On Monday, Ryan discussed how Search Engines often change their algorithms. While the constant changes may sound discouraging, they give you an opportunity to blow past your competition. When one of your competitors misses a change in algorithms and you learn how to use it to your benefit, you become the big winner. Your website can quickly shoot higher up in to those coveted rankings.

Think about this:

• What do use instead of an encyclopedia?
• How do you research a product you are considering buying?
• Where do you go with your questions about science, plumbing, health or travel?
• How do you find specialized products?
• If you want to know the latest news, where do you go?

You turn to the search engines for most (if not all) of these questions. Just consider how often you turn to the search engines every day. As a website/business owner, you can see the power of the search engines. But search engines change their algorithms to bring better and more accurate information to the searcher. So, as a business owner, when your website caters to bringing more information to searchers, your business wins.

This is a strategy that you can win!

One of our coaches, Freddie Brister, has found a way to make the Google Panda Update work for his business and websites. Yes, websites. He has over 30, so getting good SERPs is important to him, just like it is to you. Read on, and find out what your website needs, Post Panda.

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“Search engine optimization and search engine algorithms can be thought of as species in an ecosystem. They are in constant state of evolution.”

~ David George ~
Author of “The ABC of SEO”

Post Panda Link Building 

By Freddie Brister

After the Google algorithm update, also known as Panda, link building has changed. For the most part, the way my wife (and business partner) and I used to build our links was through article marketing. As an apprentice to Brad Fallon and Andy Jenkins back before they launched StomperNet, we learned that link building through article marketing was hard to beat. And they were right!

We build a huge network of links through this manner and made quite a bit of money because of it. But as they told us early on, and one of the primary reasons I belong to such membership groups as StomperNet… Internet Marketing is a moving target. It is constantly changing.

The latest change was the Panda Update. What we saw in our own sites and the sites of our clients was that links coming from sites that had a lot of duplicate content and, for the most part all Web 2.0 sites, were discounted. This is not to say that they did not count, just that they did not count as much as they used to. Our clients that were heavily invested into these types of links and no other type of links saw a tremendous drop in their rankings.

Another way of describing these sites with the discounted links were they were sites that accepted massive amounts of articles that, in Google’s eyes, seemed to be only for the purpose of building links. Some examples would be Hub pages, Ezine articles, Squidoo and most of the article directories.

Our strategy had to change a little. The process of link building that we work in now still has some of the things we used to do, but we have had to add some new things into the mix.

Link Building

We still believe in the concept of Level 1 and Level 2 links… and probably more so now than ever before. The biggest change probably comes in our Level 1 strategies.

Before I go any further here, let me explain Level 1 and Level 2 link building.  Think of Level 1 as the easy, lower-value links. This is where we used to do massive amounts of article marketing.  Now, however, we believe that the best Level 1 links come from a combination of blog commenting, profile link building and article marketing.

The article marketing needs to be on a smaller scale, however, going out to massive amounts of places including blogs. (Just so you know, we found this to be the case through testing. We have over 100 sites that we use for testing these types of things.)

Level 2 has not changed much. This, for the most part, is the best kind of link. These are links from quality sites that are not in the business of giving links. The best kind of link from these type sites would be a homepage link. I have heard many gurus speak on this subject and say that it would be best if these were the only kind of links you should get.

I agree, except for the fact that in some markets (most markets I deal with), it is way too expensive to only get Level 2 type links.  If your budget allows for this, I agree… Level 2 links are the best.  But if you are like me, and you are building your business on a budget, the dual level system works just fine, and it is much less expensive.

Establish yourself as an authority

The first step… and probably the most important step… in building these links is to establish your site as an authority site. We believe you do this by looking at your site in Open Site Explorer or other SEO Software and building your domain authority up to at least a 70, and building at least 10,000 total links from at least 100 different Linking Root Domains.

Now let me push into this area a little deeper. You also want to beat the numbers of your major competitors. If your major competitor has 15,000 links from 400 linking root domains and a domain authority of 71, then you want more in each category. Also, if they have some of the other essentials of the algorithm, such as domain age and keywords in their domain, and you do not, then you need to beat them by an even bigger margin… to even those things out.

The main thing here is to focus on the things you can control and not worry about the things you cannot control. You have control over the number of links you get and from what type of sites they come from.

If your competition has a low domain authority, and you have a higher one than they do, but it is still in the low range, this does not always mean you will beat them. Again, they may have some of the other parts of the algorithm in their favor.

An example of this would be if they have a 30 domain authority and you have a 40, they still may beat you in the SERPs, because you still are not an authority site, and if they are ahead of you in other areas this will not matter. You should push ahead to get your domain authority to 70. Then you should not have a problem with them if they are still a 30.

We look at a site in Open Site Explorer and we build our links according. Remember, we are trying to build 10,000 total links from at least 100 domains and build the domain authority to 70. We do this in both the Level 1 and 2 modes.

Let’s first focus on the Level 1 mode. We have people on our team building profile links and doing blog commenting manually. We also have a person on our team taking 10 articles in 10 different categories, spinning them and submitting them out in masses with software. This is all for the purpose of building the total links and the total linking root domains. Our main focus here is to build up the total linking root domains.

How to get high quality links

Next is our Level 2 process. Again this is where we build our most valuable links. We have a person hired who goes out and finds high- quality sites that would be willing to give us links. I would compare him to an insurance agent.  Not everyone he talks to is willing to give us a link, but some are, and if he talks to enough people every day, we get a lot of great links. And, because this is all he does, he has become pretty good at it over time.

Another part of his process that makes our system great is that once he finds a person who is willing to give us a link, the first thing he does is test the link by putting a link to one of our sites on there. (I should say here that they don’t actually give it to us… they usually charge us a monthly fee.)

He gives it time to take effect, and if he sees good results out of the link, he goes back to the site owner and negotiates a better rate by using the power of our group.  If they were charging him $100 per month for the single links, he asks them if they will take $250 for 5 links or even less. He has done this so well that we probably only pay on average of about $10 per Level 2 link and we have some really great links.

This is where some people get nervous about our system. They worry about the fact that you are paying a monthly fee to keep these links. We have some clients that have maintenance fees of over $2000 per month to maintain the Level 2 links we have gotten them. However, they have seen their monthly profit grow to over $25,000! I don’t know about you, but I am willing to pay $2000 for the ability to make $25,000 anytime… and so are our clients that pay us to build links for them.

Once they have reached their ranking goals in the search engines, they can stop the program and put the Level 2 links on a maintenance program. We do this by simple charging them the cost of the links plus a $20 month fee for our Level 2 guy to watch over them.

You can do all of this linking program yourself, or if you are looking for someone to help you with it, we have a whole team ready to help you at StomperNet SEO Services.

By Freddie Brister

Freddie’s sports background and his wife, Joyce’s, background in computers were just what was needed to start building sports-related websites selling sporting goods. The discovery of Stomping the Search Engines and StomperNet propelled their businesses even further, now they have over 33 websites. Freddie is a StomperNet Coach where he works with some of the brightest and most eager Internet marketers around.

