Did You Graduate From Link Building High School Yet?
9th Grade: Links You Can Build Yourself That Require Little Time Investment
Before I get into this, I’d like to stress that you should have a really good keyword strategy and make sure you’ve optimized each page on your site around a different keyword phrase. Any link you’re building should be designed to help a specific page rank high in the search engines for a specific keyword.
That said, the first set of links that every business should get are the ones that don’t require anyone else’s help. There are lots of business directories out there where you can just submit your URL, company name, and a description of your business. Some of them require approval. Some of them require a fee. Yahoo’s directory, Joe Ant, Aboutus.org are some of the ones you should do right away.
In this class of Level I links, there are also many social media sites where you can simply build links to your site. Most of these no longer pass SEO credit, but they’re still good links to get, assuming your target audience visits the site or these sites rank high for your keywords already.
It’s arguable that you should hire someone to do (or start) this stuff for you. It’s low level work that generates low level returns. Just make sure that you don’t hire a firm that will get you 1,000 links for < $1,000 dollars. If it’s too good to be true, it is.
10th Grade: Links You Build Yourself that Require Effort
Before I get into this level, I’d like to stress that launching a business blog should be done before doing this. Without having a blog on your site with lots of good, well-optimized content, you don’t really have anything to link to.
That said, there are two very common link building techniques that work well that don’t require you to be a “thought leader”. Yet. These activities require a bit more time investment and a small financial investment. They are article marketing and press release optimization. With both of these methods, you have to create relevant content that will appeal to your market. So, it requires more time than Level I. Also, the process of getting your articles syndicated and your press releases submitted and picked up – takes effort. You might consider hiring a wired pr firm or a strong SEO firm to do some of this stuff for you.
If done correctly, both of these methods can significantly increase the links to your site. Also, if you write your articles and press releases with a keyword strategy in mind, and with links that support your keyword strategy, it can significantly increase your rankings for specific keyword terms. Run your press releases and your articles through press release grader to determine whether they’re going to help.
11th Grade: Links You Network For that Require a Significant Time Investment
This part of link building is kind of like sales. Cold calling can be done effectively with persistence. But, networking, getting referrals, giving first, the law of attraction, etc is a better way of getting new clients.
Link building is the same way. If you’re more of a cold caller type, and there are lots of potential places you can get a link, you might consider just creating a list of webmasters and asking them for a link.
If you’re a natural networker and you’re in this for the long haul, I’d recommend being a bit more patient. Apply your persistence and spend your time building relationships.
No matter what route you take, the goal of this level is to make yourself visible among people interested in the same topics as you. This process is a bit self promotional. But, you must promote yourself in a way that you’re adding value. You master this level by acting like a resource for people in your industry. How do you do this? It’s all about networking and building meaningful relationships. The first step is reading other people’s blogs. Then, commenting on them. Then, eventually starting a relationship where you’re communicating 1-on-1 with them. I recommend you take the leap from reader to 1:1 with a blogger, by pointing them in the direction of other people’s content that might be interesting to them. In the non-marketing world, this usually happens through email. In the marketing world, this usually happens through Twitter. If you’re techy, this might happen through Delicious. If you use StumbleUpon or Digg, those are great platforms to share things with peers. Even google reader lets you do this kind of networking. But, it can certainly happen through any social networking platform or system that enables 1:1 communication.
From a link building perspective, the ultimate goal of this level is to get invited to write a guest article for other people’s blogs or website. For example, I wrote an article about inbound lead generation for Aaron Ross not too long ago. In the article, I linked to relevant resources on my blog and the HubSpot blog and site. These are great links from an authoritative source. Aaron reaches our target market sending relevant traffic. These links also help us rank for our target keywords.
During this process, you’re also building up a group of people that will most likely begin following you…
Seniors Rule! (12th Grade): Links Other People Give You Because You Create Remarkable Content.
This level is like the last month or two in high school when you’ve already passed midterms and you’ve been accepted to the college of your choice. You’ve done the hard work already. Now, it’s time to go to parties and enjoy being the carefree big man on campus.
