Action versus inaction

This morning I got an email from a great subscriber of mine (who is hopefully going to guest Blog for me soon!) suggesting that I should have edited the audio before sending it out. Some people also suggested that I send the audio in a different format.  As always, I appreciate feedback.  And as always, I use every situation I face as an example to teach/help people.

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Without getting too personal and boring you with the details, let me say that I am about to be out of the office for a couple days for medical reasons and am also dealing with the imminent death of my Grandmother.  I am short on time and have a lot I am trying to get done.  Things like this happen often.  We always have to balance life and business. 

In a perfect world, the audio would be edited and it would be in an easier format.  BUT I am getting inundated with requests from people that are anxious to hear it (thanks guys, I appreciate your interest - you all rock!).

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So the question becomes:

Is something better than nothing?  My general feeling is that action is always better than inaction.  So if I can get people info, even if it isn't polished, it's better than nothing.  BUT the problem with that is people judge you based on what you put out there and if you aren't putting your best foot forward, you risk alienating people and having them form incorrect judgments about you and your work.

In marketing, no one is going to get it right all the time and that's just a fact.  I still think the principal that action is better than inaction is a good one to live by.  We are all juggling a million things in life and in business and if everything was perfect before it went live, less would get done quickly and delays are rarely good.

BUT it also depends on the quality of what you are putting out there.  On this one, I may have made a bad call and probably should have done some editing but at least the content is there among the unedited mess.  :)

So I ask that you learn from this little lesson and consider the options and consequences of "action versus inaction" and "'polished enough' versus perfect".  I also ask that you forgive my error in judgment in getting this audio out before it was edited.  :)

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Seo Growth in 2012?

Has 2012 gotten off to a good start for you?  Are you on track to reach your goals? 

If you don't have the rankings, traffic and social media exposure that you need to create real growth, or if you have some questions on where your focus should be for maximum growth maybe it's time to get a little advice from a professional? 


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We are currently offering Business Growth Consultations.  No obligation.  We are here to review what you are doing and see what we think you could do a little differently to get better results.  This is my favorite part of my job.  I get to talk to (or email) people and find out what's going on with their business and offer solutions.  It kinda rocks.  I love examining what's working and what isn't and figuring out the next 3 things that need to be done to create some momentum and growth.

There has been a ton of shake-up and news lately - stay tuned for my next jam packed newsletter.

Have a fabulous weekend! 


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Ohhh, anyone going to watch the SAG awards?  My friend works there and got me a pass for the Red Carpet.  It's a blast to hang out and watch the celebs all do their thing on the Red Carpet.  Stay tuned, I may share a few pics in my next newsletter (so unrelated to SEO, I know, but it's still fun).  That is so far removed from the life I lead, its fun to have a little glimpse into it.  :)

Facebook Fan Page Can Improve Your Seo

The topic for this fine day: Facebook Fan Pages.

Fan Pages have more benefits than I can list in one email.  Let me list just a few:
1.    They boost your SEO
2.    They help you generate new leads and funnel people back to your site
3.    They allow you to tap into an audience that you may otherwise miss
4.    They allow you to engage Fans, which leads to more sales
5.    They allow you to join a conversation that is already happening - with or without you

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We recently requested proposals from competitors to see what others are charging and we got proposals ranging from $300 - $975!!  I was blown away.  My first thought was "wow I need to raise my prices" (we only charge $275) but then I realized I don't want to do that.  Keep my pages affordable is what allows me to get more people hooked up with killer Fan Pages.  So instead of increasing my prices, I went the other way and am offering a Fan Page at the discounted rate of $225 ($50 savings off our regular price)

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This is a limited time offer, only good until midnight October 20th.  So if you want to jump on this, do it soon!

There is one of three things you can do right now:
1.    Do nothing (but you may want to search for how many of your competitors are on Facebook and you'll see that you are missing out)
2.    If you already have a Fan Page, send me the link and I'll do a review and let you know if you are on the right track and are set up to have it act as a lead generation tool.
3.    You can order your Fan Page at the discounted rate and within 5 business days have a killer page working for ya!

SEO Rant

Which one of those statements is true for you?

I am willing to invest time or money to get top rankings.
I am not willing to invest time or money to get top rankings.

Which one of those statements is true for you?


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Not many things in life are black and white...but getting top rankings for your website is.

You either have them or you don't AND you are either willing to do something to get them, or you're not.

I think a lot of people fool themselves into thinking they will do what it takes and then when the times comes to invest the time or put up money, they don't follow through.

