For $1600 a month I can make you popular.....
Seriously.....
Well, you don't have to wait for me to do it. You can do it too just by purchasing your own links. So let me rephrase myself. You can make yourself popular - for a while.
The problem with buying your links is that you have to maintain that buying relationship each and every month. The second you miss your payment you lose those links. You lose all those incoming links to your site. No doubt this is going to make your Google PR slip. So in a sense you will go from a PR 9 to a dud in literally overnight.
This is going to be a problem for you if you want to establish yourself as an expert online. Google is watching people who buy links or obtain links on questionable terms. These sites will get dropped from the index and that is worth mentioning.
THE HIGH COST OF FAME
As I go through these link exchange sites I am somewhat astounded at the cost of these services. I may understand if this is a one time fee but this is an ongoing monthly thing that can literally shake and break your foundations. This is where a lot of your money is going to go -quite literally - right down the drain.
But thats not the worst of it. The worst part is that Google and other search engines are watching and may punt you off for good.
Posted by Cantu on Oct. 23, 2007 at 12:14 PM
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Van Halen and the Power of Innovation
Its okay to be a rule breaker. In the case of Eddie Van Halen this has never been more true. In 1978 there was a barrage of musical styles. This recent post puts things in perspective.
From a marketing stand point it is okay to be an innovator in this changing economy. It may not be a great format for a corporate environment that is stuck in its ways. The innovator may have to leave and go his own way. But this is how we get new products and services....
Here is from our recent post....
http://911copywriters.blogspot.com/2007/10/rebel-marketing-true-essence-of-van.html
Rebel Marketing – The True Essence Of Van Halen
Last night Van Halen came to the Joe Louis Arena. It was the first time that lead singer David Lee Roth joined up with the band in the last 20 years. Ironically, the last time I saw Van Halen play was in 1984 at the D.C. Capital Center. So I reunited with the band as well. I never had any inclination to see the band with Sammy Hagar. For me the true sound, intention and meaning of this band had a lot to do with David Lee Roth.
For the whole article click here....
Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 21, 2007 at 10:23 PM
Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 21, 2007 at 10:23 PM
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The FCC Plans To Be More Lenient
For years the standard cardinal rule was that you could not own a newspaper and a radio or television station in the same area. According to the New York Times there is a push to change some of the old habits.....
A local investor, Samuel Zell, is looking to buyout the Tribune Company by the end of the year which includes: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Hartford, and Miami - Fort Lauderdale. This would allow him to control the newspapers and television stations in those states.
PRINTED MEDIA TAKES A HIT
As advertising gradually slides over to Internet Media the newspaper market is slagging in sales. Part of that is due to the speed of delivery and instant gratification of getting the news when you want it. The consumer can log on line or read the headlines off an RSS feed in his/ her Blackberry and keep on moving. There is almost no time for news in this fast high tech world. Television and Internet media knows how to deliver a story. Often times the news is delivered quick and fast in two minute segments to give you an idea of what is happening. Then it will repeat itself again so you get the point.
CNN has been doing this 30 minute coverage thing for years. It just gives you the headlines of whats going on. Even Internet video clips are 2 minutes max. Media groups like TMZ understand the speed and often restless minds of the public.
WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH DIRECT MARKETING??????
Hold on -- one more thing and we'll moooove this along.
The last time I ordered The Wall Street Journal it turned into a big fiasco. It appears that the Journal has outlet centers that handles their outbound calling for new customers. So when they screw up, (and they do) you have to track down the calling center who placed your ads. It appears that none of these groups have a central information bank. So if for some reason they get your address wrong you're flat out of luck. But don't shed any tears my friends they still get YOUR money.
I called the Journal and they informed me that they weren't responsible. I had to track down the calling center. So I had to wait 6 months until my subscription ran up before the culprits reared their gruesome heads again... and they did. They called back looking for money and at that time I explained to them that I never recieved the paper. So we made peace and I got my paper FINALLY.
The problem is the total lack of responsibility and the apparent ability to accept fault. I was not overjoyed with this ordeal and preferred to get my news online. I have had other foibles with the Detroit Free Press harrassing me all hours of the day and night to buy their paper. The lesser known contemporary Oakland Press used to call me as well. I admit I feel sorry for the smaller Oakland Press going through financial crunches and considered a subscription out of sheer sympathy.
