|
|
Whats with the Competition? Ever Heard of Cooperation?
I attended the SES Expo in San Jose, CA the other day. It was an hour from my home in Larkspur, CA just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Along the way I was thinking this would be really neat to see, a lot of companies doing the same things really, and to see how they play together.
What a shock. Same old tech business, competition running rampant, and it was really apparent at the iP******* booth where I met a guy who asked me what I did, I told him SEO, Internet Marketing, PPC, and before I could say another thing he says to me "Have a nice day" and walks away. WOW! Warning. Don't do business with those guys!
Look. In this business we're in, we're out to provide services to clients. We do it at different levels. Some of us deliver what the clients expect and we do it because we manage those expectations appropriately. Other beat the crap out of their clients wallets and deliver diddly-squat to them and then gripe when the customers ask for a refund. Some promise to deliver submissions to over 100,000 search engines for $29.95, take the money and then run for the hills never to be seen again. There's a lot of folks doing BAD business out there. So why is there so much competition in our field?
FEAR.
Yes, that's right, an F-Word that does not end in a "k". FEAR of being beaten, fear of sharing the pie. Well I am here to tell you that in the last 2 years I have built a successful business that now is on the verge of several contracts of more than 2 million dollars a piece for SEO. How? Because my business is 100% referral. Is all of that cash? No. Why not? Because it's equity in other companies. Cash is not about building wealth. It's about blowing the ever-loving-wad when you get it and living on the edge. Equity is about building long-term wealth and finding ways to get into companies and provide a legacy for the future.
There were about 6 companies at SES that I saw that were not afraid of the cooperation model of sharing business. I have their cards in my hand and will be contacting them to get them a piece of the pie that I speak of.
Believe me, in today's world, with over 68 million domains registered, there's more than enough for all of the great SEO, PPC & Internet Marketing companies to pool resources and stay busy for the next 10 years and beyond. How do I know? Because the market is not slowing down, the information age is still with us, but it's how that information is delivered to our clients that makes us needed. We ensure that it's delivered in a correct, concise fashion, and we market to users who need us.
So get over the FEAR, and next time someone approaches you and says they do the same thing as you do, embrace it, congratulate them on their successes, and even offer a tip or two. When they use that tip and it helps them close that deal they've always wanted, they'll remember you, and perhaps refer some business. Pay it forward. Great movie...great mantra.
I got a lot of that at a place called the IBI Free Enterprise Forum where I now teach. www.ibiglobal.com is the link to that place. And I hope at the next forum when you see me, you'll tell me you read this article and it inspired you to take your business into a world of cooperation and sharing.
I wish iP******* no ill-will, just suggest that they change business. Because you never know who you're meeting at these events, and I was in search of a partner for just one of my million dollar contracts. Obviously you're not my choice.
Best to all, and thanks for being at SES.
Michael Murdock, CEO
DocMurdock.com
Former Lead Macintosh, PC & Unix Systems Engineer at PIXAR Animation Studios. Now runs DocMurdock, a highly successful website optimization & internet marketing company. Has helped companies make literally billions of dollars on the web due to recommendations and consultations that allow for changing of service models. Stresses cooperation, not competition and teaches at a Free Enterprise Forum in Los Angeles, CA.
Google Zombies Need To Wake Up
Over the last couple of weeks, I've received more e-mails in response to my article, "Google's Trap, DMOZ's Nap, And Yahoo!'s Crap," than any other article I've ever written. And that's saying a lot because, I've written close to forty articles.
Five Ways To Win The Favor Of Search Engines
You've got a cool new website with all the works: cool Flash presentations, eye-catching colors, informative text, easy-to-use layout, and an interesting topic. You think your site is amazing, and you know that others will agree with you. If only they know it exists.
All About Google
If you read The Search Engine Showdown, you know Google is my favourite search engine. Why? Google always offers the most results for any given search (they currently have over 8 billion pages indexed), it's faster than the Audi Quattro we test drove this morning, and 9 times out of ten, in my experience, all the front page results are relevant to my search. In fact, I usually find what I'm looking for within the first few sites listed. I also really respect the fact that two college kids started it (kinda like Abalone Designs!) and that those two college kids seem not to have forgotten where they came from. If you check out the images at Google's press center (http:// www.google.com/press/images.html) and scroll down to the Everyday Life Inside Google section, you'll get a feeling that life at Google is fun.
A Way for Search Engines to Improve
Wouldn't it be nice if the search engines could comprehend our impressions of search results and adjust their databases accordingly? Properly optimized web pages would show up well in contextual searches and be rewarded with favorable reviews and listings. Pages which were spam or which had content that did not properly match the query would get negative responses and be pushed down in the search results.
The Google Sandbox ? A Frustrating Inevitability or a Golden Opportunity?