I don't mean to be too blunt, and I definitely don't mean to be offensive but I do want to be honest and hopefully get you thinking.

It's worth repeating.

You either have top rankings or you don't.
You are either willing to do something to get top rankings, or you aren't.

What is true for you and what does that truth mean to you, your business and your goals?

It has been said that inaction is action, in and of itself.  So, the question is - you are already taking action in some form, so are you taking the right action?

SEO may not be for you.  You may not want a lot of new traffic and leads and sales.  If that's the case, that's OK.


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But if you want or need traffic, leads and sales - then you need top rankings.

Not sure where that come from, but I guess that was my little rant for the day!  Stay tuned for more SEO tips.

3 Simple Questions

I wanted to ask you a favor.  I'm trying to get a feel for what my subscribers are looking for.  I want to be able to answer your questions and provide you with the info you are looking for you.

Would you be willing to hit reply and answer 3 really simple questions?  I'd appreciate it!

1. What is your biggest question related to SEO, or what topic interests you most? (Ex: links, social media, writing keyword rich text, just getting on the top of the engines, etc)
2. If you aren't currently doing SEO (either yourself or by outsourcing to a company), why not?
3. If I were able to demonstrate the value of SEO and show you the traffic that you have the potential to tap into, would you be interested in working with me?  (C'mon, can't blame a girl for asking!  I'd love the opportunity to earn your business and thought I'd just come right out and ask if that's a possibility)

I appreciate your time and your feedback.  I promise I'll compile all the answers and start addressing the questions and topics through my newsletter and Blog.

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SEO Made Simple

So you want to learn about SEO?

Maybe you want to handle your own SEO?  Maybe you want to brush up on your understanding so you can check on the work an SEO firm is doing for you?  Maybe you are just curious and want to learn more?

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Learn about social media, link building, on-page optimization, writing for the engines,  Google tips, Bing tips and more!

Get life time updates at no charge (pretty cool, if I do say so myself)

Check it out now:  =>> Click Here for Best SEO Plugin for your website

Have a great day and thanks for letting me into your inbox.  I always appreciate it.  As always I welcome questions and feedback.

Did You Pass The Test?

I wanted to share a powerful marketing tip with you today.  This is something that when done properly, can improve your results and increase your sales WITHOUT adding a single penny to your costs.

This is something that all successful internet marketers have so ingrained into them; they mumble it in their sleep!

Test, Test, Test!

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So, testing - that's nothing new.  What's the big deal?  The big deal is that most people overlook this and miss the opportunity to significantly improve their response rate.

Let me explain....

You run a PPC campaign on Google AdWords and you have one ad running. Let's say you sell shoes, and here is the ad you were running.

Designer Shoes are Affordable
Women's Designer Shoes
Big names, great prices

Now, let's say your click through rate (number of people that click on your ad) is 4.2%.  You are happy, because that's better than you've ever done before. What most people do is keep running with that ad.  What we want you to remember to do is Split Test.

All that means is create a second version of your ad, to compete against your first version and see who wins.

So, now look at version 2:

Designer Shoes are Affordable
Lady's Designer Shoes
Big names, great prices


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Do you see the difference?  Only one word (more about that in a minute).  In the first ad we have

Women's Designer Shoes and in the second ad we have Lady's Designer Shoes.

So, let's look at the results.

Ad 1 - 4.2 click through rate
Ad 2 - 5.1 click through rate!

You just increased your response rate by 21.4%!  No extra costs, simply changing one word and getting an improved response.

Why did more people click on Lady's than Women's?  We don't know, we may never know, but we also don't care.  All we know is have now improved our click through rate!

Now are we done?  Not even close.  Now we take Ad 2, and create another ad to split test against Ad 2.  You can constantly test 2 ads against each other and incrementally increase your response rates.

What can you test?  Anything and everything!  Test your ads, test headlines on your site, test your pricing.

Test, test, test.

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There's so much more about testing that I could go into, but we'll have to save that for another
time.  For now, just remember these 2 important points...

1. Test EVERYTHING!

2. Only make one change in each test for accurate results.  If you were to change the headline and the middle text on Ad 2, you wouldn't know which was the cause of the higher response.  So, take one thing at a time and test, test, test.

I hope you enjoyed, and will profit from, the invaluable concept of testing.  I have nothing to sell or offer you today - just wanted to pass along this advice, as it has put tons of extra money into our bank account and I know it can do the same for you!

By the way, Google has a great tool (that is available at no cost) that allows you to set up these split tests easily.  Check out Google Website Optimizer!