She said she was a web writer and not a blogger. What’s the difference, I asked.

1. Web writing is structured. Has a start, middle, and end. Blogging is often snippets, fragments, and less formal.
2. Web writing is part of a larger process. For example, she writes a series of online articles that will feed into a hardback publication that appears later in the year.
3. Web writing has long-term goals. I think she meant evergreen type content, ie materials that will be of use in five, ten, or fifteen years. Blogging is of the moment, ie more reactive.
4. Web writing is stricter, ie web writers know the rules of grammar and when to apply them. Many bloggers are more relaxed in their spelling, verb constructions, and knowledge of split infinitives
5. Web writing has greater depth. Blogging is slightly superficial. There is less analysis, research, and statistics.
6. Web writing is created by professionals. Bloggers are (mostly) amateurs. And those who succeed soon morph into mainstream publishers, eg writing books that sell in the high street.

Is this fair?

I know what she’s getting at. This is a woman who’s very educated, qualified, and dedicated her career to journalism. Blogging seems (or feels) to be undermining the publishing industry she’s grown up in.

Web Writing v Blogging

In some ways, she’s right.

Blogging is meant to be less formal, more in the moment, and social. You can’t have a blog post go through editorial reviews and get it online within minutes. It’s one or the other. Or is that an excuse?

The Daily Mail online is a good example of less format web publishing, generating oodles of content every day. Not all of it gets proofed or sanity checked. But the model seems to be working.

Do you see a difference in blogging and web writing or have the boundaries merged?

What would you suggest to someone who has ‘traditional’ writing skills (ie degree in English) and is now possibly under threat from waves of bloggers?

Should they stick or twist?

Let’s say you want to position a new search engine against Google. How would you do it? What we mean by positioning is that, from a prospective customer’s perspective, how would they compare your new search engine against Google.

You see this in marketing all time. It’s the simplest way to get to the prospect’s mind, and possibly the most effective in getting them to switch brands (or stay loyal), depending on how effective the product is positioned.

Positioning: 3 mistakes to avoid

So, where do we start? The mistake would be to do as follows:

1. Criticize Google – that makes you look small. It signals to prospective customers that you feel the need to denigrate the competition to assert yourself. Not a winning strategy.
2. Go Head On – in other words, don’t say we’re better than Google, Apple, Nike or whoever and give a laundry list of reasons. This fails as you’re blowing your own trumpet. That’s yesterday’s (failed) tactic.
3. Promote Features – engineers and developers love features. Because that’s what they focus on. Customers don’t. They’re interested in the benefits,  coolness of the product, or its association with a celebrity. Features do work if you’re selling to other engineers, of course. For example, selling hardware or micro chips.

Positioning: new search engine

Instead, side-step the google issue and look for a different angle. Actually, you should stop competing with Google in your own head first, and then develop a series of tactics that allows you to convince others why your search engine is the best choice.

1. Define the market segment - don’t target everyone. Focus on one group, for example, parents. Then develop a trustworthy search engine that resonates with them. In many ways, this makes your life easier. By focussing on one segment, you can tailor your product,  brand, and business model. Compare this to trying to please everyone.
2. Focus on one benefit - instead of trying to be the best search engine, which is a huge task, zero in on one area, for example, security, family friendly, or that supports the environment. I’d say the family friendly search engine would do the best. This reduces a lot of the fears in parents, and also reduces the costs and hassle of child monitoring software.
3. Develop a community  - think of Wikipedia. Imagine if you could harness the goodwill of a community and get them to develop a search engine, for the people by the people…

Positioning is about how others perceive you. It helps to be the first as you can write the ‘script’ for the customer. Saying that, if you can find a legitimate angle, where there is a demand, then you can own this space, ie as you’re the first one to identify it.

This is very different than trying to undercut someone on price, creating more features (many of which will rarely be used or valued), and running (expensive) advertising campaigns.

The book that helped me understand Positioning is by Al Ries. You can pick up a copy here.

PS – how would you position a new search engine?

Why me? One of the kids shouted out while spawning on Minecraft. Why me and not someone else?

Why Me in Kids

When we hear this in others, it strikes a chord but not the one (I expect) they’d hope in us. When the kids gets slaughtered on Minecraft or the Xbox, it’s not that serious. You’ll know they’ll be ok pretty soon, especially if they find some rare jewels. It’s a hunt, build, and destroy game.

Why Me in Adults

But it’s different when we hear it in adults.

Why me?

Injustice.

• Why should I have to face this?
• What did I do to deserve this?
• Why shouldn’t it be someone else?

Why not you?

One of the harshest lessons I’ve learnt is that there if you’re expecting justice at home, work, or on this planet, you’ll be disappointed.

And become bitter in the process.

Accepting that injustice is part of life changes things.

For example, last night I had to stay at work until 9pm. You could – and I did – rationalize this and look and the pros and cons of having a job and so forth.

But that’s not the point. Sometimes it’s your turn. And that’s it.

Accepting it somehow lessens the blow.

How do you cope when you feel why me?

If I said Flann O’Brien’s At Swim-Two-Birds was better than Ulysses you’d probably smirk. After all, very few have heard of Flann O’Brien outside of the UK, whereas Joyce is a literary icon.

But I still prefer At Swim Two Birds. And, if you haven’t read it, you’re in for a treat.

It’s hard not to like a novel that decides on the first page to start with three storylines instead of one.

Indeed, the rest of the novel sees the storylines interweave, rising and falling, like lines of music in a cantata.

But it’s never becomes clever-clever or ‘artistic’ in a self-conscious way. Instead, you’re drawn into the comical works of the pooka, good fairy, Finn Mac Cool and Mad King Sweeney. That’s the same Sweeney that TS Eliot refers to in The Waste Land. Here his role is slightly less profound.

Book Review: Flann O’Brien At Swim Two Birds

Like I said, it has three storylines:

1. Pooka MacPhellimey, “a member of the devil class”.
2. John Furriskey, a fictional character created by Dermot Trellis, a writer of Westerns.
3. Comical adaptations of Irish legends, mostly concerning Finn Mac Cool and Mad King Sweeney.

If you’ve seen Woody Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose, you’ll be familiar with the characters coming off-screen and into real life to accomplish their objectives. Pirandello does something like this in Six Characters in Search of an Author.

For example, towards the climax of the book the characters, which include Finn, Sweeney, the Pooka and the Good Fairy (who lives in the Pooka’s pocket), meet in a hotel and decide to overthrow their author.