You don’t necessarily halt the activities above. But, you spend more of your time just creating remarkable content. (And some link bait.)
At HubSpot, we do some guest articles once in a while and we optimize our press releases. But, mostly we just put time into churning out content on our blog and producing other online marketing resources like webinars and white papers. Some of you seem to think this stuff is pretty remarkable. As a result, it generally creates great conversations in our comments, strong attendance at our webinars and lots of white paper downloads. And regularly, people link to our webinar announcements and blog articles of their own accord.
This doesn’t start happening overnight, unless you’re already famous. We have a lot of advantages at HubSpot. Website Grader’s success, funding in the bank, successful clients, smart founders who started blogging before they had a product and now… a lot of employees who contributor to the blog, a strong social media following, etc.
But, we did it in < 2 years. If you’re a small business and you follow the path above, there’s no reason why you can’t stake your claim on the web. Link building is an important part of that. Hopefully, this post demystifies the process a bit and gives you a roadmap to get started.
The biggest mistake that newbie internet marketers make is thinking that creating great content on their blog will be all it takes to be successful internet marketers. My biggest frustration is when newbie bloggers pack up shop after just a month of writing because the blog doesn’t have an immediate impact on their search traffic and lead volume.
At the end of the day, if you publish great content on the web AND connect, relate and build relationships with other humans, really good links will come naturally. Until then, put in some homework and earn your way through link building high school.
Photo by CarbonNYC
Article: 15 Things Happy People Do Differently
April 26, 2012
I re-print this great post from the purposefairy.com. LOVE THIS.
What is the difference between happy people and unhappy people? Of course, it may be very obvious, happy people are happy while unhappy people are unhappy, right? Well, that is correct, but we want to know what are the things that these people do differently and that is why, I have put together a list of things that HAPPY people do differently than UNHAPPY people.
1. LOVE vs. FEAR. Well, I can tell you for sure that those people who are really happy, FEAR less and LOVE a lot more. They see each moment, each challenge, each person as an opportunity to discover more about themselves and the world around them.
2. ACCEPTANCE vs. RESISTANCE. Happy people understand that you can’t really change a situation by resisting it,but you can definitely change it by accepting that it is there and by understanding that there might be a reason for its existence. When something unpleasant happens to them, they don’t try to fight it, knowing that this will make the situation even worse, but rather, they ask themselves questions like: What can I learn from this? How can I make this better? and they go from there, focusing on the positive rather than on the negative. They always seem to see the glass half full no matter what happens to them.
3. FORGIVENESS vs. UNFORGIVENESS. Really happy people know that it’s not healthy to hold on to anger. They choose to FORGIVE and FORGET, understanding that FORGIVENESS is a gift they give to themselves first and foremost.
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”Buddha
4. TRUST vs. DOUBT. They trust themselves and they trust the people around them. No matter if they talk to the cleaning lady or the C.E.O. of a multi billion company, somehow they always seem make the person they are interacting with feel like there is something unique and special about them.
They understand that beliefs become self-fulfilling prophecies, and because of that, they make sure to treat everybody with love, dignity and respect, making no distinctions between age, sex, social status, color, religion or race. These are the great men that Mark Twain was talking about: “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” Mark Twain
5. MEANING vs. AMBITION. They do the things they do because of the meaning it brings into their lives and because they get a sense of purpose by doing so. They understand that “Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life” like Wayne Dyer puts it, and they care more about living a life full of meaning rather than, what in our modern society we would call, living a successful life.
The irony here is that most of the time they get both, success and meaning, just because they choose to focus on doing the things they love the most and they always pursue their heart desires. They are not motivated by money; they want to make a difference in the lives of those around them and in the world.
6. PRAISING vs. CRITICIZING. Happy people would probably agree with Carl’s Jung theory on resistance: “What you resist not only persists, but will grow in size”. They don’t criticize the absence of the behavior they want to reinforce, but rather, every time the behavior is present, even if it’s not that often, they know that by praising the person and the behavior, they will actually reinforce the positive behavior.
