School's Out But You're Not!

BWMagic's Web Marketing News!




.......


Contents:

o School's Out

o $100 Off Indenpence Sale

o Feature Article: SBI

o Free Trade Business Magazines
......


o School's Out


Coming from a background in education I find
when the end of June hits - I instinctively go
into vacation mode.

Even though I am now working full-time online and
I no longer teach, the summer months are my enjoyment
months. Family BBQ's, relatives visiting, long walks
in the early morning sun, trips to the cabin, proper
vacations...

In other words, like most people, I usually slack
off during the summer!

The beauty of online marketing, your sites will
continue to produce income even while you're on
vacation. It never fails to amaze me how the Internet
is always on and you're earning income even while
you're doing the strangest things.

Just recently I discovered I had earned income while
I was visiting the local cemetery. All the while
we were putting flowers on some loved ones' graves,
my sites had racked up $140 bucks.

For some reason, this struck me as funny, I have
a weird sense of humor I guess. But it also shows
me what I really like about online marketing, once
you set-up your marketing systems, they're there
working for you 24/7. Automatic income.

The key for me and most marketers I believe is
that first dollar of automatic income. That first
dollar of residual income. That first check
from your online work - my first check was
only 5 bucks from the late Corey Rudl
(Internet Marketing Center).

And I can still remember getting it.

That was years ago but once you know how it's
done, you just rinse & repeat like mad. Once
you discover how it can work for you, most people
will run with it. Always keep in mind, there are
countless ways to get that first check.

But once you figure it out or get someone to
show you - it's all snow-balls from there and
there's no turning back. Once you get a taste
of the possibilities and the sort of income that
can be earned online, there won't be anything that
will stop you.

With my background in education, I automatically
want to pass those possibilities along to others.
Encourage others to do the same. That's why all the
core information, articles, newsletters, tutorials...
on my sites are free and will remain free.

More than enough information to get your own
online income started.

Anyone can do this. Anyone can make the Internet
work for them. Anyone can earn a part or full-time
income online.

Just imagine, maybe soon you're be making $140
bucks online while you are visiting the dearly
departed in a cemetery.

Did I mention I have a weird sense of humor!




...............................
o $100 Off Independence Sale
...............................



Of course, if you have been reading this newsletter
for some time, you know one of my favorite programs
for getting that first income flowing is SBI.

Especially if you're just beginning, SBI is
very helpful in getting you started. Although
after building my latest site with Site Build It
- I would even recommend it to any seasoned
pro who's already earning income on here.

SBI is simply that good!

Mainly because SBI takes care of all the technical
stuff and let's the owner of a SBI site concentrate
on producing valuable relevant content which is the
real key to producing an online income in the
first place.

I find SBI has all the bases covered with SEO
- optimizing your content for the search engines
and you can easily see why SBI has produced some
of the top sites in regards to getting free traffic.

Anyway, I won't go on with all the benefits of
SBI but just know it is a very solid program.

Now you can get $100 Off the SBI package. They
are having an Independence Sale until July 6th.

$100 Off Site Build It




................
Feature Article
................

Ken Evoy's Site Build It Product Review

If you want to find out more about SBI, I did
a product review article a little while back
and it will give you further insights into
how SBI works and if it's for you.

You can check out the article here:

SBI Product Review






...................................
o Free Trade Business Magazines
...................................


Around a year ago, I partnered with NetLine and
TradePub.com to get a re-branded site to promote
their trade and business magazines.

These are very popular and valuable publications
for anyone in business or marketing to have.
Top-notch publications like PC Magazine, Oracle
Magazine, Global Finance, Business Solutions...
and the list goes on.

Trade Magazines

Very valuable publications and information to
have for anyone. It is one of the best sources
of information on my sites and I promote these
magazines to visitors every chance I get.

Even though from a purely marketing viewpoint
I can get better returns by placing other higher
paying affiliate links on my sites. None offers
the quality these magazines offer to my visitors.

I even run PPC campaigns where TradePub is my
"Loss Leader"! If you're not familiar with this
term - it refers to some product a retail store
offers at cost or below cost to attract customers
into the store so they might buy something else.

These trade publications are offered free to
qualified professionals in the different related
fields. These are genuine offerings and the reason
these publications are giving away free subscriptions
is to build a targeted consumer group for advertisers.
They can then charge more to potential advertisers
depending on the number of qualified professionals
reading their publications.

