America: The Next Generation

Issues Marketing: How to Make Internet Connections Work for You

By Andrew J Thompson

These are challenging times to survive in any business.  Credit is tight, and the money for the successful marketing methods of past years is no longer there.  Printing, travel, conferences, exhibits, and other common expenses incurred in business promotion have been trimmed to the bone. 

But has business come so easily that we forget what we all envisioned when the internet became a ubiquitous business tool 10-15 years ago?  Back then, everyone dreamt that once you had a website – any presence on the web – you could reach every conceivable customer in mere seconds.  But is this really true? 

Where do you stand in terms of reaching your clientele via the internet?  Have you spent hundreds or thousands on SEO expertise?  What about advertising?  Are you spending lots of money to promote your site on the web? 

I struggled for a long time deciding how I could best capture and pursue business on the internet.   I tried all of the methods I mention above – but to what avail?  Minimal really. 

For years, my company, Elusen, has run capital campaigns and provided other consulting services to nonprofit organizations of every type in every corner of the continent. 

I run a business from my home in northern Michigan, serving clients in the Pacific Northwest, Texas, New York, even Puerto Rico. 

But I know I can't be working in Seattle and Puerto Rico on the same day. Worse, I lose precious time with my three young children whenever I travel – and they are growing up fast. Last year, I decided a new business model was worthy of my consideration.  There were fewer and fewer opportunities for new consulting engagements.  For three months, I stepped back, thought about my future, contemplated my past, and then decided to try an experiment. 

I decided to pursue a new strategy of publishing on the web.  In itself, it’s not particularly novel, I know, but the approach I’m taking is unique, enjoyable, rewarding, and, though I’m not getting rich (yet), it’s beginning to be profitable with a few thousand dollars a month flowing in.  But the good news is, it’s a building process, and the longer and more I build, the more I know it will grow.

The change came when I decided to quit thinking of myself as a consultant, overcame the urge to be a “writer”, and decided to be a publisher – a web based publisher.  Now I realize that being an internet publisher, in itself, may not come across as tremendously exciting, nor even all that unique.  But it gave me that is both exciting and unique was the opportunity to view my business from a whole new paradigm – a paradigm for which I’m only beginning to fill in the details.

First, I took the model of Elusen, i.e. helping charitable visions become reality, and realized that a very important way I could impact my own success would be to publish content on the internet discussing the value of a wide array of charitable visions.  But why stop there?  I also realized that I have many friends, colleagues, etc. – all of whom have a message to share with the rest of the world, and very few who are actually doing it. 

True, nearly one out of ten adults in America now has at least one blog they have posted, and/or maintain on the web.  But how many of these are actually posting at least one article a week?  The percentage is very low.  Lower yet if you consider those who have done so for over six month – which is the average time it takes before search engines rank your site as they should.  Believe me, I get this.  I’m at four months on my primary publishing sites, and can’t wait to get some more history attached to each of these sites.

And of those who do post regularly, how many are using any of the myriad search optimization tools that are available for blogs as well as any other web page?  Again, there aren’t too many.  Then finally, of those who post regularly and do some form of optimization, how many are actually publishing content that is truly worthy of their readers’ attention – enough so that they are thinking about both coming back to the site for more information in the future, and buying something that is either advertised or sold from the site? 

By the time you consider all of these factors, the numbers are very small – yet, these are the sites that succeed!  Actually, it’s a very simple formula:

1. Choose the theme that matches your business model;
2. Create a blog or other site for updating text-content regularly;
3. Publish regularly (or you will surely perish) – at least one article every week;
4. Optimize your site using the tried and true methods employed by Google; and
5. Maintain high quality content – your readers will come back to sites they find helpful and valuable, and will spend their money with whom their loyalties attach. 
   