I won’t spoil the ending and tell you what happens next… things never go according to plan.

At Swim-Two-Birds was accepted for publication by Longman’s on the recommendation of Graham Greene.

Is it any good?

Dylan Thomas said “This is just the book to give your sister – if she’s a loud, dirty, boozy girl”.

Anthony Burgess considered it one of the ninety-nine greatest novels written between 1939 and 1984.

Graham Greene went further and said: It is in the line of Tristram Shandy and Ulysses: its amazing spirits do not disguise the seriousness of the attempt to present, simultaneously as it were, all the literary traditions of Ireland. [...] We have had books inside books before now, and characters who are given life outside their fiction, but O’Nolan (aka Flann O’Brien) takes Pirandello and Gide a long way further.

The book sold poorly when published for different reasons. The reviews were mostly dismissive, especially in Ireland. The warehouse where the booked were stored in the UK was destroyed in a fire. It was not until the 60s that the book became more appreciated with writers such as Borges praising its style, composition, and distinctiveness.

Stephen Fry is also said to be a fan, and he seems to be impeccable taste

Have you read At Swim-Two-Birds? Do you think it’s as good as The Third Policeman?

…because it implies that the other person created some type of problem. Scroll down for more…

Was it really a problem? Probably not.

Instead, look for ways to substitute this negative response.

How about, it’s a pleasure, delighted to help, or you’re welcome.

See the difference?

Saying no problem is a reflex. It’s a habit that’s been tattooed into our daily interactions.

Look for ways to nip these in the bud and then weed them out.

Another is have a nice day. But let’s leave that for now.

What expressions do you hear yourself saying and wish you could change?

Image by Leo Reynolds

Why do we relish bad reviews? Oliver James warns, “We want to hear about bad things happening to other people, because it makes us feel better about ourselves.”

If you believed the experts, you’d think that the only way to succeed online was to be nice, fair, and generous.

The reality is different. I’ve been writing online since Netscape launched it’s first browser. So, I’ve seen a lot. Just by observing things online you can learn tactics that – if you want – you can apply to your own business. If you want.

Bad v Good Reviews

One of things I’ve noticed is that, negative reviews provoke people into a response. It seems that if something is framed in the right way, you can tempt people to get off the fence and

• defend the person, site, movie, song under attack or
• join in the Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
  massacre the site, movie, song even more.

Don’t believe me?

How much time do you spend reading reviews of the best restaurants in town? Very little, I’d say. But, when you see someone lay into some celebrity chef, it’s hard not to lean forward and read with glee why the gold star eatery is really an over-priced dive.

Jay Rayner makes this point on The Guardian, saying that, “Nobody would want to read a bunch of my positive appraisals. But give them write-ups which compare the food to faecal matter, the decor to an S&M chamber and the service to something the staff of a Russian gulag would reject for being too severe, and then readers are interested”

How to write bad reviews

Let’s say you want to run an experiment and see if bad reviews do get more traffic. Here’s a suggested approach, and some warnings.

• Choose a topic you are familiar with. Don’t rant about something about which you have no knowledge. Readers will pick up on this very quickly.
• Find other articles that have covered this topic from a POSITIVE angle.
• Write the article and pepper it with inflammatory phrases, slightly outlandish claims, and extreme conclusions. Looking for inspiration? Listen to Rush Limbaugh or others like him.
• Make sweeping statements. Use phrases such as ‘as everybody knows’, ‘only a fool would disagree with..’, ‘it’s obvious to an intelligent person that’ and so on. Use these constructions to provoke the reader into contradicting your claims.
• Support your arguments with quotes, stats, and other evidence that proves your assertion.
• Close the article by defying the reader to oppose your view. Or to step forward and agree with what you said.

Risks with bad reviews

While this does work, you can’t write endless posts dissing others. It gets tedious after a while. You’ll develop a reputation as a ranter. Instead,  balance the negativity with more reflective posts. This gives the readers a chance to pause and get their breath back. Then, when the moment is right, launch another scathing attack on the next hapless victim

Is this approach justified? Is it a dignified way to make a living? Should you do it?

It depends.

Like many things in life, it’s critical to know what motivates others. What makes them take action online? What tactics can you use to persuade (read: Influence) readers online.

Maybe I’m wrong. What do you think?

Like to improve your grammar? Who wouldn’t.

We’ve all been caught out by the grammar police. That terrible smile when they remind you of your mixed tenses, clumsy constructions, and split infinitives. Wouldn’t it be nice to get a real understanding of grammar?

How to improve your grammar

As someone who’s struggled with dyslexia through school (when the condition wasn’t even known) and my professional career, grammar proved to be a minefield.

The paradox at school was that while I loved language, I was often felt let down by the clumsy way I’d apply the rules of grammar to essays, short stories and (later on) novels.

Something I sidestepped for many years was getting to grips with the basics of grammar. In my heart, I felt it would be too difficult. Try as I might, I knew I’d defeat myself if I tried.

In reality, I was probably a bit scared of failure and… lazy.

Finally, I got tired of my own excuses and tackled it.

So, here’s how to get started:

1. Admit to yourself that your grammar isn’t the best, and that you’d like to improve it. That’s enough to get started. Once you recognize it’s a problem, you can look for a solution.
2. Sign up for a few newsletters about writing, grammar and words. Anything that stretches you a little. Surround yourself with new sources of information that develop your skills in a nice, steady way.
3. Keep a dictionary next to your desk. Go sell yourself short. Buy a nice book that you’ll keep for years. Even better – buy an antique dictionary. It’s hard not to leaf through a lovely old book and learn new words… without really trying.
4. Learn a new language. The enthusiasm of learning new words will carry into other areas and improve your grammar skills in the process. Again, keep it light. Enjoy the process.
5. Focus on one topic every week. For example, learn the difference between a colon and a semicolon. Really nail it so you never have to think twice about this again. Then move onto another area, for example, adjectives. Jump in deep (just for one week) and learn everything you can about this one area.
6. Read a newspaper with a highlighter in hand. Circle every word you don’t understand. Look up those that catch your attention. The more you do this, the faster you’ll zip through the dictionary.
7. Identify errors in newspapers. Or what you think are errors. Look them up and work out for yourself if they’re correct.

Don’t:

• Try to do too much too soon.
• Expect overnight result.
• Let it slide after the first week.

Finally, reward yourself when you see little victories.

