I don’t do ANY SEO and I’m doing GREAT! My SECRET Four “C” formula.

Posted by Jim in Email Marketing tips, SEO: Search Engine Optimization 28 comments

I’ve caught some flack lately for my stance on SEO.

To me nearly all SEO efforts are the art and science of trying to stay one step ahead of Google in order to get undeserving websites a higher ranking than they deserve.  A great way to avoid all of that nonsense is to NOT CARE and NOT RELY on your Google rank.  If you do rank well occasionally, it’s a bonus. If you don’t rank well don’t worry about it. Just use my proven Four C formula below.

Are you curious how much time I’ve spent working on, thinking about and paying people to assist me with SEO? Ready for the total?

It’s ZERO.

And yet (to grab one example),  SilentSalesMachine.com (a simple one page website with a google pagerank of 5) gets loads of organic, search engine traffic. This is because people talk about it, they link to it, and it’s a great book according to the “crowd”.

Ready for the Four C’s?

I choose to create fantastic content that starts conversations and then the crowds find me every time. (I’ll call it my four C’s)

Each time I have an audience online paying attention to me I offer them the option of getting on my email list so I can contact them later with other stuff they might love (email marketing). Yep – it’s all that simple.

If you are spending your time, money, energy or heaven forbid you are building your career around figuring out ways to get Google “Love” for websites that only deserve Google “slight affection” (or worse), then I say embrace the 4 C formula now and only spend your money and time with people that get it.

Keep in mind this trend while you are making up your mind:

The Internet is increasingly LESS and LESS about “websites” and it’s more and more about RELATIONSHIPS, PEOPLE, TRUST and COMMUNITIES.

Being good at tricking google is not a skill that will get you through life much longer if I’m right.

Now, click the comment button and tell me all the reasons I’m nuts (I’m serious – I want your best shot!)

Additional reading:

http://www.jimcockrum.com/blog/?p=1688

Affiliate marketing IS NOT a business

Posted by Jim in Affiliate Marketing, Great Business Ideas, Offline Biz (IM for Brick-n-mortar) 30 comments

Check out what one of the MOST SUCCESSFUL affiliate marketers in the world just said a couple of days ago:

“Affiliate marketing is NOT a business.
As an Affiliate you:

• Spend all your time in hopes of making money for other companies.
• Spend your money testing various items in hopes of getting a positive return.
• Do all the dirty work for them.

The companies who have the offers you are promoting sit back and love it because YOU are taking all of the risk to build their businesses!”

That sounds a lot like the stuff I’ve been saying for the last 3 years right?  I’ve been called “crazy”, “out of touch”, and even “irresponsible” for saying it in past posts right on this blog! After all, some of the biggest celebrity names in Internet marketing have fan bases of tens of thousands…all learning “affiliate marketing”.

To be clear, the above quote validates some things I’ve been saying steadily for two YEARS:

• Newbies should avoid affiliate marketing like the plague
• Affiliate marketing STARTS with genuine relationships or it fails miserably EVERY TIME
• Too many gurus are getting rich selling “affiliate marketing training” to SUCKERS that aren’t making a dime!

This is quite a contradiction though isn’t it? Let’s clear this up…

So, who is the “big dog” in the above box quote?

Meet Jeremy (aka ShoeMoney). Jeremey is the guy that I’m quoting above from just a few days ago.  He has been the “main attraction” at nearly all major affiliate marketing conventions of the past two years! He has been the #1 affiliate marketer for eBay (millions monthly), he was brought in to help build Facebook’s affiliate marketing program, and he’s been on the cover of “Fast Company” magazine as the most influential guy on the Internet.

And he’s just said (and I quote), “Affiliate marketing IS NOT A BUSINESS“.

Good for you SHOEMONEY! I agree with you 100% and I thank you for making me feel VERY validated!  I want MORE of the online “gurus” to follow suit with some honesty!

ShoeMoney is now telling us all that a good use of any “traffic generation” skills you acquire is to grow YOUR OWN business – not someone elses! Capture the leads for YOURSELF, and THEN, ONCE YOU’VE EARNED TRUST and ENGAGED your audience, and ONLY then…sell something! (check out this blog post from a few months ago to get the full scoop on how I feel about affiliate marketing)

Two simple conclusions for newbies and veterans alike:

1.  Are you a “newbie” or feel burned by how you’ve spent your time and money learning online business?

Learn what actually works before spinning your wheels any more!