That’s my five point plan, and it is a plan I intend to follow as long as I can continue writing.  Now, I’ve started publishing blogs for two clients, write for a third, and publish a few of my own.  On all fronts’ success is building – slowly but surely.  But what I see now is how important it is to get started – and to keep things going once you do. 

A farming analogy fits very nicely.  The tiny seeds will not start to grow until they are planted.  Once they are, in time, the seeds can become plants, mature and bear fruit.  But as they grow, they need watering and further attention to make sure they stay healthy, pest free and properly cultivated. 

For many people, this is a daunting proposition.  Success lies ahead, but taking the plunge into these unknown waters is more than a bit overwhelming.  If that’s you, I can help!  I’ve made some mistakes, learned a lot of hard lessons, and understand how to convert your ideas into business opportunities soon!  If I can help you achieve the dream you’ve always had, tell me what you have in mind and I’m here to help.

Email me: ajt@elusen.com, with your ideas and let’s see if we can work together to bring the success you’ve been waiting to achieve!

Why I Love Typepad and How to Make it Work for You

By Andrew J Thompson

I've used several blogging resources and decided typepad is the best for me.  Here's why?

I've used many other blogging sources and I prefer the degree of control you have with typepad.  No - it isn't free, and there's a good reason.  You pay for being able to control whatever content you want to post, plus the freedom to promote your site however you wish. 

So, with other blog programs, your material might be taken down for reproducing what someone else has already published, but at typepad you may put as much copied material as you like on your blog.  I'm not suggesting that is the BEST way to publish a blog, but you have the freedom to do it on typepad if you wish. 

Also, most other blogs limit or prohibit any promotional links on your blog.  But again, at typepad, you have the freedom to post what you want.  You're in control of your success or your lack of success.

But typepad doesn't leave you entirely on your own either.  They help you at every step of the way.  They have exceptional choices of templates and design formats you can use, and a terrific knowledge base to track down answers to any problems you have in posting your blog.  I think it's tremendously easy to use.

But if you're like me, and trying to use your blog to help promote your business, there are multiple things to consider. Here are some valuable tips: to

1. RELEVANT CONTENT: Relevance and continuity build readership.  You can post anything you want and may want to "shake it up" once in awhile, but it's best to stick to things related to your primary theme.  I like the idea of separate blogs for separate themes, i.e. All Things Travel, All Things Music, All Things Right/Left Wing Thinking, Weddings, etc. - you need a consistent message to come back to post after post.

3. COLLABORATING: "Open architecture" is what it's called in the investment world - same principle for online publishing.  Let other people write pieces for your blog and try to do the same on theirs. I am a big believer in this because it will help both create more links - and that's what it's all about. 

This is an easy deal for some, depending on their topic.  Let's say it's travel.  You can have as many people as you want to write about their best and worst travel experiences, and then add a little tag to promote your own site/services.

It helps too because you need lots of content to get lots of traffic.  The only food source in Google search engine's  diet is words - and it's a very hungry beast!

4. "BORROWING" CONTENT: generally, if you find it on the web you can copy and paste it in your typepad blog - not much is actually copyrighted and even if it is, the author may be really happy for you to post it on your blog - more exposure for him or her. 

The flip side is I've been watching other guys do that for awhile now, and guess what - nobody cares - as in, they don't want to read it on your blog, they want to go to the original source - and guess what again -

Google seems to make sure you rank lower than the original source.  Don't know how they do that exactly, but I've been testing it and decided I won't copy content anymore, I spend too much time finding it and then it doesn't rank well - at least that's been my experience.

Now if you can spend $30 an article getting other people to sell you what they write - and then put your own name on it - you can get a lot of 'original' content up - as long as you can trust your writers not to post it elsewhere and head you off at the pass (the pass you're paying them to help you get by).

Bottom line - original content is best - but it's you can get original content from whoever will share it. 

OK, so now I've given you $1 MM worth of advice, please send me a big, fat check when you make it big!

Contact Elusen for help with online publishing, copyrighting and other internet marketing services.