Video

King and Queen of Ranking:
By Melanie Benson Strick (FOH)

FLV / MOV

Everyone wants more time in their day.

StomperNet’s new “Done for You” SEO Services gives you more time to focus on things other than SEO.

Imagine a WHOLE team of SEO Experts at your disposal!

Click here and get StomperNet SEO Services

You know your website  wants our SEO!

Secret Sauce Checklist

Building Links Post Panda:

• Establish your site as an authority site
• Build valuable links

Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: The Value of Surveys

PUBLIC WEBINARS NEXT WEEK:

TUESDAY Feb 7nd, 2011 at 3:00pm Eastern

“How to Connect, Create, Convert and Cash In with Customers” with Jeanne Hurlbert

Whether you’re an absolute newbie or a seasoned veteran, you need to attend this power-packed office hour to learn:

• The BEST way to gain your customers’ trust
• Create new products all day long that are DEMANDED by your customers
• 3 winning ways to survey your list so you can find out what they’re REALLY thinking
• The power of quizzes to give your prospects a custom diagnosis of their problems so you can prescribe YOUR cure

There is a RIGHT way and a WRONG way to do each of these—you’ll see which is which in this office hour

Register Now

Let us know your thoughts on today’s issue.

Post Your Comments Here

Stompernet Blog

Your business does not stop changing. It evolves, as do your needs, your customers’ needs, the marketplace and many other variables. As a business entrepreneur, you can understand how and why your business continually changes. But just like your business, you really should not be surprised when search engines change… along with your rankings.

Search Engines change as the people searching for information demand better quality content and better results. Search Engines want to provide the searcher with the websites that match the search the best. Thus the algorithms change to fit those demands. Obviously, the SERPs (Search Engine Ranking Pages) change with the algorithms.

But what does all this change have to do with your website?

SEO is a never-ending process. Unlike your website appearance, which may be “set it and forget it” for a couple of years, you shouldn’t do that with optimizing your website for search engines. Getting and staying on the front page, especially the first position on the SERPs, requires constant work. Not only are the search engines changing…your competition is not setting and forgetting their SEO.

You are a smart business person, which is why you are reading this. This week we cover SEO and how you can use the latest changes to the Google Algorithms for your website and business success.

Talk soon and enjoy the resources below!

Ryan Taylor
Director of Operations
StomperNet, LLC

IMPORTANT:  Some of the resources shown are only available to members. With our all-new tiered benefit levels you can join us today for as little as $49.00and get instant access to the world’s largest SEO and Online Business community plus all the tools and resources you need (including upcoming free webinar replays) to enhance your existing business or start, build and grow a thriving Internet-based business!

Everyone wants more time in their day.

StomperNet’s new “Done for You” SEO Services gives you more time to focus on things other than SEO.

Imagine a WHOLE team of SEO Experts at your disposal!

Click here and get StomperNet SEO Services

You know your website  wants our SEO!

Curriculum Resources

• SEO Basics: Renee Corbett

Forum Posts

• New Google changes (Nov 2011)

New Media

• Learn the Ins & Outs of Fiverr:  Lee Vance
• Create Success on YOUR Terms in 2012:  Melanie Benson Strick

Moderator Office Hours
TUESDAY Jan 31st, 2012 at 2:00pm Eastern

“How to Build a Sales Funnel” with Lee Vance

Join Lee Vance and learn how to structure a sales funnel, followed by a general Q&A to follow.

StomperNet Members:  Register Now!

Free Live Webinars This Week

THURSDAY Feb 2nd, 2011 at 7:00pm Eastern

“Manage Your Marketing Campaign Effectively without the High Cost” with Nicole Munoz

During this webinar you will learn how to create an editorial calendar.  You will also learn how you can manage your yearly online marketing campaign like one of the high end marketing agencies, but without the high cost.   You will learn the exact editorial calendar document that Nicole uses and how it helps her marketing campaign.  Make certain you attend and listen until the end,  so you can get a special download link!

Register Now

Special Announcements

“StomperNet Open Forum” Fridays at 11EDT

We know everyone has questions about their business or different stumbling blocks. Well we invite you to bring them to the table during our Open Forum. With the combined training and experience of our Coaches you will get the direction you need to get you back on your road to success!

The next StomperNet Open Forum Call with our Professional Coaches happens next Friday at 11am EDT and we hope to see you there! These calls are intended to be live Q&A sessions and playback will not be available.

Stompernet Blog

One of the most effective marketing and SEO strategies currently available is your blog. With the ability to quickly add content for both visitors and search engines, it has become the way to share your information in a way that subtly increases your visitor’s interest. It also allows for their input which creates involvement.

Our article today “Four Pillars of a Successful Business Blog” is on our StomperNet blog, our own business blog. The blog format is one that cannot be beaten for building your influence on the marketplace. With the appropriate design, it is also a format that can add SEO for your website, with meta tags, descriptions, and more.

A common resolution among entrepreneurs and small business CEOs is how to model or remodel their blog to bring more traffic and conversions. Regardless if you have a product or service, you may have been struggling to build your thought leadership, authority, and SEO with blogging. The key is adding the appropriate elements, like Search Engine Optimization to each post that will encourage both visitors and search engines to find and refer to your site.

Of course, the goal of any good business owner is to increase profits. But you may be frustrated by your blogging efforts lacking in conversions, results, and profits. Fortunately, Sherman Hu has easy to remember acronyms for B.L.O.G and P.R.O.F.I.T.S that help you create better posts.

Talk soon,

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“And it occurred to me that there is no such thing as blogging. There is no such thing as a blogger. Blogging is just writing — writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology.”

~ Simon Dumenco ~
“Media Guy” of Advertising Age

The Four Pillars of a Successful Business Blog

By Sherman Hu

The Four Pillars Of A Successful Business Blog is written as a checklist. The acrostic or acronym – B.L.O.G. (Build, Launch, Orchestrate and Generate) will guide you through this checklist.   There are three reasons why you can benefit from these four pillars.

1. CONTROL

The lessons within the checklist below will give you insights to control your blog’s success. For some, knowing what to do gives them the power to control their blog’s success. For others, seeing the lessons in a clearly laid-out “checklist” will offer a format to easily work through the list of actions.

2. OPPORTUNITY TO PAY IT FORWARD

Your life lessons or experience shared on your blog can be priceless to your readers – if they can find it or be engaged by it. It makes sense to discover how you can gain more exposure to your blog, and engage your readers when they get there. This way you can help others with your product, service or knowledge offerings. Otherwise, your blog will not ‘exist’ – either on Google’s top ranks or in the minds of your visitor.

3. TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE RESULTS

Not only will you feel proud of building a successful business blog, you’ll also receive many profitable results. When you achieve a position of authority or thought leadership via your business blog, you can expect a boost in speaking engagement invites, coaching clients, product sales, strong affiliate commissions, joint venture requests, a strong database of subscribers who value your opinions, or other results based on your business model and offerings.

Let’s begin, shall we?

