netmoney1
Elite Member
- Feb 21, 2012
- 3,429
- 11,101
Ok, so I was taking a break today and reading through BHW and there are countless number of threads regarding Google: updates knocking down rankings, penalties, loss of revenue, etc.
I have a simple solution: Take Google out of your vocabulary and remove them from your game plan. Seriously, they suck. They have too much power and if you put all of your eggs in that basket you can go from hero to zero overnight. Also, since everyone is having trouble getting traffic due to rank drops and updates they are switching over to paid ads...now more bidders/comp equals higher CPC. Save your money and walk away form the big "G."
Google just celebrated their 14[SUP]th[/SUP] year birthday. Businesses were successful and profitable before Google...and can be without them!
Some ideas:
Focus on Bing/Yahoo: Since they both use the same ranking system find out how to dominate those search engines. Sure, it isn't the same traffic numbers as Google, but you won't have to worry about algo updates, penalties, and all that other bull sh#t. With no stress regarding rankings you can focus on other methods to bring traffic/revenue. Also, think long term. Who knows - Bing/Yahoo could be the future. Look how Myspace went away over night and Facebook was the king. Things change.
Put More Effort Into Building Your List: as long as your have a niche related list that is constantly being built then you will never run out of potential visitors/clients/buyers. Before when it was simple to pull in traffic I didn't put as much energy into list building as I should have. I guess I thought the traffic train would never slow down. Lesson learned. Always build that list!
Go Offline! Some Examples:
Radio Spots: Radio is a GREAT way to drive people to your websites. Since everyone is so focused on online marketing they tend to forget about simple advertising. The costs associated with online marketing continue to rise, so a lot of big companies use up their entire budget. Because of this radio stations are losing revenue. I can tell you this - radio time is much cheaper then it was several years ago. People still listen to the radio - on their drive to and from work, at work, etc. Simple creative ads that drive the user to your websites can easily be done. Sure, radio might be considered "old school" but it still works!
TV: Look into this - I always thought TV ads would be WAAAYYY out of budget - but surprisingly enough it is VERY affordable! You typically have to commit to a large spend, BUT when you consider the amount of eyes that will see your commercial it blows the doors off any online campaign. I have found 30 second TV spots as low as $30 in some major markets and on some very popular stations! Again, I was shocked at how affordable this can be when you consider the reach it provides.
Billboards: You can get billboards as cheap as $300 per month! 24/7 advertising to the thousands of cars passing by each and every day. The trick is to make it very catchy and straight to the point. May even need to use a simple domain and forward to your main site. Think about this. Lets use the example of a dentist in Los Angeles. The keyword "dentist Los Angeles " has 1,300 exact local searches a month. It is extremely competitive and would cost a CRAP load of money to get ranked #1 in big G. Now, assume it would cost $500 a month to remain at #1 on Google for this term. For simple math sake lets assume that ever single one of the 1,300 people to search "dentist Los Angeles" saw your website and 1% turned into clients. That would be 13 new customers. Cost to acquire each: $38.46. Now watch the magic of a billboard: Let' s guess that a billboard in Los Angeles is $3,000 a month. Now, how many people will see that each month? MILLIONS! Ok, say 1 million people see your billboard. 1% of them go to your website = 10,000 visitors. Now, 1% of them turn to clients = 100 new customers! Cost to acquire each = $30. Cheaper...AND WAY MORE VOLUME! (more volume = more profit$$$$) Simple billboard with a catchy message/slogan designed to get them to a website. It can be done folks!
Mobile Billboard Marketing: I live in a faily large city - and the rage right now is mobile billbards - they are trucks that drive around the city with large billboards on each side - they rotate ads. At night they are lit up like a Christmas tree and really draw attention. These can be purchased pretty cheap, and are a great way to get people to your website. It seems that there are many companies popping up offering this service and trying to offer the lowest price possible - do some shopping and I am sure you can get a great buy. It is still fairly new and fresh and something that people still look ta and point - getting your ad exposure.
Flyers: Yes, we are going old school now! Flyers with tear sheets at the bottom. Hang them in apartment complexes, laundry mats, colleges, supermarkets, etc (any high foot traffic pubic place). Nice simple yet eye catching flyer with all of the details in the tear sheet at the bottom. Drive traffic to your sites and offers this way. Go to the print shop and make copies, cut up the tear sheets and start posting them all over. What does a copy cost these days? 5 cents each? Lower? Either way, this still works...yes, it requires a little bit of work...but in the end hard work will pay off!
And finally...
Network: You NEVER know who you will run into and what their background is in. Talk to as many people as possible. You just may find someone closely involved in something similar, or know someone...or knows someone who knows someone. Always be thinking outside of the box and you will never have to worry about what Google is doing...or what Matt Cutts is tweeting. When you remove Google from the equation you won't give a crap about what their new animal update is about.
I hope this is useful to some people. From the recent posts Google seems to have affected many...maybe this can help some of them spark some new creative ways to make money and bring in traffic without the big G.
(EDIT: THIS IS NOT SAYING TO ABANDON GOOGLE - OBVIOUSLY THAT IS NOT AN OPTION. I DID NOT MEAN FOR PEOPLE TO THINK THAT IS WHAT I MEANT. THESE ARE JUST SOME ADDITIONAL IDEAS. JUST SOME OTHER WAYS)
Happy money making BHW!
