Issue #2627
- WEALTHY: Get more traffic – for free! (Andrew Palmer)
- HEALTHY: Nonstick makes you sick (Kelley Herring)
- WISE: Paul Hagen on the potential of search engine marketing
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- The hardest skill in sales (Brian Tracy)
- Kurt Vonnegut’s guide to copywriting (John Forde)
- It’s Good to Know… about self-healing high-tech devices
- Add "toady" to your vocabulary
== Highly Recommended ==
You Don’t Need a "Job" to Keep Your Financial Future Safe
"651,000 Jobs Lost in February" says the New York Times.
"U.S. Jobless Rate Soars to 8.1%" says MSNBC.
"Recession Job Losses Top Four Million" says the Wall Street Journal.
You may have a job today – but tomorrow could bring the news you’ve been dreading.
Instead of waiting in panic for that pink slip, do something to protect your financial future.
"Given that 80 percent of people find a site through a search engine, it strikes me that there are potentially big dollars in this market."
Paul Hagen
The Free Google Keyword Tool (and the Top 10 Reasons You Should Use It!)
By Andrew Palmer
We often talk about the importance of choosing the right keywords when writing for the Web. It can mean the difference between heavy traffic and no traffic to your landing page… and possibly the difference between a high-conversion landing page and a complete bomb.
In the world of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, the trick is not just to write good copy but to use keywords that a reasonable buyer would type in as a search query.
For example, someone looking for information on investing in stocks might type in "stocks" or "stock market." They might be more specific and type in "investing in stocks" or "buying stocks." Or they may focus their search even further by typing in "the best low-priced value stocks" or "stocks under $5 for 2009."
Your job as an Internet marketer is to think of all these options… and brainstorm about which search terms would most likely be used. And, most important, to make sure those terms not only answer the search queries but are relevant to the product or service you’re selling.
The best tool you can use for this research is, of course, your brain… and any opportunity to brainstorm with friends and colleagues. To further expand what you learn, you’ll then want to use an online keyword tool. Keyword tools will not only give you ideas on how to grow your list of relevant keywords, they’ll also give you synonyms and data about the popularity of your search terms.
If you do a quick online search, you’ll find many available keyword tools. But did you know that one of the best ones is free?
That’s right. It’s the Google Keyword Tool (GKT).
The GKT is an integral part of the AdWords pay-per-click system, but it’s available for free even if you don’t have an account.
It’s a great way to find new keywords for your ad campaigns.
For example, if you run a dollar store, the GKT can suggest helpful, related keywords like "discount stores," "discount shopping," or "closeouts." Adding these alternate terms can help you find new customers who have questions you might otherwise have missed – questions your offer can provide an answer for.
And now for the top 10 reasons to use the GKT…
1. It’s free. Need I say more? Okay, well how about this… all your research is available and easily downloaded in multiple formats, including text, .CSV for Excel, and .CSV.
2. It accepts filtering criteria for better results. When using the GKT, you can filter out results that are not helpful. For example, you can specifically request that it not include certain words or phrases. You can also request that it filter out adult content or words already included in your campaign. And you can request that it not show ideas for new keywords, but only show data about the keyword entered. This would include data on advertiser competition, approximate search volume for the previous month, and an approximate average search volume.
3. It organizes your keywords into groups. In AdWords, Google will match up every keyword search with the most relevant ad copy and landing pages. By grouping words together in sub-themes and creating separate ads and landing pages for those themes, you can often achieve bigger and better results. The GKT will do this for you automatically, making it easier to break out some words into groups for your PPC campaigns.
4. It identifies negative keywords. The GKT can show you off-topic keywords that are similar to your words but are irrelevant or too vague. You want to exclude these "negative keywords" from your campaign.
Suppose you sell a stock newsletter and you research the keyword "stocks" in the GTK. It may suggest multiple uses of the word that are relevant, as well as many more that are not. Terms such as "stock film" or "chicken stock" will not help you sell a stock newsletter. Thus, if you choose to use the word "stock," you need to add these other terms to your group as negative keywords. This helps make sure only interested prospects see your ads.
5. It allows you to choose the match type. The GKT automatically produces results based on a "broad match" of the keyword or keyphrase entered. This means your ad will appear if any of the words are included in the query, even if not written in the same sequence as your keyphrase. This also applies to similar keywords, such as plurals and synonyms. Thus, a "broad match" will reach a wider audience and trigger your ad to appear whenever that keyword or similar term appears in a user’s query.
The GKT will also let you change the match type for your results. With one click, you can change your results to a "phrase-matched" variation. This means your ad will appear for any query that includes your keyword or keyphrase in the exact sequence and form that you specify. (Additional terms in a user’s query can precede or follow the phrase.) This narrows your reach by restricting your ad from showing on irrelevant variations of your keyword. (To enable phrase matching, you enclose your keyword in quotation marks.)
