Nice little article here from Site Reference about Link Building. If you are into easy reading, with pertinent information, well worth subscribing to their feed.

I’ve just started using a piece of software called Coda for my web edits - I highly recommend it.

It’s ease-of-use has given me the impetus to edit my web pages on a more regular basis and as a result I’ve seen some nice uplifts in traffic.

Just by revisiting some of the words on the page and making some very small changes, I have managed to refine my text to be a little more specific and more relevant for a search and I have seen a rise of 25% more unique visitors this month.

A website isn’t a brochure and as such it should be tweaked occasionally, especially if you have the added intelligence of up-to-date keyword research.

Get tweaking now!

Found some great videos from 1938 media - some not for the faint hearted.

I liked them though - especially this one which made me feel really great about using Twitter.

It took us eight years to land a client once, but the contract we took on was worth the wait. The thing is, when you don’t do retail sales and are in B2B, chances are the sale takes a little longer than a quick in and out. A level or proving yourself also come into the equation, rather than being based purely on price.

That’s what I love about the whole idea of permission marketing and digital delivery such as websites, Blogs and e-mail marketing.

Seth Godin, Author of the original book on the subject, covers it again briefly on his Blog today.

It’s a much more laid back way of marketing and is proven (for me at least) to generate pipeline through relevant attention, rather than the badgering approach which annoys me more and more each day.

 I was chatting to a colleague this morning about the value of a well executed e-mail marketing strategy and it got me thinking on your opinions…. yes you.

So, I am running an e-mail marketing survey - 30 quick questions - the findings of which will be published at the beginning of July. Fancy filling it in? It takes about three minutes - I just timed myself.
If you get involved in marketing in any way shape or form, especially online and e-mail marketing, I’d love it if you would quickly zoom through and fill it in.

Complete the survey

I had an interesting chat with an Estate Agent at the weekend and he was telling me how bad business is for him at the moment. It seems that the downturn has really hit hard over the past few weeks, although it shouldn’t really be a surprise. I am not an economist but marketing during a recession was worth talking about in January.

Then, a few bad things happen at the same time - banks, oil and food - the newspapers do their usually hysteria messaging, telling us not to PANIC and suddenly we seem to be in a full blown recession.

Interestingly the Estate Agent was saying he would rather cut back on advertising than staff and I am sure they will not be alone, reducing marketing spend to save costs. But, is it the advertising that should be cut off or simply a different message for different times?

The papers are great for whipping up fear in people and the Oscar winning documentary - Bowling For Columbine - had a key message that fear is the very premise for continued economic stability in the US.

Do you scare people? Can you scare people?

It’s a genuine marketing tactic, scaring people. Perhaps if you don’t do it, you will go out of business! (see what I did there?)

Think about it. Insurance companies, family issues, or anything to do with getting old; they all market using messages that insist that you NEED the product, rather than it being a ‘nice to have’. The focus often moves into the worst case scenario of you not parting with your money.

Perhaps this model fits your business? Perhaps you need to look at genuine motivational factors of why someone may need your product or service.

Marketing in a recession

There is no doubt that although a recession is never a great thing to deal with, there will be opportunities for reaching new, or different, markets and that simply requires appropriate messaging rather than hiding and hoping the storm will pass.

I’m not perfect. My website is not perfect. My business is not perfect. But, I’d like think I am working on all three in a live environment.

If you wait for your marketing to be perfect, you’ll never quite make it and just when you think it is perfect, the rules will change.

Work live.

My wife’s online beauty shop took on a new product. We were talking about the zit zapping device and the brand name “Zeno Pro” a few weekends ago, so I checked the web and the .co.uk domain was available.

I quickly set up hosting, rammed up our Escape website framework and created a home page with no style. Then, being me, I got bored after two sentences and forgot about it, with a plan to come back later.

Well, it’s no. 2 in Google for Zeno Pro already, which proves two things to me.

1. Domain name choice is important.
2. Vertical and niche markets are where it’s at.

I need to take a bit of my own advice here, because time and time again this bits me on the arse.

There’s no money in being generous in business, dare I say there is no need to even be too ‘nice’. And, it’s not just about money, it’s about self-worth, self-perception and resentment. So, what’s prompted this?

I do far too many web freebies, for instance. Mainly, because I am looking to build up links to my own website and from that point of view, it works. And, I don;t really mind doing them. But, sometimes, when money is not involved, people don’t seem to take things so seriously in terms of your time and effort.

The last two weeks have seen me field queries on why a free £15k CMS solution won’t do EXACTLY what someone wants. I have had to redesign a built website, despite it being approved and… this one does get me… a client in a creative meeting took an idea of ours somewhere else to get it produce cheaper - we made nothing.

Via Twitter, Oliver suggested I should start wearing a t-shirt from now on with the slogan… “Everything I say is ©”

Right, rant over. And perhaps the days of me being so generous?