Michael Campbell has released the latest ‘Internet Marketing Secrets’ newsletter. The featured article is titled “How Testimonials Increase Sales”. [Newsletter Reprint]


Michael Campbell’s latest ‘Internet Marketing Secrets’ newsletter is reprinted here.

IMS #119 – Internet Marketing Secrets – February 22, 2007

In this Issue: Google reveals its Quality Score. Gmail goes public. What Yahoo wants in its index. How to use my articles without getting permission.

Find out how to use testimonials to increase sales. How long to run a PPC ad. Who inspires the minds of Google. Plus, you’ll get news and updates from Mini Site Creator, NicheBot 2, Keyword Results Analyzer, and a whole lot more in this edition of IMS.

Internet Marketing News

New Rules for Using my Articles

Good news everyone. I’ve made it a lot easier for you to use my articles. There’s a very short byline and only five simple rules.

You cannot change or modify the article, but you can introduce it, interject comments, and put ads on it, so long as they are distinguishable from the main article. The link to my site from the byline must be a normal link, no nofollow links or other Javascript nonsense.

Other than that, there’s not a whole lot of formality. So if you’d like to use an article from this newsletter, the backissues, or a blog post, please read the new rules. If you agree to them, you can go ahead and use my articles and blog posts on your web properties, newsletters and in other publications that you own.

Five Simple Rules For Using My Articles: > > http://www.internetmarketingsecrets.com/articles/terms.html

In addition, you’ll also notice a difference in the way I’m formatting the blog entries. If it’s a story that’s also been run in the newsletter, there’s an issue number (IMS #119) beside it in the headline.

This allows you to skip any blog entries that you’ve already read in the newsletter. But more importantly, you can quickly scan the blog for exclusive articles and stories, not found anywhere else.

IMS Blog ==> http://homepage.mac.com/dmcorp/

Very Smart People Talk at Google

Ever wonder who Google hires to inspire their troops, give talks and presentations? How about people like Seth Godin and John Battelle.

You can view these presentations and others by very smart people on the “Videos from the Googleplex” page. They aim to provide a sample of great conversations and presentations.

The Tech Talks are designed to disseminate a wide spectrum of views on all sorts of topics. But my favorite is Authors at Google. It’s a speaker series where, “Thought-provoking, Zeitgeist-making, trend-setting authors come to the Google- plex to read from their works and share their thoughts with us.” It’s top notch stuff.

Googleplex Videos ==> http://video.google.com/googleplex.html

Mini Site Creator Competition Eats Dust

For years now, Jim Edward’s Mini Site Creator has been the undisputed champion of “how to” courses for learning HTML and daily website operations. Now the best training system just left the competition eating dust.

It has evolved into the ultimate “how to do everything and succeed online” guide. All the new videos are based on what you asked for. Some new goodies include:

1. How to create an info-product FAST. 2. How to create a good sales letter in an afternoon. 3. How to integrate javascripts, cgi and php scripts.

While talking with Jim he told me that, “”I know the way I teach it is still by “hand” but it works. A lot of people have had success and more importantly, a major confidence boost after going through the course.””

So if you’re just starting out… or if you’ve been struggling… or if there’s something you can’t figure out… or if you feel overwhelmed… this course is for you.

I’d hate to be dropped off in the middle of the internet and asked to profit my way out. Back in 1994 we had to figure everything out for ourselves. But fortunately, thanks to this course, you don’t have to. Everything you need to know about day-to-day website operations is here.

And at only 400 dollars, it’s a much better deal than having to attend a nightschool class. These are CDs that you can play at home, and watch as often as you want.

To quote Benjamin Franklin, “If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it away from him. An investment of knowledge always pays the best interest.” This course – my friends – is a heck of an investment and money well spent. Empty this information into your mind and you’re never likely to go hungry again.

Ready for Online Success? ==> http://www.cdzn.com/msc

Yahoo! Search Content Quality Guidelines

We’ve all heard about Google’s terms of service and what they consider to be spam. We also know what they consider to be quality content. But what about its sibling rival… Yahoo?

In case you were wondering or forgot, here’s exactly what Yahoo wants, and doesn’t want in its index. I found no real surprises in the tips, but if you’re not doing so well in Yahoo… and you’re wondering why, this FAQ will help.

