I got into internet marketing back in 2003. Like most of my ilk I was tempted not by the riches, but by the perceived better way of living. Setting my own hours and full automation is what appealed to me. I started with the old "Google Cash" business model. Promoting other peoples products on a commission basis using pay per click (PPC) advertising.
I watched as more and more people entered the market though, forcing click bids up. I watched while Google changed their rules, time and time again making it harder for affiliates to make money with pay per click. I watched and worked up to the point where the time involved in managing pay per click campaigns as an affiliate, was no longer worth the commissions the campaigns earned.
So I changed tack. I'd pretty much learned all I could with pay per click advertising anyway. At this juncture I started building and optimising websites. I spent thousands working out the most successful and enduring methods of search engine optimisation (SEO) and applied all the techniques to my own businesses. I still own about half a dozen successful websites. Only one promotes my own product, a tourism service I set up a couple of years ago. All the others sell products in affiliate programs or advertising space.
As my skill grew, so did my reputation. The result of this was a continual stream of business owners who, having heard of my expertise, wanted to hire me to sort out their web presence. These business owners all had two things in common. They all saw the potential the internet had for their business and they all had been taken advantage of by unscrupulous internet operators who took their money yet added no value. So I took them on and applied the same strategies to their websites that I applied to my own. Much to their delight, their websites now create business for them.
There is a real issue with the internet industry, it is packed with these bogus operators. There are graphic designers who put together internet masterpieces, charge a fortune for the website, yet no-one can find it. There are marketing professional who apply all their skills, yet they know nothing about the internet so their message doesn't find an ear to fall on. Our industry is unregulated and we are largely self trained. Unfortunately this has left the industry open to the unscrupulous and ignorant. Our clients have been damaged and the industry suffers also.
These charlatans contact me every week trying to sell their services. I can see clearly their modus operendi. They base all their actions on the fact that most business owners are pretty ignorant when it comes to the internet. Therefore, a few nice graphs and some confusing industry jargon is all they offer and expect it to be enough to make a sale. This is despite their general lack of substance when it comes to delivery.
Gold Coast Surfboards is a great example to prove the point. This is my travel business. Its the only website I run to date which sells its own product, a long-term surfboard hire service. Do a Google search on Gold Coast Surfboard Hire. You can find me easily. Or even use the less specific search phrase Surfboard Hire. You'll see how well this website is optimised in the search engines.
Despite this I get the so called "professionals" writing to me every week trying to sell me their SEO services. "We can put your business on steroids" they tell me, getting you on the first page of Google on such terms as "Surf Board Accessories" and "Holiday Rentals".
I think I've figured out what these charlatans do. I think they find a small business website and mine the search engines for "sort of" related terms, until they find one which is pretty low on Google. For my website, the type of terms that they come up with are "Surf Accessories" and "Holiday Rentals". Terms which are related but not really relevant. Once they have found one, they'll construct a sales pitch based on the traffic they'll send my website by optimising it for those terms. Of course there is always a decent amount of scare mongering in these sales pitches, telling me how much of my business is going to my competitors, business which I can claim for my own.
Using my two examples above, if I had have used these "gurus", my website would be optimised for 1 specific search phrase which is unrelated to my core business "Surf Board Accessories" and 1 broad phrase that will attract lots of people, most of which are looking to rent a car or a hotel room. Thes people probably aren't even going to the Gold Coast. I'm sure the gurus would have taken my money regardless.
If you are under pressure from an internet salesman to sign up for their optimisation services, my advice is to first get a really good understanding from you clients, as to which search phrases they use on the internet when they are looking for your product. If the salesmen are trying to get you to optimise other phrases, don't do business with them. At the very least they have not researched your market enough to work on your website. At its worse, they are just manipulating you in an attempt to wring some money out of you. Either way, it will damage your business.
If you are thinking about doing some work to your website but do not know where to start, ask around. The really good operators work on reputation and do little self promotion. When you do this though, be clear that you are looking for an internet marketer, not a designer or developer. Its one thing to make a masterpiece for the internet like many graphic designers do, but a whole new kettle of fish putting it where all your clients can find it.