1. BUILD: Get in the right M.O.D.E. for success

I’ve created another acrostic in this ‘Build’ phase titled “M.O.D.E.” (Markets, Objectives, Design and Engineer). You need to get in the right M.O.D.E. for success.

MARKETS

Have you researched and selected your market yet?

A market gives you an opportunity to offer multiple, related offers over a period of time to the same audience (eg. ‘People who are interested in time management’ vs. ‘Getting Things Done (GTD)’).  Choose a market accustomed to spending money, one that can be presented with related offers and a market you’re personally attracted or interested in.

Have you researched the trends of your market?

Gathering trends will give you “intel” on your competition, what Google indexes in its top 10, universal search patterns, related search keywords, keyword suggestions, search volumes, questions commonly asked by your market, influential bloggers in your space and hot news.

Resource: “20 Ways To Research Trends, Competition & Keywords”

Have you profiled your perfect customer?

Flesh out a ‘perfect customer’ from your target audience to make your audience “real” and believable. Give this person a name, a stock photo and write their short story, including their pains. Print and keep this profile sheet visible. Focus on this ‘John or Jane Doe’ whenever you write copy or create your marketing.

OBJECTIVES

There is power in knowing your destination before you begin. Without keeping your objectives in sight, you may fall victim to distractions that may take you astray. Set a S.M.A.R.T. objective that’s Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

DESIGN

You want to look professional and be taken seriously, right? So get your own domain name.

Keep it short, memorable and ‘radio-friendly’. If you were on radio and had to share it on the air, would it be easy to say and spell (without you spelling it out)? If you have an existing site, setup your blog in a sub-folder titled “blog”, so your blog URL will be www.YourDomain.com/blog.

Select a Blog Theme.   Showcase your business individuality and personality. Google for “free WordPress themes” if you’re using the WordPress blog software. For professional blog themes, I’ve used StudioPress.com and WooThemes.com with satisfaction.

Do you have creative (logo, icons, masthead graphic) ready for your blog? Showcase your business brand and personality! Either design it yourself or contract/outsource. Consider 99Designs.com or DesignOutpost.com.

Have you set up communication channels (i.e. ezine autoresponder service, contact email, telephone number, RSS feed etc) for your blog?

How are interested visitors going to contact you? For ezine autoresponder services, I recommend Aweber, Mailchimp or iContact. For blog rss feed management, I recommend Feedburner.

ENGINEER

Have you chosen which blog software you’re going to use? Choose a platform or software that’s easy to publish, search engine friendly, includes commenting features, pre- scheduling content, updates blog directories automatically when you publish new content. For free, scalable and self- hosted blog software, I recommend WordPress.org hosted on your own hosting account.

Have you registered for your hosting account? A hosting account will host your blog and media (i.e. video, audio, PDFs, images etc). For stable and good customer service, I recommend NameCheap.com and Hostmonster. com. Others claim great satisfaction with Hostgator.com, Dreamhost.com and Bluehost.com.

After registering for your host account, point your domain’s DNS to this new host so visitors to your domain will see your blog/site at this host. Your hosting service will provide you with tutorials or support on how to accomplish this.

Have you installed your WordPress blog on your hosting account? The first step to getting your blog-site up and running. The hosting services recommended above should offer simple, 1-click installation features to quickly install WordPress to your hosting account.

Have you customized your WordPress blog settings? Customize your blog to suit your business purpose. If you need instruction, consider WordPress.org support, WordPress. tv or WordPressTutorials.com for tutorials.

Now that you’ve built your “M.O.D.E.” for success, let’s “Launch”. Time to set up your launching P.A.D. to establish authority and visitor engagement.

2. LAUNCH: Your launch  P.A.D. to authority & engagement

The general public seeks the opinions of thought leaders and influencers for their perspective on trends, strategies, best practices and habits. In the same way, you can build your blog over time to gain credibility, authority and influence.

Here’s the acrostic P.A.D. and a checklist to help you build your authority and engagement with your visitors:

PUBLISH

Are you catering your writing to your target market (or perfect customer)?  What are your perfect customer’s biggest pains/ problems and are you blogging about it?

What are your perfect customer’s visions/goals/dreams and are you blogging ways they can accomplish it? Are you case-study-ing your customers’ success? Are you telling stories?

ASK

Are you seeking feedback and comments from your readers?  Are you asking specific questions in your posts? Are you leaving your posts open-ended to encourage your readers to comment? Are you making it easy for your readers to comment instead of adding registration “hoops” they have to jump?

DEPLOY

Are you deploying content that’s actionable, insightful and meaty?  Are you embedding images, audio, video and other cool media to engage your viewers?  Are you responding to industry information and topical news?

Are you drawing in your readers with sexy, irresistible headlines? (For instance, think of those magazines in supermarket lines) Check out Brian Clark’s “10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work”

Have you added elements to your blog to show credibility? - bio photo, bio, contact info, social media profile links, media room, magazine tear sheets, radio interview recordings, TV segment clips, certification logos, association badges etc.

Now that you’ve set up your Launching “P.A.D.” for success, let’s “Orchestrate” your S.Y.M.P.H.O.N.Y. of traffic.

3. ORCHESTRATE: Coordinate your  S.Y.M.P.H.O.N.Y. of traffic

Sharing all the strategies to get traffic to your business blog could occupy a full report. However, we’ll squeeze as much into the acrostic S.Y.M.P.H.O.N.Y. to coordinate your traffic efforts:

SYSTEMIZE

Have you systemized your blogging with pre-scheduled content?  You can modify the timestamp of each WordPress blog post to publish in the future. So take advantage of this feature.

Have you added additional search engine directories to be updated automatically when you publish your posts?  In your Dashboard, go to Settings > Writing. Scroll down to “Update Services” box. Click the link above the box to grab more search engine directories to add to your box. Now you’ve extended your reach whenever you publish blog posts.

Have you systemized your search engine optimization?  You can do this with plugins for basic SEO, or use StomperNet SEO Services if you want a team handling all your search engine optimization.

YANK

Are you ‘yanking’ as much exposure to your blog through the use of videos? Video styles include screencasts (see Camtasia Studio or Screenflow), newscaster (“talking head”) style, live video broadcasts (see Ustream.tv) or dynamic video slideshows (see Animoto.com)

Are you leveraging video syndication services?

MOBILIZE

Do you mobilize your readers to easily Word Of Mouth or share your posts with their tribes on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc? There are many plugins to help you with this task. On ShermanLive.com, I use “ShareThis”, “Damn Sexy Bookmarks” and the “TweetMeme” plug-in.

PROMOTE

Are you promoting your blog posts via Social Networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Squidoo etc? Are you promoting your blog posts via article directory sites like EzineArticles.com?

HEIGHTEN

Have you heightened your chances that your blog posts will receive more inbound links via Social Bookmarking sites like SocialMarker, OnlyWire, StumbleUpon etc?

OBTAIN

Have you obtained additional inbound links and exposure from Press Releases? See Marc Harty’s http://OnlinePRMadeEasy.com for an instructional course on this topic.

NAVIGATE

Have you navigated your opt-in list system for a web-form to add to your blog?  Have you navigated the system to add a series of drip marketing pieces?

