Penny For Your Thoughts Mr Lincoln

Someone smarter than I pointed out that there are three types of people in business. There are the innovators who come up with great ideas and more importantly execute them. Then there come the imitators who imitate the original idea. Once there are so many imitators, the idiots show up. If you look back at 2009, the year the rebills blew up, you can see the cycle, the pattern, whatever you want to call it.

As the Internet progresses, it’s going to be harder and harder to make money as the third group. The second group – the imitators – are even going to have a harder and harder time. The information age that is upon us is all about the innovators. Take your idea and run with it. Don’t just sit back and think about it or talk trash about it on the forums. Roll up your ing sleeves and do it. Those that do are going to be the ones who survive.

Oh yeah, and Happy New Year.

Here’s a real simple skill that will have you gathering enough crumbs to fill a small bowl. It has to do with the long tail. While it would be nice if you had a one word .com domain with type-in traffic, it’s not likely if you’re here reading this. So, there may be more money at the top of all the niches, and some niches are more profitable than others, but if you start by going after the competitive stuff, you’re most likely going to be disappointed.

Monetize

There’s hope, though. This is where the long tail comes in. Basically, in any  niche there are a few keywords that get tons of traffic, but there are many more that get varying degrees of less traffic. This is the long tail – the keyword phrases are usually three to seven words long, but some of them get good traffic. And since they’re so laser focused (albeit in smaller amounts), it’s somewhat easier to monetize the traffic.

Sure, these are crumbs, but like I said, you have to start somewhere, right? Eating crumbs of online money is better than most service based jobs out there, imho. That’s just me, though. Anyway, here’s a little of what I’ve learned about chasing the long tail crumbs while building up to bigger and better things.

• Pick a Niche – If it’s something you’re interested in, it’s going to be easier. Other than that, the crumbs for some of the bigger niches are going to be bigger, but there’s more competition for them as well.
• Find a Phrase - Once you have the niche, find a two or three word phrase that is still available as a .com. You’ll want to try to make it somewhat generic and specific at the same time. You have your niche, right, so maybe your mid-tier domain idea is “cheap digital picture frames” or something similar. There’s still room to grow at this mid-level in the niche while not having as much competition as the top of the niche.
• Set-up the Site – Get the site installed on a server (this is up to you) and throw WordPress or another CMS on there (Drupal has a higher learning curve, but it can do more – content types, userpoints, etc.) Once you have the site, don’t forget analytics. I use Google Analytics, which some will warn you against, but it’s really up to you. As long as you can see what kind of traffic is coming in.
• Add Content – Based on the keyword in the domain, start creating good content around that. Maybe reviews. Or articles on how to do this or that when it comes to your keyword. Quality over quantity.
• Get Links – The goal is to have good enough content to get a decent link or two. This does not mean go out and go crazy with comment links, etc. There are good links and bad links. You want some links, though, so you can start getting traffic.
• 

  Analyze that Traffic

  Analyze the Traffic – Once the site has been up a while (3 to 6  months simmering time depending on the quality of your network – hiding Whois information is gonna be another long ass post – stay tuned…) Once it’s been up a while, you can start to look at what people are actually typing into the search engines to find you. This is a gold mine. For $7 (domain), a few bucks for hosting, and time or money for content, you have a real look at data that is useful. So, you look at the top keyword phrases that are bringing traffic and create new content based around what people are searching for in Google, Yahoo, or Bing.

• Rinse / Repeat – As you can see, this can be a long, ongoing cycle, but this is a good thing. The more content you have, the more links you’ll get, the more traffic you’ll get, the more data you’ll have on long tail phrases in this niche and the more content you can create that is laser targeted for what people are wanting…

Oh, there are many details that should be here, but these are the basics. It’s simple, right? The trick is in taking this knowledge and applying it – actually going out and doing it, not rushing off to the next blog to dream about another idea or model.