Stop building websites NOW and go read this simple book (or just grab the two free chapters here).

Not convinced yet?  It’s probably because you are too vested and have been drinking the “affiliate income” kool-aid for too long. I STRONGLY urge you to take a time out and jump over to SilentSalesMachine.com and grab my $5 book about what works and what doesn’t – because my instincts just got MAJOR validation from one of the biggest dogs in the game and I’ve been teaching this for YEARS. Don’t ignore BOTH of us!

If you don’t want to spend $5 on my book, then just grab the the two free chapters <-click here. One of the free chapters (chapter five) will wake you up to the truth of affiliate marketing!  This blog you are now reading has plenty of good content as well on the topic in the “affiliate marketing” category.  I’ve taught thousands how to build legitimate online businesses, and YES, there is a right way to do affiliate marketing, but you haven’t learned it yet (that’s why you aren’t making any money at it!)

 

2. Been around awhile?

If you’ve got some basic knowledge of affiliate marketing, but your average check is somewhere between $0.00 – $1.78 per month (like 99% of all other affiliate marketers), then you NEED OfflineBiz.com!  We’ve got over 10,000 happy members and numerous success stories of people ACTUALLY MAKING MONEY. To be blunt, unlike your current affiliate marketing “guru”, I’ve got a stack of success stories on my desk as opposed to the “pseudo-testimonials” that celebrity-gurus get from followers that think they are “cool”, “funny”, kind or even educational.  There’s nothing wrong with those things of course, but the point is,  I don’t have any edu-tainment for you – just results.

The fact is “Local Traffic Generation” is FAR easier to conquer than what you’ve been trying to do. You could be using your online “traffic” skills to help some of the millions of online and offline “clueless” businesses capture new business WITHOUT you needing any new “techie” skills!  This includes “Real World” businesses like restaurants, tattoo parlors, real estate agents etc.   You’ve got the knowledge already to hit a quick home run using simple strategies we’ll show you on OfflineBiz.com in just a few hours from right now!  ANYONE can do this – I truly believe that!

SIDE NOTE: The huge trend involving working with “real world” businesses is why I launched OfflineBiz.com THREE YEARS ago with a bunch of MEGA SMART online rock stars. At OfflineBiz we are now turning even “newbie” online marketers (like you and me) into HIGHLY PAID, in demand “offline experts”.  Members of OfflineBiz.com can help ANY traditional “offline” business with their online marketing needs and they get paid VERY WELL to do it. The fact is, there is no course, training, approach, expert or coaching that is cranking out ANYWHERE NEAR as many success stories as we already have at OfflineBiz.com! I’ll repeat – NOTHING COMES CLOSE! Our forums are STUFFED with insanely successful people just like you that openly share their success every day with other members.

And remember…

“Affiliate marketing (the way you’ve been taught it) IS NOT A BUSINESS!!”

Leave me any comments or questions – I’m here for you!

Silent Sales Machine 7.0 finally launches!

Posted by Jim in Affiliate Marketing, Creative Ideas, ebay tips, Email Marketing tips, Finding Cutomers, Great Business Ideas, Information Marketing, Offline Biz (IM for Brick-n-mortar) 98 comments

SilentSalesMachine.com was my first “big hit” ebook back in 2002 and I’ve just released the 7th update.

I’m rolling it out to loyal fans – many of which have read EVERY version!

Since 2002 I’ve been updating and re-releasing what is surely one of the all time (if not the all time) best selling ebooks in the world.

What’s this book about?

Quite simply, it’s about what works NOW and what doesn’t work NOW online. It’s about where to get started and what to avoid. It’s the story of my success online and the success of thousands of others that I’ve taught, but better yet, it’s how you can do it as well.

Yes it’s true-  thousands of people have used past versions of this book to launch their online income streams.

Here are the details on the “Silent Sales Machine 7.0″ ebook update:

•   If you are a member of MySilentTeam.com log in to get the latest update at no charge
•   If you bought the book in the past I’ve emailed you a copy by now (or you dropped off our email list).

If you are a long time loyal reader of “Silent Sales Machine” I have a favor to ask though:

• Read the new version
• Send me your feedback (as an email, or post it as a comment here)
• If you have a story of your own success that belongs in the book send it to me! I’ll include it (once verified of course). I always have room for new success stories!