YIELD

Are you yielding the power of viral reports, viral blog posts and viral videos?

4. GENERATE: Produce P.R.O.F.I.T.S. today

Now that you’ve Orchestrated your “S.Y.M.P.H.O.N.Y.” for success, let’s move on to “Generate” “P.R.O.F.I.T.S.” today.

And finally, the “G” in “B.L.O.G.” stands for “Generate”. How can you “Generate P.R.O.F.I.T.S. with this acrostic? Let’s unpack it now…

PUBLICIZE: Have you publicized your product or service offerings in a prominent location on your blog?

RECOMMEND: Have you offered recommendations to 3rd party merchants with an affiliate link (in full disclosure, obviously) within your posts or in the sidebar?

OBTAIN: Have you obtained likability and trust from your audience through value-add email broadcasts?

Have you obtained trust with (and knowledge of) your customers to make solid recommendations to them to solve their problems?

FACILITATE: Are you facilitating irresistible offers packed with so much value your customers can’t say no?

INTRODUCE: Are you introducing upsells, cross-sells, down-sells, one- time offers, and the like, when your customer shops in your store?

Are you introducing your offerings in different formats so interested customers will buy from you again?

TEST & TRACK: Are you testing and tracking your offers to increase your ROI?

SERVING: Are you serving your customers with seasonal offers and packages?

Remember, there’s practically a holiday each and every month of the year.

Now we’ve completed the how to Generate “P.R.O.F.I.T.S.” checklist in the acrostic “B.L.O.G.” If you work on this checklist, you will experience dramatic results.

STOMPER Speed Boost

Last month we hinted this was coming.

And you’ve been asking for it since we opened our doors 5 years ago.

What is it?

Click here to find out!

Secret Sauce Checklist

B.L.O.G.  for Success

• BUILD: Get in the right M.O.D.E. for success
• MARKET: Research
• OBJECTIVES: Set a S.M.A.R.T. objective that’s Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely
• DESIGN:  Look professional
• ENGINEER: WordPress.org self-hosted

• LAUNCH: Your launch  P.A.D. to authority & engagement
• PUBLISH your writing to your target market (or perfect customer)
• ASK your readers
• DEPLOY  Content that’s actionable

• ORCHESTRATE: Coordinate your  S.Y.M.P.H.O.N.Y. of traffic
• SYSTEMIZE with pre-scheduled content
• YANK as much exposure as possible to your blog
• MOBILIZE your readers with social media plugins
• PROMOTE your blog with social sites
• HEIGHTEN your chances with Social Bookmarking
• OBTAIN inbound links and exposure from Press Releases
• NAVIGATE  your opt-in list system
• YIELD the power of viral

• GENERATE: Produce P.R.O.F.I.T.S. today
• PUBLICIZE: your product or service
• RECOMMEND: 3rd party merchants with an affiliate link
• OBTAIN:  likability and trust
• FACILITATE:  irresistible offers
• INTRODUCE: different offers
• TEST & TRACK: to increase your ROI
• SERVING: seasonal offers and packages

Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: Focus on SEO

Stompernet Blog

If you think blogging is only for bloggers or personal journals, then it’s time to adjust that thinking. When it started, blogging may have been simply that, but blogging has changed significantly over the years. Today, having a blog is really a required part of a successful website, and provides a solid foundation for good SEO practices.

The change has been subtle but noticeable. SEO; Search Engines Optimization, means providing search engines with new content.  And providing a constant stream of new content is a MUST if you want to be ranked in the SERPS.

But building new pages is not fun with HTML, yet blog programs like WordPress.org have made creating pages as simple as writing in your favorite document program. You can add pictures, add SEO make changes, or easily add different elements to create a webpage that is appealing.  The days of waiting for your web designer to add your updates have gone by the wayside with the addition of a self-hosted blog.

Thus WordPress has become the ideal CMS; content management system, for updates, including many social media interaction aspects. The powerful combination joined with your expertise, knowledge, and plugins is why you want a blog as part of your SEO routines.

However, if you are a wise business owner, or if you simply don’t have the time (or know how to) do all the SEO by yourself, then leave the SEO to the professionals. If that is you, then you don’t want to miss our upcoming webinar on Wednesday. Imagine having a WHOLE team of experts taking care of your all of your Search Engine Optimization needs. Thus, leaving you the sorely needed time to focus on blogging or other business needs.

Ryan Taylor
Director of Operations
StomperNet, LLC

IMPORTANT:  Some of the resources shown are only available to members. With our all-new tiered benefit levels you can join us today for as little as $49.00and get instant access to the world’s largest SEO and Online Business community plus all the tools and resources you need (including upcoming free webinar replays) to enhance your existing business or start, build and grow a thriving Internet-based business!

Last month we hinted this was coming.

And you’ve been asking for it since we opened our doors 5 years ago.

What is it?

Click here to find out!

Join us Wednesday, Jan 25th @ 7pm Eastern, and learn about our all new “Done For You” SEO Services!

Register Now!

Curriculum Resources

• WordPress: Steve DeFalco
• Why WordPress

Free Live Webinars This Week

WEDNESDAY Jan 25th, 2011 at 7:00pm Eastern

StomperNet SEO Services

Last month we hinted this was coming. And you’ve been asking for it since we opened our doors 5 years ago. Join us and learn about our all new “Done For You” SEO Services!

Register Now

Special Announcements

“StomperNet Open Forum” Fridays at 11EDT

We know everyone has questions about their business or different stumbling blocks. Well we invite you to bring them to the table during our Open Forum. With the combined training and experience of our Coaches you will get the direction you need to get you back on your road to success!

The next StomperNet Open Forum Call with our Professional Coaches happens next Friday at 11am EDT and we hope to see you there! These calls are intended to be live Q&A sessions and playback will not be available.

Stompernet Blog

You may not give it much thought but as a business owner you are a leader. Even if you are the sole employee, you are still a leader for your business. Once you make that realization and step into that leader role, it will help your business move forward.

The theory is simple. Keep your focus on only what you need to do. Help keep your staff (and you) on that focus, and the business will grow. But as many business owners know, SOS (Shiny Object Syndrome) is the easiest way to get side tracked by something that might bring in more income.

As time goes on, it’s easy to get lost along the way. Then things can get blurry and you can’t decide what actually is best for your business. This indecision is not the impression you want to make to those within or to those looking in. Indecision may even come across as being afraid to make a move. Being afraid of progressive steps is also bad for business.

You are an entrepreneur, and as an entrepreneur you are a leader in your industry, just like StomperNet is a leader ours. You must step into being a leader. Fortunately, you can overcome the indecision. It’s a lot like dancing, just two steps. Dr Lisa Lang has written a great article for you today about the two focus steps you need to make as a leader.

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“My success, part of it certainly, is that I have focused in on a few things.”

~ Bill Gates ~
Microsoft Founder

Theory of Constraints: 2 Focus Laws of Leadership

By Dr. Lisa Lang

Presidents Day, next month, makes me think of our great leaders.  So I did a little Internet surfing on leadership.