Here’s three books that might help:

• The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language
• Grammar By Diagram Workbook
• How to Edit Your Own Writing

PS: be your own best friend when you try to go this. Surround yourself with quality materials, and enjoy the process of learning. And before you know it, what seemed impenetrable will suddenly become clear

Isn’t it nice when you see something that feels just right? I saw this sign outside Gallagher’s pub on D’olier Street last week.

It’s a nice twist on the best things in life are not free.

But there’s something else that works. Most of the time, not always, but mostly, we look for meaning and satisfaction in things.

The latest ipad, new sneakers, better wifi, a stronger blend of coffee. Belgium beer.

The problem though is that once the novelty wears off, or you see someone with a better, faster, or cooler version, you need another fix.

And so off we go to the mall or Amazon. The cycle continues.

But here’s the interesting thing. If you look back on your life, it’s the moments with people that have the deepest resonance. For whatever reason, being around people creates memories.

Deep, permanent memories.

The older I get, the faster the years spin by. Days flow by like water as Goethe used to say.

See: Maxims and Reflections

Something in this sign reminded me of this.

PS – the paradox was/is that my little ipod took the picture. One of the things that also gives me great pleasure. So, it’s not always about people

Isn’t it strange that women make the best murder mystery writers? Well, maybe it isn’t but there is something in me that wonders why women writers have this genre nailed.

Why women make the best murder writers?

This little story is true.

I was in the office many years ago and two of the girls started chatting about some murder show on TV.

They were both rabbitting on about how predictable it was and, if they were writing the story, they’d have changed the plot?

For example, I asked.

Well, the first one said, it was very naive to kill the person on a mountain top.

Why?

Because, the corpse would be preserved and leave evidence. Better to thrown the body into the river. The other nodded in agreement and then expanded on the point.

And on it went for ten minutes…

It struck me that the girls were looking at this in a very clinical way. And it was that distance that allowed them to cross-check the plot, see gaps, and close any loopholes. I’m not sure guys have the patience.

Maybe they like to get started and into the action, regardless of the consequence. I’m not sure.

In either case, I’m surrounded by wonderful books by female murder writers but not one by a man.

Here’s some I have:

• Margery Allingham – pure gold!
• Ruth Rendell
• Ann Ranger
• PD James

What do you think? Who would you add to this list?

What’s wrong with this 404 page on StumbleUpon? Before we start, the cats are lovely and SU is a goldmine. Saying that, there’s always room for improvement.  Read how to improve error messages, help, forms, and other crisis points if this topic interests you.

What is a 404 Page?

First, what is a 404 page?

It’s the page you’re shown, when the site’s search engine (or index) can’t find what you’re looking for.

In other words, you search for some phrase, it searches the index, and if it’s not there, you get a 404 page.

How to write 404 Pages

I know it sounds simple but develop the page with the reader in mind. Instead of telling them that they made an error or, even worse, there is nothing you can do for them, look at the problem as an opportunity.

Here’s how:

• What word, phrase or acronym did they use? Capture this in a log file. If it keeps coming up in searches, see if you need to add it to your index or list of keywords.
• What were they trying to find? For example, if they typed in the name of the product incorrectly, be smart enough to give them the correct page?
• What should they do next? Here’s where  StumbleUpon could improve the page very easily. If your site has a directory (or site map), add this to the 404 page. Instead of hitting Back, maybe they will use the site map instead.
• Mind your Langauge. Don’t blame or suggest that the user got it wrong. Keep it light and find ways to help them get to their destination. For example, include a link to your tech support’s twitter account. That’s what it’s there for, right?

How to improve 404 Pages

There’s often something negative about 404 pages. I think this may be because they are often:

• Written as an after-thought.
• Often by the developers (not web writers).
• Seen as low value.

Try to turn this around. Look for ways to help stranded readers find their way back to the page – or close to the page – they were looking for.

Give them at least two way to do this. For example, include a site map and a contact form on the 404 page.

You want them to contact you, right?

If not, then they’ll pick up on this and go elsewhere.

And this may be the real problem with 404 pages. When I land on one, I feel that it’s my fault. Words like ‘error’and ‘incorrect’ should be removed from these pages.

Instead, flip it around. Ask how you can help them find what they’re looking for?

StumbleUpon got it half right with the cute cats and the map… but they forgot to show us, the lost reader, the map.

How would you improve this 404 page?

I know it sounds slightly silly but how do you spell J.P. Morgan?

Why am I asking this apparently meaningless question?

Well, you could be forgiven for thinking there were several firms masquerading as J.P. Morgan if you searched the web recently.

There’s:

• J.P. Morgan
• JP Morgan and
• JPMorgan

Is any of this important?

No, not really.

Unless you want others to spell your name correctly. For example, in the news, in publications, when your CEO is quoted, or on the stock exchange.

The problem here isn’t how others spell your company. Rather, it’s how you value your own identify and, as a result, how others respond to this.

Here’s another way of looking at it.

We all know what’s it’s to be introduced to someone else… by the wrong name.

“Sorry, it’s Ivan, not Ian.“
“Excuse me, it’s Alejandro…. not Alexander.“
“By the way, it’s pronounced ‘Huan’ not Guan.“

You get the idea.

We’re super quick to correct others if they get our name wrong.

So, why do firms like J.P. Morgan let others misspell their own name?

A few reasons:

• Controls – it’s difficult (read: impossible) to control real time information feeds, social media, and other channels. See Designing Brand Identity.
• Interpretations – when your name includes initials, eg JP, different editors will spell it differently based on THEIR style guides.
• Design – if your visual brand does not highlight how your name should be written, then you’ve given others the opportunity to get creative. Something you don’t want, I’m sure.

How to cure this?

• Provide examples in your press kit.
• Contact the most influential editors and ask them (very nicely) if they could use the correct spelling from now on. Be super careful here as you don’t want to make them look silly. Keep it light.
• Include logos with the correct spelling as examples.
• Share this information with your own staff. If they get it wrong, what chance will others have?

Did you know… Microsoft used to be written as MicroSoft.

Any idea why it changed this?

Can you think of other examples of companies changing how their names were spelt.

What’s great about this gem from P.G. Wodehouse is that it applies to all types of writing: business, fiction, and web.

“Always get to the dialogue as soon as possible. I always feel the thing to go for is speed. Nothing puts the reader off more than a big slab of prose at the start.”

Web Writing: Unlearning Bad Habits

One of the difficulties I had when I started to write for the web was that the style I had been taught in school didn’t work online. Maybe you’ve experienced the same thing.

Writing long, flowery prose is fine for essays but, on the web, it’s brevity that wins.