I have a simple solution: Take Google out of your vocabulary and remove them from your game plan. Seriously, they suck. They have too much power and if you put all of your eggs in that basket you can go from hero to zero overnight. Also, since everyone is having trouble getting traffic due to rank drops and updates they are switching over to paid ads...now more bidders/comp equals higher CPC. Save your money and walk away form the big "G."
Google just celebrated their 14[SUP]th[/SUP] year birthday. Businesses were successful and profitable before Google...and can be without them!
Some ideas:
Focus on Bing/Yahoo: Since they both use the same ranking system find out how to dominate those search engines. Sure, it isn't the same traffic numbers as Google, but you won't have to worry about algo updates, penalties, and all that other bull sh#t. With no stress regarding rankings you can focus on other methods to bring traffic/revenue. Also, think long term. Who knows - Bing/Yahoo could be the future. Look how Myspace went away over night and Facebook was the king. Things change.
Put More Effort Into Building Your List: as long as your have a niche related list that is constantly being built then you will never run out of potential visitors/clients/buyers. Before when it was simple to pull in traffic I didn't put as much energy into list building as I should have. I guess I thought the traffic train would never slow down. Lesson learned. Always build that list!
Go Offline! Some Examples:
Radio Spots: Radio is a GREAT way to drive people to your websites. Since everyone is so focused on online marketing they tend to forget about simple advertising. The costs associated with online marketing continue to rise, so a lot of big companies use up their entire budget. Because of this radio stations are losing revenue. I can tell you this - radio time is much cheaper then it was several years ago. People still listen to the radio - on their drive to and from work, at work, etc. Simple creative ads that drive the user to your websites can easily be done. Sure, radio might be considered "old school" but it still works!
TV: Look into this - I always thought TV ads would be WAAAYYY out of budget - but surprisingly enough it is VERY affordable! You typically have to commit to a large spend, BUT when you consider the amount of eyes that will see your commercial it blows the doors off any online campaign. I have found 30 second TV spots as low as $30 in some major markets and on some very popular stations! Again, I was shocked at how affordable this can be when you consider the reach it provides.
Billboards: You can get billboards as cheap as $300 per month! 24/7 advertising to the thousands of cars passing by each and every day. The trick is to make it very catchy and straight to the point. May even need to use a simple domain and forward to your main site. Think about this. Lets use the example of a dentist in Los Angeles. The keyword "dentist Los Angeles " has 1,300 exact local searches a month. It is extremely competitive and would cost a CRAP load of money to get ranked #1 in big G. Now, assume it would cost $500 a month to remain at #1 on Google for this term. For simple math sake lets assume that ever single one of the 1,300 people to search "dentist Los Angeles" saw your website and 1% turned into clients. That would be 13 new customers. Cost to acquire each: $38.46. Now watch the magic of a billboard: Let' s guess that a billboard in Los Angeles is $3,000 a month. Now, how many people will see that each month? MILLIONS! Ok, say 1 million people see your billboard. 1% of them go to your website = 10,000 visitors. Now, 1% of them turn to clients = 100 new customers! Cost to acquire each = $30. Cheaper...AND WAY MORE VOLUME! (more volume = more profit$$$$) Simple billboard with a catchy message/slogan designed to get them to a website. It can be done folks!
Mobile Billboard Marketing: I live in a faily large city - and the rage right now is mobile billbards - they are trucks that drive around the city with large billboards on each side - they rotate ads. At night they are lit up like a Christmas tree and really draw attention. These can be purchased pretty cheap, and are a great way to get people to your website. It seems that there are many companies popping up offering this service and trying to offer the lowest price possible - do some shopping and I am sure you can get a great buy. It is still fairly new and fresh and something that people still look ta and point - getting your ad exposure.
Flyers: Yes, we are going old school now! Flyers with tear sheets at the bottom. Hang them in apartment complexes, laundry mats, colleges, supermarkets, etc (any high foot traffic pubic place). Nice simple yet eye catching flyer with all of the details in the tear sheet at the bottom. Drive traffic to your sites and offers this way. Go to the print shop and make copies, cut up the tear sheets and start posting them all over. What does a copy cost these days? 5 cents each? Lower? Either way, this still works...yes, it requires a little bit of work...but in the end hard work will pay off!
And finally...
Network: You NEVER know who you will run into and what their background is in. Talk to as many people as possible. You just may find someone closely involved in something similar, or know someone...or knows someone who knows someone. Always be thinking outside of the box and you will never have to worry about what Google is doing...or what Matt Cutts is tweeting. When you remove Google from the equation you won't give a crap about what their new animal update is about.
I hope this is useful to some people. From the recent posts Google seems to have affected many...maybe this can help some of them spark some new creative ways to make money and bring in traffic without the big G.
(EDIT: THIS IS NOT SAYING TO ABANDON GOOGLE - OBVIOUSLY THAT IS NOT AN OPTION. I DID NOT MEAN FOR PEOPLE TO THINK THAT IS WHAT I MEANT. THESE ARE JUST SOME ADDITIONAL IDEAS. JUST SOME OTHER WAYS)
Happy money making BHW!
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