But I mention all this so you understand (if
you don't already) why these valuable magazines
are offered to you for free. However, this doesn't
subtract from the fact that these magazines and
white papers offer valuable information.

Always keep learning. Don't stop. Keep learning
every day.

I discovered very early that information equals money.
Whether it was teaching students to improve their
own situations with higher training, or now with my
own online marketing - the more information you can
acquire, the higher your earnings will be.

Might sound simplistic, but it works.

So check out these publications to see if there's
any magazines that will keep your learning process
going:

Business Magazines




School's out but you're not! Nor should you ever be!







Kind Regards,

Titus Hoskins

Google Slaps, Egg Baskets & Residual Income

BWMagic's Web Marketing News!


Read This Newsletter Online:
http://www.bizwaremagic.blogspot.com



.......


Contents:

o Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket

o Google Slap

o Residual Income

o Article Software

......


o Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket


Who ever came up with that saying probably
didn't have Internet or Affiliate marketing
on their minds.

But the idea behind this phrase is just as true
for Internet marketing as any situation you could
possibly imagine. This week I really discovered
the great benefit of 'not putting all your eggs
in one basket'.

First, it's an idea I have been using and putting
into practice since I started online marketing.

Instead of promoting just one affiliate program,
I promote thousands. Instead of having just one
website, I have 7 or 8. Instead of marketing to
just one niche, I have many. Instead of having
one main source of traffic, I try to develop many.
Instead of using one affiliate network, I use several
Commission Junction, LinkShare, ClickBank... if you
read this modest marketing newsletter you will
realize what I am saying is true.

But it goes deeper than that, in almost all areas
of my online marketing, I build in backup programs
and systems. If one fails, there's another one to
take its place and everything carries on as before.

This week I had some rather nasty examples of this
happening to my online marketing.

First, Apple dropped its affiliate program from
LinkShare... I have always promoted Apple products
on my sites and was looking forward to promoting
(in my own small way) the new Apple iPhone when it
comes on stream on June 29, which some online
surveys say over 70% of us would/will buy.

Great product to promote but I was no longer in
the Apple affiliate program since they will be
discontinuing it at the end of June. Now this is
where being in several affiliate networks proves
helpful, I quickly applied to Apple program in CJ
- I was turned down flat!

_________________________
Affiliate marketing tip:


This didn't stop me! Here's something I learned along
the way... if you're trying for an affiliate program like
one at Apple and you or your site get turned down, don't
give up especially if you know this would be a great
affiliate program for your site or marketing.

You can always go down one step, and apply for second
tier affiliate programs that promote your desired
products, in this case Apple products. I quickly joined
the MacMall affiliate program with CJ. MacMall is the
largest reseller of Apple products so they should be
carrying the iPhone and I can use MacMall to promote
the iPhone in my marketing.

Of course, in most cases, it is beneficial for you
to join the company's main affiliate program directly
but in some cases you can't - so this is where not
having all your eggs in one basket really comes in.


o Google Slap

Here's another example, this week I received my first
Google Slap! (I am not having a great week by the way!)

What's a Google Slap?

Since the beginning of the year, I have gone into PPC
advertising mainly for new sites that I have built, it
will supply traffic quickly until I can build up organic
traffic from the search engines which takes a lot more
time.

If you're using Google Adwords you will have your PPC
keywords and your landing pages, you pay so much per
click to bring traffic to your pages. In this case,
I had rather low minimum bids around 10 cents per click
on one of my new sites and was receiving some good traffic,
then overnight Google raised the minimum bid to 10 dollars
per click!

They judged my content and landing pages on my newer
site to be of poor quality and punished me for it.
They didn't change the minimum bids on some older more
established content pages. At least not yet, it also
leaves me with a very uneasy feeling but that's Google
unofficial hallmark - leave everyone very nervous about
anything you receive from Google. Whether it is PPC
traffic, high rankings, PR... all of it can disappear
within seconds and without warning. Ouch!

I believe it is a poor way of doing business. It promotes
paranoia or causes it in webmasters and marketers alike.
You are in constant fear of losing everything and getting
a Google Slap brings that fear to the surface very quickly.

I can't think of any other online company that has this
affect?