Why?

Because on the web:

1. We scan for information.
2. We’re in a hurry.
3. We’re searching for signposts (keywords) and
4. We want an ANSWER to a specific problem.

Think about it.

You visit a site with some problem, query, or interest in mind. Then you go searching. Scanning over pages for the words that provide the answer.

This is so different than padding out a 3,000 word essay on the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Web Writing Formula

One way I’ve managed to make this transition from academic writing to web writing is to use the following formula:

1. Give yourself fifteen minutes to write a post. No more.
2. Use short words only. For example, write get instead of procure.
3. Remove adjectives unless than are critical. Streamline the waffle.
4. Use bullets and headings to structure the post.
5. Read it out loud. Sound pretentious, timid, boring? Go back and revise the text until it rings true.

And that’s really it.

That doesn’t mean everything you write has to be simplistic and shallow. Far from it. Instead, it means you get to the point faster, help the reader identify what they need to understand, and guide them to the next page, post, or site you recommend.

What’s the hardest thing about writing for the web?

Have you noticed how Copyblogger is moving from a ‘traditional’ blog to a solutions provider offering web marketing tools? Some people feel that Copyblogger should have stuck to its roots and built a better blog, but I’m not so sure.

As they say, “To stay in business, you need to be in business.”

What Copyblogger’s currently doing allows it to scale, integrate, and increases its capital value.

How many blogs can you say that about?

Web Business Models: Which work best?

Let’s back up a second. Most ‘blogs’ struggle to make money.

Why?

Their business model relies on revenue streams that are often beyond its control.

The three most common forms of revenue generation on the web are:

• Advertising
• Services
• Products

Advertising is the one most start with.

It’s very easy to add Google Adsense to your site. However, you need a phenomenal amount of traffic to make a genuine living from it. Trust me, you really do. And anyone telling you otherwise is telling a porky.

• Services are fine but they’re hard to scale. There are only so many hours in the day. You can’t service clients in your sleep. Try it!
• Products are the most difficult to develop. But the most lucrative… if you get it right.

What’s interesting for me is how Copyblogger developed a path that allowed it to escape from the blogging thread-mill and create something more substantial, with more value, and less dependency on web traffic.

Using your blog as a platform

If you go back to when Copyblogger started, it was like most blogs except that it identified, isolated and owned its niche very quickly. It grew incredibly fast.

This allowed it developed educational tools, such as Teaching Sells, which appealed to its readers.

However, the problem was scale.

Teaching Sells was/is limited to a number of subscribers. My understanding is that it’s run every year, sells out, and then re-runs the next year.

But wouldn’t something the sells 24×7 make more money?

Developing Complementary Solutions

Copyblogger moved into product development a few years ago with the Thesis Theme. This is probably the top-selling premium WordPress theme.

For different reasons, Copyblogger separated from the Thesis Theme developer and created their own offering – The Genesis Framework.

What’s interesting here is that what started as a copywriting site began to offer products that complemented their readers’ needs.

Copyblogger started to develop web products, built upon a strong brand name, that helped bloggers, ie their army of loyal readers, to be more successful.

At the moment, it offers three main products:

• StudioPress for Blog Design
• Scribe for Web Traffic
• Premise for creating Landing Pages

Scaling

The advantage of having this suite of products is obvious:

• Affiliates help spread the word and create more sales.
• It’s less dependent on weaker business models, such as advertising which has taken a huge hit in the recession.
• It can integrate these products with other partners
•  Upsell opportunities can be realized by selling premium and enterprise versions

Conclusion

Here’s another way of looking at it. Take a look at the AdAdge Power 150 and see which of the sites in the top twenty you’d like to own.

• Which sites have the best opportunities for revenue generation and licensing?
• Which sites can be scaled, i.e. build other products upon what’s already there?
• Which sites can expand into other verticals and industries?

Most sites cannot scale, have few independent revenue streams, and are vulnerable to competition.

What’s interesting about Copyblogger is how it’s building for the future. Instead of building a better blog, it’s building a better business.

What do you think? Is Copyblogger making the right move? Has it abandoned its roots? What do you think it will do next?

Want to improve your web writing skills? This short tutorial will 1) help you break old writing habits that don’t work on the web and 2) show you how to develop a writing style that’s more ‘natural’ for blogging.

Breaking bad writing habits

Ok, this is a bit harsh but what I want to do is get you away from how you were taught in school.

Academic writing doesn’t work on the web. Neither does formal business writing.

To write for the web, examine how others use it to search, digest, and share information.

Here’s how to get started:

• Go to the newsagent
• Buy a local newspaper, national paper and business magazine
• Get a yellow marker
• Start reading

Underline every piece of text you read. Ignore the rest. Do this for five minutes, then stop.

How we scan text offline

What do you notice?

The page will be streaked with yellow lines here and there. There will no logical order.
But lots of underlines where your eye fell on text, read a little, and then moved on.

Why is this important?

Because this is how most of us read. We don’t actually read.

• We search for text
• Find what we like
• Dig deeper for a few minutes (at most) and then
• Search for the next piece

Of course, you do slow down when you’re reading certain pieces. But, when reading, say the sports section, you skip and bounce over the words looking for scores, quotes and other snippets.

You don’t ‘read’ read if that makes sense.

How we scan text online

Let’s move over to the web.

When you’re reading text on the web, your eye roves over the screen. It doesn’t start at the top and read each and every word.

Why?

You’re in a hurry. Pushed for time, seeking information, scanning blocks of text looking for clues.

So, how can we use this when writing blogs and developing web content.

When I work with clients, I usually start by showing them Before and After writing samples.

This shows them a few things:

• How difficult it was to read their materials
• How ineffective it was in getting engagement
• How it demotivated readers from continuing
• How it made the sales process almost impossible and
• How it persuaded customers to leave the site

No sane person wants this.

We all want customers to stay on site, engage, and buy our stuff. Otherwise, what are we doing online?

How to write for the web

While I can’t teach you to be professional web writer in one tutorial, you can use these tips to get started.

1. Get to the point. Immediately.
2. Identify the main topic. “What you’re going to learn here is…”
3. Use short headlines. Include one feature and one benefit.
4. Keep paragraphs under three sentences.
5. Break up text fast. See how daily newspapers do it. There’s no waffle.
6. Use short, not long words. Buy instead of procure. Get instead of acquire. Fast instead of rapid.
7. Use bullet lists to callout takeaways.
8. If you’re going to use images, add a caption.
9. Use ragged text. Don’t force the text to align with the right margin.
10. Use white space to help the page breath.
11. Use short hyperlinks. Don’t under-link entire sentences.
12. Use the word ‘you’ everywhere. I’m writing this post for YOU.

