MappingTheWeb //

A few fellow bloggers have asked me, “How do I market and promote my blog to drive more traffic and page views?” My answer to them was simple: they were asking the wrong question in the first place.

If you want to catch a fish, you don’t concentrate your attention on the fish. You focus on your bait and your lure. If the bait is attractive, the fish will come. The same can be said for blogs. Don’t focus on the traffic itself. Focus on the content. If the content is good, the traffic will follow.

Thereby, the number one way to promote a blog is to produce high quality content on a regular, consistent basis. I cannot emphasize this enough. This is the single most important aspect of blogging. This is assuming you have already strategically carved out a niche for your blog, which is also very important. If the quality is down, an influx of new traffic will not follow and current traffic will fall off. Furthermore, if the frequency of posts falls off, you will lose readership and loyalty. Therefore, quality and consistency are key.

Another natural way to promote your blog is to comment on other blogs and add trackbacks to posts. This keeps the discussion going and adds value to other blog posts. I do not even consider this ‘promoting’, but rather staying true to the whole blogging mentality. I believe it is essential for all bloggers to participate outside their own domain in order to add value and soak in new perspectives on varying items and topics.

Other effective marketing tactics, such as SEO, help but only to a certain extent.

For most bloggers, marketing and promotion should not be a concern. Unless of course your name is Mike Arrington or Om Malik, and your blog is your business. In this case, you must treat your blog like a business, and any successful business needs a marketing plan.

Nonetheless, blogs are lifestyle and a place to express your views. Treat it like a dissemination tool rather than a money printer. 

My most hated enemy, PayPerPost, recently got slapped in the face by the FTC and rightfully so. This bottom-of-the-barrel, blood-sucking entity should be put out of business altogether. I have already written about their unethical practices here and here.

As a quick refresher, the company has created a marketplace for bloggers and advertisers. An advertiser pays a given blogger to post about their company. Pretty simple right? Yeah, but PayPerPost doesn’t understand the ethics of the blogosphere and the importance around transparency. Having said that, paid bloggers do NOT need to disclose payment information with the given blog post. In addition, all bloggers are paid the same amount per post, independent of your traffic or blog readership. Ridiculous to say the least.

My words of advice: please, please, please check out ReviewMe instead. This is a much better marketplace for bloggers and advertisers. It eliminates the immoral practices of PayPerPost while providing a comprehensive solution for both bloggers and advertisers. 

Ok, so I strayed a little of course there…

My point was that PayPerPost is sacrificing the integrity and trust of the entire blogging community. The blogosphere is all about self-expression and personal beliefs, not fabricated opinions.

For this very reason, the Federal Trade Commission has stepped in and begun scrutinizing practices around writing a paid editorial piece and failing to disclosing payment. Woohoo!

 The FTC issued the following statement:

“Raised concerns about a specific type of amplified word-of-mouth marketing, specifically the practice of marketers paying a consumer (the “sponsored consumer”) to distribute a message to other consumers without disclosing the nature of the sponsored consumer’s relationship with the marketer.”

This is a step in the right direction and I hope that PayPerPost eventually makes payment disclosure obligatory.

Now, I’ve read and heard people talk about product placement in movies and how payments are not disclosed, but we’re talking about a whole different ball-game here. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. When most people see a product placement in a movie, they expect that it’s paid. The same goes for travel and vacation write-ups. Most people expect that the editor received a free trip or some sort of compensation in return for the article. These free incentives for travel writers and publishers have been around for years. It’s to be expected. But in the blogosphere, I would wager that most people believe 99%+ of all posts are written without payment for the sole purpose of expressing the viewers of the author. Paid blog posts are NOT to be expected. Therefore, disclosure should be mandatory if a transaction is completed.

NOTE: Factual information for this post was pulled from a Mathew Ingram post.

Earlier today, Mashable posted an article outlining the steps for success for a web-based start-up. It was very well written and brought up some interesting points. However, the article missed a few key points that I would like to touch on.

Mashable explains that a successful busines model should be tailored around either viral distribution or natural search. Two very valid points. However, I think there is much more to the story. The build-up of the plot looks good, but this story needs an introduction.