If you are an internet professional reading this article, its time for all of us to smarten up. We need to look after the industry and we can only do this by being ethical in the manner in which we operate. So please, stop going out trying to extract a pound of flesh, go out to add value to your clients. Once you are adding value, the new clients will come, following your reputation. Continue operating as you are though and soon no-one will talk to internet professionals anywhere. - 16747
I watched as more and more people entered the market though, forcing click bids up. I watched while Google changed their rules, time and time again making it harder for affiliates to make money with pay per click. I watched and worked up to the point where the time involved in managing pay per click campaigns as an affiliate, was no longer worth the commissions the campaigns earned.
So I changed tack. I'd pretty much learned all I could with pay per click advertising anyway. At this juncture I started building and optimising websites. I spent thousands working out the most successful and enduring methods of search engine optimisation (SEO) and applied all the techniques to my own businesses. I still own about half a dozen successful websites. Only one promotes my own product, a tourism service I set up a couple of years ago. All the others sell products in affiliate programs or advertising space.
As my skill grew, so did my reputation. The result of this was a continual stream of business owners who, having heard of my expertise, wanted to hire me to sort out their web presence. These business owners all had two things in common. They all saw the potential the internet had for their business and they all had been taken advantage of by unscrupulous internet operators who took their money yet added no value. So I took them on and applied the same strategies to their websites that I applied to my own. Much to their delight, their websites now create business for them.
There is a real issue with the internet industry, it is packed with these bogus operators. There are graphic designers who put together internet masterpieces, charge a fortune for the website, yet no-one can find it. There are marketing professional who apply all their skills, yet they know nothing about the internet so their message doesn't find an ear to fall on. Our industry is unregulated and we are largely self trained. Unfortunately this has left the industry open to the unscrupulous and ignorant. Our clients have been damaged and the industry suffers also.
These charlatans contact me every week trying to sell their services. I can see clearly their modus operendi. They base all their actions on the fact that most business owners are pretty ignorant when it comes to the internet. Therefore, a few nice graphs and some confusing industry jargon is all they offer and expect it to be enough to make a sale. This is despite their general lack of substance when it comes to delivery.
Gold Coast Surfboards is a great example to prove the point. This is my travel business. Its the only website I run to date which sells its own product, a long-term surfboard hire service. Do a Google search on Gold Coast Surfboard Hire. You can find me easily. Or even use the less specific search phrase Surfboard Hire. You'll see how well this website is optimised in the search engines.
Despite this I get the so called "professionals" writing to me every week trying to sell me their SEO services. "We can put your business on steroids" they tell me, getting you on the first page of Google on such terms as "Surf Board Accessories" and "Holiday Rentals".
I think I've figured out what these charlatans do. I think they find a small business website and mine the search engines for "sort of" related terms, until they find one which is pretty low on Google. For my website, the type of terms that they come up with are "Surf Accessories" and "Holiday Rentals". Terms which are related but not really relevant. Once they have found one, they'll construct a sales pitch based on the traffic they'll send my website by optimising it for those terms. Of course there is always a decent amount of scare mongering in these sales pitches, telling me how much of my business is going to my competitors, business which I can claim for my own.
Using my two examples above, if I had have used these "gurus", my website would be optimised for 1 specific search phrase which is unrelated to my core business "Surf Board Accessories" and 1 broad phrase that will attract lots of people, most of which are looking to rent a car or a hotel room. Thes people probably aren't even going to the Gold Coast. I'm sure the gurus would have taken my money regardless.
If you are under pressure from an internet salesman to sign up for their optimisation services, my advice is to first get a really good understanding from you clients, as to which search phrases they use on the internet when they are looking for your product. If the salesmen are trying to get you to optimise other phrases, don't do business with them. At the very least they have not researched your market enough to work on your website. At its worse, they are just manipulating you in an attempt to wring some money out of you. Either way, it will damage your business.
If you are thinking about doing some work to your website but do not know where to start, ask around. The really good operators work on reputation and do little self promotion. When you do this though, be clear that you are looking for an internet marketer, not a designer or developer. Its one thing to make a masterpiece for the internet like many graphic designers do, but a whole new kettle of fish putting it where all your clients can find it.
If you are an internet professional reading this article, its time for all of us to smarten up. We need to look after the industry and we can only do this by being ethical in the manner in which we operate. So please, stop going out trying to extract a pound of flesh, go out to add value to your clients. Once you are adding value, the new clients will come, following your reputation. Continue operating as you are though and soon no-one will talk to internet professionals anywhere. - 16747
About the Author:
Damian Papworth, appalled by the lack of ethics in internet marketing, promotes ethics before profits.
