Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Human Sponges

Who you keep out can be as important as those you let in....sometimes, more so. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want some bum to waltz into my house, make themselves comfortable in my recliner, eat my food, get on my computer, and use my hot water. And, I’m sure as heck not doing to PAY for their gas to get there.

So, why should website traffic be any different? When you are using keywords to attract potential buyers to your website and you are paying for the cost of them to visit, you don’t want or need any “looky-loos” breezing through your site on your dime. This is where “negative” keywords come in handy. They keep people who are not really looking for what you are offering on your site from seeing it and visiting, thus saving you money.

It’s kind of like moving and changing your phone number and not telling your freeloading second cousin. He might be looking for you, but he can’t find you…


Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Use the Umbrella You Already Bought

In June of 2016, my husband and I went on a cruise to the Mediterranean with my best friend from high school and her husband. A few of our ports of call were in Italy. I had been to that region in June six years prior. No one else had visited there, so they took me at my word when I told them how HOT it was. Consequently, none of us planned for bad weather. 

Well, June of that year was unseasonably cold and rainy in the Mediterranean. We overpaid for cheap umbrellas the moment we stepped off the tour bus in the town of our first tourist attraction, Pisa. We still got drenched from our necks down, and we were cold. It was not very pleasant. 

We took those cheap umbrellas with us into our new few ports of call and didn't need them. When we got to Athens, we decided to leave them on the ship. While sitting on the tour bus outside the port, we saw the weather forecast and realized we had made a mistake. This time, we got totally soaked. Twice.

I had already paid for an umbrella—it was a shame I didn’t use it twice more for the same money. 

In my research this week, I have discovered that I can save a lot of time, money, and perhaps a little bit of discomfort by using “an umbrella” that I have already paid for…my LLC. There is a fabulous little business acronym called a DBA. It stands for “doing business as” and it was created for registered entities who do business under an alias.


I’m going to take advantage of this protection. I hate it when my hair gets wet anyway. 

Friday, February 8, 2019

Copycat

When I was a child, if you mimicked the behavior of someone else, everybody called you a copycat. It was not meant to be a compliment. I guess fourth graders are not mature enough to realize that imitation is one of the best forms of flattery.

In website design, it is wise to mirror what already works. Site visitor attention spans are extremely short. If a guest to a website gets confused because the layout does not match what is coming to be recognized as pretty universal, they won't stay, let alone click an affiliate link.

This week, I identified some very successful affiliate marketers. Since I am building an affiliate site, I want to see what the best affiliates are already doing. I looked at their site layouts, colors, typography, etc., to see what works for them. Now, I intend to do a little impersonating of my own...without stepping over the boundaries of copyright, of course.

Wish me luck!