> > http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/basics/basics-18.html

Gmail is Now Open to Public

Starting February 14 2007, Gmail sign-ups are now open to the public worldwide. You don’t need someone to invite you anymore. You can create an account – in any one of 40 languages – directly at gmail.com.

To quote the Google blog, “There’s no reason you should struggle to reach the ones you love. Gmail helps you communicate fast and easily.” If you want to know “why to use Gmail” click on the Gmail theater, for a fun and amusing four minute clip.

==> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBbmiQhuAhU

NicheBOT Set to Dominate Keyword Research

Nichebot reminds me a lot of Google. They quietly came on the scene. No one paid much attention to them. They started out as a revenue free model. Then morphed overnight to dominate the landscape.

If you happen to have a dollar lying around, you can try out Nichebot 2.0. Chances are, once you try it, all your other keyword research services will get tossed in the trash.

To quote Jim Morris, the genius behind NicheBot, “Anyone who has a subscription to Keyword Discovery and WordTracker is most likely wasting money if they are not conducting 450 to 700 searches on each service, each month.”

Instead of paying a straight monthly fee – regardless of how much you use the service – NicheBot uses credits instead. Any credits not used, get rolled over into the next month. That way, you pay only for what you want to use, when you want to use it.

Just recently, NicheBot added a feature, that lets you export data directly into Dr. Andy Williams Keyword Results Analyzer (KRA). (KRA is like a swiss army knife for sorting and arranging raw keyword data, into any format you choose.)

In addition, NicheBot just added WordTracker Premium Results for “Deep Digging” those niches, and Count Collector, which is really handy for importing and counting your own keyword lists.

Got a dollar? That’s all it takes to try out NicheBot 2.0.

Why not Dominate Your Niche? ==> http://www.cdzn.com/nb2

The Samurai Sword of Keyword Analysis

If you picture Ginzu Knives, slicing and dicing keyword data with the skill and precision of a Ninja, that’s Dr. Andy Williams Keyword Results Analyzer (KRA).

It saves hours of time by sorting, analyzing and filtering your keyword reports with a simple click of the mouse. It allows you to pull out, sort and print keywords that match the criteria you specify, like a minimum KEI, maximum number of competing websites, and only those phrases containing a specific word.

I asked Dr. Andy for a list of the five coolest things KRA can do, and here’s what he said:

#1 – Finding Niches within your keyword research – Whether you are building VRE sites, or looking for phrases to base your main pages on.

#2 – Finding Related Phrases – To create themed pages, you need to have a list of phrases, all highly related to your main phrase. KRA can do this for you.

#3 – Finding the best main phrases for articles – Use KRA to suggest article titles that will force your articles to add value to the internet and help your site avoid being labeled “thin” by GoogleBot.

#4 – Latent Semantic Indexing – Search engines are using Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) to help rank your pages. Don’t let your fear of the unknown affect your business. KRA can help.

#5 – Importing NicheBot 2 data – With the release of KRA 3, importing other formats of data other than Wordtracker is easy. There’s a video that shows you how.

So if you’re ready to slice and dice keyword lists with the precision of a Ninja, get yourself the Samurai sword of keyword analysis in KRA.

Keyword Results Analyzer ==> http://www.cdzn.com/kra

Google Reveals Quality Score

The minimum bid price you’ll pay on AdWords, is directly related to your Quality Score. On Friday February 16, Google released Google Slap 3.0 (GS3).

Did your bid prices soar once again? Did you feel the cold hard hand against your face? Or did a whispering wind tickle the crocus blossoms with hardly a notice?

At least now you can get answers by logging into your Google AdWords account. Click the Keywords Tab, and then click on the Customize Column link. Choosing “Show Quality Score” from the pop up list, reveals Google’s report card on how well you’ve done.

I’m happy to say my QS Score is “Great” across every single one of my keywords. That means my ad group tightly matches the landing page. And from the landing page, Google’s Bot can find all the rest of the content on my site. Maybe you weren’t so lucky.

Fortunately Perry Marshall just wrote a full page article on GS3. In it, you’ll find out how to reduce your bid prices, and helpful tips on how to avoid getting slapped in the future.

