Want to brand yourself? Focus. Pick one thing great thing about yourself and focus on communicating it clearly.

Getting yourself branded into the minds of your market could be as simple as 1-2-3. It isn’t but it could be:

1. Determine the most valuable and differentiating benefit your company offers your target market.
2. Create one simple message that communicates your company’s value and difference to your customers.
3. Focus on communicating that message to your market constantly and with everything you do. After you communicated it, remind them again. Focus.

There! All done. Now you’re branded. Of course it is not as easy as 1-2-3 but those are very important steps and if you were only to pick one way, that might be the way to go. Focus on repeatedly clearly communicating your most valuable differentiating feature to your market.

The Importance of Branding

Two of the biggest intangible benefits branding creates are confidence and value. Branding helps potential customers feel confident that by purchasing your brand they are working with someone they can trust. They know your product will taste a certain way, drive a certain way, or even make people envy you in a certain way.

The value perception is also improved in successfully branded products. In an almost illogical way, customers perceive more value in products that have been effectively branded. Energizer brand batteries last longer, right? I really don’t know but there’s a little bunny that has been swinging a drumstick since forever and I think about him as my eyes switch from Energizer to the other pack, to and from, little bunny, to and from, every time I buy, er, Energizers.

The biggest tangible benefit of branding is bigger margins. Energizer batteries cost more. So do Diesel jeans, Cross pens, and branded cereals.

There a thousand ways to communicate your brand to your market. Use freebies, testimonials, postcards, celebrity message telemarketing, banner ads, or bumper stickers. Whatever you do make your message clear and focus on communicating it in everything you do.

Using Software to Generate Traffic

First, be clear that none of the links in this article are sponsored links and I do not recommend the products. In fact, I prefer that you do NOT buy them. I am linking to them only for your reference and for the sake of helpful content in this article. Please also notice that I did not give the links valuable anchor text…

It seems like every time a new traffic generation technique comes to light, software is quickly developed to automate the manual process. The software makes it super fast and easy to do what used to be tedious and take valuable time.

Using software to make tasks more efficient is not a questionable task - it is actually preferred. If you disagree, stop using Word Press, Type Pad, Blogger, Front Page, or even Outlook for that matter. The issue is not whether or not using software is ok. Rather, the problem with using software to generate online content is that the resulting product is usually almost unreadable and certainly does not add value for the reader. In effect, using software to generate online content is SPAM.

4 Controversial Methods to Generate Traffic

With the popularity of blogs and forums, it is easy to see why businesses want to be involved in them. And search engine algorithm criteria have been identified that allows for web owners to proactively manage their sites ratings.

1. Blog Automation Software
2. Article Spinning Software
3. Reciprocal Links
4. Traffic Exchange Programs

Blog Automation Software

People are more likely to find you online if you are active. That means you have to post frequently and regularly on your blog, comments on others blogs, and in forum discussions to be successful. This can take hours each day. Blog automation software works in various ways but, basically, it mixes your content, keywords, some ads, and maybe even some videos and posts them to your blog at predetermined intervals.

The advantages of blog automation software (here’s one) are that it is time effective and potentially increases your traffic. The software makes the posts for you, and save hours of valuable time. You can post a generic message and your company contact information on thousands of blog posts with the click of a mouse. The hope is that web surfers will stumble across your blog and then become subscribers.

The main disadvantage to blogging software is that widespread blog posting will probably be considered spam, and you will be ignored. Using blog posting software puts your credibility in question by potential customers because most automated posts are immediately recognizable as unreadable refuge.

Article Spinning Software

Article spinning software takes pre-purchased Private Label Rights (PLR) material and “spins” it into an unrecognizable copy. The program substitutes words with synonyms, so that it does not sound like the same article. Sites that use recycled articles are most often looking for traffic coming from random search hits over regular subscribers. Here’s an example.

Content is king on the internet and article spinning software helps you generate quantity without quality. Successful websites need to have new content on a consistent basis to be attractive to viewers and search engines and some web owners believe focusing on quantity over quality will get the desired results. If you are truly going for numbers and keyword-laden content generation then article spinning software might be for you.

