========================================== Business Marketing Bulletin ========================================== January 29, 2008, Issue #86 Terri Seymour, Publisher http://www.seymourproducts.com mailto:terri@seymourproducts.com © 2008 All Rights Reserved Worldwide ========================================== In This Issue ========================================== 1. Top Sponsor Ads 2. Privacy Policy 3. What's New? 4. Resource-A-Day 5. Freebies & Biz Helpers 6. eCommerce Marketing Tip 7. Feature Ad 8. Feedback 9. Article: Mythology In SEO Explained Away 10. Feature Ad 11. This 'n That - Little Bit of Everything! 12. Subscription Management & Contact Info ========================================== Top Sponsor Ads ========================================== Promote your home business for free with WAHM Articles! Start building traffic and generating publicity today. http://www.wahm-articles.com/learnmore.php *************************** Free Download - eBay Workshop Collection The workshop titles included in the ebook are... *From Hobby to Home Business *How to Compete in a Crowded Market *Understanding the Basics to Importing Physical Products to Sell.........and much more! You can download it for free here: http://www.worldwidebrands.com/wwb/kh_freeebookWorkshops.asp?kbid=1028 ********** ATTENTION ********** You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to it. As a subscriber you have acknowledged that there will be both in-house and third party advertising as part of our content. This allows BMB to remain free. If you would like to be removed from this list, please see instructions at the end of this newsletter. Seymour Products values your privacy. http://www.seymourproducts.com/privacy.shtml Seymour Products is hosted by ICDSoft Hosting. No set-up fees, 1000 MB of space, $72 per year, plus numerous features! Incredible support system...minutes, not hours! You have a bigger plan option as well. http://www.icdsoft.com/?aff=terriseymour ========================================== What’s New? ========================================== Hello everyone and welcome new subscribers, I know a few of you have been asking me about advertising prices and such. I want to give you a heads up on our prices. Because of our rapidly rising subscriber count, the advertising prices will be going up soon. So, if you have been thinking of advertising with the Bulletin, do it now before the prices go up. I just wanted to let you all know so you had that option. Thank you! In the News Malware Hitches a Ride on Digital Devices http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11499?ref=rss New Ebooks this Week: Resell Ebooks Just $1.00 Each! Confident Public Speaking (self-help) 101 Niche Product Ideas (online/home biz) Glycemic 101 (health & fitness) Tips for Sprucing Up Your Home (home & family) Pagan & Christian Rome (religion) Pick-a-Price (software & scripts) The World's Best Poetry Vol. III (other) eBook of Discoverers & Explorers (education/homeschool) Resume Writing Secrets (jobs & career) Make Money by Investing in Real Estate (money & finances) http://www.seymourproducts.com/ebooks-resell **Weekly Subscriber Special** This week's special is quite simple: BOGO!!!! ;-) Buy One, Get One! For every one ebook you buy, get one free, up to 20. Get 40 ebooks for just $20.00 or order just a few and double them. Email me your free choices after your order is completed. Thank you! NOTE: New eBooks listed above are not eligible for Weekly Subscriber Specials. Join the Seymour Products Trivia Challenge! Find the hidden trivia question and be the third person to send in the correct answer for a free feature ad in next week's issue of the Business Marketing Bulletin. Send your answer to mailto:terri@seymourproducts.com?subject=answer Congratulations to Melanie McClendon for being last week's trivia challenge winner. Last week’s Q: What TV celebrity began show business as a teen runaway, working with the circus as a fire eater? Last Week’s A: Pierce Brosnan Join in the fun and try to win a free feature ad. Good luck all! If you know anyone who could benefit from this ezine, please feel free to forward them a copy in its entirety. Thank you. If you would like to advertise in the BMB, please visit: http://www.seymourproducts.com/newsletter/advertise.shtml for more information. Advertising prices are as low as $2.00. I am also looking for ad swaps from other ezine publishers. BMB goes out to 835 subscribers. ========================================== Resource-A-Day ========================================== Today's Resource: Identity Theft - How it Works, How to Prevent it From Happening to You and How to Stop it http://www.resource-a-day.com/ez8/jan/26.html?Terri Join this program for free and earn money as well as getting resources delivered to your inbox everyday! http://www.resource-a-day.net/member/index.cgi?TerriSeymour ========================================== Freebies & Biz Helpers ========================================== Free Blogging eCourse - Learn to blog before you get started! http://www.marketingwithblogscourse.com/ ****** How to Recession Proof Your Business - Tips That May Help Your Small Business Stay Afloat in These Tough Times http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120112687110711303.html?mod=SmallBusinessMain_feature_articles ****** Free Download: Best Cash