In a Google search, there were 154,000,000 results for the word “leadership”.  On the National Speakers Association’s website, there are 650 speakers who are experts on Leadership.

I don’t know about you, but as an engineer and NOT a very touchy feely kind of person, I have trouble relating to all the discussion on leadership.

I don’t have anything against leadership or the people who speak on it or write about it (there are tons of those people and some of them are my friends), I just don’t see what all the fuss is about.

There are only two things – guiding principles, if you will — that an owner or manager needs to keep in mind.  I call them the Theory of Constraints 2 Laws of Leadership:

1) Don’t be a sissy.

2) Just do it.

Any leader, who is bold about what they want and goes after it without apology and with perseverance, has my attention.  And if this direction is delivered in a respectful way, they have my respect.  I will follow where they lead. (Am I alone here?)

Don’t Be a Sissy

Now that sounds easy, probably too easy.  So let’s apply it.  Don’t be a sissy means: don’t let old patterns, past ways of doing things, and failures stop you from whatever your goals are.

Pick a technique, a philosophy, or anything that you think might get you closer to your goals.  And realize that if you want improvement, you have to DO SOMETHING different.  It is also true that not all change is improvement, so select carefully, but DO make a selection.

I once told a client who wanted to do an incentive program (which generally I’m against) that I didn’t care if they wanted to bring clowns in on Fridays – but to DO SOMETHING.

Now, I’m partial to my programs for the “something to do” – but even if you don’t go with the changes I recommend, you will get some improvement simply by doing something and sticking with it.

For example, GE chose Six Sigma as the horse they would ride.  I can tell you why that may not be the best overriding philosophy, and how they could get better results by using Theory of Constraints to direct their Six Sigma efforts, but the reality is that they did improve by making the selection and sticking to it.

(And, by the way, when we did a Mafia Offer Boot Camp with one of the divisions in GE Energy – I explained why Six Sigma may not be enough for them to take it to the next level.  And, to my surprise, they actually followed some of my advice.)

“Don’t be a sissy” also means don’t make excuses and don’t blame anyone but yourself for the results you get or don’t get.

It is our job as managers to put systems and processes in place that get the results we want.  Our systems and processes comprise the policies, procedures and measures that direct our peoples’ actions.  If you’re not getting the results you want, just look in the mirror.

Don’t listen to the voice in your head or to your employees who say:

“that will never work”
“we already tried that, and it doesn’t work here”
“you don’t understand …”

And one other thing that “don’t be a sissy” means is that if you make a mistake, choose poorly, or fail – then get over it, and find what IS going to work.

This is NOT in conflict with my prior statement of “sticking with it”.   I find that people either 1) don’t try something long enough to see if it’s going to work – they get distracted by the next new shiny thing; or 2) they stick with it forever despite the poor results.

I’m suggesting a rational balance between the two.  And a good way to do that is to decide ahead of time what success and failure look like, then do everything to can to make whatever you decided to do a success.

Just Do It

If you want better results you are going to have to do things differently.  Simply decide WHAT you’re going to do and just do it.

So now that you know how not to be a sissy and you’ve decided what you are going to go do.  Just do it!

“Just do it” does NOT mean steam rolling your people (but at the same time don’t let THEM be sissies!), it means to focus and get it done NOW.

Use the Theory of Constraints buy-in and “yes, but …” processes to get agreement on what you want to do and why you want to do it.  These processes also serve to clarify what exactly you’re going to go do and usually the solution improves in the process.

Then, if you have someone who just doesn’t want to do it — do it anyway.  Ask them if they are willing to try (really try) it.  If so, then get on with it.  If not, maybe it’s time to replace that person with someone who is.

Don’t make excuses as to why you can’t start now.  If there are other things going on, and those things are NOT your biggest most important project (yes singular) – stop doing them.  You can start them again if they become your biggest priority.

There are really only 2 Theory of Constraints “Just Do It” measures:

1) Reliability – did you do what you said, when you said you’d do it.  Whatever the something was you decided to do – did you do it on-time?  If you are unreliable, you didn’t.  If you are reliable, you did it, and finished when you said you would.  Due date performance is a type of reliability measure.

2)  Effectiveness – you didn’t waste time being distracted on other things and/or doing things you shouldn’t have been done.  Ineffectiveness is the biggest cause of unreliability and “not doing”.  If you’re doing things you shouldn’t, typically you are making it very difficult to be reliable and get done what you should.

Being ineffective is really a focusing issue – both not working on the right things and working on too many things at one time.

So get really clear on what you’re going to do and what you’re NOT going to do, and then get it done.

And to me, that takes care of leadership.  There are only 2 things you need to do:

1) Don’t be a sissy!

2) Just do it!

If you’d like help developing your Mafia Offer check out our on-line Mafia Offer Boot Camp at www.MafiaOfferBootCamp.com.

Visit Scienceofbusiness.com/subscribe.html to receive weekly emails on various Theory of Constraints topics.  Get a TOC Tip of the day on twitter:  www.Twitter.com/TOCExpert.

Video

Strategic Thinking: Clarifying Your Thoughts to Grow Your Business
By Judy Whalen

FLV / MOV / M4V

STOMPER Speed Boost

Last month we hinted this was coming.

And you’ve been asking for it since we opened our doors 5 years ago.

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Join us tomorrow, Friday, Jan 20th @ 2pm Eastern, and learn about our all new “Done For You” SEO Services!

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Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: Blogging

UPCOMING PUBLIC WEBINAR:

WEDNESDAY Jan 25th, 2011 at 7:00pm Eastern

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“StomperNet Open Forum” Fridays at 11EDT
We know everyone has questions about their business or  different  stumbling blocks. Well we invite you to bring them to the  table during  our Open Forum. With the combined training and experience  of our  Coaches you will get the direction you need to get you back on  your  road to success!
The next StomperNet Open Forum Call with our Professional Coaches happens next Friday at 11am EDT and we   hope to see you there! These calls are intended to be live Q&A   sessions and playback will not be available.

Let us know your thoughts on today’s issue.

Post Your Comments Here

Stompernet Blog

With all the activities and festivities of last month, you might have lost focus on your business. Or maybe it’s all the bright shiny objects, and newest tricks and techniques that distract your focus on your business. Obviously, to truly succeed in the marketplace your business needs your focus.

With all the tasks that need your attention, it’s easy to become distracted and lose focus. However, staying off focus too long can be very damaging to your business. Even focusing too long on projects that may help build your business can also be damaging if you are focusing solely on them rather than on your actual business. As a busy entrepreneur, getting distracted almost seems to go hand in hand with this market.

To be focused is to grow towards your end goal, not veering off on differing paths. With proper guidance, you can enhance your leadership focus, which help your team stay on target and your end goal as well.

That is why this week our topic is Focus. Manage your focus and your business will grow. This week you can learn and study what will help improve your business focus.

Talk soon and enjoy the resources below!