The whole incident totally turned me off from Adwords.
I also won't be investing much money or time into
pursuing Google Adwords... why do all that work
when you don't know when the Slap will strike and wipe
out all your PPC marketing. Google should have turned
down those pages immediately and not have marketers
wasting time developing revenue streams only to have
these sources vanish overnight.

This is what is known as a Google Slap. And it hurts!

It's rather rude of Google to do this but hey it's
Google - its their PPC program and they do can whatever
they want to it and their paying customers. I am sure
Google will survive without my Adwords business but
can any online marketer really survive and prosper
without Google?

I promptly increased my PPC budgets in both Yahoo!
Marketing and Microsoft's Adcenter. They're not
Google but they'll do! Only proves why you should
never put all your eggs in one basket... and it's a
wake-up call for me. I have to find and develop more
fully other sources of traffic and so should any online
marketer... never rely on just one source. I have become
too depended on Google for the majority of my traffic.

To be fair, I can totally understand Google's reasoning
behind getting rid of low performing ads and poor quality
pages. They have to keep their PPC standards high in order
to please their major clients. Simple quality control.

No matter what business you're in, quality must
come first.

And as much as I like Google, I hope they don't
become the dominant force on the Internet or in
the world for that matter, because where would that
leave the small honest hard working online marketer?

Probably staring at a blank laptop screen and holding
one sore cheek and offering the other. Looking down
at one egg and one basket.

And then those Google Slaps will really hurt!

...

As a side note, just take a look who is at NO. 1
on CNN's "Top 50 Who Matter Now" on the
Business 2.0 List:

Top 50 - Business 2.0


While on that Business 2.0 page have a look at:
"The man who owns the Internet"

Very interesting reading!


......................
o Residual Income
......................

This week's events just proves why residual income
should be high on everyone's list. If you do online
marketing make sure you promote some programs
that will produce residual income for you - make
one sale and receive payments for years to come.

If you sites or traffic suddenly goes burst -
you won't be totally left out in the cold.

I am still receiving monthly payments for sales I
did years ago, over time this type of income really
builds some security into your marketing system.

What has worked best for me are basic services such
as webhosting, auto responders, shopping carts...
and other business services that once you sign up
for - you rarely drop unless you have a major problem
with that service.

I am also working on some private deals with a
few companies where if I bring in paying clients
- I get a percentage of the fees for the lifetime
of that client. I have devoted a lot of my marketing
building up these companies' client base and my
residual income.

What has not worked is membership sites, any type
of multi-level marketing - people just drop off
and the revenue dries up quickly. At least this
has been my experience.

If you want to find out more about Residual Income
just follow the link to this article.

................
Feature Article
................

Residual Income: The Key To Making A Full Time
Online Income

Residual Income is often the key to making a full
time income online. However, very few people know
how to put these residual income streams into motion...
so here are a few suggestions for creating your
own online residual income streams.

Read more here:





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o Article Software
......................

As I mentioned in last week's newsletter, article
marketing is at the heart of my whole online business.
It is also a way of having your traffic and sales
coming from different sources on the web, not just
the search engines but from other sites carrying
your articles.

It's also a good insurance policy so you can survive
any major hits to your rankings or such things as
Google Slaps.

Here's three things you need to get article marketing
working for you:

Free Article Submitter from Brad Callen:



Article writing software:




Article Marketing Knowledge:



...


I truly hope you're having a much better week
than me!








Kind Regards,

Titus Hoskins

Article Marketing Fully Explained

...............................................
F'r'e'e for All BWMagic Subscribers
- DATEwise Desktop eCalendar & Planner
Never miss another important Meeting or Birthday
Again! Takes only minutes to Download & Install.
F'r'e'e Download:
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...............................................



BWMagic's Web Marketing News!


Read This Newsletter Online:
http://www.bizwaremagic.blogspot.com



.......

Special Edition: Article Marketing

Contents:

o Article Marketing Business Model

o Proof of Income

o Why Article Marketing Really Works

o Article Example:

o Article Directories

o Article Software

......




I have devoted a full newsletter dealing with
article marketing. Since it is the main reason
I can work full-time online I believe a detailed
explanation of just what is article marketing
would prove very helpful to anyone who wants
to monetize their site or sites.

A full detailed description with real examples
of how I have made writing simple articles work
for me. Along with some helpful marketing tips
coming from first-hand experience.

Why you ask?

Last week, I got an e-mail from one of the affiliate
networks (LinkShare) - the manager handling the Dell
affiliate account wanted to know how I was sending so
much traffic to their site. What business model was
I using?

