Links will always be important, but you don’t really have to request links. The answer is simply to make your blog or website more linkable. If you do that then you’ll get the links. Not really a barrier to entry. This is more of an opportunity to get creative with your on-page elements and make your websites more sticky.
Money Doesn’t Buy Trust
No. 8 confuses me. Trust is built through good customer service. Sure, big businesses have more money, but can they buy your trust. No one’s ever bought mine. If they don’t earn it, they don’t get it. That’s where small business owners have an edge.
Free Tools
I know this one was meant to be a joke, but Aaron Wall isn’t the only person creating and giving away free tools. Besides, if he was, there will always be someone with a community spirit who will create cool tools for small businesses. Not a barrier to entry.
The Great Information Exchange
I agree with Matt:
I think this is to the benefit of small businesses. Small businesses are the ones better able to get necessary information out to customers who seek it. They can reply to email requests much quicker, and with a human touch that the Big Boys usually can’t touch.
Are Some Barriers To Entry Natural?
I stick to my original premise that Google’s age factor in its algorithm is perhaps the biggest non-natural barrier to entry for small businesses wanting to implement an Internet marketing strategy. It isn’t the only barrier to entry, but many perceived barriers to entry are merely perceptions. Small businesses can overcome them. In order to succeed online you need to be creative and work hard. There is no substitute for these age old values. Plus, you have a lot few barriers to entry online than you do off line. That means more opportunity.
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Category: Internet Marketing
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