My take on success focuses around notions pulled from The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Here are the four steps that I see necessary for exponential growth:

1. Target your key influencers and evangelists.
2. Provide them with a compelling message and value proposition.
3. Facilitate viral growth and distribution.
4. Execute efficiently and effectively.

Easier said than done. The last step may very well be the most challenging. Time and time again, numerous start-ups have emerged with killer apps and extraordinary product offerings. Their inability to execute ultimately led to their demise and current inexistence.

The four points mentioned above have been compiled mostly from my own personal observations of Internet success stories (and failures) over the years, as well as from numerous books and articles.

My hope in writing this post is that it doesn’t sound overly generic. Numerous books, articles, blog posts, and other documents have been written around the same topic. My goal was to cut out the BS and really dig down to the major points that I consider most important. I think that all articles that guarantee a recipe for success should be taken at face value. Success can never be guaranteed. If it were so, the author wouldn’t be writing the article or telling the world about such a formula. He or she would be executing on the plan and making billions of dollars.

Therefore, pull your own conclusions and take from your own experiences and background to determine the best possible strategy for your start-up or company.

Jigsaw terrorized his victims in the ‘Saw’ movies and his Internet-related twin continues to do so today. Some, including Michael Arrington in particular, absolutely abhor the company. And though most frown upon this Internet start-up, I, for one, applaud their efforts.

Contrary to popular opinion, the company isn’t evil. They identified an apparent information inefficiency and filled the niche. So what do they do? To quote the website, “Jigsaw is an online business contact marketplace”. Essentially, users can buy or trade for business contact information such as e-mail addresses or phone numbers. Some call this a breach of personal privacy and security. Others call it pure genius.

So why do I applaud this venture?

Web 2.0 is all about democratization. The new web aims to destroy information barriers. This creates accessibility for everyone. Tech executives, CEOs, and upper level management shouldn’t be considered superior to anyone. When it all boils down to it, we’re all the same species. As the historical steel wall has been pummeled, new ideas and views can now channel to the top, thereby creating a whole new business mentality and culture.

To use another popular cliche, Jigsaw has leveled the playing field. Transparency around such sought-after information should be universally accessible, allowing anyone to reach anyone else, regardless of their ’social status’.

Critics of the system cite misuse and abuse from salespeople and pesky marketing groups. Though I do see this as a downside, I truly believe that the upside more than compensates for this downfall. Furthermore, users can apply to Jigsaw to have their information removed if necessary.

From a more general perspective, verticals are quickly becoming a significant and important trend on the Internet today. Vertical search engines and marketplaces are popping up on a daily basis to fulfill the needs of different groups. So, why not a marketplace for contact information? It just makes sense.

Next time you need a Google stock quote, use Yahoo Finance. The second iteration of Google’s much hyped finance portal is nothing to cry home about.

The portal debuted yesterday. Buzz around the blogosphere verified exactly what I had already concluded - this offering cannot and will not be able to compete against Yahoo Finance. It just doesn’t have that X-factor that other Google products manifest.

In phase one, the company flaunted their interactive Flash charts and blog integration, but to no avail. Phase two simply provided a more comprehensive feature set, but nothing overly revolutionary or ground-breaking like we come to expect from Google. Finance is one of the few areas where Yahoo is kicking Google’s ass. Badly.

So what did Google do wrong and what is it going to take to compete (or beat) Yahoo?

Well… let’s take a step back and look at previous successful Google product launches. Gmail, for one, offered a ridiculous amount of storage that Yahoo and MSN had to match (on some scale). This created an enormous amount of PR and buzz, which catapulted account creation into the stratosphere.

These wacky, crazy, out-of-the-box PR marketing tactics and antics are what Google has come to be known for. So why try to re-invent the wheel? 

I began to think… long… and hard… until my brain hurt. I wondered, “What if Google offered something spectacular - a specific feature (similar to the 2GB storage) for free in their finance offering?” My conclusion was that FREE, real-time stock quotes may be the ticket. An exceptional offering like that would stimulate discussion and spread the word. Rather than spend money on marketing, let the product sell itself ala Purple Cow. The PR and buzz alone would generate consider traffic and exposure.

This strategy has already worked in the past. People expect big things from this heavy-hitter. Why not crank another one out of the park?