Actually, I think they were concerned I was using
some kind of Adware or third party sites to deliver
the traffic. The confusion was mainly caused by my
hosting banners and images on my own site/server to
have faster download times. These impressions were not
showing up in my affiliate stats and I had impossibly
high CTR click thru rates. If you're familiar with affiliate
marketing you will know exactly what I am talking about.
If you're not familiar with affiliate marketing, just
know that all my traffic is legit and comes from very
reliable sources.



......................................
o Article Marketing Business Model
......................................


The email inquiry make me sit down and take a close
look at my whole 'business model', I usually refer to
it as my main online marketing system. And I have always
considered it a rather simple system.

At the heart of my 'business model' is article marketing.

I write simple articles on the topics within my sites
and distribute them all over the web. Attached to these
articles are all those important One-Way links back to my
sites in the resource box at the end of each article.

Once visitors hit my site I offer them more information first
and then try to sell my related affiliate product or/and
capture their contact information for further follow-up
marketing.

This marketing system is not new, thousands upon thousands
of online marketers and webmasters are using it. Nor is it
hard to do - anyone can set a simple marketing system
using articles.

And it is very effective.

....................
o Proof of Income
....................

I think showing proof of income is very tacky, it is
something I usually never do. In polite society, it
is rather rude to talk directly about how much you earn,
or at least it is in my neck of the woods.




Don't get the wrong impression, I am not one of
those marketers claiming they're raking in millions
of bucks but I have been drawing a steady income
from the web for a few years now. And that income has
been slowly increasing as I build more sites and add
more content.


......................................
o Why Article Marketing Really Works
......................................


People want proof. People want real evidence that what
you're saying is true. On the Internet this is more
true than elsewhere - at first people simply don't trust
you or believe what you're saying is true.

Building Trust Is The Key

The key to any online marketing system is to build
trust with your visitors and customers. Once you
have passed that hurdle, all else just flows naturally:
traffic, subscribers, sales...

Gaining trust and credibility is your biggest obstacle.
This is why articles are so important. They can be your
simple vehicles for gaining someone's trust.

How to gain trust?

Never be a salesman in your articles, instead be a teacher,
journalist, writer, enthusiast... write your articles from
this point of view. Write valuable informative articles that
will help your reader solve a problem or provide needed
information they actually want to receive. Use humor as your
ice-breaker but never become just a joker - offer serious
information along with the one liners.

Real Example of Article Marketing

Here's an article marketing system I use for one
area of my main business site. I have a simple online
notebook computer guide where visitors can find out
different information on laptops.

To bring traffic and visitors to this online laptop
guide, I write very simple articles on laptops.

First, I target a group of people I want to market
to - in this case, college students, parents of students,
aunts/uncles giving graduation gifts, etc.

This is a year round market, but it really heats up in
the spring and summer. Graduation gifts and students
equipping for the upcoming school year - the good old
'back-to-school' market. Very lucrative!

Do Keyword Research

First, you have to do some serious keyword research
before you write you article. I use professional keyword
research software by Brad Callen called Keyword Elite
but you can use any of the free online keyword suggestion
resources. Here's a good one:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/


Obviously, I am not going to pick totally out of reach
or too competitive keywords like 'laptops' - I would never
be able to place on the first SERPs in the search engines
for that keyword. But longer phrases (long-tail-keywords)
are useful because I know I will place on the first
page for those within a few days.

'notebooks for students', 'student laptops' and so on.

I like to include my main keywords in the title of
the article. And I also like to include my main Benefit
in the title of my articles if I can.


o Article Example:

Cheap Laptops For Cash-Strapped College Students
(How to Find Cheap Top Quality Student Laptops)

This is an article I wrote around a year ago, if you
do a search in Google with the quotation marks you
will see this article is on 925 sites across the
web.

Cheap+Laptops+For+Cash-Strapped+College+Students


All those sites displaying my article are like little
mini-selling agents, pre-selling my information
and bringing interested buyers back to my site
and affiliate links.

Now that's just one article, multiply that number
by 100's of articles and you should realize how powerful
article marketing truly is.

Also realize, your articles are picked up by related
sites - directly related to your site's topic. These
are all relevant One-Way Links (Votes) for your site.
Google will reward you by raising your rankings for
your site and the keywords tied into your articles.
Organic traffic from the search engines is the real
benefit of article marketing.


