Get Slightly Famous

THE WEB IS STILL A THRILLING PLACE

I just received this (slightly condensed) newsletter from web content guru, Gerry McGovern. I don't know about you, but I spend a lot of time fretting about my web site...what needs to be done, improvements to be made, copy to be written.

Gerry reminded me that I've come a long way, as I suspect you have as well.

Steve

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NEW THINKING NEW THINKING NEW THINKING NEW THINKING
By Gerry McGovern - http://www.gerrymcgovern.com
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May 29, 2006 - Volume 11 Number 21
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When you get frustrated by the pressures of managing a website, look back five years. You've achieved a lot.

I meet many people who are discouraged by the performance of their websites. It seems that there are a whole range of things to be fixed. There is constant pressure to put stuff on the website-and particularly on the homepage-that doesn't deserve to be there.

It's easy to develop a negative or overly critical attitude. I know that I have often fallen into this trap. It's certainly easy for me to stand on top of the ditch and shout about what everyone is doing wrong. The theory of the perfect website is great but the reality of the trenches can drag you down.

But things are not that bad, really. If you've been working in the Web for the last five years or more, you have achieved an awful lot. Your website has matured immensely. And understanding of the real potential of the Web has grown steadily within your organization.

Because we've been led to believe that in this modern world, everything we want to happen must happen right now, we've become impatient. When big things like the Web happen they change our world in profound ways, but the change itself can often be slow and steady.

It's almost 12 years since I chose the Web as my career. Back then I remember how awestruck I was at the very idea of a World Wide Web. You know, I still think the Web is this incredible, awesome thing. Sure, sometimes I get stuck in a rut, and I have to remind myself how lucky I am.

All of us who have been part of this journey have been part of something truly special. How often does anyone in your organization get even the smallest chance to change something within the organization? Your intranet can change the way staff work. Your public website can change the way customers feel
about and interact with your organization.

Most of those who wanted fast change and the fast buck have left the Web behind. The rest of us are left here for the long haul. We need to grind out progress, and that's just fine. Grinding out a little bit of progress every year is something to be proud of.

It'll take another 10 years for the Web to be truly integrated into society and industry. And that's just fine.

Gerry McGovern
mailto:gerry@gerrymcgovern.com
www.gerrymcgovern.com

Expertise, Credibility and Killer SEO Through Blogging

Dave Taylor inspired a full house with his talk about business blogging as a smart, powerful business marketing tool. Dave is gifted at explaining in laymen’s terms the process and benefits of business blogging. In short, blogging has helped Dave expand his Ask Dave Taylor blog to over a quarter million readers while creating a powerful passive income stream with Google Adsense.

Moreover, Dave’s blog, which focuses on answering reader tech, computer, technology and Internet questions in a Q&A format, has established Dave as the go-to guy in his area of Internet and technology consulting and has attracted a lot of media coverage for Dave, further promoting his expertise. It's also set the stage for his new web site, Blogsmart, that specializes in online Internet business training courses and workshops.

According to Dave:

To create maximal findability isn't about SEO tactics, but rather sound business strategies built on establishing your credibility and expertise in your marketplace. There are a number of ways to do that, but my favorite is through focused, high quality business blogging.

And yet, the world is moving more and more to findability, to search engines and the critical question of whether you can or cannot be found when someone searches for your product or service. If they can't find you, you're dead, you just haven't noticed yet.

What was especially refreshing about Dave's talk was his insistance that effective online marketing is, at its heart, not about tricks, hype, "secrets," or short cuts, but about common sense business practices:

It's not enough to be trying to maximize your internet revenue, it's not enough to learn about neat tricks and insider tips on search engine optimization and it's not even enough to Taguchi test colors, logos and headlines on your site. A successful online business is built from the foundation of a *successful business*. Sounds obvious, but it's startling how few companies have a clear value proposition and an understanding of their sustainable differentiators.

Dave’s message is simple: use a blog to write about what you know and share your expertise. From here, you win a number of benefits, including potentially huge visitor traffic, effective search engine positioning, and can quickly establish yourself as a voice and brand within your target market.

You can listen to a pre-call, mini-seminar he held before the conference.

Blogging from The System Seminar

I’ve been attending The System Internet marketing seminar this weekend. I came as a guest of Dave Taylor, a friend, colleague and author of the very popular blog Ask Dave Taylor.

