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An Internet Marketing Tutorial for the rest of us

Welcome to An Internet Marketing Tutorial for the rest of us, where you can learn how to market yourself effectively on the web, get into major search engines, learn advanced SEO techniques, and not pay for it! Please support our advertisers and enjoy your new place on the Web! Subscribe to this site by entering your email on the right! Also sign up for the free offers we list. Internet
Saturday, 13 May 2006
Women Diary
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Welcome to our newest renter, Yulia, who proudly presents Women Diary! Be sure to visit her by clicking on the box to the right. She has a number of things to offer on her site. Recent posts include Baby Names, Celebrity Gossip, Dead Sea Skin Care, and a rant about the injustices on American Idol. She frequently updates her blog and has put it together quite nicely.

You might be asking, what does Women Dairy have to do with the content of this blog, which has an altogether different focus? Well. not only do we in the blogosphere have to suport each other, but also, Yulia (oops I almost wrote Yamin - still stuck in the American Idol track) also has a couple of other blogs that are more pertinent to Internet Marketing!

Namely, MySpace HTML Codes Guides Tutorial, My Webmaster Experience, and Cool Music Lyrics Collection. The titles are pretty self-explanatory, but please visit her at any of those sites, especially the one on the right.

Right now, I'm "baby-sitting" my teen- and tween-age daughters in a posh motel room in Orlando while mom goes to a conference. Talk about expensive baby-sitters! But it's all good. The girlies are sound asleep after staying up most the night. I just hope I can rouse them in time for checkout!

Please join my mailing list, give my great sponsors some attention, and join me next time as I drag my kids out of here kicking and screaming!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Posted by Randy at 10:25 AM ADT
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Thursday, 11 May 2006
Update on unrapped.org
Mood:  energetic
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Just wanted to provide all of you with an update on my other site, unrapped.org. I believe I have mentioned my other site before. It's a Christian resource site with daily Bible verses, daily devotions, WebTV/Radio, Bible searches, a Gospel Podcast message, and updates of some things I have recently done with the ministry. I also am trying to raise funds for missions trips via Paypal donations and sales in the Gospel Store, which currently features some Mother's Day gifts.

You may be asking, "Why is he trying to shove religion down our throats?" While it may seem that way, I actually am not. I want to offer my experience with the web sites as an example of the pros and cons of Internet Marketing.

First off, I was recently investigating a guaranteed search engine inclusion program for $50. I did some checking of the search engines they listed, and both of my sites were already in all the search engines listed, except for dmoz. That's all by using the "blog and ping" method I recommend here: create a free blog, post often, and each time you do, send a ping to Pingoat or any of the other pinging services I list on the right. Don't bother with the "Get on Google Overnite" scams that are out there. If you've got a podcast, be sure to use freshpodcasts.com.
Tell the world about your latest podcast with our podcast ping service.

Second, another program was charging $250 for top 10 listings on the search engines. Sounds good, but it was only for a certain number of guaranteed top ten listings. This site already has a Google PageRank of 4, and I'm currently working on unrapped.org to get a decent ranking. If you want to see what I've done, go to unrapped.org and click View => Source on the various pages. Feel free to link to this site or to unrapped.org. I'll gladly swap links with any well-made non-adult-oriented site.

CIAO for now,
Randy

Posted by Randy at 6:48 PM ADT
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Saturday, 6 May 2006
Authorities Crack Down on Spammers
Mood:  suave
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
This just in from Sophos.com: "Spamford" Wallace has been ordered by a NewHampshire court to pay more than $4 million for his illegal internet practices.

Wallace's Smartbot.net downloaded software onto computers without users' permisison. Smartbot.net then altered users' search engine features. All this activity subsequently led to computer slowdowns, CD trays opening randomly, and similar computer problems.

Let's hope this fine and admonition by the FTC to cease his illegal practices actually stick this time. In 2004, "Spamford" - oops Sanford - was also ordered to stop. Maybe Ol' Spammy should serve some jail time? In a nice quiet little cell WITHOUT internet access!!! Maybe he might even get a girlfriend? Now that just wasn't nice o' me.

Leave me a note - what do you think we should do with folks like Ol' Spammy Wallace?

Posted by Randy at 9:14 AM ADT
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Monday, 1 May 2006
"Smart" Spam?
Mood:  crushed out
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
I just read an article in Network Computing that, quite frankly, scared me.

Gregg Keiser reported on some research done by Professor John Aycock, U Calgary, and his student Nathan Freiss.

"Smart" spam, they argued, would download malicious code on your computer, then, would scan your "inbox, mine it for information and writing patterns, then crank out realistic-looking replies to real messages."

Spammers and phishers could use this technique to send out emails that appeared to be from your friends and colleagues, tricking you into clicking embedded links that would put spyware on your computer.

The scariest part of this article for me was the way these two discovered this: they actually wrote a program that would do this! Kinda makes you wonder, in this era of cybercrime, if the REAL criminals aren't actually the professors and grad students that everyone traditionally looks up to...