Summary

It takes practice to ‘re-learn’ how to write for the web; after all, you’ve spent years writing in a different style, so it’s going to take time to change.

Look at how others do it. See how John structures this post, how Eamonn uses a natural writing style, Gene uses lists to break up text,  and Ryan provides lots of white space to improve readability.

The end result is a confident writing style that draws you in and makes you want to continue. And it’s not difficult to acquire. But you have to decide you want to make it happen.

Over to you.

What blogger has the best writing style? What have you learned from the way they write?

Image Credit

What’s the difference between writing for the web and writing for a magazine? There’s at least five main differences. Two of the most critical relate to scanning and heatmaps.

Why readers scan (not read) webpages?

On the web, we scan pages, posts, and tweets.

We don’t read every line word by word, unless the writer is clever and breaks up the text fast – like I’m going to do:)

We scan text for three reasons:

• Find what’s we’re after
• See if it’s interesting
• Decide where to go next

Let’s take a second look at this, because it’s worth examining.

When people come to your webpage, what do they want to do?

I’d say they want to:

• Scan the main sections, (e.g. hierarchy, menus, images etc) and determine what it’s about
• Research shows they stay for as little as three seconds before deciding where to go next. In other words, you have less than a heartbeat to persuade them to stay and continue browing.
• If they decide to stay, it’s the content on the top (usually left) part of the screen they read first.

Why?

Because westerners (people, not the movies) are trained to read from…

• …left to right and
• top to bottom

Designing content to be scanned and read

So, how can you encourage readers to stay on your site that little bit longer?

Here’s a tactic that works:

• Write headlines that combines a benefit with an emotional response. Don’t focus on either heart or heart. Try to appeal to both.
• Keep the headline under six words.
• Add a summary under the headline. This helps the reader understand the context of the article, i.e. where am i?, and hopefully to read onwards.
• Use transitions to carry the reader from the summary into the body of the article. How? Ask questions, make a statement, suggest what’s next or create a little controversy.

Developing Content based on Heatmaps

This brings us to ‘heatmaps’. In simple english, this refers to a ‘map’ which shows where readers look most on pages.

The areas they read most appear in Red.

For you, when developing web content, this means placing the most critical pieces of content…

• Call to Actions
• Primary Links
• Adverts

…in the red zones of the heat map.

Why?

If 90% of your readers are focussed here, why place these links elsewhere? You’ll get no clicks anyway.

Content placed…

• In sidebars, e.g. banner ads
• In large blocks of text and
• Below the fold, i.e. you have to scroll down to see it

…are rarely examined.

The Two Second Eye Tracking Test

The good news is that you don’t need expensive software to test your site’s content. Here’s a low tech way to see your content the way new visitors to your site do:

• Open your website on a laptop, not a large monitor.
• Sit back (don’t lean in, they don’t).
• Squint your eyes and look at the page.

What do you see?

If you’re honest, you’ll see a banner, your logo, and maybe the title of today’s article.

Now, keep squinting… and find the most important call to acton on the page.

• Can you see it?
• Does it stand out?
• Do you feel like clicking on it?

How to write content reader want to click

That’s the bottom line, right?

Ok, here’s how to do it.

• Write short headlines.
• Use plain english. Avoid puns.
• Lead with a benefit, such as How To Reduce…
• Include a short summary.
• Use bullet lists to break up the text.
• Use sub heads, e.g. H2, to format the page.
• Use images sparingly. If so, add a caption.
• White space helps text breath.
• Avoid cool fonts – use industry standard fonts
• Use slightly larger than normal font sizes.
• Use a limited color palate.

Conclusion

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Developing web content looks easy until you test its performance. Try and optimize it by 1%. Tricky, isn’t it.

The key to developing clickable web content is to 1) first understand how people read on the web and 2) develop scannable content based on these behaviors.

What have you found?

Have you noticed that readers scan pages faster than they used to? What type of content gets the most clicks? Where do you position images?

Which is better for selling goods online?  Clickbank or eJunkie? You’ve probably heard of Clickbank, so why go with Ejunkie?

There are three ways to make money online. Products. Services. Advertising. The real money is in selling products. You own the product, make 100% of the sale, and can setup affiliate programs if you want. You can also create upsell opportunities with your newsletter. Sounds good?

So, how do you do it? I started with Clickbank. It’s very good, not perfect, for selling digital goods. I’ve used it for nine years and seen it improve dramatically. E-junkie is another site that lets you buy and sell digital goods online. Let’s compare them and see which is best.

Why I like E-junkie to sell digital goods

E-junkie is less well-known than Clickbank but has some powerful tools for upselling, digital delivery and secure downloads. It’s not free but at 5 USD per month for 10 goods, it won’t break the bank.

• Cost – It costs $5 dollars a month to sell 10 goods. The pricing structure is staggered depending on the number of products you sell and/or bandwidth you want.

• Quality – The quality of the information products and digital goods is high. The marketplace is smaller than Clickbank, I think. I stand corrected on this.
• Delivery – Downloads are sent by email. With Clickbank, you have to create a web page where the customer goes to buy the product. Some customers don’t get it and expect an email with the digital good. Customer support can take time and time is money.
  
• Affiliate – You can setup affiliate programs in a snap. Couldn’t be much easier.
• Product Listing – you can add multiple digital products to its online marketplace. With Clickbank, you need to apply/create a master account and then link different accounts to each product. Takes time.
• Guarantee – no guarantee. It’s up to you to resolve with the affiliate manager.
• PayPal – integrates with PayPal, which also allows you to upsell digital productsl.
• Upsell – it has a built-in tool that lets you create a shopping cart and upsell other products. Possibly the one reason to choose E-junkie over Clickbank.