The main benefits of using software to generate articles are that it saves you time and money. Software can generate hundreds of versions of the same article in seconds. This prevents you from having to do it manually, which will cost you hours of your time. If you do not do your own writing, hiring someone else to write original articles will cost you money.

There are huge drawbacks to article spinning. Search engines look negatively upon duplicate content. Spinning technology touts that it can avoid the search engine spiders that are looking for content that is the same as what is already on the web. No one knows for certain what the components are in the search engine algorithms, but most experts agree that duplicate content is a big no-no. Another drawback is that they readability of spun articles is usually not very good. Often the original PLR article was not well-written, so re-writing it further makes it even worse.

Basically, if you want repeat visitors do not use article spinning software.

Reciprocated Links

Reciprocal links are links exchanged between sites that do not usually add value to the readers. These are usually added to the “links” page. I do not have a huge problem with these as there is usually nothing dishonest about them. Reciprocal links are typically clearly labeled as such. I prefer to only links to sites that are related to the originating site. Reciprocal links carry less weight with search engines than they used to but still seem to offer some benefit to a site’s link popularity.

There is a lot of software made to generate and manage reciprocal links. Text linking software (like these) available online will generate reciprocal links and allow you to manage them. I am not opposed to organic reciprocal links but would never recommend reciprocal link software.

Traffic Exchange Programs

Traffic exchanges (here’s one) occur when people view each others’ web pages to get higher traffic counts. There are traffic exchange programs – fee-based and free – that provide a place to connect with other web owners looking for traffic.

Traffic exchange programs coordinate web owners seeking additional traffic (more traffic looks better to search engines). Participants visit others’ sites and receive visits in return based on a pre-determined program plan.

One of the drawbacks to traffic exchanges is that they diminish the meaning of your traffic stats. The page view numbers are not real searchers looking for information or products but are simply visitors whose sole intent is to rack up page views, thus increasing the popularity of the site. People (including me) question if there is a true benefit to traffic exchange programs.

Crossing the Line with Online Marketing Techniques

In a world over-filled with products and services that must be viewed as unique to get attention and sales it is, well, mediocre, to follow standard marketing formulas. Being different and daring is encouraged in the business world and often hugely rewarded but where do you draw the line. 

There is a fine line between ethical and unethical practices in online marketing. Here are a few examples of tactics that might be considered unethical. What do you think?

Questionable Marketing Tactics

Realize that your marketing strategy might be negatively questioned – and your business could suffer the repercussions - if you misuse one of these tactics. Of course, there may be value in shocking your customers, so this in not necessarily a “Do Not Use” list, but more of a “Think Twice” list:

• Fluffing up the truth to be more than what it really is
• Being misleading, or involved in something that could be perceived as a bait-and-switch or trick
• Fake testimonials
• Marketing to children with any type of hard sell or unhealthy products
• Encourage credit purchases to those that cannot afford to pay, then making a profit on interest
• Selling with sex
• Using health scare tactics

Attracting Customers on False Pretenses Equals Unethical Marketing

The first stage of your marketing plan may be to drive more traffic to your site. Potential customers will feel burned if they think they are coming to your site for one thing (e.g., free plans) only to find a big sales pitch. Here are just a few examples of questionable techniques used to draw website traffic:

1. Using article-spinning software to change the words of existing articles enough to pass them as unique content and avoid web spiders that look for duplicate content for search engines.
2. Frivolously posting on other people’s blogs with meaningless content just to drive people back to your site. Using poorly engineered software that will post on other blogs and forums.
3. Including irrelevant reciprocal or affiliate links in your content or asking other irrelevant pages to list your link(s).
4. Creating trick banners that say that you have won a prize, or look identical to your operating system alerts.