Ryan Taylor
Director of Operations
StomperNet, LLC

IMPORTANT:  Some of the resources shown are only available to members. With our all-new tiered benefit levels you can join us today for as little as $49.00and get instant access to the world’s largest SEO and Online Business community plus all the tools and resources you need (including upcoming free webinar replays) to enhance your existing business or start, build and grow a thriving Internet-based business!

SEO Pro Comes to Dallas!

Finally: Discover How to Get and KEEP Your Website (or a Client’s Website) Ranked at the Top of the Search Engines by Attending the ONLY Workshop Backed by the 5-Year Reputation and Proven Track Record of the World’s Largest SEO and Online Business Training Company!

Click here for details!

Curriculum Resources

• Project Selection and Focus Using Theory of Constraints with Dr. Lisa Lang

* Free Live Webinars This Week

THURSDAY Jan 19th, 2011 at 7:00pm Eastern

“Theory of Constraints in One Word — Focus“ with Faculty Member Dr. Lisa Lang

Dr. Lisa will discuss how to decide what to focus on and then how to get it done.

Register Now

Special Announcements

“StomperNet Open Forum” Fridays at 11EDT

We know everyone has questions about their business or different stumbling blocks. Well we invite you to bring them to the table during our Open Forum. With the combined training and experience of our Coaches you will get the direction you need to get you back on your road to success!

The next StomperNet Open Forum Call with our Professional Coaches happens next Friday at 11am EDT and we hope to see you there! These calls are intended to be live Q&A sessions and playback will not be available.

Stompernet Blog

Too often business owners forget the importance of conversion in their quest for traffic. You may win the bidding wars over click rates or even the battle to get to the top of the search engine, but that is not all that matters. Your website could be getting thousands of hits every day, but none of this matters if you don’t have people converting from visitors to buyers.

Even if you aren’t selling something for money on a page, you are selling your business. And when they are sold on your business, they keep coming back for more. When you do offer something for sale, even if they are not interested at that time, they may tell someone who needs what you are offering, or come back later. This is the ultimate goal of conversion… getting your visitors sold on your business.

To improve conversion, you may push yourself to create new and different copy. But there are tried and true techniques that work. Even if you are converting, there is always room for improvement. Imagine doubling your current conversion rate by your clients buying more, and recommending you to more people!

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”

~ Leo Burnett ~
Advertising Executive who created the Jolly Green Giant, Tony the Tiger and many more

High Converting Copy Starts with the Right Approach

By Scott Martin

One of the keys to turning website and landing page visitors into clients and customers is what the visitor sees ‘above the fold’, or specifically what’s on the screen before someone (hopefully) scrolls down. When the copy addresses an interest or need, the visitor will keep reading. Strong copy starts not with a headline, but with the approach.

Let’s go through a few approaches, each of which can be extremely effective depending on what you’re selling.

The News Approach

You see this more in newspapers and magazines but the approach is to make an advertisement look like a regular article. The most famous example is the John Caples advertisement:

They Laughed When I Sat Down to at the Piano…But When I Started to Play!

If the advertisement looks like an article, which it should, the newspaper or magazine publisher will feel it’s essential to put the word “Advertisement” at the top of the ad. A good problem to have.

(A quick side note: we all know that copy set in reversed type is harder to read. The really intelligent direct marketers set the word “Advertisement” in reverse type on ads in newspapers and magazines. Brilliant.)

The approach is to make the advertisement seem like an article. The headline must simulate a newspaper or magazine headline, so it must offer news. Let’s say we’re selling a fishing rod. A tepid headline would read: The Snapper Rod Helps You Catch More Fish! Here’s a more newsworthy headline:

10 Year Old Girl Breaks State Fishing Record at Lake Snails. Her Secret? The New Snapper Fishing Rod.

Stories can be extremely powerful in copy, but be careful. A boring story is like a bad joke and will turn people away.

If you want to see great examples of newspaper headlines, forget the serious newspapers like The Washington Post and The New York Times. Instead, look at the tabloids, especially the English and Scottish tabloids like The Sun, The Daily Record, The News of the World, The New York Post, and The Daily Mirror. Headlines equal sales for these newspapers.

It’s harder to use this approach on the web because the visitor knows they’re going to a page that’s advertising something. So use the news approach for banners and buttons on news and information sites.

The Empathy Approach

“I know your job or life is terrible and difficult! I’m here to help.” When the product or service is targeted at a highly defined audience, this approach is worth trying. And you don’t need a headline so much as a series of sub-heads. For example:

Being a Marketing Executive is a Tough Job…Especially Today…

Just keeping up with Internet technology is a full-time job, AND THEN you have to run all the marketing.

We’re going to make your life a lot easier…

Very soon, your CEO will praise you for being totally up-to-date with everything in today’s eCommerce universe and staying on top of things will only take you 30 minutes a week—or less.

It’s a good way to state a problem then tease the reader about the solution. You will almost always get someone’s attention when you make them feel you understand their troubles and issues.

The Straight Ahead “Here’s the Benefit” Approach

It’s basic, perhaps, but there’s a reason so many successful direct marketers use this ‘default’ approach. If you’re not certain one of the other approaches will work, use the straightforward approach. In most cases, you’ll see a “How to” or “Are you…?” headline.

How to catch more fish with less effort.

Are you ready to avoid traffic jams?

Are you ready to pay 50% less for tires?

“How to” and “Are you” headlines can be used, but headlines that state the benefits even more directly are fine.

With The Ultimate Guide to Increasing Wedding and Banquet Business, Your Club Will be Swimming in Tens of Thousands of New Revenue in Just Three Months.

Specificity is mandatory: a set time frame…an increase in distance…a number of extra fish…be specific when detailing the benefit.

The “Successful” and “Unsuccessful”

There’s a famous direct response advertisement for The Wall Street Journal. In the ad, the writer details two students who went to the same university. The one who reads The Wall Street Journal is now a successful top-level executive while the other has not been very successful. Martin Conroy wrote the original letter.

Here’s the first paragraph:

“Dear Reader:

On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men.”

And later in the copy…

“About those two college classmates, I mentioned at the beginning of this letter. They graduated from college together and together got started in the business world. So what made their lives in business different?

Knowledge. Useful knowledge. And its application.”

The comparison approach includes significant quantities of empathy…always a powerful ingredient. There’s a book using this approach: Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

The Offer/Bonus/Discount Approach

Perhaps the most direct approach of all…go straight to the offer.

Order before December 15 and you get FREE next day shipping PLUS a FREE pair of goatskin slippers.

Buy THREE tires, get one FREE.

Often, with this approach, there’s no need to get into pages and pages of copy, especially with a widget or commodity. With a country club membership asking for a $15,000 initiation fee, you need more copy.

This approach can be effective in email marketing.

The Guarantee Approach

Absolutely one of my favorites. Maybe it’s just me, but I often think the guarantee comes too late in most direct response copy: a solid guarantee can be the clincher, especially when a potential customer is on the fence. I’m not alone in this thought, which is why a number of copywriters use the guarantee approach: detail the guarantee immediately.

“I guarantee my seminar will increase PROFITS at your lumber yard by 25% in just six months or I will refund your investment, cover your travel expenses AND send you a check for $1,000 for wasting your time.”