Why I like Clickbank to sell digital goods

• Cost – Clickbank is free!
• Quality – The quality of the digital goods may not be as high. However, the range of products is larger.
• Guarantee – you get a minimum 60 day guarantee on all products.
• Affiliate – You can setup affiliate programs, add commissions and get tips in the affiliate newsletter.
• Product Listing – you can add one core product to its marketplace. However, you can create a Master account and add different products. It’s doable but a little cumbersome.
  Clickbank Analytics Page
• Delivery – you have to create a web page where the customer goes to buy the product. Some customers don’t understand this and expect an email with the digital goods. Customer support can take time and time is money. Also, some close the download page and don’t receive the product, then request a refund. With E-junkie, they get an email with a link to the product. There is also a limit on the number of times/days they can attempt to download the product.
• Upsell – Clickbank has a manual system that lets you upsell digital products. I got the PDF with instructions but never actually tried. Too much coding and testing involved. I want something that’s automated.
• PayPal – integrates with PayPal and 2Checkout.
• Shopping Cart - built-in shopping cart that helps upsell products and increase sales. You can do this manually on Clickbank (e.g. hardcode HTML pages) but if you change the prices, then you need to go back and manually change the web pages.

Which is best for selling digital goods?

• While Clickbank is free, the five dollars for EJ shouldn’t stop you. Not if you’re serious about selling goods online.
• Quality is hard to tell until you buy. Clickbank’s reputation is better than it was and they are trying to give extra support to power users. I have a dedicated Relationship Manager, for example.
• Clickbank gives you a 60 day guarantee.
• E-junkie is a little easier for setting up affiliate programs, especially as you can separate out different products. How sure how to do this with Clickbank, tbh.
• Clickbank lets you add one core product to its Marketplace. You can apply for a Master account and add different products. With E-junkie the process is much simpler.
• Delivery – Clickbank makes you create a web page for every product, which must be open 24*7. Security issues here. The link can also be passed around. Not ideal! Many customers expect email delivery. After the purchase, some close the browser and don’t receive the product – request refunds. E-junkie sends them an email with a link to the product. Limit on the number of times/days they can attempt to download it. You can update this.
• E-junkie has a nice tool for creating a shopping cart and upselling.
• Both integrate with PayPal.
• E-junkie has a built-in shopping cart that links to PayPal. Great for upselling information products and long-tail products. You have to do this manually on Clickbank and if you change prices etc, then you need to locate, change and ftp the web pages.

Which do I use to sell digital products?

Both. I have so many products that moving them to E-junkie (mostly for the shopping cart feature) takes time. Some friends suggested that I use 1Shopping Cart to sell my digital products instead!

What do you suggest? Looking forward to hearing from you.

About the Author: Ivan Walsh is a recovering technical writer who develops internet business plans for savvy clients .He also shares business tips for smart people at Klariti.

How do you define social media? My definition? An Operating System for humans.

The parallels between a computer operating system’s DNA and how Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms interlink is closer than you’d think. As in The Matrix, because you’re inside, it hard to see how it operates.

Why Social Media is an Operating System For Humans?

One way to start is to define what is social media…

Let’s define computer Operating systems and then see if it matches how we understand social media.

An Operating System is defined as:

• Software that supports a computer’s basic functions, such as scheduling tasks, executing applications, and controlling peripherals. [Google]
• …without an operating system, a user cannot run an application program on their computer, unless the application program is self booting. [Wikipedia]
• …are multiuser, multiprocessing, multitasking, multithreading, and real-time operating systems. [WiseGeek]

Social Media is defined as:

• …a set of technologies and channels targeted at forming and enabling a potentially massive community of participants to productively collaborate. [Gartner]
• Digital content and interaction that is created by and between people. Sam Decker – Mass Relevance
• Extends engagement by creating real-time online events, extending online interactions offline, or augmenting live events online. Heidi Cohen – Riverside Marketing Strategies
• Online communications in which we shift instantly and easily between the role of audience and creator – without needing to know how to code. We do this by using social software that incorporates functions like publishing, sharing, friending, commenting, linking and tagging. Joe Thornily

Social Media – The Human Operating System

Can you see the threads they have in common?

…multiuser, multiprocessing, multitasking, multithreading, and real-time operating systems

Social media networks allow us to:

• Where we share information across different platforms in real time
• Respond, engage, like/dislike, connect/disconnect to form stronger bonds with other members of the network
• Use different personas to engage on different levels

And, most importantly, would feel lost if exiled from the system.

Conclusion

Social media is no longer a fad but a necessity. It’s hard for me to live without it. There’s an emotional itch that needs to be scratched.

Do we struggle emotionally when our social media operating systems were taken away from us?

Is our personal identify increasingly based on how others respect our social media ‘persona’?

One final question.

Which do you put more energy into? How others perceive you online or off-line. Before you hit Reply, think about it for a moment…

Before we go. It’s your turn.

Social media is ________________

What’s Facebook’s EdgeRank? In short, EdgeRank is to Facebook, what PageRank is to Google. If you’re managing a Facebook business page, you need to monitor your EdgeRank and determine which variables influence your page’s performance.

Facebook EdgeRank: What is it?

In simple terms, it’s the set of metrics Facebook uses to determine your page’s value.

Why is this important?

Your Facebook EdgeRank determines if your posts are shared with other pages/people that have ‘liked’ you.

What this means is that, even though someone has liked your page, if your posts have a low Facebook EdgeRank… it may not appear in their newsfeed, i.e. the stream of posts that appear on their page when logged in.

If you have a low Facebook EdgeRank, your posts, comments, and ‘likes’ don’t get shared upstream. It’s a bit like not appearing in Google’s search results.

Therefore, if you’ve noticed a drop in the traffic to your Facebook page, it’s probably because your Facebook EdgeRank has dropped.

Facebook EdgeRank: How to Improve it?

There are different tactics, but the following are worth examining:

• Third Party APIs – Reduce (or stop) direct feeds from third party APIs, such as Hootsuite. Research shows that this may have a negative impact on your EdgeRank.
• Embed Videos – Instead of linking to videos, embed the actual video on your page. If you don’t see the option for doing this, install a video plugin or drop me a line.
• Engagement – Instead of posting generic status updates (which have very low social interaction), look for ways to create a dialogue with others.
• Organic Likes – Avoid buying Likes (no, really don’t) and work at getting more Likes from like-minded Facebook users.
• Investment – Think long-term and invest in your page. Invest in tools, templates, and training courses that bring you up to speed faster with Facebook. TechCrunch doesn’t know everything
• Share Images – Words power Google. Images power Facebook. And videos are catching up! Find ways to source, share, and get comments on more images.

Remember, Facebook is all about being social. So, think social, community, and engage. If you’re using the same tactics on Facebook as you do on Google, you’ll get very little returns.

Over to you.

What affects your Facebook EdgeRank the most? What tactics do you use to monitor your page’s performance? And what mistakes do we need to avoid?