WELCOME TO THE NEW AGE
As a marketer you can see the big guys are scrambling to keep things afloat. The entire news system as we know it is falling apart at the seams. One hand things are getting worse for print media and on the other hand things are getting more complex on the Internet. But in that cyber jungle beats the heart of true entrepreneurship.
Direct Marketers have an advantage here that literally spits in the face of media giants. You can funnel your video clips, audio messages and printed articles and get them into circulation -- even if you live in the same town. Thats a no brainer. For an example consider this simple blog. It is outfitted to partake in the mass media.
I can get subscribers -- run 10 min. video clips -- send out my audio commercials -- run testimonials and hawk my products. I do this without having to sign up any $50,000 dollar radio or television contracts.
And unlike the Wall Street Journal my subscribers have direct contact to me. That is to say my news gets delivered. Its not sitting in the rain in someone elses driveway for weeks on end. The other great thing is that I am totally reachable to my subscribers. They can contact me whenever they want to without walls of burreacratic bullshit. I don't have multiple customer service lines set up with horrible music and pre recorded messages that drive away loyal consumers.
The printed media empire has taken serious body blows from Internet media and direct marketers. Take a look at their slagging advertising sales.
Things are beginning to look very interesting for rebel marketers.
Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 18, 2007 at 7:24 AM
A local investor, Samuel Zell, is looking to buyout the Tribune Company by the end of the year which includes: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Hartford, and Miami - Fort Lauderdale. This would allow him to control the newspapers and television stations in those states.
PRINTED MEDIA TAKES A HIT
As advertising gradually slides over to Internet Media the newspaper market is slagging in sales. Part of that is due to the speed of delivery and instant gratification of getting the news when you want it. The consumer can log on line or read the headlines off an RSS feed in his/ her Blackberry and keep on moving. There is almost no time for news in this fast high tech world. Television and Internet media knows how to deliver a story. Often times the news is delivered quick and fast in two minute segments to give you an idea of what is happening. Then it will repeat itself again so you get the point.
CNN has been doing this 30 minute coverage thing for years. It just gives you the headlines of whats going on. Even Internet video clips are 2 minutes max. Media groups like TMZ understand the speed and often restless minds of the public.
WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH DIRECT MARKETING??????
Hold on -- one more thing and we'll moooove this along.
The last time I ordered The Wall Street Journal it turned into a big fiasco. It appears that the Journal has outlet centers that handles their outbound calling for new customers. So when they screw up, (and they do) you have to track down the calling center who placed your ads. It appears that none of these groups have a central information bank. So if for some reason they get your address wrong you're flat out of luck. But don't shed any tears my friends they still get YOUR money.
I called the Journal and they informed me that they weren't responsible. I had to track down the calling center. So I had to wait 6 months until my subscription ran up before the culprits reared their gruesome heads again... and they did. They called back looking for money and at that time I explained to them that I never recieved the paper. So we made peace and I got my paper FINALLY.
The problem is the total lack of responsibility and the apparent ability to accept fault. I was not overjoyed with this ordeal and preferred to get my news online. I have had other foibles with the Detroit Free Press harrassing me all hours of the day and night to buy their paper. The lesser known contemporary Oakland Press used to call me as well. I admit I feel sorry for the smaller Oakland Press going through financial crunches and considered a subscription out of sheer sympathy.
WELCOME TO THE NEW AGE
As a marketer you can see the big guys are scrambling to keep things afloat. The entire news system as we know it is falling apart at the seams. One hand things are getting worse for print media and on the other hand things are getting more complex on the Internet. But in that cyber jungle beats the heart of true entrepreneurship.
Direct Marketers have an advantage here that literally spits in the face of media giants. You can funnel your video clips, audio messages and printed articles and get them into circulation -- even if you live in the same town. Thats a no brainer. For an example consider this simple blog. It is outfitted to partake in the mass media.
I can get subscribers -- run 10 min. video clips -- send out my audio commercials -- run testimonials and hawk my products. I do this without having to sign up any $50,000 dollar radio or television contracts.
And unlike the Wall Street Journal my subscribers have direct contact to me. That is to say my news gets delivered. Its not sitting in the rain in someone elses driveway for weeks on end. The other great thing is that I am totally reachable to my subscribers. They can contact me whenever they want to without walls of burreacratic bullshit. I don't have multiple customer service lines set up with horrible music and pre recorded messages that drive away loyal consumers.
The printed media empire has taken serious body blows from Internet media and direct marketers. Take a look at their slagging advertising sales.
Things are beginning to look very interesting for rebel marketers.
Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 18, 2007 at 7:24 AM
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Building a Better Mousetrap - Perfecting Your Profit Funnel
"When Is The Right Time To Worry About Your Online Profit Funnel?"
If you're honest - its when the boss gets back from his business vacation. Lets face it. If its not your company or investment then getting something like an excellent online prospect funnel takes the back seat.
If you're REAL honest -- you probably need to build a better mouse trap. This is a very common problem to have in todays hectic world.
If you're REAL honest -- you probably need to build a better mouse trap. This is a very common problem to have in todays hectic world.
GREAT SEO = ONLINE TRAFFIC? ... RIGHT?
A common misconception is that a great SEO campaign is going to take care of all your listings and your online traffic. But the truth is that these two things are completely different disciplines. There are a combination of things that make them work. There are about 50 ways to do it wrong. When you deal with a committee or an organization there is a greater chance that this process will get screwed up. I don't mean to say that its corporate America that can get this wrong.
A common misconception is that a great SEO campaign is going to take care of all your listings and your online traffic. But the truth is that these two things are completely different disciplines. There are a combination of things that make them work. There are about 50 ways to do it wrong. When you deal with a committee or an organization there is a greater chance that this process will get screwed up. I don't mean to say that its corporate America that can get this wrong.
But this goes for any organization that lives to delegate things that are too important to hand off to an expert. Sometimes when you appeal to a mass ego and try to pacify the group by handing out very important elements of your campain --- in the hopes of keeping the peace -- you are burying your company in quicksand.
Great SEO is one element. Web traffic and how you get qualified prospects who do not put up ANY resistance to being contacted is a delicate art form. These are all OPT IN people of course and that is all part of the beauty. Now how you go about that requires a steady hand and a strong sense of knowing whats right.
Respect both components because you are going to need them.
Posted by Ted Cantu on OCT. 14, 2007 at 9:35 PM
Great SEO is one element. Web traffic and how you get qualified prospects who do not put up ANY resistance to being contacted is a delicate art form. These are all OPT IN people of course and that is all part of the beauty. Now how you go about that requires a steady hand and a strong sense of knowing whats right.
Respect both components because you are going to need them.
Posted by Ted Cantu on OCT. 14, 2007 at 9:35 PM
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Digital Web Video - When Dancing Bears Attack!
Green Screens And Web Video - A Match Made In Heaven
A few days ago we shot a green screen shot for financial planning legend, David Newby. He walked onto the web page via green screen and delivered his sales pitch for his live seminar in Mataki, Philippines on Oct. 16, 2007.
This was a great way to introduce new viewers to Newby's amazing services. The Dancing Bear - is a live full body shot that gets loaded onto your web page. This works preferably on a "squeeze page" that captures viewers email addresses and other vital customer information. This is a trend that has a lot of marketers taking notice.
This is a very popular way to get new customers and generate interest......
No Small Production
You must keep in mind that as you do your own green screen shots that there are a lot of steps in the process. The green screen has to be well lit. There are a number of quality soft lights and dimmers that need to light it fully to get an even tone. And by no means should you have sharp shadows or creases in the screen itself. These tend to create a visual disturbance and ruins the effect. The other thing you need to know is that these lights get VERY HOT. So hot in fact they can blow a fuse or even set your living room on fire.... no joke.
If you are going to run these type of lights you may have to hire a professional Gaffer. You can find these professional electricians on WWW.MANDY.COM. They are traditionally used for live video and film shoots. They can read the circuits through your shooting area and find out if you are in a danger or not of blowing a fuse or worse. These guys do not come cheap and they usually have a day rate. This is going to factored into your budget.
Professional lights for green screens are also very heavy. The ones we rented came straight from the days of Ed Sullivan and they were freakin heavy. They came packed in a giant scuff proof suitcase about the size of an Iron Maiden... no joke. This thing was like trying to lift a box full of cement cinder blocks. If you are trying to pull this off in a big city you are going to have problems. Think about getting a truck to unload this stuff at your shoot and make sure your building has freight elevators.
The tripods are also something you will have to contend with. These are not the Best Buy variety. Think along the lines of professional filmmakers variety. These extend to about 9 feet tall and can handle a 10 pound spot lights and diffusers.
CHROMA KEYS R US
As you can see in this clip I knocked the background out and made it all white. Of course you can run any kind of background behind your subject. That is the beauty of working with green screens. Your subject can be on the beach or in a busy city street. You can run video clips behind him or make him walk in a POWERPOINT environment where he becomes one with a presentation. Talk about geek heaven.