Introduction
Get Personal With Google
Anyone who's been on the net any time at all knows that Google has been the search engine of choice for many for a while now. Whether that continues remains to be seen, but for now, with MSN still in development and Yahoo going through some growing pains, many still feel that Google is the leader. As such, it's worth dropping in to the Google Labs every now and then to see what's going on there.
SEO Hints and Tips and Free SEO Tools
Do you realize that if you manage your website, SEO tools, and pay-per-click tools, you can literally have as many leads as you want from your website? I assume that a website should convert approximately 5% of the viewers to doers, taking some kind of action that you want them to take. So, all we have to do is make sure the website does convert viewers to doers, and then we make sure we've got the right amount of traffic arriving at the website. All quite manageable. Today, we're mainly talking about how to get the traffic to your website through Search Engine Optimization, SEO.
SEO - Google Sitemaps Explained
Once again I seem to be writing about Google. The reason Google keeps cropping up in these articles is that:
Dont Get Banned by Google
There are many Black Hat techniques that people use to try and influence Googles ranking of their sites, the simple thing to remember is that THEY DO NOT help your rankings, are simply a waste of your time and sooner or later will lead to a Google ban for your site. Sure there are sites that use these techniques and are getting away with it but they will eventually get penalised as Google always manages to find them eventually.
3 Deadly Search Engine Marketing Sins
My inbox this week provided glaring examples of three all too common rookie search engine marketing mistakes. What you could call three deadly search engine marketing sins. Starting with
Surviving the Search Wars ? Local Directories
The pursuit of online information has become an increasingly dynamic and competitive marketplace during the past three years. Global heavyweights such as www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, and www.msn.com are backed by massive resources, making it nearly impossible for new companies to even attempt to compete. It would seem for new start directories it is almost impossible to aim for the "catch all" approach, as there are simply bigger companies out there with larger budgets ? who are going to dominate the market for years to come. However, there are still a number of innovative directories evolving which are capable of surviving in this ultra-competitive landscape. The key to this survival is undoubtedly focusing upon a niche and making sure your site stands out from others.
How to Avoid Getting OOPed On by Google?
Earlier this year, I was having trouble getting good search engine placement for one of our sites. I was trading links like crazy, spending many hours a week trying to optimize the site properly, checking my linking structures, keyword density, etc., but still I was not climbing the ranks in Google.
Top Search Engine Ranks, Part 2- Mastering the Secret- Explained
In the first part of this series on ranking at the top of the search engines, we discussed diversifying your Internet marketing efforts. We introduced several methods including RSS feeds, Link Popularity, Article Marketing, Blogs, and physically altering your pages to make them more target-able for select keywords. All of these share the key of great content in order to unlock success.
How To Soar In Your Search Engine Marketing, In The Post Google Era Part 2
'Are Google's Days in the Dominant Position in Search Technology Numbered?'
High Search Engine Rankings - A Long Term Strategy
The last 1.5 years have shown major changes in search engine behavior across the board. Algorithms change at random dates. Websites that ranked great in search results are suddenly completely wiped out from the search index. It becomes less and less predictable what a certain change to your website will get for results. A major change to a website or the way how it is promoted could have a major impact on search engine success for that website.
Google, Adsense, SEO, and How It All Works
Google uses an algorithm to determine the search engine results (SERPS). The algorithm is based upon certain factors that include keyword density, Meta Tags, anchor tags, image tags, back links, etc etc etc.
How To Design A Search Engine Friendly Website
There are many websites that fail to target their required traffic, even if they've had some search engine optimisation work done. One of the main causes for this is simply because the website isn't search engine friendly. This is a basic essential that needs to be incorporated into the design of all websites at the outset ? think of it as the foundation to establishing your search engine optimisation strategy.
Why Search Engine Traffic Should be Your Top Priority
Most Internet marketing methods are risky and many will not have any affect on traffic to a web site. Some online marketers will sell you anything from banner impressions, to mass email campaigns (spam), to popup ads. All these marketing tools can work, but they are also extremely risky. Some people I know find pop-ups and spam so annoying that they will never purchase anything from a business that uses them. These plans are probably not the best customer acquisition strategies, and more likely they are a total waste of money. So why would anyone bother risking money on marketing strategies that probably will not increase traffic to your website? Why not concentrate on what does work? - The search engines.
Search Engine Robots - How They Work, What They Do (Part I)
Automated search engine robots, sometimes called "spiders" or "crawlers", are the seekers of web pages. How do they work? What is it they really do? Why are they important?
Increase Web Site Sales with a SEO Proposal - Part 2
Part I of this article discussed some of the points that should be included in a search engine optimization proposal. Visit the resources section at the bottom of the page if you wish to get a copy of the whole article.