Book Best CashBook is a blessing for cash management. Based on [cash + deposits - cards = net cash], it treats cash, deposits, credit cards and other financial accounts as one to give an insight of incomings, outgoings and fund changes. It will be very simple and easy to use once you overcome learning the entry principles. http://www.bestcashbook.com/ ****** Write Better Ads - Do It Free! http://www.WriteBetterAds.com ******* ========================================== eCommerce Marketing Tip ========================================== Increase your traffic by offering a freebie on Craig's List. This high traffic site can bring you a lot of traffic as well. Offer a free report, ebook, tutorial, etc. to get people on to your site and capture their email. Do this by having them sign up for your mailing list or ezine to get the freebie. ========================================== Feature Ad ========================================== Are YOUR Ads Making Money? Competition's High but My Prices are Down-To-Earth! Quality, Affordable & Friendly Ad-Writing Services! http://www.freewebs.com/suz1of6/ I was born in New York, USA in 1949. I have been nominated for three Oscars. I am probably most famous for my role of Ellen Ripley, who I have portrayed four times. One of my more recent roles has been that of Linda Freeman in "Snow Cake" (2006). Who Am I? mailto:terri@seymourproducts.com?subject=answer ========================================== Feedback ========================================== Please send in your comments, suggestions, questions, etc to mailto:terri@seymourproducts.com?subject=feedback We appreciate all feedback, good or bad! I visited and reviewed your website today and I must say, it certainly seems to be a great resource of information for your new, and returning visitors, of which I too have book marked for future reference. *Antonio I just came across your website, it's awesome. *Debbie I am a member of your spectacular ezine and am soo glad I can finally receive it! * Annette ========================================== Feature Article ========================================== Mythology In SEO Explained Away © 2007 Andy MacDonald Mythology is in essences a story that sounds like it could be true, but is not! Even today we have myths in different aspects of business including SEO. Ever wonder what the biggest SEO myths are? I have taken the most prevalent myths that seem to be constantly resurfacing and examined them for you. This is a must read for anyone looking to hire an Search engine optimisation firm or someone looking to do SEO for themselves. Myth # 1: All Meta Tags Are Of Equal Importance Some Meta tags are useful while others are not. I have stated this many times. Search engines are relying more and more about what is on the website than what the tags are telling them. The description tag is used by some (but not all) search engines. The same goes for the keyword tag. Keyword tags are used more by spammers and people using software to find you as a link partner than the search engines. In my opinion, the only tags you should concentrate your efforts on are the robot tag and the description tags. Myth # 2: You Should Submit Your Site to Search Engines Weekly or Monthly Honestly, I never submit any site more than 1 time and sometimes I don’t even do that. If you submit your site once, you’re good. The engines will come back on their own. You can sometimes speed up the process of getting your site indexed by linking it to a high traffic or high PR site. The search engines will find the URL to your site and index it automatically. Myth # 3: SEO is Too Expensive Actually, SEO is probably the most cost effective form of online marketing. Organic SEO is cheaper to set up and maintain than a PPC campaign or banner advertising. With PPC and banner advertising, you pay for clicks or impressions. With SEO, all clicks are Free. You simply pay for the set up and monitoring of your site’s pages. Myth # 4: PPC Is More Effective Than Natural SEO In the short term…true. In the long term…false. Why, you ask? Organic SEO is preferred by searchers over 5 to 1 to PPC. People trust organic searches to return relevant results. People also know that the ads to the right of the page are sponsored ads. They have long ago figured out that anyone can bid on any term they want, as many often do, without even a hint of relevance. So, long term SEO structuring can indeed be more effective than PPC, especially when considering the preferences of search traffïc. A top search rankings may take some time to get, but once you are there (and provided you can maintain it), you will get better results than from a PPC ad. Myth # 5: Hiring an SEO Specialist “In House” is Cheaper The problem with hiring someone in house is that they are paid hourly or by salary. Most SEO firms charge per item or project. It doesn’t matter how long it takes us, you pay a one tíme charge. When you hire a firm, it’s like having a team of SEO experts on your payroll. Paying a flat rate saves you monëy and speeds up the time it takes to complete a job. Additionally, most SEO firms have specialists who write, submit, redesign sites, post pages, etc… Hiring one person who can do all these things competently is highly unlikely. Myth # 6: I Can Only Optimize My Homepage for Key Terms You can and should optimize every page on your