When a parent wants to make sure that his 7 years old boy will learn to always put the toys back in the box after he’s done playing with them, he will make sure not to focus on the many times the child won’t do it, criticizing him and his behavior, but rather, every time the little boy does put the toys back, the parent will praise him and his behavior and that is exactly how he will reinforce the positive behavior, and in the end geting the wanted results.
7. CHALLENGES vs. PROBLEMS. Happy people will see PROBLEMS as CHALLENGES, as opportunities to explore new ways of doing things, expressing their gratitude for them, understanding that underneath them all lies manyopportunities that will allow them to expand and to grow.
8. SELFLESSNESS vs. SELFISHNESS. They do what they do not for themselves, but for the good of others, making sure that they bring meaning, empowerment and happiness in the lives of many. They look for ways to give and to share the best of themselves with the world and to make other people happy.
”Before giving, the mind of the giver is happy; while giving, the mind of the giver is made peaceful; and having given, the mind of the giver is uplifted.”Buddha
9. ABUNDANCE vs. LACK/POVERTY. They have an abundant mindset living a balanced life, achieving abundance in all areas of life.
10. DREAMING BIG vs. BEING REALISTIC. These people don’t really care about being realistic. They love and dare to dream big, they always listen to their heart and intuition and the greatness of their accomplishments scares many of us.
“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” Goethe
11. KINDNESS vs. CRUELTY. They are kind to themselves and others and they understand the power of self love, self forgiveness and self acceptance.
12. GRATITUDE vs. INGRATITUDE. No no matter where they look, no matter where they are or with who, they have this capacity of seeing beauty where most of us would only see ugliness, opportunities, where most of us would only see struggles, abundance where most of us would only see lack and they express their gratitude for them all.
13. PRESENCE/ ENGAGEMENT vs. DISENGAGEMENT. They know how to live in the present moment, appreciating what they have and where they are, while still having big dreams about the future.
“When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it. The mind in itself is a wonderful tool. Dysfunction sets in when you seek your self in it and mistake it for who you are.” Eckhart Tolle
14. POSITIVITY vs. NEGATIVITY. No matter what happens to them, they always seem to keep a positive perspectiveon everything and by doing so, they tend irritate a lot of negative and “realistic” people.
15. TAKING RESPONSIBILITY vs. BLAMING. They take full ownership over their lives and they rarely use excuses. Happy people understand that the moment you choose to blame some outside forces for whatever it is that happens to you, you are in fact giving all your power away, and they choose to keep the power for themselves andtaking responsibility for everything that happens to them.
David Ogilvy: 10 No-Bullsh*t Writing Tips
April 24, 2012
These tips, and more wisdom from Ogilvy can be found in The Unpublished David Ogilvy: A Selection of His Writings from the Files of His Partners. I especially like #4. Here goes.
Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints:
1. Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.
2. Write the way you talk. Naturally.
3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
4. Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification,attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.
5. Never write more than two pages on any subject.
6. Check your quotations.
7. Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.
8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
9. Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.
10. If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.
David
Inc. Article: 14 Easy Ways to Get Insanely Motivated
April 24, 2012
14 Easy Ways to Get Insanely Motivated
These simple strategies will keep you energized through the holidays and well into the new year.
Getty
It’s getting toward the end of the year, so with the holidays in sight, I thought it appropriate to give you all a little gift: a column that I guarantee will make you more more successful in the coming year.
Here are 14 quick strategies to get and keep yourself motivated:
1. Condition your mind. Train yourself to think positive thoughts while avoiding negative thoughts.
2. Condition your body. It takes physical energy to take action. Get your food and exercise budget in place and follow it like a business plan.
- Read More: Why You’re Still Overweight
3. Avoid negative people. They drain your energy and waste your time, so hanging with them is like shooting yourself in the foot.
4. Seek out the similarly motivated. Their positive energy will rub off on you and you can imitate their success strategies.
5. Have goals–but remain flexible. No plan should be cast in concrete, lest it become more important than achieving the goal.