The weekend schedule included talks about every aspect of Internet marketing, including blogging, podcasting, selling physical products, selling your professional expertise online, and many other topics related to the rapidly evolving world of Internet marketing.

I’ve been heavily immersing myself in all aspects of Internet marketing this past year. My goal is to understand, then translate into user-friendly, action-oriented strategies that can be applied (even by the “Internet challenged”) to my Get Slightly Famous marketing model.

No matter what the tactic, there are plenty of exciting new tools, from audio to blogs, that any business owner can easily add to their Slightly Famous marketing strategy. In the coming months, I’ll be demystifying these new tools and developing a variety of programs to help people harness the power of Internet marketing for personal branding. Stay tuned.

Why You Need To Choose A Niche

The greatest fear businesses have about choosing a niche is a fear that they’ll narrow their market too much and have less business. Actually, the opposite is true. Businesses with a focused market niche get more business with less effort because their marketing speaks in real terms to real people.

As long as the niche you choose is large enough to support your business, you’ll make a much more convincing case for your services, and with much less effort and marketing expense. The more your target market will recognize the benefits you offer, and the more ideal, qualified business you’ll attract.

When you target unfocused groups like “retirees,” “women,” or “business owners,” you’ll never be able to fully get your mind (or your pocketbook) around a convincing marketing message. When you handle all clients, you never develop excellence in any particular area.

Moreover, in the increasingly commoditized marketplace, it’s harder to get noticed and taken seriously when you market yourself as a generalist. As a generalist, you’ll have to work hard to stand out from the crowd.

Determine your niche by exploring subsections of a broader category. A “retiree” niche can break down into something more specific such as: “retired business owners,” “retired widows,” “retirees who live abroad,” or “gay and lesbian retirees.”

When you break down a broad category into subsections, and choose an area where you can focus, you can…

--Deliver better products and services as you accumulate niche expertise
--Develop a special reputation within the group, and within that group’s referral network (niche clients always know/affiliate with others like themselves)
--Immerse yourself in your niche members' world. You can read what they read, join groups they belong to, to not only deepen your understanding of your niche but to become an insider and trusted advisor.
--Cultivate symbiotic relationships with related professionals. As a niche advisor, you can target and network with other businesses that can add value to your clients and customers and become valuable strategic partners and referral sources.
--You’ll get Slightly Famous. Niche marketing sets the stage to secure a dedicated following among members of your niche that leads to word of mouth and referrals.

Will declaring a niche mean you’ll turn away business? Sure. But it’s a worthwhile tradeoff. The business you DO attract will fit your predetermined success criteria.

Free Teleclass: Transforming Your Expertise into Booklets

Free Teleclass: Transforming Your Expertise into Booklets for Marketing, Motivating, and Making Money

When: May 23, 1:00-2:00pm Pacific Time.

With: Steven Van Yoder, Get Slightly Famous and Paulette Ensign, "The Booklet Queen".

Paulette Ensign If you run a small business providing services only, your ability to earn is limited by the number of hours you have available-once you're fully booked, that's it. Which is too bad. You've got expertise, but only so many hours in the day to share it.

Paulette Ensign, "The Booklet Queen," shows how to convert your knowledge into an entire product line, without spending a penny on advertising or production. Paulette will discuss how tips booklets and e-books can generate new revenue streams that keep your name in front of your buyers.

* Learn to easily produce one tips booklet that best represents your business and expertise
* Heighten your credibility by becoming an almost-instant author
* Spend less time and effort than writing a full-length book
* Provide more impact than even the best marketing brochure
* Identify potential large-quantity buyers to use booklets for their company or association's promotional purposes, promoting you and your work with each booklet they distribute for their own reasons
* Identify different formats and contexts for licensing your manuscript to companies and organizations

Paulette will guide you through real-life examples that can lead you to surpassing her own results of selling over a million copies of her booklet, without spending a penny on advertising.

Paulette Ensign is the author of the 16-page booklet, 110 Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life, which has sold over 1,000,000 copies in various languages and formats without spending a penny in advertising. She has also written How to Write and Market Booklets for Cash, How to Promote Your Business with Booklets, and How to Make Huge Profits Licensing Your Booklet. To learn more about Paulette Ensign, visit www.tipsbooklets.com

To Register:

http://www.getslightlyfamous.com/learning-programs/online/index.html