It’s not enough to leave the reader with just the guarantee. The copy MUST pound away with the guarantee.

The Fear Approach

Fear, as we know, is a powerful motivator, especially when combined with major issues, like death or parenting. For example, you may have a product that will help parents keep teenagers from starting to smoke. The fear approach provides an opportunity to use the WARNING headline.

WARNING: If your teenager starts smoking now, there’s a 70 per cent chance they will be addicted by age 18 and will smoke at least two packs a day until they die from lung cancer…

What keeps your potential clients awake at night? If it’s a powerful motivator, the fear approach might work.

The most popular direct response copywriting strategy is AIDA, which stands for

Attention
Interest
Desire
Action

The approaches listed above have one goal: to get your attention and lead the reader to the facts, figures, and benefits they will find interesting.

And test like crazy to see which approach starts to get the best results. One of my clients used to write copy for a company in Japan that sold products through newspaper ads. They kept trying different approaches before they found the one that generated the best leads. Once they had the approach they liked, they continuously tweaked the copy until just one minor change produced an advertisement that brought them a ton of sales.

By Scott Martin

Scott is a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Reach him through his website, www.scottmartinwriting.com where he offers a free direct response copywriting checklist.

Video

Getting Conversion Wise One Simple Tip to Prevent Business Death:
By Ryan Garey

FLV / MOV / M4V

STOMPER Speed Boost

SEO Pro Returns to Dallas!

Finally: Discover How to Get and KEEP Your Website (or a Client’s Website) Ranked at the Top of the Search Engines by Attending the ONLY Workshop Backed by the 5-Year Reputation and Proven Track Record of the World’s Largest SEO and Online Business Training Company!

Click here for details!

Secret Sauce Checklist

Great Approaches for High Conversion Copy:

• The News:   The headline reads like an article
• Empathy:  Provide help
• Straight Ahead:  Start with the benefit
• Comparison:  A Successful versus Unsuccessful
• Offer/ Bonus / Discounts
• Guarantee:  The clincher at the end
• Fear:  Tell them their fears

Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: Where Is Your Focus?

Stompernet Blog

As mentioned over the past several weeks, traffic to your site is essential. But once you have traffic to your site, converting that traffic is even more important. You need those visitors to be consumers of your goods.

What do you need on your site to make that happen?

We at StomperNet have information to help you. The topic this week is Conversion. While it may seem like an art form, turning visitors into buyers, it is actually a skill all can easily learn. Learning that skill will create a positive impact on your bottom line.

The true skill is not getting more traffic but converting the traffic you have into buyers. Turning those people who already visit into people who linger is the first step. People who linger on your website are more likely to buy. And let’s face it; converting traffic you already have is going to be far better for your bottom line than constantly hunting for new traffic.

Here it is in number form: Imagine if you have 1000 visitors. If 10 people become buyers, that is one percent of your visitors. Double that conversion percentage and you are looking at 20 buyers. That is a very positive increase in your bottom line and why we at StomperNet want to help.

Talk soon and enjoy the resources below!

Ryan Taylor
Director of Operations
StomperNet, LLC

IMPORTANT:  Some of the resources shown are only available to members. With our all-new tiered benefit levels you can join us today for as little as $49.00and get instant access to the world’s largest SEO and Online Business community plus all the tools and resources you need (including upcoming free webinar replays) to enhance your existing business or start, build and grow a thriving Internet-based business!

SEO Pro Comes to Dallas!

Finally: Discover How to Get and KEEP Your Website (or a Client’s Website) Ranked at the Top of the Search Engines by Attending the ONLY Workshop Backed by the 5-Year Reputation and Proven Track Record of the World’s Largest SEO and Online Business Training Company!

Click here for details!

Curriculum Resources

• Day 16 Conversion 101

Forum Posts

• Conversion from this type of presentation…
  

* Free Live Webinars This Week

WEDNESDAY January 11, 2011 ~ 2 pm Eastern

“Learn The Ins & Outs Of Fiverr” with Lee Vance

Fiverr has been quite the rage for a couple years now.  It is a great tool used by many business and entrepreneurs to jump into outsourcing and get things done for their businesses.  HOWEVER, there are some important factors you need to know… that go beyond the hype of Fiverr… to the dark side of Fiverr.  Join Lee Vance and learn how to avoid critical mistakes that can kill months or even years of hard work you have already performed, or that can even get you in legal trouble.

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Members Only Webinars This Week

THURSDAY January 12, 2011 ~ 3 pm Eastern

“How to Track AdWords Conversions” with Joel McDonald

Learn how to improve the way you are tracking (or should be tracking) your Adwords campaigns to get you the highest conversion rates

Register Now

Special Announcements

“StomperNet Open Forum” Fridays at 11EDT

We know everyone has questions about their business or different stumbling blocks. Well we invite you to bring them to the table during our Open Forum. With the combined training and experience of our Coaches you will get the direction you need to get you back on your road to success!

The next StomperNet Open Forum Call with our Professional Coaches happens next Friday at 11am EDT and we hope to see you there! These calls are intended to be live Q&A sessions and playback will not be available.

Stompernet Blog

New beginnings are what this time of year is all about for many people; new commitments to losing weight, exercising more and a variety of other items. As a business owner, every day is a new beginning with commitments to excellence and more success than yesterday.

Yet, success requires planning now and in the future. Therefore, your marketing strategy at the beginning of 2012 should be about maintaining the positive effect and presence of your business. With this being the start of year, it is an excellent time to clean up any “dirt” from the past year so you can build your positive influence through the year.

Yes, your business may be online, but that does not mean you are “dirt” free. Your social media, your blog and other aspects represent your presence online. But they may not have the influence you want. You also have consumers who have their blogs and social media forces which influence your business as well. These are the things you want to check and possibly cleanup for more success in 2012.

Even the best of businesses will receive unflattering information from time to time. Yet, that unflattering information about your business on the web can be damaging to your business. Ignoring it and hoping it will go away won’t help either. With some pro-active steps you can control and even clean up your presence so your business shines, which is why today’s post will help you.

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”
~ Abraham Lincoln ~

A Clean Start to 2012: Sweep Your Digital Dirt Away

By Jorgen Sundberg of jorgensundberg.net

As we all know, the Internet has made information instantly accessible. You can find a customer, business partner, investor or employer quicker than ever before. The flipside is that they are only a few clicks away from finding your entire social life online, for better or for worse.  That’s why you want to start each New Year with a clean start digitally.

A recent survey conducted by the good folks at CareerBuilder UK has revealed that more than half (53%) of employers use social networking sites to research job candidates. Another 12% plan to start using social networking sites for screening. Their preferred methods for looking up candidates are search engines, Facebook, Linkedin, blogs and Twitter.

OK, perhaps not much of a shock there. This is more interesting: 43% of employers reported they have found content on social networking sites that caused them not to hire the candidate. The top reasons were that candidates lied about qualifications, showed poor communication skills, made discriminatory comments and posted content about them drinking and using drugs.