Google Slap 3 ==> http://www.cdzn.com/pm3

Featured Article

How Testimonials Increase Sales

Testimonials are better at making sales than salespeople. Think about it.

What if you were undecided about buying a certain make and model of a car. You saw me driving one and asked how I like it.

I say it’s a total piece of garbage. The starter blew after just three months. Some of the bolts were loose from the factory. The paint is already starting to rust. In fact, I’m going to sell it next month… wanna buy it?

Now you don’t want to buy the same car as me anymore. And you certainly don’t want to buy mine.

But what if I said, it’s fantastic. I’ve never owned a better car. It’s three years old and I’ve never had a problem with it. Just gas and oil, that’s it. On top of that, the service people are super friendly, honest and trustworthy.

Now you can’t wait to go to the dealership and buy the same car as me.

That’s the power of testimonials. They remove risk in the mind of the consumer. They remove objections to the sale.

Is there an objection about price? Use a testimonial to show value. You might not be charging enough, for the amount of value that your product or service provides.

Objection about returns or shipping? A testimonial can remove both.

Is your prospect happy with the current supplier? A testimonial can tell them why your product or service, is so much better than the other guys.

But how do you get testimonials? You ask for them. After you’ve earned them.

Once you get one, fire off a quick thank you note. Thank them for their kind words and wonderful testimonial. Tell them that you’re sure to put it to good use.

Get the testimonials up on your web page. Printed ones are good. Audio is better. Video is the best.

The easiest ones to get are by email. You can put these on your site, but how you add them is the trick.

Have you ever wondered why all testimonials seem to be in the courier typeface and on yellow backgrounds? There’s a reason why I adapted this trend from print advertising and why everyone does it now… because it WORKS.

Extensive testing showed that the courier typeface increased reader retention in the testimonials by 30%. Courier is more likely to be read and believed.

The yellow background symbolizes a scrap of paper from a notepad. Something hastily scribbled and sent. The important part is, yellow – the color of hope and optimism – was found to be the most trusted color.

It’s the combination of font and color. The testimonials must look notably different than the rest of your site.

Print testimonials still work, but if you can get audio or video testimonials, they work even better. You may need to do a little more prodding to get them though.

But if someone, especially a market leader, has taken the time to write a testimonial, they can often be convinced to provide a video one as well. Just be sure to promise to link to their website, and note their biggest achievements.

Testimonials are the best kept secret a marketer has. They trump emotions and logic. They remove risk and overrule objections. They are the single most important selling tool. And it doesn’t matter what you sell. Start using them today and watch as your sales go up… way way up.
—
That’s it for this issue my friend. Thank you for reading. We’ll chat again soon. Until then, here’s wishing you all the best for online success.

Michael Campbell

P.S.

The accompanying audio files for Revenge of the Mininet and Clickin’ it Rich are back online. Here’s the download goodies page:

==> http://www.InternetMarketingSecrets.com/downloads/

You can get even more FAQs, important news and helpful articles on the Internet Marketing Secrets (IMS) Blog.

==> http://homepage.mac.com/dmcorp/index.html

And finally… Did you like this newsletter? Why not forward it to your friends, coworkers, classmates and anyone else that you think might like it. Thank you for your continued support.

—
Legal stuff…

Copyright 2006 Dynamic Media Corporation. All rights reserved world wide. All trademarks and servicemarks are property of their respective owners.

The information contained in this newsletter is the opinion of the author based on his personal observations and years of experience. Neither the author or publisher assume any liability whatsoever for the use of or inability to use any or all of the information contained in this publication. Use this information at your own risk.

Privacy Policy: I never sell, rent, trade or lend any information about my subscribers to anyone, for any reason, whatsoever. I assure you that your privacy is respected and well protected.
—
Michael Campbell

michael_campbell1.jpg

Did you like this newsletter? Now you can get the same ideas the pro’s use, including tips, tricks and sneaky strategies, when you subscribe to Michael Campbell’s Internet Marketing Secrets Newsletter. Subscribe now and get two of Michael’s best-selling ebooks “Clickin’ it Rich” and “Revenge of the Mininet” as bonuses, just for signing up.

*IMNewswatch would like to thank Michael Campbell for granting permission to reprint the latest newsletter.

 

 

 

 

Sharing is caring