site. Each page should have its own key terms, with no more than three phrases per page (preferably one). Myth # 7: All I Need to do is Write Content with the correct Keyword Density and My Site Will Rank Well Wrong…especially if you want to rank on Google. You will need off-site SEO as well as on-site SEO. Keyword density may work on MSN (for now), but it will take more than that to rank well for all search engines. Myth # 8: I Shouldn’t Aim for the Most Competitive Keywords and Phrases If the keywords you are competing for are very competitive, should you optimize your site for them? Of Course! I would optimize for some high, medium and low competitive key terms. Cover all your bases. The worst case is that you won’t rank well for the high competitive key terms and that’s ok. You can always work to improve them. Don’t shy away from top key terms just because they are competitive. You may nevër know how close you could rank for them unless you try. Myth # 9: Only Work With Companies That Give You A Guarantee Guarantees would be nice if they were worth the paper they are printed on. In fact, most guarantees from SEO firms have the same stipulation in them. This stipulation usually states that as long as they get one of your key phrases to the top of any major search engines, they have fulfilled their end of the agreement. This is irrelevant to the competition of the term. In other words…it’s easy to be number one for terms no one is competing for. Don’t be deceived by high rankings listed on SEO sites as they can be misleading. Myth # 10: SEO Requires a 1 Year Commitment on My Part It certainly shouldn’t. Don’t lock yourself into a year contract with any company unless you already have an established, favourable business relationship. SEO, in most cases, should be performed on a month to month basis with a mutual understanding of the objectives and relative timetable. Often, both the long and short term maintenance contracts that many firms insist on including with each job are unnecessary. As an example…If you have a new site optimized, especially right after an update, you may not see results for three months. Why pay for maintenance in the interim time? Additionally, you may not be happy with the results of an SEO firm or even the level of service. A long term contract may only ensure that you receive a full year of bad service. So, don’t lock yourself in with a year contract, at least until you are comfortable with whom you are dealing with. Hopefully, I put a few common SEO myths to rest. About the Author: Andy MacDonald owns and runs his own website design company called Swift Media UK which also incorporates logo design & reliable web hosting. Also checkout our SEO Blog which is updated regularly with posts to help you achieve a top search engine ranking. http://www.swiftmediauk.co.uk/website-design.php http://swiftmediauk.co.uk/blog/ ************** If you would be interested in any of my articles for reprint or reference you can see the complete list at http://www.seymourproducts.com/articles/index.shtml Feel free to use any of the articles you feel are appropriate. Also, if you would like to be added to my personal mailing list for articles only, terri@seymourproducts.com?subject=article-list ========================================== Feature Ad ========================================== At Bee Gift Emporium, we work like BEES for all your gift NEEDS from home décor to gift baskets! Use code BGE15 when checking out to save 15% off your total purchase. http://www.BeeGiftEmporium.com ========================================== This ‘n That - A Little Bit of Everything! ========================================== Find out how much your house is worth! http://www.zillow.com/ Funny Quotes: When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car. * Author Unknown My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher. * Socrates "How exactly do you build self confidence?" http://www.life-with-confidence.com/ This week's riddle: What Am I? I am sometimes strong and sometimes weak, But I am nobody's fool. For there is no language that I can't speak, Though I never went to school. What am I? Answer at the end of the ezine. ========================================== Subscription Management ========================================== Subscriptions to this weekly ezine are free. To receive this newsletter: Send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@seymourproducts.com To not receive this newsletter: Send blank email to: mailto:unsubscribe@seymourproducts.com ========================================== Contact Info ========================================== Terri & Terry Seymour Publishers, Business Marketing Bulletin Owners, Seymour Products http://www.seymourproducts.com mailto:terri@seymourproducts.com ========================================== Legal Disclaimer The Business Marketing Bulletin does not make any warranties, express or implied, regarding the use of the links that we provide in our advertising. We don't guarantee the accuracy, completion, usefulness or legality of any advertisements, resources, information, products, services, income processes or programs. We disclaim any responsibility and/or all liability arising out of, or relating to, any item listed in this ezine, and/or websites. ========================================== Answer to riddle: An Echo! ;-)