Now here is the actual article:

................
Feature Article
................

Cheap Laptops For Cash-Strapped College Students
(How to Find Cheap Top Quality Student Laptops)
Copyright © 2006 Titus Hoskins.


Finding a cheap laptop for college is an easy task. Laptop
prices have fallen steadily over the last couple of years
as marketplace competition heats up and production costs
come down. You can now get a laptop for under $400.

But you must proceed with caution -- as that old expression
on ancient maps stated: Here There Be Monsters!

For you just don't want any old cheap laptop; you want
a high quality machine that will offer good performance
and won't go kapoots half way through the semester. You
want a laptop that can accomplish all those student
assignments and easily handle all those MP3 and movie
downloads! In other words, the laptop you buy must be
able to get the job done.

You want a quality laptop that's relatively small and
lightweight; yet sturdy and shock proof. You will need
a laptop with a good comfortable keyboard for typing up
all those assignments. You may have to purchase a tablet
notebook if you need a laptop for a lot of note-taking
in class.

If you're buying a used or refurbished laptop you should
have it checked out by a Laptop Technician or if this is not
practical, bring along a friend who knows computers or laptops
-- there's a computer geek in every crowd.

Finding a top quality laptop at a bargain price may take
some work on your part so here are some suggestions to
make your job easier:

Try Your Friends and Neighbors

First, check around with your friends, neighbors and
colleagues -- many may have good quality laptops to sell
or even give you! Why? Many people constantly upgrade to
the latest laptop technology -- Intel and AMD have just
introduced laptops with Duo or Dual Core processors and
many laptop enthusiasts are dishing their old perfectly
good laptops for the newer faster sexier models.
(Why does that sound so familiar!)

So check around, you may be able to purchase a good
second hand laptop for next to nothing. Or in exchange
for work (lawn mowing, yard work...) or services
(baby sitting, shopping...) offered over the summer.


Try eBay

Perhaps, the cheapest high quality laptops can be found
on eBay. But again, you must check out carefully both
the product and the seller. Make sure you do your
homework and thoroughly check out the laptops before
you buy. Make sure you don't end up with a useless
monster!


Try A Refurbished Laptop

You can save a bundle by buying a refurbished laptop
directly from the major Laptop Manufacturers. These
laptops offer very good quality at much cheaper
prices. So check around for a refurbished laptop.


Try Online Bargain Stores Such as Buy.com

You may want to check out the many bargain online
stores or super sites such as BestBuy.com,
TigerDirect.com, Buy.com and the countless others.
These stores may also offer refurbished laptops,
but keep your eyes open for those monsters.


Try Amazon

Don't forget Amazon, they now sell new and used
laptops at some very competitive prices. If you
have any rich uncles or aunts (relatives) tell them
you have an Amazon Wishlist... place a wish for a good
laptop at the top. Hey, don't laugh - it happens!


Try Dell Coupons And Rebates

Recently, Dell, HP and a few other laptop makers
have come out with $400 laptops after rebates
or coupons. These are usually level entry laptops
but may be perfectly fine for students.


Don't Forget To Haggle

If you're buying a laptop from a favorite
vendor or store -- always ask for a discount
or bargain. Many times haggling will get you
a better price or some nice upgrades with
a few extras thrown in. No harm in trying.


And Keep Those Eyes Open

Purchasing a good quality cheap student laptop
can be done if you try some of the places listed
above. If you're on a very strict budget, most
college students are, you can save a lot money
by shopping around and using the advice given
here. Just keep in mind, as you open your purse
or wallet to buy that bargain student laptop,
keep your eyes peeled for any monsters that may
be lurking around.


.......


For more information on Buying Notebooks and Laptops at
Bargain Prices Click Here: Cheap Laptops
Or find the perfect student laptop here: Laptops for Students
Copyright © 2006 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
.......

.........................
o Article Directories
.........................


I submit my articles to online directories.
One of the top ones is Ezinearticles.com - this
one sends me the most traffic.

Use it not only for the traffic but use it to take full
advantage of its PR6 ranking in Google. Here's one of the
most important marketing tips or tricks I learned very early
in the game.

If you're just starting out your site will usually not
be ranked very high in Google (Google ranks the importance
of all the pages on the web on a scale of 0 to 10) and it
will be very difficult to get first page rankings for your
keywords.

