Bretts Marketing Bytes

Archive for June, 2009

In the old days, say 2 or 3 years ago, blog commenting  used to be a great method to get links to your site. However, Google and other search engines have been telling us recently that these are really a waste of time for SEO’s due to the “no-follow” attribute tag that most blog commenting software utilizes these days.

So should you stop commenting on blogs? Well quite honestly, I still believe commenting on blogs is a great place to get links and network with other bloggers. When you build relationships with other bloggers, you increase the chances that they might link to you using the “do-follow” attribute in a future post.

Blog comments also get read by people and these people are who you want to visit your site, right? And of course, there is always the possibility that those people will click on your link, especially if it is relevant to what they are reading.

One thing that drives me crazy is comment spammers. They leave comments on my blog that don’t make any sense. Geez, at least act like you read my post and I might give you a chance. Don’t these people know that as the blog administrator, I approve these?
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Email Marketing is like dieting. Everyone knows what they are supposed to do but no one does it.

People spend hundreds of dollars per year on lose weight quick diet programs only to find that they didn’t get the results that they were hoping for, when the answer is right there in front of them. EAT WELL, and EXERCISE. It’s actually pretty simple, right?

So what does this have to do with email marketing? Email marketing is similar in the respect of how people treat their email lists. Companies have a hard time resisting the temptation of sending their messages out to everyone on the list, or as I will call it in this post, stuffing their face.  They will even continue to buy and rent lists just to try and make a buck.  Just like the lose weight quick ideas; they are disappointed when the results come back.

So if you are not going to send your email out to your entire list, what should you do? Here are a couple rules to follow.

• Don’t blast your message out to everyone on your list. Send it to people who you know want to hear about your message.

• Get personal with your list. Do surveys. Have a calling campaign to ensure that you have the right people receiving the right emails.

• Before adding someone you met at a networking event to your mailer. Call or email them and ask if they want to be a part of your list and what topics they would be interested in receiving. This creates a soft touch to that person and also gets you a more targeted email address.

• Remind people occasionally why they are receiving your email. People forget quickly and sometimes don’t remember giving you their information, so a quick reminder is often useful and it builds trust.
• Don’t be afraid of people opting-out of your list. This is good because it is making your list more targeted. If they don’t want your emails, who needs them?

So in summary, eat well (segment your list) don’t just stuff everything in your face, Exercise (manager your list) and you will both lose weight and have very successful email marketing campaigns.

Google Analytics is very robust and certainly one of the most affordable web analytical programs out there.  But sometimes we Web Marketers need additional information that is up to date to understand exactly what is happening when someone visits our website. Unfortunately Google Analytics doesn’t cut it by itself.

Because Google Analytics is about 3 hours behind in its data delivery, I suggest installing a real time analytics package to supplement your Google Analytics data. Real time analytics will give you live data that is up to the minute. It will allow you to see exactly what is going on when a visitor hits your website.

One of the best and most affordable real time analytics packages that I have found and use is Clicky Analytics.  Clicky Analytics is great for many reasons. First off, it is real time.  Second, it breaks down the data into an easy to understand format, and thirdly, it has a “SPY” feature that allows you to see who is on your website in real time.  The “SPY” feature is useful because it will give you insight on how visitors are using your site while they are actually doing it.  Once you know how visitors use your site, you can make positive changes to help convert them into customers.

Of course Clicky is not the end all be all. Google Analytics has many features that Clicky does not, but until Google Analytics becomes live, you should supplement it with a real time tracking package like Clicky Analytics.

Please comment if you are using either of these programs or if you know of any other great analytical programs that compare.

Don’t forget to checkout our Decoding Google Analytics online training course.