Please let me know your thoughts, subscribe to my newsletter, and visit our sponsors!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Posted by Randy at 8:40 PM ADT
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Sunday, 30 April 2006
What ELSE can you buy on EBAY???
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
What follows is an example of an article marketing. The first part is something interesting from Yahoo! news, the second is my opinion and conclusion.

Yahoo! news just reported that a businessman from China bought a MIG fighter jet on EBAY. He allegedly is going to use it to decorate his office.

The plane, last flown in 1995, is currently housed in Idaho and is in "excellent condition" and was retired by the Czech military.

The buyer, Zhang Cheng, doesn't even know if he can legally get the plane into China.

I, for one, am a little concerned about this transaction. I realize there's no government body regulating EBAY, but I'm not so sure there shouldn't be.

This transaction sounds like it could precipitate global conflict:

A. The plane was made by the USA
B. The plane was used by Chechnya
C. Who knows what the Chinese might use it for

Despite some reports to the contrary, I believe theirs is still a top-down society, where government reigns supreme. I believe they just sentenced someone to 10 years in jail because of an internet posting! Even busnessmen are government agents!

Henc, with a MIG fighter plane, the Chinese could easily head over to Iraq or Iran and stir up some trouble.

Which leaves me to ask, what ELSE can you buy on EBAY? How many illegal items are there for sale under the guise of seemingly innocent things? Not that I think there should be dictatorial control over EBAY, but there should be some sort of rules. If not the rule of common sense!

Wat do YOU think should be done? Drop me a comment or an email! And don't forget to visit our wonderful sponsors or sign up for our newsletter!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Tags: EBAY, China

Posted by Randy at 6:15 PM ADT
Updated: Sunday, 30 April 2006 6:20 PM ADT
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006
Updates!
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Good afternoon all my loyal fans and subscibers!

Sorry I have been absent for most of this past week. I think I mentioned it earlier, but, as an update, I have been involved in a number of church dramas this past week.

First, I was Judas in an Easter production at Calvary Chapel Worship Center, and tonight is the last night of my involvement in the dramatic presentation "Eternity." It's about the choices we make in life and how they affect our final destination, whether heaven or hell. I play Eric, a porn addict who doesn't get along with his alcoholic wife, and both get tossed into the pit. I'm going to try a link exchange with the producer, so you can get more info if you want.

I realize this post is a bit off topic, but just wanted to let everyone know what's going on.

Also, I have implemented a few design changes to make navigating this site easier - such as labels for The Book of the Month, my sponsor list, and the podcast, which, when I'm not acting, is a great way to blow off steam. More of that to follow!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Posted by Randy at 6:04 PM ADT
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Thursday, 20 April 2006
Quick Updates
Mood:  mischievious
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Just a quickie 'cause I'm about to head out to a gig...I updated the podcast today - feel free to give a listen and leave me your comments! Also, my other website, www.unrapped.com, was just indexed by Google, and the only things I did were the steps I detailed earlier. Next I'll detail how to increase your rankings. Hope the tips have helped you as well! Please subscribe to the newsletter, leave me a comment, and visit our sponsors!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Posted by Randy at 6:40 PM ADT
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Quick Updates
Mood:  mischievious
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Just a quickie 'cause I'm about to head out to a gig...I updated the podcast today - feel free to give a listen and leave me your comments! Also, my other website, www.unrapped.com, was just indexed by Google, and the only things I did were the steps I detailed earlier. Next I'll detail how to increase your rankings. Hope the tips have helped you as well! Please subscribe to the newsletter, leave me a comment, and visit our sponsors!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Posted by Randy at 6:37 PM ADT
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Tuesday, 18 April 2006
Optimize your Website for MSN - Part Deux
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Make Money with Your Blog
Last night after posting Part One, I had a dream about what I wrote (yes I DO dream about you, my loyal readers!) and realized that perhaps some additional info would be helpful. More to the point, I will give you a step-by-step guide to getting optimized for MSN. That is, higher rankings, more visitors and more sales!

I'm going to use my other website, www.unrapped.org, my Christian ministry/bookstore, as an example and do each step along with you.

First look up your keyword phrase on MSN. Put at least two words in quotes, so the search will be more specific, and will find that exact phrase on perhaps thousands of sites. You only need the first three, though.

For my site, I put in "Christian bookstore." Indeed, I got thousands of matches. At the time of this writing, the top three were Worthy Family Christian Bookstore, Cedar Springs Christian Store, and 21st Century Christian Bookstore. Go ahead and do the same for the main theme of your site.

Second, go to www.technorati.com and type in the three web addresses. This gives a listing of all the sites that link to them.

Worthy Family Christian, at www.worthychristianbookstore.com, yielded links to that site at www.worthynews.com/blog, www.worthychat.com/blog, and www.worthynews.com. I happen to know that each of these is operated by the same company, so I went to the next on my list.

Cedar Springs Christian Store, at www.cschristian.com, yielded links to pastorsteveweaver.blogspot.com and a review he did, Christianpavement.com/blog, and Christianenvironment.com/blog.