But a simple way around this is to use higher ranked
sites like Ezinearticles to rank well and get your
content and links into Google first page results.
Your keywords/article/content will reach your audience
via Ezinearticles, sending back targeted visitors to
your site.

Use different articles to target different keywords and
soon you will have plenty of traffic flowing back to your
site via Google Search thru Ezinearticles.

But Ezinearticles is not the only article directories,
there are hundreds of them...


......................
o Article Software
......................


If you're not familiar with them, Brad Callen has a new
Article Submitter, software you can use to submit your
articles to around 100 directories for free. You have
to pay a small fee if you want to use the full 600
directories but 100 will get your started.

Remember, this is a way of marketing his software but
Brad has some of the best marketing software you can
buy (my opinion) and his Article Submitter is no
exception.

Free Article Submitter:



Like all good software - it saves you time. Submitting
your articles to all these directories and sites does
take a lot of time but the rewards are well worth it.

...........................................
Other Article Marketing Software/Products
...........................................

There are two other article marketing products that
I would recommend you look at.

The first one is Instant Article Wizard - this will
help you write articles very quickly.




Article writing is not high literature. It's simple
helpful information to guide your readers thru
a problem to a solution. Even if that problem is
where to buy WidgetB online at the best price.

Instant Article Wizward is software that will
help you write and compose articles within
minutes. It's a handy little tool that will
save you time, especially if you find writing
articles and content difficult to do.


The Second Article product is Dan Loh's "Secret Article
Profits".

This is an eBook that gives you some helpful
information on article marketing. Secret Article
Profits is another resource you should look at
if you're interested in getting the most out of
your article marketing.

You can take months or even years to learn this
information or you can buy this ebook and get the
info right away. Just a very good time-saver!




Article marketing is a simple way of building links,
getting traffic and making sales. Hope you found
this Newsletter helpful and you will try article
marketing and see the benefits for yourself.








Kind Regards,

Titus Hoskins

Is Google PageRank Still Valid?

...............................................
F'r'e'e for All BWMagic Subscribers
- DATEwise Desktop eCalendar & Planner
Never miss another important Meeting or Birthday
Again! Takes only minutes to Download & Install.
F'r'e'e Download:
http://www.bizwaremagic.com/Free_Desktop_Calendar.htm

...............................................



BWMagic's Web Marketing News!



Contents:



o Google Universal Search

o Is Google PageRank Still Valid?

o Marketing Tips: How To Cut Your Google Adwords Budget to Nil!

o Online Marketing Monthly - Professional Magazine


......


Almost every day now Google rolls out another product
or introduces new changes to its existing programs.
Staying on top of Google is a full time job or it
seems like it.

Many people bash Google - I don't. I have always found
Google's products to be superior to anything on the web.
They get it right. And they get it right often.

From a marketing perspective I believe just having
anything referring to Google on your webpages or site
is a positive thing. The ordinary consumer and surfer
respects Google. They trust Google and anything Google.

Aligning your site and web pages to Google should be
an online marketing strategy for every webmaster. I
firmly believe there are more pluses than minuses to
this strategy. It has worked for me but maybe I have
become somewhat biased with all thos Adsense checks
over the years!

I will even include Google Adsense on pages even though
I can earn 10 times the revenue with affiliate programs
and click per action lead generation. I believe Google
helps to sell your information and your products.


o Google Universal Search


Recently, Google has introduced Google Universal search
where you not only have web page search but other kinds
of links: images, videos, books, blogs, news and local
searches. These are all blended together on the SERPs
or return results page and give you a broader view
of the information that's out there on the web.

As the web evolves, Google is adapting right along
with it. ( I think in a few years we will have a billion
channels on the web instead of websites - more like TV
channels than websites!)

We no longer get our information and news from one
search anymore - it's a combination of different sources
and Google Universal Search is reflecting that obvious
fact.

Sometimes referred to as 'Vertical Search' where you're
narrowing down your search to specific sources: video
searches, blog searches, book searches... it can bring
up more relevant results and that's the whole point of
doing the inquiry or search in the first place.

For marketers, this opens up a whole new world, offering
new ways to market your site or products. Using videos
and blogs would be just two examples that are already in
the marketing mainstream.

Of course, no matter the medium, what we only have to
do is provide valuable information or content... and
Google will still find you.

I better stop now - or I will be opening up a
'Church of Google' soon! But like I said I do
like what Google has to offer.