In addition, you can use an "exact match," which is the most precise method for targeting your keywords. Use an exact match when you want your ad to appear only on a query that precisely matches the keyword or keyphrase you’ve chosen… meaning there are no additional words or letters before, between, or after it. (To enable exact matching, you enclose your keyword in square brackets.)
6. It supplies relevant statistics. There is an option called "Show or Hide Columns" in the GKT that allows you to see results with additional columns of relevant information. These are estimated performance statistics about keyword results to help you pick the best ones. Available statistics include estimated ad position, estimated average cost-per-click (CPC), the number of advertisers worldwide bidding on each keyword, the previous month’s Google search volume, the average monthly Google search volume over a recent 12-month period, Google’s search volume trends over a recent 12-month period, and the month that each keyword received the highest Google search volume within a recent 12-month period.
7. It allows you to expand your theme (and be more specific) when your current keywords are performing poorly. Even the most relevant keywords can produce little or no traffic. No traffic means no one’s seeing your ad, so you need to find more keywords. The GKT allows you to expand your theme and be more specific. You can even go the other way and test some vague words. The idea is to test any relevant words that could give you a boost in traffic.
8. It expands with or without synonyms. When using the GKT’s "Descriptive Words or Phrases" section, you simply enter a relevant word or phrase and it will generate wide-ranging synonyms. For example, it might suggest "index funds" or "investing" as a synonym for the keyphrase "value stock." Most people don’t realize that this is set by default. You can uncheck the "Use Synonyms" button so it will give only results that contain at least one of the terms you entered.
9. It expands based on site content. After you’ve brainstormed all the words and phrases you can think of, use the "Website Content" option. It lets you enter the URL of your landing page or website, or of any site related to your subject matter, to find more keywords. It scans the content of the link entered and suggests additional relevant keywords. You can even ask it to include other pages on your site linked from this URL.
The best part is that you can enter the URLs of your competition and other related sites and learn the keywords of their content and what they might be buying for PPC.
10. It enables you to target when you find a winning phrase. Often, one word or phrase will bring in all your traffic and conversions. If so, follow that thread… and find as many variations on that word as possible. The GKT makes it easy. Just click on the "Existing Keyword" button and then click on your best-performing keywords to generate variations.
Give it a whirl!
[Ed. Note: Marketing master Andrew Palmer is an industry leader with cross-functional expertise in direct-response marketing, e-mail marketing, list building, search marketing, affiliate marketing, market analysis, and Web analytics. He has acquired more than two million "opt in" names and successfully monetized them online for millions.
Knowing the right keywords to use is just one way to get yourself listed at the top of the search engines. In AWAI's SEO Copywriting Success: How to Profit From Writing for the Search Engines, you'll get a step-by-step guide to getting real traffic to your site. Learn more here.
For a no-cost source for writing effective Web copy, identifying new revenue streams for your business, finding and working with new Web clients, and making money online, sign up for AWAI's Wealthy Web Writer here.]
== Highly Recommended ==
Your "Off Wall Street" Cash Recovery Plan
Thousands of smart Americans just like you are no longer waiting for Obama, Wall Street or their employers for salvation from the recession.
Instead, they’re now taking matters into their own hands by quietly moving portions of their money into previously hidden high-profit investments “off Wall Street”.
One stake of as little as $1,000 has the realistic ability to quickly swell into a full year’s salary in as little as a few weeks time – and then repeat over and over again.
Another is currently offering the chance to gain year-in and year-out returns of 65% with 99.77% certainty – even in today’s economy.
Listening Wins Sales
By Brian Tracy
The ability to pay close, uninterrupted attention to a person who is speaking is the hardest – and most important – listening skill of all.
It’s especially important for salespeople, because it helps you establish a personal connection with your customer. And that, of course, leads to more sales.
So how do you do it?
Lean forward. Face your prospect directly rather than at an angle. Focus your attention on his face, on his mouth and eyes. Listen without interruption. Listen as though you are hanging on every word the prospect is saying. Listen as if the prospect is about to give you the winning lottery number and you will hear it only once. Listen as if this is a million-dollar prospect who is on the verge of giving you a major order. Listen as if there is no one in the world to whom you would rather listen at this moment.
It requires continuous practice and discipline, and it’s not easy. It’s hard to keep your thoughts from wandering. But the payoff is tremendous.
[Ed. Note: Want to know how to accomplish more in a month than most people accomplish in a year? Brian Tracy's audio program, The Miracle of Self-Discipline, will show you how to train yourself to complete important tasks - even when you don't want to. Get your copy today.