Finally, 21st Century Christian Bookstore, at www.21stcc.com, yielded no links.

Third examine the links that your technorati searches produced. Eliminate the ones that are much over a month old. Most likely those sites have been shut down or are not active.

For my results, only one was fruitful. The links to Worthy Family Christian linked back to themselves; Christianpavement.com/blog's post was over 200 days old, as was Christianenvironment.com/blog's. That left pastorsteveweaver.blogspot.com. On his site, he has a contact me button, which I am going to use to ask if he will review my site. That will give me an outside link, which boosts my search engine rankings.

If you get similar or lesser results, try the same process with another search engine. My results for Yahoo were quite different.

I realize this posting was not necessarily about optimization per se, but rather, what to do with your optimized site.

CIAO for now,
Randy

Posted by Randy at 7:21 PM ADT
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Monday, 17 April 2006
Optimizing your Website for MSN
Mood:  cheeky
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Today we will offer some tips on optimization for one of the "BIG THREE" search engines, elsewhere known as SEO. These tips come courtesy of Dave Davies, a writer for SEO-News.com. (Italics are direct quotes from the article.)

I'm avoiding the use of the term SEO, however, because of the negative connotations it has because of the misuse of optimization techniques by some hackers and ne'er-do-wells. You know, the ones who send you spam emails like "Make $50,000 in your first week with our program - only $29.95" and then disappear and never send the program nor respond to any of your emails once you send them the money. Don't send any money to any of them when you can get it for free here. Plus, my latest domain got listed on 2 of the "BIG THREE" without me sending anyone anything. BTW, MSN was one of the two.

Here's some thoughts on the MSN algorithm. That's the way they determine how and when they are going to index your site. Details matter. This is kind of a no-brainer, but you have to be careful of the following when putting together your webpage:

* the content of the page including keyword density

* the internal linking structure of the site (how the pages of your site are linked together)

* the number of pages in your site and the relevancy of those pages to your main topic and phrases

* the use of titles, heading tags and special formats


Page Content

Write clearly and concisely. There is a lot of discussion about keyword density, but I feel that you should not simply for the sake of keyword density, begin each sentence with the keyword or repeat the keyword over and over ad nauseum. That manes for a very boring page, and one that I would not be inclined to link to, which also is important for search engine results. Keep your content fresh and interesting and the search engines and your visitors will be happy. While there is no magic formula for determining keyword density, on MSN it traditionally will fall somewhere near 3.5 to 4%.


Internal Linking Structure

Search engine spiders prefer text links to image or script-based links, so make sure your site has text links. The way your pages link together tells the search engines what the page is about and also allows them to easily (or not-so-easily) work their way to your internal pages. Text links also tell the spider what the pages are about. Sometimes, even then, they may not index all of your text links. Spiders are funny like that.

The Number Of Pages & Their Relevancy

Larger sites with consistent content rank higher than smaller sites or sites with disjointed content areas. MSN wants to make its viewers pleased. (and who wouldn't?) If you have a variety of different interests, put them on several web pages, not one.

Don't forget about quality content. SIze does matter, but not if it's a great homepage with a lot of fluff. The spiders and your viewers can tell the difference. Also, consider checking out the top 3 or 4 listed for your keywords and try to make yours of a similar size and scope. You can add a blog or a forum, both of which can generate a lot of interest.

Titles, Heading Tags & Special Formats

MSN places a great deal of emphasis on titles. After all, when someone does a search, your page title will show in the search results. This means that a human visitor has to be drawn to click on your title, or ranking your site is a futile effort (this isn't about bragging rights, it's about return on investment).

Heading tags bracket off important parts of content. The H1 tag is the most important one, and is given a great deal of weight in the MSN algorithm, but don't overuse it or abuse it! That means one time per page at most! Also, keep the headings short, telling your visitor what the page is about, not the entire site (that's what the "description" meta tag is for).

MSN gives greater weight to "special formats" (i.e., bold, italic, font colors, etc.). However, once again, don't go overboard and make all your keywords bold. That only tends to decrease your site ranking. Another thing you can use to increase your site ranking with MSN is to use links in the body content of your page. These actually helping your visitor by providing easy paths to pages they may be interested in.

Offsite Optimization Factors

By "Offsite Factors" is meant link building, which is time consuming, but reqarded almost instantaneously with MSN. Try doing that with Yahoo or Google! Consider the following when getting links to your site:

Relevancy Make sure the site has some sort of connection to your site.

Quality over quantity

You should begin your offsite optimization by running link checks on your competitors to see what you're up against. This is also a good place to look for potential link partners though those of you using a tool such as Total Optimizer Pro or PR Prowler will find it far faster and more effective to use these tools.


To tell the truth, utilizing these tips, I have gotten listed on MSN within days. Google is a little slow on the uptake, but from what I understand, they are no longer the "holy grail" for webmasters. Keep up the good work, sign up for the newsletter, and please visit our sponsors!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Tags: MSN, optimization, link building

Posted by Randy at 8:03 PM ADT
Updated: Tuesday, 18 April 2006 12:21 AM ADT
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