Clickbank’s reputation as a site for selling digital products, such as eBooks, has improved recently. It certainly had teething problems at the start but most have been sorted out now. When John Chow and ShoeMoney use it to sell their online courses, you know it’s got to be good. But, what if you’re still not convinced? What are the other options for selling goods online?

Why Leave Clickbank?

I decided to look into this. I contacted other ecommerce companies that help you sell online to see if they offered better value.

What I was really looking for was a compelling reason to switch from Clickbank and move to them.

Could they persuade me to move? Let’s take a look.

Why Sell Digital Products?

I’ve sold ebooks, software, reports, online services through Clickbank for ten years.

Customers like the simplicity of the Clickbank shopping experience. It lets them get in and out with minimum hassle. For that reason, we’ve stayed with them.

But, if you’re starting out, then look at your options before making a commitment.

For me, the attraction of selling Digital Goods, such as Information Products is that there are:

• No cost to produce
• No time to deliver
• No shipping costs
• No physical production

How Much Does Clickbank Really Cost?

Clickbank charges about 7.5% commission and a small fee for every transaction.

While this is not ideal, the technical setup is now in place with Clickbank, so moving to a new system would take time, be expensive, and may not be a success with customers.

It works out at about 10% of the final sale.

But the 10% hurts. So, I decided to explore another ecommerce provider. Or, at least, look for one that would give a better deal.

My Shopping Cart Criteria

I contacted 9 companies – these quotes are from those who responded – they other didn’t get back to me or even send out an auto-responder!

My requirements were for the following:

• Delivery mechanism to sell digital products, such as ebooks, software, templates, reports and so on.
• Real-time credit card processing system.
• Ability to manage everything online.

Most websites listed their products features and fees but I wanted to know a bit more. For example, how could I move from Clickbank to them or did they have any advice on how I could save money with volume transactions.

I sent them an email and asked 2 specific questions about selling digital online products.

Here is what I wrote:

1. I want to sell ‘Digital Products’ on my site and offer them as ‘Instant Downloads’ to my customers. From your site, it appears that you offer such as service.
2. Can you clarify how this process works, especially if a customer buys more than one product? For example, if they buy one item, they can be directed to a download page. That I can understand, But, how would this work, if (i.e. they used a shopping cart) and downloaded two or three products.
3. Do I need a Merchant Account to do this? What is the price for this service? I’m based in Europe if this makes any difference.

Note: one of the limitations of Clickbank is that it’s hard to upsell a second product automatically. You can do it but the process is rather complicated. Other ecommerce providers, such as PayLoadz and EJunkie have in-build tools for upselling.

Here are the responses (with minor edits), in no order of preference:

PayDotCom

I contacted PayDotCom, which integrates Paypal, and got a response almost immediately.

1. PayDotCom is a marketplace where you show your products.

Customers purchase them and then are taken to a download page you have setup. All this information is input into your product setup.

PayDotCom currently does not offer a shopping cart, but I understand that is coming in the near future.

2. You do not need a merchant account. All transactions are processed through PayPal or StormPay.

While this sounds good, there is no shopping cart. Customers can only buy one item at a time, which is a limitation if customers likes your products and want to make multiple purchases.

1Shoppingcart.com

1Shoppingcart.com is one of the most well-known ecommerce/online payment providers. It offers an incredible range of products and features, but it’s a little pricey compared with entry-level products such as eJunkie..

Here’s the reply:

1. If the client buys more then one product they will be given multiple download links on the download page. Basically they will be given a separate download link for each digital product.

2. As for the merchant account, where in Europe do you live?

Update: 1shoppingcart.com came back and said they could arrange for me to get a Merchant Account with one of their partners. I took the trial offer and have to say it’s very impressive. Hard to fault it except for the price but then you always pay for quality.

Stormpay

Very disappointing. Straight from auto-responder land:

“To create StormPay payment buttons for your web site, log into your StormPay account and click the “Sell” link. Next, choose the type of payment button you want to create (ie: single item, subscription, or shopping cart). After you enter the details into the form, html will be auto generated for you to paste into your web site. For advanced button codes, click the “Integration Manual” link which can be found at the bottom of any StormPay.com web page.”

Some of the answers are in here, but it is hard work. You’d think they would make a bit more effort, especially as they are competing with Paypal.

For example:

1. Does Stormpay let me upsell products?
2. Does Stormpay let me track and/or contact buyers via email?
3. What the main advantage of using Stormpay or Clickbank?

I never heard back from them.

GoDaddy

I’ve hosted my websites with these guys and they are great. Some glitches now and then but overall GoDaddy were able to offer instant downloads through email, much like EJunkie.com does but there were problems with the Merchant Accounts.

From GoDaddy’s email:

1. They would receive an email to download the product after they have purchased it.
2. To answer your second question however, we won’t offer international Merchant accounts, also if you’re planning on using this shopping cart in Europe, this would not be feasible since it’s required to be in the United States to function properly.”

In other words the: “Quick Shopping Cart is currently only designed to work with U.S. addresses.”

So, GoDaddy is an interesting option if you want to combine your web hosting and ecommerce tools and are based in the USA. If you’re in Europe or Asia, the 1ShoppingCart is a better offer.

2Checkout

Next, 2Checkout one of Clickbank’s main rivals.

Here is what happened:

1. Yes we do allow vendors to sell digital products and allow them a way to redirect the customer to a download url.

Unfortunately if a customer purchases multiple downloads a simple url redirect will only take the customer to the approved url for the last item they ordered.

You would have to build your own script that took the correct item paramaters from the 2co sale and populated a database that would decide what downloads would be on an active download page.

Or you could just email download links to the customers.

2. 2co charges a one time startup fee of $49.00. After that you will be charged is 5.5% of the sale and $0.45 per transaction.

There are a few problems here.

• Fee Per Transaction – While the 5.5% is less than Clickbank’s you need to factor in the setup fee and the cost per transaction.
• Customers Trust – The brand is not as well known as Clickbank, which may reduce sales. Customers buy from sites they know and trust. As 2co is a lesser known company, this could work against you when selling goods online.
• Technical Limitations – The part about “build your own script that took the correct item paramaters” is fine if you’re a programmer. I’m not so that rules them. I asked if they had a generic script I could use to get started. No response so far.

Do They Really Want Your Money?

Most answered the first question only.

My suggestion is to ask 1 question only when contacting Customer Service.

Most never addressed the second part, or, if they did, very fleetingly. Almost none addressed the question about being outside the US.

Several companies never got back to me. Maybe when they saw I was outside the US, they didn’t bother to waste the time responding. At least, these companies did, so let’s give them credit for that.