Knowing how to sell involves a bit more than listening well. Discover hundreds of proven cash-producing secrets to selling right here.]
Copywriting Tips From a Novelist
By John Forde
Do the rules of writing fiction come in handy when you’re writing marketing copy? Conventional wisdom might say no, since sales writing isn’t really supposed to be "art"… and your average novelist would shiver to share a table with a copywriter. But the truth is, they’ve got plenty in common.
For instance, we know that one of the best ways to draw somebody into a sales pitch is to simply tell a well-constructed story. Here’s what fiction-writing great Kurt Vonnegut had to say about writing a good story…
First rule: Don’t waste the reader’s time. (Clearly, this applies to both fiction and sales copy.)
Then, he says, you need to give the reader a character they can root for. (In sales, I’d say that’s equivalent to giving your prospect HOPE that you can solve his problem.)
Vonnegut also urges fiction writers to write sentences that "reveal character and advance the action." (The analogy here is that, in sales, your every sentence reveals a little more about the proposition… and tempts the prospect to read on.)
One more tip from Vonnegut that works for copywriters: "Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible… to heck with suspense." What he means by that is that your readers need to know, early on, why they’re investing themselves in the story. So, in the first line of your sales copy, give your prospects a glimpse at the heart of your message. Maybe even at the ending you’ll drive them toward. Done right, you’ll almost guarantee that they’ll read on.
[Ed. Note: To get more of copywriting expert John Forde's wisdom and insights into copywriting (and much more), sign up for his free e-letter, Copywriter's Roundtable, at copywritersroundtable.com. Or send an e-mail to signup@jackforde.com. Get a free report about 15 deadly copy mistakes and how to avoid them when you sign up today. http://copywritersroundtable.com
Copywriting is just one aspect of a successful online direct-marketing business. To learn how to start your own profitable Internet business from the ground up, go here.]
Why You Should Toss Your Nonstick Pans
Infertility… from a cooking pan? That’s right.
A recent study published in Human Reproduction found that pregnant women and women of child-bearing age in the United States are at high risk for reproductive problems as a result of exposure to the toxic Teflon chemical PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid). In fact, women with elevated levels of PFOA experienced more difficulties conceiving and were twice as likely to be diagnosed with infertility as women with lower PFOA body burdens.
Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) are all over your kitchen – especially in your nonstick pans, but also in tap water, food wrap, and microwaveable popcorn bags.
Toss those nonstick pots and pans and buy a set of nontoxic cookware (for example, from Emile Henry, Staub, Chantal, Le Creuset, or Mercola). And if you’re still using a microwave, stop. It excites the molecules in plastic containers and wraps, transferring them into your food and devitalizing it.
[Ed. Note: Eating right goes a long way toward helping you stay healthy and live longer. Pick up a copy of nutrition expert Kelley Herring's collection of recipes for dozens of delicious and guilt-free desserts today.
For more advice on the latest health news and breakthroughs, sign up for ETR's free natural health newsletter.]
It’s Good to Know: Self-Healing High-Tech Devices
A self-healing coating for cellphones, MP3 players, and other devices could soon make scratches a thing of the past. Derived from a protein in shrimp and crab shells, it was developed by a team at the University of Southern Mississippi. So when your device is scratched, you simply expose it to ultraviolet rays (sunlight), and both sides of the scratch bind together, making the damage disappear in about an hour.
The coating, still in development, could eventually be used with cars, furniture, even clothing. There is one catch: If the item is scratched in the same place twice, it won’t heal the second time.
(Source: National Geographic)
== Highly Recommended ==
Ready for Your “Mind-Over-Money Make Over?”
NO ONE ever thought they would amount to anything.
And yet, against all odds they all became billionaires.
What was the “X” factor that made the difference and allowed ordinary men to enjoy the financial freedom that most people could only dream about?
Well, one man knows exactly what it was… He experienced first hand how four “Average Joes” went from ordinary to extra-ordinary.
Now, he’s boiled down every tactic, trait, and “secret wealth attraction strategy” these four billionaires remarkably possessed… And he can give you a “mind over money make-over” in just 30 days that’ll allow you to attract gobs of money like bees to honey.
Ready to finally “Crack the Wealth Code?”
Word to the Wise: Toady
A "toady" (TOH-dee) is a fawning flatterer or "yes man." The word has its origin in the 16th century. A "toad eater" was the assistant to a type of quack who claimed to be able to extract poisons from the body. The assistant would eat a (presumably) poisonous toad so the charlatan could display his skill. Since even pretending to eat a toad is such a lousy job, "toad eater" came to mean the type of person who would do anything to please a superior.
Example (as used by Edward Dahlberg in The Carnal Myth): "The bad poet is a toady mimicking nature."
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