So there you have it; in addition to working on your actual application you now have to sweep the Internet for digital dust bunnies as well. If employers are doing it, we can assume that current and potential customers will be at it as well. You can see why they do this as a quick and easy way to find out who you really are. After all, they will only want to be associated with people that have ‘clean’ online lives as anything else might damage their business.

Here are 10 steps you can take today to check up and clean up your digital dirt:

1. Check your stats

What does a simple Google search reveal about you? And more importantly, are you happy with a prospective customer seeing the result? There are a few ways of checking your online personal brand, or reputation if you will. Google is the obvious one, at the very minimum you should check Bing and Yahoo as well. Use variations of your name, search pictures, videos, and news to really turn over every stone. You can also use Personas, an application that MIT developed, that scours the Internet to get the gist of your online reputation.

2. General clean up

Cleaning before any tender process may seem obvious but can actually require quite a bit of effort. Delete any embarrassing photos, comments, links from your online profiles and blog. You can even disable your wall/comments so that no new information can be added by others during your critical job search period. Sever all ties (remove/unfollow/block) to questionable or unreliable people as well as groups and associations that are not congruent with your professional reputation. All the security settings in the world won’t help you if one person decides to share your content with the rest of the world!

3. Facebook

The bad news is that Facebook is one of the first ports of call when someone is checking you out. The good news is that you simply change your security settings and they will only be able to see your mug shot or nothing at all. First off, you can specify who can find you in a Search, then change who can see what on the Privacy settings page. This should make things secure and you can carry on tagging yourself in pictures and videos with little risk of being seen by an employer.

4. Twitter

The bad news is that everyone can follow and see what you do on Twitter. The good news is that you can set up more accounts, and there is nothing stopping you from adding as many as you like. So if you do under your own name, make sure your content is clean. If you still want to retweet those risqué links, you had better make use of a nom de plume account.

5. LinkedIn

I will assume that your LinkedIn profile is business friendly, as it is a professional network after all. What you could consider is the Groups and Associations you are a member of, whether you want them to be visible on your profile or not. Furthermore, your personal interest field is the only one where you can actually show off some personality so make sure it’s consistent with your personal brand and other communications.

6. Cyber Twins

An evil twin on the Internet is not what you need in any situation. What if there is someone out there with your name that is preaching hatred on their blog? If that person is the first to come up when searching Google for your name, you had better be prepared to explain what the score is. So make sure you know this before you get the question, however unlikely it may seem.

7. Blogging activities

What have you posted on your own blog and other blogs out there? Think back to when you first started blogging, perhaps you tried out a few topics that aren’t perhaps conducive to your new job? Or maybe you left a comment or two in haste that you really shouldn’t have. Use Google Blog Search to find your blogging footprint, as it scours the entire blogosphere on a daily basis.

8. Create positive content

The best way to let the good outweigh the bad is to create lots of new content that will eclipse whatever dirt is still left out there. The Internet handles so much new information every day that the old stuff tends to be pushed down the search results and slowly forgotten. This will take a great deal of time and effort, but will be worth it.

9. Send in the marines

If all else fails and you still have your own digital landfill out there, you might want to call up the professionals. There are a few online services that will seek out your dirt and can annihilate it on the spot. Sites like Reputation Defender and DefendMyName all offer to stay on top of your online reputation for a fee. They will typically identify non-flattering information about you, alert you about it and you can then decide whether to keep or destroy. I believe this option is useful when running for a public office or when you have a few too many skeletons in the closet; however most readers will not have this need.

10. Keep it going

Google Alerts is a very handy tool for real time alerts about anything, in this case yourself. Punch in your name in inverted commas, set it to send you updates as soon as you are mentioned online. This way you will be able to monitor yours whenever your name is mentioned anywhere on an ongoing basis.

Video

Start the New Year With a Clean Slate
By Vin Montello (FOH)

FLV / MOV

SEO Pro Returns to Dallas!

Finally: Discover How to Get and KEEP Your Website (or a Client’s Website) Ranked at the Top of the Search Engines by Attending the ONLY Workshop Backed by the 5-Year Reputation and Proven Track Record of the World’s Largest SEO and Online Business Training Company!

Click here for details!

Secret Sauce Checklist

Cleaning your Digital Dirt

• Check your online reputation
• Do General Clean Up
• Check your Facebook privacy settings
• Create multiple Twitter accounts if necessary
• Remember LinkedIn is a site for professionals
• Who else has your name?  What do they represent?
• Check your blog footprint
• Outweigh the bad with good
• Hire professional cleaners as necessary
• And lather, rinse, repeat throughout the year as necessary

Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: Conversion

Stompernet Blog

Last week we worked on giving your business a much needed boost after holidays sales. This week our topic is “Starting Your New Year Right”.  We will cover the techniques that give your business a sure footing for the New Year.

You may have set your New Year’s resolutions for your personal life but what about your business?

Are you obsessing over what you did last year that did not work?

What would you change if you could have the year over?

You’ve heard the adage “He who fails to plan is planning to fail”. Well, it’s true. To have the success you want in 2012, you need resolutions for success, plans to grow, and using what did not work last year as information for finding what will work this year.

So this week we have information to help you sweep away the dust and debris of last year. You also can learn what you need to plan and build for success this year.

Talk soon and enjoy the resources below!

Ryan Taylor

Director of Operations
StomperNet, LLC

IMPORTANT:  Some of the resources shown are only available to members. With our all-new tiered benefit levels you can join us today for as little as $49.00and get instant access to the world’s largest SEO and Online Business community plus all the tools and resources you need (including upcoming free webinar replays) to enhance your existing business or start, build and grow a thriving Internet-based business!

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Curriculum Resources

• StomperCORE: The End Precedes the Beginning

Forum Posts

• Write Yourself An Email

New Media

• Fun, Innovative & Effective QR Marketing with Lee Vance
• Q & A with Lee Collins (how to get listed on Google and uncommon tips)

* Faculty Office Hour

THURSDAY Jan 5th, 2011 at 1:00pm Eastern

“Creating Success on YOUR Terms in 2012″ with Melanie Benson Strick

Have you found that you are working yourself right back into a J.O.B. with 60+ hour work weeks? Do you crave having more time for what’s important to you – yet there is a never ending list of to-do’s that never get done? Or, maybe you’ve gotten lost in the avalanche of bright shiny objects that never quite pan out successfully.

This year things are going to be different. You are going to learn how to create a long-term strategy for big results. Jump on this call with Melanie Benson Strick, America’s #1 Optimum Performance Coach and catalyst for some of the biggest success stories in the information marketing world. She’ll lay out a technique for kicking off the new year so you achieve your goals AND enjoy your life in the process.   Register Here!

Special Announcements

“StomperNet Open Forum” Fridays at 11EDT

We know everyone has questions about their business or different stumbling blocks. Well we invite you to bring them to the table during our Open Forum. With the combined training and experience of our Coaches you will get the direction you need to get you back on your road to success!

The next StomperNet Open Forum Call with our Professional Coaches happens next Friday at 11am EDT and we hope to see you there! These calls are intended to be live Q&A sessions and playback will not be available.

Stompernet Blog