6. Act with a higher purpose. Any activity or action that doesn’t serve your higher goal is wasted effort–and should be avoided.
7. Take responsibility for your own results. If you blame (or credit) luck, fate or divine intervention, you’ll always have an excuse.
8. Stretch past your limits on a daily basis. Walking the old, familiar paths is how you grow old. Stretching makes you grow and evolve.
9. Don’t wait for perfection; do it now! Perfectionists are the losers in the game of life. Strive for excellence rather than the unachievable.
10. Celebrate your failures. Your most important lessons in life will come from what you don’t achieve. Take time to understand where you fell short.
11. Don’t take success too seriously. Success can breed tomorrow’s failure if you use it as an excuse to become complacent.
12. Avoid weak goals. Goals are the soul of achievement, so never begin them with “I’ll try …” Always start with “I will” or “I must.”
13. Treat inaction as the only real failure. If you don’t take action, you fail by default and can’t even learn from the experience.
14. Think before you speak. Keep silent rather than express something that doesn’t serve your purpose.
The above is based on a conversation with Omar Periu, one of the world’s best (and best known) motivational speakers.
Article: SEO, Content and Bloggers
April 24, 2012
Terrific article on content, your website’s blog and one of the most important parts of the process: taking action.
More Tips on Gooooood SEO Practices
April 23, 2012
Do we all know why we want GOOD SEO? Well, yes…we all want to be listed high or near the top of the search when people go looking for my product or service.
Yes…and we talked this morning about good content being the pathway. And WHY is that, class? Yes, because other sites will link to us if we are an amazing source of information….CORRECT!
Here’s another terrific article to shed MORE light on this very important SEO conversation. cheers!
SEO only for experts? Nah….
April 23, 2012
If anyone tries to tell you that SEO and SEM – search engine optimization and search engine marketing – are just for the experts, you have my personal permission to kick them right out of your office.
SEO and SEM are not rocket science. Hell, they’re not even Monday morning math class.
All you really need to understand about these two is the following: great content. What? Great content? Well, what do you MEAN by “great content?”
Great content is the simple understanding of what your customer wants to know – and that Google is trying to give the person searching the best, most in-depth and all-encompassing sources for information that it can. For example, if you sell Jeweled Platinum Bracelets, you have a page called “Jeweled Platinum Bracelets” and you have content that discusses “jeweled platinum bracelets”, and you have pictures that are labeled “jeweled platinum bracelets”, and you have good content discussing how they are made and the design, and maybe even a video that shows you making them. You will also need the tags of the page to reflect the content and the meta tags to reflect that content……do you see?
What a search engine looks for, ultimately, is content – words that truly reflect the good content you have developed. If you are consistent with your labels and tags and labeling pictures and give the customer way more than they would ever want to know about Jeweled Platinum Bracelets on this one particular page, Google will say, “hmm…this seems like a really great resource for people to find information on Jeweled Platinum Bracelets,” and you will move higher in the search engines.
Each page of your site should be looked at through this lens. If you do this, and truly offer good and deep content about each of the topics – or products – you are hoping to share with your “ideal client,” you will be well on your way to good SEO management.
It’s not magic….it’s content.
5 Books All Information Entrepreneurs Should Have on their Bookshelves (please read, too)
April 19, 2012
1. Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers by Seth Godin. The Cult that is Seth Godin is, well, there for a reason. This guy gets it. Not only that, but he’s able to translate what he knows and is learning to the rest of us in ways that are valuable and actionable as well as theoretical. This is not his latest book but I like it best of all, particularly for this stripe of entrepreneur.
2. The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, On-Line Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott. Mr. Scott has a TON of valuable information in this book and I dare say, every time I read it I find something else useful and valuable about it.
3. Get Paid for Who You Are by David Wood. This is one of my all-time faves – probably because he celebrates each of us and it gives hope to all of us who may have niches not necessarily on the main track of business life. However, that is exactly his point: niches are for creating and if you create your business or product that fits a specific group of people who want it (niche lovers 
then that’s all you really need to do. Most entrepreneurs could fit into this category of micro-preneur and be very handsomely rewarded for their own sublimely, crazy interests. A good uplifting read.