.....




o Is Google PageRank Still Valid?



Just the mention of it can send some webmasters and even
quite a few SEOs into fits of rage or ecstasy. Just what is
Google PageRank? And more importantly, is Google PageRank
and the PR Toolbar still valid marketing tools?

.................
Feature Article
.................



Is Google PageRank Still A Valid Marketing Tool?
Copyright © 2007


The Google PageRank Toolbar in SEO circles is a hotly
debated item, as are most issues dealing with Google.
Some say it's useless, others say it gives you a general
overview of your site's standing in Google. Regardless
of who is right, this Toolbar shouldn't be ignored nor
worshipped, just closely watched.

The Google PR Toolbar is a simple tool you can download
and place on your browser. When you surf the web, this
toolbar will give you Google's PR or Page Rank for that
particular site or page. Google ranks all web pages from
a scale of 0 to 10. This Toolbar is more like the Richter
scale than an ordinary scale, there's a big difference in
the rankings as you go up and they are not proportional.

You must also realize each of these ranking points are
further divided and only Google knows the exact placement
of your site or page within your shown PR number. For
example, if you have a PR6 site your site could be at
low end of the PR6 scale (closer to PR5) or at the top end
which would make it more of a PR7 site. Big difference.

Many suggest Google is not giving us the real value of
the page in the first place and this toolbar is often
out of date and more of a smokescreen than real information
about a site. There could be some truth in this as Google
never gives up all its secrets. Does any company?
Certainly not the company that holds the keys to the
most powerful economic force on the planet: the Internet.

Complicating matters even further are webmasters and
marketers who try to manipulate their own PageRank by
buying or exchanging links with other high PR sites.
Many are now doing Three-Way linking to try to influence
their site's rankings in Google.

A whole SEO industry has been built up around PageRank
for the simple reason the stakes are extremely high. If
you can deliver first place rankings for your client's
targeted keywords in Google it means free organic traffic
or visitors delivered directly to your site.

Many SEO experts believe Google has a whole list of
ranking factors which determine how well your page is
ranked. Among others, these ranking factors include
Google's PageRank algorithm (voting system) and
Hypertext-Matching Analysis (analyzing page content).

If you check out Google's own corporate site for an
explanation you will find that Google clearly states
its patented PageRank™ algorithm is the heart of their
web ranking system which was founded by Larry Page &
Sergey Brin in 1998. You will also find that Google
says it uses numerous factors including PageRank to
examine the whole web and find the most relevant and
important pages to match a specific search.

PageRank takes into consideration over "500 million
variables and 2 billion terms" when finding the most
important pages. Google makes it clear that each page
casts a vote for another page and this is reflected in
the PageRank. Votes from particular sites or pages might
have greater value than others. "Important pages receive
a higher PageRank and appear at the top of the search
results."

The question still remains, is the Google PR Toolbar
a valid marketing tool? Should you use it?

One can only speak from experience, I have always used
the Google PR Toolbar and find it helpful in assessing
what Google thinks of a site or page. I rarely link out
to sites anymore but if I do I always check any potential
linking partners to see their PR. Any site with PR5 or
over I will link to it if that site is related and has
high rankings for my site's own targeted keyword phrases.
I also check out the number of outbound links on that
page, lower is better because the amount of PR passed
along is divided equally with the other links.

Sometimes I will link to a lower PR3 or PR4 site if I
find the content on that site is extremely good and I
know it is only a matter of time before Google upgrades
that site to a PR5 or higher. You must be very careful
not to link out to any type of 'link-farms' as Google
will penalize you for it.

In my opinion, many SEO experts worry too much over the
exact PageRank or Value Google is giving to a page. Whether
or not we can really know the true value of any page? Well,
the true value of any web page is staring you in the face
in Google's SERPs for if over time a page consistently holds
the #1 spot then that is Google's true PageRank and Value
for that page for a particular keyword or keyword phrase.
If your page is consistently in the 1000th spot, then Google
doesn't think your page has much value for that keyword.

Your site's overall value or PageRank within the Google
ranking system may be a little harder to figure out if you
dismiss the PR Toolbar as a good indicator of your site's
overall worth within Google. Maybe Google has put into place
filters and blinders to discourage the online marketers and
SEOs who try to abuse and manipulate PageRank.