Like I said, these are crumbs usually, but the sites can make enough (even with Adsense) to “pay their rent” (as Eli at BlueHat SEO would say), which means they’re not losing you money. They may not be making a ton of money, but they’re not costing you and they’re pulling in valuable data on a niche – what keywords people are typing in. And that’s a good thing. Crumbs or not, it’s a way to take it to the next level. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Sticky Content

In the beginning, it was easy to get eyeballs on the Internet. (Anyone remember Justin at Links.net?) Almost anything you threw up would get a good portion of the Internet traffic. Then the number of websites started to ramp up as the number of surfers started to increase. Then there was the bubble. Then web 2.0. And now, approaching 2k10? Content is still king, BUT you have to do something to differentiate yourself.

Seriously. How many rehashes of rehashes do you see out there? To create sticky content (the best kind – that keeps people coming back for more) you need to have a voice, you need to have style, you need something to seperate yourself from the horde. This is actually easier than you might think. If you look in whatever niche you’re wanting to get into, you’ll see site after site that is just mediocre. There may be one or two leaders (although there are plenty of niches – long tail – that still don’t have decent competition), but if you do your keyword research right, it’s easy to create content that will knock the shit out of 80% of what is on the Internet.

Different is Good

Not every post is going to be a home run, but you never really know which one will be. You might have ones you think will go viral that never get any traffic and another you threw up half-ass that people LOVE. The web is like that. It’s important to look at what people are reading on your site, what is attracting them and go from there.

Someone relatively new told me in an email the other day that they based their blog off the Nicky Cakes style. To me, that comes down to honesty, to having a voice, to not being one of the horde circle jerking the same tired links from the top fifteen sites in any niche. Cakes has good content in my opinion, which is why he’s been able to gather a following so quickly. (Well, that and being connected and going to shows probably helps. Heh.)

Grab Their Attention

But yeah … sticky content. Let’s get into that some more. What is it that makes content sticky? Beyond voice, beyond having a style, you need to have something of value. I think the honesty aspect really lends to this. It’s one of the things I hope to achieve here at Webmaster Chronic, one of many many blogs I’ve started over the years.

A post saying you need value in your content doesn’t really give value, though, so here’s a look at some things to consider (beyond having your own voice) when creating content…

• Collect - Collect list of links, tools or something else that will save time.
• Create - Create something new that people can’t find elsewhere – still has to be interesting, though.
• Collaborate - Stuck on ideas? Reach into your network for a guest blog from someone that might jumpstart some ideas of your own.

As I said, though, you want to do your own thing. You want to be different. You want something none of the others already have. That’s what attracts links. I have many more thoughts on content (and this post is thrown together), but I’ll save them for later. I just wanted to get some of these thoughts down before getting back to “work/work.”

I tried one order of hashbrowns (assuming that would be two for a dollar) but that needed clarification. I tried two hashbrowns (which was just as confusing for the counter people it seems.) Anyway, I was thinking I should maybe try to say, $1 worth of fried potato pieces please. That might freak them out even more.

I started thinking, though, about how mainstream McDonalds is and how they must throw tons of money at making things simple for the mass of people who go through the golden arches. That led to me thinking of drive-thru menus. How they’ve evolved. Some are too complicated maybe, but they all strive to make it simple for the buyer.

Then I started thinking about landing pages. Why not set-up a lander that looks like a drive-thru menu? The basic cheapo version would be a PNG imagemap maybe, with a full-blown version being Flash and interactive. Would you like to Super Size your resveratrol?

Chaotic Evil affiliate marketer

The Chaotic Evil affiliate marketer would rush out and get some high quality digital photos of several drive-thru menus and swap out food with product to see what works. The Chaotic Neutral might just throw it up as a joke for link bait. The lawful good would probably not have a lander. The true neutral would take the idea and own it on their own, secretly milking it for as much money as they could before it got out and the copycat gangs got it.