If I Had To Leave Clickbank, I’d Use…

If I had to leave Clickbank or was starting again in the morning, it would be either EJunkie.com or 1ShoppingCart.

Why?

• EJunkie.com is less than $5 per month, offers upsells, has an Affiliate Program, and is a trusted brand. If you’re selling your first goods online, then go with this.
• 1ShoppingCart.com – If you’re already selling goods online and want to scale up, for example, offer newsletters to your customers, create different auto-responders, then 1ShoppingCart is the best I’ve seen. It also has a terrific training centre with videos which explain how to use the epayment tools. And probably the simplest user interface to use. It also has an Affiliate program, which I recommend you sign up for. It’s free to be an affiliate.

As things stand, I’m staying with Clickbank though I have started to develop an alternative buying option with Paypal. More of that in the next post.

PS: Let me know if you’ve found any companies that provide these services, especially if you are also outside the USA.

If you like writing about SEO, are looking for a high-paying affiliate program from a trusted brand, then I’d highly recommend that you sign-up for the SEOMOZ.org affiliate program.

What is SEOmoz?

SEOmoz is a collection of software, tools, and resources that make an SEO that little bit easier. Its campaign-based web app helps you resolve complex SEO management tasks.

It also sells pretty amazing SEO tools to help you rank higher, research competitors and efficiently manage your optimization. It also provides guides, webinars and a huge Q&A database on all things SEO.

‘If search-engine rankings are supposed to represent a kind of democracy—a reflection of what Internet users collectively think is most useful—then search-engine optimizers like Fishkin are the Web’s lobbyists.’ Newsweek Magazine

Some of the tools it makes and you can sell include:

• Open Site Explorer – Research and directly compare your backlinks with competitors” for intelligent and targeted link building. Identify your top pages and analyze anchor text.
• SEO Toolbar – Instant access to critical metrics. Review and analyze on and off-page factors from Firefox or Chrome browser.
• Trifecta – Enter your site and the sites of your competitors to get quick access to data from Google, Alexa, Yahoo!, Quantcast and more all in one easy report.
• Competitive Link Research Tool – Find powerful sites your competitors are getting links from but you’re missing out on.
• Juicy Link Finder – Enter the keyword you are targeting and we’ll give you up to 200 potential link opportunities. Try the Link Acquisition Assistant for next-gen link building suggestions.
• Historical Pagerank Checker – The web’s only source of a page’s historical PageRank score. Contains PageRank data from as far back as 2007 on thousands of websites and pages.

How Much Money Can You Make with SEO Tools?

You get paid based on the account type your customers choose.

There are three account types:

• PRO – Monthly $50 10% recurring and an Annual $200 onetime payout
• PRO Elite – Monthly $250 10% recurring an Annual $1000 onetime payout
• PRO Premier – Monthly $1000 10% and Annual recurring $2000

How the Affiliate System works

Once you sign up as an affiliate, you can add the tracking code to your site. Some of the key features are:

• Cookie Duration: 60 return days
• Campaign Management: Dedicated affiliate manager assistance
• Real-time tracking with Has Offers platform
• Campaign Types: You can use your website, blog, email, coupon.
• Banners: They supply a great variety of banners and text link.

Note: Paid search campaigns require affiliate manager approval.

How much does it cost to join?

It’s Free!

‘SEOmoz, by far one of the undisputed leaders in the SEO industry.’

Customer List & Endorsements

Another way to reinforce the quality of these SEO tools and software is to use ‘social proof’ and list some of the incredible customers that use their products.

Some of the customers, endorsements and testimonials come from Fortune 500s such as:

• Facebook
• Ebay
• Cars.com
• Best Buy
• Disney
• New York Times

By reminding your customers that these firms use SEOmoz tools, you reduce some of their anxiety. After all, if it’s good enough for Ebay and Disney…

‘If you are intending to build a profile online, a website alone won’t cut it anymore, says Rand Fishkin, CEO of website consulting firm SEOmoz.’ USA Today

How You Can Make Money

The next question is how can I sell these SEO tools? Or to put it another way who’ll buy these SEO tools?

There a few ways to do this:

1. Define your Target Audience – your target customers are not home-based users. Instead you’re targeting mid-sized companies, government agencies, and other SMEs that have the budget for SEO software. Before you start any Marketing Plan, do some target audience analysis and focus your marketing efforts on this demographic.
2. Price Structure – when drumming up interest in these tools, see which pricing structure best suits your customers. Instead of going in low and offering the base package, you may have more luck offering high end products.
3. Generate ROI - One way to show the ROI on these tools is to create case studies (3-5 pages) that show the cost savings and/or revenues generated. Keep these simple and focus on the industries you’re targeting.
4. Email List Building – once you have defined your target audience, written a few case studies, and prepared a high level marketing plan, you need to build your email list. This is the best long-term strategy for creating a relationship with your customers and ‘drip-feeding’ them great information… which eventually translates into sales. I use Aweber for my email list building.

Those are four things you need to consider before you start with this product.

5 Mistakes to Avoid

While this is a rocking product (or set of products), you need to be do your marketing right.

1. Be Specific – if you run a technical blog, run a series of article on very specific SEO problems. The more specific the better. Then quote SEOMoz and/or hyperlink to their site showing how they’ve addressed this.
2. Think Long Term – because if you do this on a frequent basis, you’re readers will come to rely on SEOMoz as a trusted source. You’re also positioning SEOMoz as the best developer of SEO tools on the market.
3. Use Social Media – use your favorite Social Media channels to share SEOMoz links, connect with them on Twitter and get into their loop.
4. Contact SEOmoz – don’t be shy about talking to your affiliate manager. They want you to contact them and bounce ideas around. They want you to succeed, so make connections and see what they have to share.
5. Experiment – SEOmoz give affiliates a terrific range of banners to use on your site. Chop and change these every month and see which perform best. What you think works, and what customers actually click on, may be different. Split test if possible.

Conclusion

This is one of the best set of SEO tools I’ve seen and the affiliate program is very professional.

My suggestion is that if you blog about SEO, Social Media, Ecommerce, or Marketing then there is great potential to introduce this product to your readers and generate real sales.

Why?

• The SEO tools are incredible.
• The customer list is Fortune 100s.
• The endorsements are in place (quote these in your marketing/case studies)
• The affiliate program fees are very generous.

And it’s always easier to sell a great product.

You can signup as an affiliate here and buy the SEOmoz tools here.

Let me know what you think.