** Find out more about David Newby and his Financial Planning seminars, (and how he retired at age 32) at www.prosperouspinoy.com/makati.html
Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 13, 2007 at 9:46 PM
Friday, October 12, 2007
Digital Web Video - Defining Your Moment
The headline read as follows......
INTRODUCING: New, IPOD Web Video Commercials That Get You Instant TOP Level Web Traffic Rankings.... Guaranteed Or Its Free !!
The response was met with skepticism and disbelief. But the bottom line was absolutely true. While so many web services out there are promoting video email and singing its praises another revolution is taking off.... somewhat quietly. See, while the video email business is taking off there is another use for web video that nobody really thought of.
That is the MAGNETIC FACTOR of RSS and high level keywords that pull niche traffic. These are embedded right into the web video itself. From there it is uploaded into the web where it acts like a magnet pulling interested prospects from literally thin air.
This may sound a little too far fetched to seem realistic but that is exactly whats happening. The beauty of this operation is that there is a lot of great potential for web sites that are not popping up on the search engines. This set up allows you to become somewhat of a household name. Your web pages start to pop up in the high levels of Google. This is phenomenon.
BROADCAST FROM THE MOON
I just picked up this 20' Green Screen from an online vendor. I tried to buy one from a local place here in Michigan to support local business. But nobody ever heard of a green screen. The local camera and video places had no idea what I was talking about. So out of frustration I went online and got the one I wanted.
Thanks to chroma key I can knock the background out. My subjects in the video can literally be anyplace -- even the moon if I so choose. This type of arrangement is outrageous. There are no limits to what we can do with this technology.
Imagine being inside the CNN newsroom. How about a cartoon background. Maybe you always dreamed of giving your infomercial from the sunny beaches of Southern Florida. Or perhaps you wanted to do your broadcast from Times Square. Now you can do all that. Its entirely possible.
THE SECRET IS IN THE LIGHTING
You have to know a thing or two about lighting this type of set up. You cannot just throw hard light on your subject as it will make dark shadows which are hard to eliminate with chroma key. Then there is the issue of how many lights you want to use . Studio lights are what you want to stick with. There are some that go soft and some that are spotlight like in nature.
The green screen must be evenly lit for best effect.
WHAT MAKES THIS SO DIFFERENT FROM OTHER VIDEO?
When web video is handled with RSS and SEO your clients come looking for you. The other thing that we never expected was that search engines actually love this stuff. Days after we uploaded our footage we popped up in a lot of other directories. Now we didn't place our stuff in there it just happend to get picked up and distributed. This was pretty interesting.
It didn't just stop there. Our clips started to get watched and passed on to different blogs. You see when the code is created in Google or Youtube.com other people can copy it and place it in the blogs, web pages and so on. There are a lot of places where your clips can pop up. You just sit back and watch your star rise.
To be continued.....
Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 12, 2007 at 6:53 PM.
INTRODUCING: New, IPOD Web Video Commercials That Get You Instant TOP Level Web Traffic Rankings.... Guaranteed Or Its Free !!
The response was met with skepticism and disbelief. But the bottom line was absolutely true. While so many web services out there are promoting video email and singing its praises another revolution is taking off.... somewhat quietly. See, while the video email business is taking off there is another use for web video that nobody really thought of.
That is the MAGNETIC FACTOR of RSS and high level keywords that pull niche traffic. These are embedded right into the web video itself. From there it is uploaded into the web where it acts like a magnet pulling interested prospects from literally thin air.
This may sound a little too far fetched to seem realistic but that is exactly whats happening. The beauty of this operation is that there is a lot of great potential for web sites that are not popping up on the search engines. This set up allows you to become somewhat of a household name. Your web pages start to pop up in the high levels of Google. This is phenomenon.
BROADCAST FROM THE MOON
I just picked up this 20' Green Screen from an online vendor. I tried to buy one from a local place here in Michigan to support local business. But nobody ever heard of a green screen. The local camera and video places had no idea what I was talking about. So out of frustration I went online and got the one I wanted.
Thanks to chroma key I can knock the background out. My subjects in the video can literally be anyplace -- even the moon if I so choose. This type of arrangement is outrageous. There are no limits to what we can do with this technology.
Imagine being inside the CNN newsroom. How about a cartoon background. Maybe you always dreamed of giving your infomercial from the sunny beaches of Southern Florida. Or perhaps you wanted to do your broadcast from Times Square. Now you can do all that. Its entirely possible.