4. Content Rules by Ann Handley and CC Chapman. This book truly focuses on audience. Who are you speaking to and WHY. As the Amazon listing says, it will show you how to:
- Understand why you are generating content – getting to the meat of your message in practical, commonsense language, and defining the goals of your content strategy
- Explore ways to integrate searchable words into your content without sounding forced (or sounding like “Frankenspeak”)
- Write in a way that powerfully communicates your service, product, or message across various Web mediums
- Create a publishing schedule that allows you to create different kinds and types of content at once
5. No list of mine would be complete without a reference to my intellectual crush: Simon Sinek. I just think this guy is it. Check out his book Start With Why. This is a book about leadership and inspiring others to take action — but it’s WAY more than that. This is a foundational principle on which you can build your business – and what ever it is, ya better know WHY you’re doing it. That type of authenticity attracts clients and customers to you in DROVES. Well, read it! Or you can check out his talk on Ted Talks. AWESOME.
Independent work: Not a young person's game?
April 19, 2012
Asked to picture the phenomenon sometimes called the gig economy or freelance nation, many people would probably imagine the relatively young and hip, toting their laptops to coffee shops and coworking spaces in particular urban hotspots. But are tattooed and youthful designers, developers and writers in places like Austin and Brooklyn really the heart of the trend towards increased independent work…
Ready? These are going to be tough.
Tougher than the first 5? (no whining, kiddoes….) Here we go.
6. Make a Plan. Sounds simple enough, right? However, this Plan is not the same as do this, do that…it’s a VISION with steps attached. It’s the “vision thing”, as Bush Senior once put it. PLUS….the how to of getting there. Now – hold on one minute. The vision with steps – your plan – needs to be specific ENOUGH to give you clarity of purpose, but not too unforgiving as NOT to allow for new opportunities, people and helpful synchronicities, better known as LIFE. Be clear about where you are going, point everything in that direction, and GO.
7. Empower with Passion. Now, we’re gettin’ down to it. When you know WHY you do what you do, and you have a vision for what that looks like in the world, and you add concrete steps to it – the only additional ingredient required? Passion. That’s the gasoline that makes it al GO. The ultimate in positive energy, passion ignites, attracts and builds.
8. Expect to Sacrifice. This is a tough one. I used to believe that if a program or a business idea or a path was “correct” then it would be EASY. Well, not exactly. You are birthing something completely NEW…and as we well know, childbirth is not EASY…but it is WORTH IT. Understand that even if you are headed in the “right” direction, you will face obstacles to your goal. Don’t think that is the Universe telling you “hey, you’re not doing this right,” it’s more like “hey, here’s an opportunity for growth and learning as you go on your way.” For example, your vision may not drive a lot of income at first. So – maybe you need a part-time job to make ends meet. Whatever. Do it and know you are feeding the bigger vision.
9. Persist. Another important one. However, once you have the passion and you see the vision, this step will be just part of the program. ‘Natch.
10. Choose Power. The principles that guide you – are the about building power (in an energetically positive way)? Or are they undermining your personal power? Are you giving your power away in the hopes of achieving success via any road possible? This is going to slow you down. I’m talking about the kind of internal power that radiates your purpose to anyone who crosses your path, the kind of power that gives you “knowing” that you’re headed in the right direction, and the kind of courage and generates assistance of all kinds. Choose Power.
11. Trust. Tough for some of us – damn near impossible for those who haven’t gone through these steps. Trusting that the path is there and you’re on it and you’re headed in the right direction may seem like a tough day-to-day chore….and it may be an indicator that you’re not clear YET. When you’re clear – trust follows. You are staying true and aligning yourself with purpose.
12. Thank with Gratitude. Another thing that must be authentic. Genuine gratitude for all you have RIGHT NOW and the opportunity you have been given. It’s the final step…and the beginning of this practice.
mary jo cranmore