Again, one can only speak from experience, I believe the
Toolbar is very helpful in showing what Google thinks of
your pages. Over the years, I have experienced my main
website at a PR1 level and I have experienced it at a PR6
level. Believe me, the PR6 is much better. Can't imagine
what a PR8 site would be like to run or the kind of lifestyle
it would provide.

For higher PR means better rankings for your site and your
keyword phrases. It simply means more traffic and more
sales. If you're optimizing for Google, you should do
everything you can to get the highest PR you can possibly
get. More importantly, you should be doing everything you
can to increase the PR of the pages where you have your
long-tail keyword phrases as organic traffic from these
pages will usually turn out to be your site's main revenue
source.

I have found one of the quickest ways to raise your
Google PR is to get one-way links from high PR6, PR7
and PR8 sites (Think Article Marketing). Google
considers these links as votes for your site and ranks
your site or page accordingly. Consistently get enough
of these incoming one-way links over the long haul and
your PR will go up if you have high quality unique
content pages that are well optimized with good
navigation and formatting.

If you're not using the Google Toolbar - use it!
You can download it here:

http://toolbar.google.com

Another great way to see PR in action is to use the
Visual PageRank tool here:

http://www.iwebtool.com/visual_pagerank

It will show you the PageRank of all internal and external
links on a webpage at once. Extremely helpful when you're
checking out any site or page for at a glance you can see
the current Google PageRank of all these links.

Google's PageRank system, including the PR Toolbar, is
something every webmaster and online marketer should be
aware of in their struggle for higher rankings. Don't
become obsessed with it, instead use this system to your
advantage to build better pages and sites. For despite
all the misconceptions and intricacies of such a complex
system, no webmaster can deny if you conquer the Google
PagePank system, it will deliver the goods.


...................................................
Titus Hoskins is a former teacher and artist who now
works full-time online. If you want to start a web business
try these free training courses:
http://www.bizwaremagic.com/Free_Marketing_Courses.htm
Or try our free Marketing e-Course: http://www.marketingtoolguide.com
Copyright © 2007 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely
distributed if this resource box stays attached.
................................................





o Marketing Tip: How To Cut Your Google Adwords Budget to Nil!


If you're a regular reader, you will know that late last
year I ventured into PPC advertising. Mostly for name
recognization and promotion of my sites. I get most of my
traffic and sales thru organic search and have always found
this the best type of online marketing - its more respected
and doesn't cost a cent.

I am currently doing PPC with all three amigos:
MicroSoft AdCenter, Yahoo Marketing and Google Adwords.

Something surprising has happened with some of my
Google Adwords campaigns - in my search for Google
Arbitrage, I found I can add Google Adsense ads on
my promoted webpages which virtually cut my
Adwords budget to nil!

Don't know if this is common knowledge and I am
appearing a little naive here - like I said, I am
fairly new to PPC advertising.

Keep in mind, I am not talking about purely Arbitrage
sites... instead I am talking about my regular content
webpages which I would normally have Google Adsense on
in the first place and then using these content pages
with Adwords.

By having Adsense on these pages, you can cut the
costs of your Adwords keywords - getting 50%, 75%
off - if you fine-tune it you can even make a
profit with just Adsense alone. But I am satisfied
with cutting it to nil - then make my income with
affiliate links which those pages were designed
to do from the beginning.

I have other affiliate links on those pages but
using both Adsense and Adwords can bring in Google
search traffic for free. Actually, by adding
Adsense to your pages you can bid higher because
you know this traffic is coming at a discount.

Undercutting your PPC campaigns with Google Adsense
is something I will be exploring further. The key
to keeping Google happy is to provide quality content
so your search results are relevant to the search. This
should be your main goal, making a few bucks should be
a pleasant afterthought!






o Online Marketing Monthly - Professional Magazine



Last week I heard from some subscribers who couldn't
sign-up to this magazine because the link wasn't
working. Actually, the link was working but there were
problems on the site with so many people signing
up at once.

This Online Marketing Monthly magazine is being
promoted by some big name marketers, but don't let
that point discourage you - this looks like
an excellent venture and now they have even
added Len Jackson as their Director of Sales
which should get things rolling even further.

I highly recommend you take a look at what
this magazine is all about.

Anyway, if you couldn't check out this new
magazine last week, here is the link again:
excellent free training manuals and videos:




Help spread the word! Please!






Kind Regards,

Titus Hoskins