Create a Clear Hook to Set Yourself Apart

Set yourself apart with out-of-the-box techniques that are not blatantly unethical. One good way is with a few great buzz words and a hook. Buzz words do not always have a clearly defined meaning, but by using what is hot in the moment and tying that to your industry, you can pull in people looking for something that is new, unique, and related to what’s going on.

Using a hook will help establish yourself as an industry leader. People will remember you based on your hook, and they will repeat it. Here are a few tips for creating a killer hook for your business:

1. Keep it short and focused.
2. Be positive. Enthusiasm is contagious.
3. Consider humor. People like to know that a business has a good sense of humor.
4. Rhyme it, if you can do it tactfully.

Stand Out Amongst the Clutter

Controversial marketing techniques will never end and I am not even recommending that you use them. This is simply a discussion. What I can recommend is that you do your best to stand out amongst the clutter like the guys who set up the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Marketing Stunt in January of ‘07, which, for some ridiculous reason sent the Boston police into a frenzy. I believe the network had to pay a hefty fine but there are a million other ads and marketing efforts I don’t remember at all. 

Here’s more academic view (pdf) of ethical and regulatory responsibility in advertising.

Increasing Traffic Volume is Not the Answer to Sales Lead Woes

If you can increase your lead generation rate from 5% of traffic to 15% of traffic now then all future increases in traffic volume will be more valuable.

Traditional wisdom says that to get more business, you need more traffic. The logic is sound enough and basically true but is based purely on numbers - only accounting for quantity (number of site visits and/or page views) with no no thoughts given to how visitors are treated once they arrive. Having more people come to your site does not necessarily mean you will receive more qualified sales leads.

Do Not Depend on Traffic Alone

Simply getting more people to visit your site should not be your goal. Change the way you think about your site and change your focus. Just for a while, do this:

STOP Asking: “How do I get more people to visit my site?”

START Asking: “How do I sell to more of my current visitors?”

Many sites are excellent at generating traffic but have low lead generation rates and low conversion rates. You cannot just get them in the door, then leave them there.

Once the potential customer is on your site, your work has only just begun. You must create a site that is void of unnecessary content and is focused on a clear message. Then, you must tactfully, graciously, and effectively guide them through your purchasing process. If you do not, they will leave without making a purchase or bookmarking your site for later visits.

Get More Sales Leads from Current Traffic

1. Use Accurate Keywords
   

When designing site menus and writing page content, use keywords that accurately describe your products to your customers. In a small way, what I am saying here is, “don’t try to be everything to everybody.” Define your customers first and write for them. That is, speak to the people you want to buy and they will. Use keywords that describe precisely what they want because those are the keywords that keep their attention on the page and start them thinking, “this place has what I am looking for.” Not only will the correct keywords increase qualified leads but they will often decrease unqualified leads. Using accurate keywords and keywords phrases is beneficial to your SEO efforts as well.

2. Give Value - Lots of Value
   

Give your visitors (potential customers) an attractive, well-designed site that is intuitive and full of unique content. Not only will this get people to link to your site and recommend it but they will bookmark it and think of it as a resource - and you will become the expert and the source. People like buying from experts. Think pdf’s, white pages, images, unique articles, videos, etc.

3. Show ‘Em Fast

Within several seconds of entering your site, your visitors should know exactly what you do, who you are, and how to buy. Much longer than that, and you have lost them. This one requires attention to details and feedback - listen carefully and drop your ego. You will understand what I mean by that statement only after you design and site you think is great only to hear people say, “I don’t understand how to…”

4. Give Contact Opportunities
   

Do not reinvent the sales process. Give multiple contact opportunities on every page with clear calls to action so interested leads know how to become customers.

It’s About What You Give To Those You Receive

Capturing a qualified lead takes a proactive approach on your part. You cannot expect the efforts you have made to increase traffic to carry you through till the end of the sales process. On top of getting visitors to the site, you need to show them want they want and tell them how to get it.

Increasing traffic volume is important and almost always desirable but you will benefit in the long term from emphasizing the importance of your lead generation rate. Again, increase your lead generation rate now so each incremental increase in traffic volume will be more valuable.