Now, I may get lambasted for giving out ideas like this. If not because they’re a bad idea then because I’m giving them out. Here’s my take on ideas. You give away 10, keep one. Or maybe it’s give away 9 keep two. I never remember. The point is I like to share. It makes this site valuable and may attract the right kind of audience.

So, if you like the idea, run with it. I don’t have time to play with it. It might work, though. You should be quick. I imagine if it works we won’t hear anything about it until the horde finds out about it and tries to copy it. And I guess that’s part of the overall lesson of this post. This may not be the best idea, but it’s an idea. The next step is to take it and do something with it. That’s up to you. I can’t hold your hand the whole way. I have other projects of my own I’m always tending to.

Monies

If you do take the idea and it works, let us know once it’s all dried up. Or just gimme some link love.

Til next time …

LinkRoll for this post:

• Look at the In-N-Out Drive-Thru menu
• Burger King Drive Thru (possibly older)
• Various Drive Thru Menus
• McDonalds Drive Thru Menu

Drive Thru Landing Page

This goes along with the “be a leader not a follower” mantra I touched on in the Don’t Read This Blog post. At some point you have to realize that you’re only limited by yourself. Well, there are things that can limit you in the beginning, but there are ways to get past them – usually with work/time. Time is money and in the beginning that’s important to remember.

That is Interesting to Me... Really...

Listen to others, but in the end you want to listen to yourself. Call it your inner voice or a sixth sense, whatever you call it, that instinctual feeling is very important in the business world. Take it all in and keep what is good, keep what you can use. Always be thinking of the future – but don’t get drowned by it.

I guess this post is dashed off and I didn’t put a lot of thought into it, but being a webmaster in the 21st century is kinda like that. (Especially with the publishing model I’m currently using across my network…) So, don’t expect too much from this blog and you won’t be disappointed.

That said… (anyone watch Curb Your Enthusiasm?!) I want to try to give you some insight on my successes and my failures. There are plenty of both.

Webmaster Circle

So stay tuned and enjoy the blog. Leave comments.

Tell your friend.

Tell your enemies.

Come partake in the Webmaster Circle at Webmaster Chronic.

Peace out.

Here’s the thing, though. At some point, you’re going to have enough knowledge. Oh, you still want to stay abreast of everything new and never stop learning, but there comes a point where reading blogs and hanging out on your webmaster forum of choice becomes counter-productive. But that word’s not in the vocabulary of those not making money online. There has to come a point where you stop chasing “the magic bullet” or magic formula to make money quickly and easily online because it doesn’t exist. Nope, not even in those very expensive e-books you lust after. (More on those in another post…)

No Magic Button?

There is no magic button. Once you know the basics, it’s all about hard work and growing your network. That’s it. The secret is to STOP chasing something that doesn’t exist (some magic way to make money online easily) and actually get to work implementing your ideas. Things really started to change for me personally when that lesson finally sunk in. I still like to visit forums and I read constantly, but I’m not chasing that magic bullet.

If you do happen to find someone giving out a step-by-step guide on how to make money online you can bet that technique is already saturated beyond belief. Same for e-book techniques. You need to learn to stop copying and come up with things on your own. Oh, there are the old standbys that will make revenue, but the Interenet is changing at a rapid pace. You have to be able to think on your own or you will not survive.

Penny For Your Thoughts...

I saw it with thin-affiliate Amazon sites waaaay back in the day. More recently, look at the flog thing. Someone came up with the idea then it was copied and is not pretty much worthless. Yeah, some got uber rich in the very beginning, but now the pie is spread out among ‘the horde.’ So it’s on to the next one (thanks, Jay Z) for the smart people and waiting for the next one for the horde.

You don’t want to be the horde. The horde isn’t getting rich online. I’m not getting rich online. I’m slowly growing, though, and that’s what is important. To me at the moment anyway.

So there you have it. If you want to make tons of money online, DO NOT READ THIS BLOG.

Thank you.