THE SECRET IS IN THE LIGHTING
You have to know a thing or two about lighting this type of set up. You cannot just throw hard light on your subject as it will make dark shadows which are hard to eliminate with chroma key. Then there is the issue of how many lights you want to use . Studio lights are what you want to stick with. There are some that go soft and some that are spotlight like in nature.
The green screen must be evenly lit for best effect.
WHAT MAKES THIS SO DIFFERENT FROM OTHER VIDEO?
When web video is handled with RSS and SEO your clients come looking for you. The other thing that we never expected was that search engines actually love this stuff. Days after we uploaded our footage we popped up in a lot of other directories. Now we didn't place our stuff in there it just happend to get picked up and distributed. This was pretty interesting.
It didn't just stop there. Our clips started to get watched and passed on to different blogs. You see when the code is created in Google or Youtube.com other people can copy it and place it in the blogs, web pages and so on. There are a lot of places where your clips can pop up. You just sit back and watch your star rise.
To be continued.....
Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 12, 2007 at 6:53 PM.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
SEO FIRMS ARE A JOKE!
Man, I gotta lay it on the line.
I was cruising through Google to see where my company popped up and I found something that outraged me to no end. Sure, I'm on the first page for my SEO Firm but thats not whats bugging me. There are a lot of "fly by the night" SEO firms that sprung up out of the woodwork like cockroaches. I have no idea where these firms come from....
Well, hold that thought, I may have some idea....
Let me show you how you can be a REAL SEO FIRM TOO.....
http://www.dreamweavertemplates.com/
Plunk down 60 bucks and get a template and PRESTO! You're an instant SEO firm. Forget certification, forget battle scars, forget time in the field, hell you don't even need to have stepped into a real advertising marketing firm... You're nothing but a scam artist.. ya dig?
And that is precisely what is happening. The other thing about this type of company is that anyone can approach the game this way with no experience. Get a PPC account and all of a sudden you can get a piece of the market share.
For a while anyways....
But can you do this?
http://1seomichigan.com/seo_michigan.html
You see, after my recent trip to New York City I learned something. I found out from top sources that I am in a league of my own. I was the only one on the scene who was knocking out 8 out of the TOP TEN searches in just about every category I got my mitts on. And the kicker was that I was doing this legitimately. Sure, I got a lot of criticism and even a little hate mail. But who cares. I'm a success. I'll take some slander.
Thats what happens when you get to the top.
And getting there takes a lot of hard work. So when I see these firms pop up with no credibility, proof, or clout or credentials I shake my head in disbelief.
When did this become, "THE IN" thing to do? I never knew being a SEO techno geek was so popular. There is only one difference with all this hypey nonsense.
I make this look good.
Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 11, 2007 at 9:54 PM
I was cruising through Google to see where my company popped up and I found something that outraged me to no end. Sure, I'm on the first page for my SEO Firm but thats not whats bugging me. There are a lot of "fly by the night" SEO firms that sprung up out of the woodwork like cockroaches. I have no idea where these firms come from....
Well, hold that thought, I may have some idea....
Let me show you how you can be a REAL SEO FIRM TOO.....
http://www.dreamweavertemplates.com/
Plunk down 60 bucks and get a template and PRESTO! You're an instant SEO firm. Forget certification, forget battle scars, forget time in the field, hell you don't even need to have stepped into a real advertising marketing firm... You're nothing but a scam artist.. ya dig?
And that is precisely what is happening. The other thing about this type of company is that anyone can approach the game this way with no experience. Get a PPC account and all of a sudden you can get a piece of the market share.
For a while anyways....
But can you do this?
http://1seomichigan.com/seo_michigan.html
You see, after my recent trip to New York City I learned something. I found out from top sources that I am in a league of my own. I was the only one on the scene who was knocking out 8 out of the TOP TEN searches in just about every category I got my mitts on. And the kicker was that I was doing this legitimately. Sure, I got a lot of criticism and even a little hate mail. But who cares. I'm a success. I'll take some slander.
Thats what happens when you get to the top.
And getting there takes a lot of hard work. So when I see these firms pop up with no credibility, proof, or clout or credentials I shake my head in disbelief.
When did this become, "THE IN" thing to do? I never knew being a SEO techno geek was so popular. There is only one difference with all this hypey nonsense.
I make this look good.
Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 11, 2007 at 9:54 PM
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