Ready to pick it up at the $5 launch price?
Visit SilentSalesMachine.com

Have a question, comment feedback etc.? Please leave a comment using the comment button above! We will publish all comments that others might find useful, but if you have a private question you can leave it here as well and we’ll respond to the email address you leave us.

CONTEST:

For the next several weeks, each week I’ll be randomly selecting one comment from ALL comments left on this blog post. The winner will get various prizes. Your comment DOES NOT have to be positive to be eligible of course!

The only guideline for eligibility:
Your comment must be feedback about what you thought of the latest version of “Silent Sales Machine”. Other feedback, questions or other comments are welcome of course, but only feedback left about the book is eligible for the contest.

There will be various prizes for the random weekly winners…a signed copy of my 101FreeMarketing.com book for example, or access to a membership site of your choice (offlinebiz.com or mysilentteam.com etc). Go read the SilentSalesMachine.com book, and leave a comment on this blog post! It’s that simple!

WINNER #1: Larry (screen name morecustomers). He’s been contacted via the email supplied when he left a comment!
WINNER #2 : Jacqueline. She’s been contacted via the email address she used for her comment.
WINNER #3: TBA SOON

P.S. Want to get paid to tell your friends about this book on facebook etc.? Check out the affiliate info at the bottom of the SilentSalesMachine.com page.

Entrepreneurs Wanted!

Posted by Jim in inspiration 7 comments

“Entrepreneurs Wanted: If you are ready to be creative, misunderstood by most, overworked, overtaxed, fail 90% of the ideas you try, have multiple families rely on your leadership and profits, generously support the causes you love most, strive to be part of the “hated 1%”, and always be only as good as your last quarter… then you are ready for the challenge – join us!”

Jim Cockrum
Oct. 2011

An open offer to all Wall Street Protestors!

Posted by Jim in inspiration 6 comments

Hey Wall Street protestors: No one owes you a job or a loan, but my offer stands! Send me a pic of you holding a sign at a protest and I’ll give you any of my courses free (your choice). All I ask is that you let me know what you think after you complete the course. I’ve helped thousands of people start successful businesses online – this is a great opportunity and I’m 100% serious! Reply as a comment to this blog post and I’ll get you taken care of personally. BONUS: I’ll also send you a free copy of my best seller that just launched! Click here to see details on it

OPTIONAL OFFER: Let’s get personal…(politics, religion, parenting, marriage, finding God’s purpose etc.)

Posted by Jim in Uncategorized 15 comments

I don’t try to hide my beliefs from anyone, but I also don’t blatantly throw them in anyone’s face either. At the central core of everything I do in business and life is a solid belief in God’s purpose and calling on my life. It’s who I am…but I don’t expect you to agree with me of course!

BUT THAT SORT OF CONVERSATION MAY NOT BE FOR YOU…and I respect that.

This is the last time I “go there” if you don’t want to hear about it…

My business and marketing ideas will work for ANYONE even if you don’t share the same beliefs I do about life, religion, politics, parenting etc. and I promise to keep those things to myself as best I can in my newsletter and even on this blog.

BUT….

If you ARE interested in hearing more about how those topics are central to my success (in my opinion) and you want to talk about these sorts of things with me and others (I promise we won’t always agree either), then listen up…

I’ve just launched a new email list that will give you details on how we can interact on such things. I’m gauging the interest level. Here’s how to join the list:

http://forms.aweber.com/form/69/1901990869.htm

Have a question or comment about any of this? Let me know your thoughts – click the comment button above.

Trust is accelerating – here’s how you benefit from it

Posted by Jim in Creative Ideas, Finding Cutomers, reputation and influence 4 comments

Often times the best “next step” in growing your business exponentially is to find a “perfect fit” trustworthy partner.

Who can you trust though?

I believe we are living in the best time in human history for entrepreneurs and the “speed of trust” is one of the biggest reasons for it.

Speed of Trust: The amount of time it takes two parties to form a trusting relationship

Partnerships are forming fast these days – and that’s a good thing for those of us in business. You can profit from creative partnerships easily once you know the “tools” of the game.

Some factors contributing to the acceleration:

• Services like Klout.com allow us to find great experts and potential partners on any topic in minutes and can help us quickly identify who the power players are in any niche
• A Google search tells you a lot of course
• Reputations are getting harder to hide. The “good guys” really stand out.
• Topical discussion forums are a great place to find trustworthy partners
• Clickbank can automate the division of profits among multiple partners on a collaboration project. There’s no need to build years or months of “trust” in someone if clickbank is enforcing the payout on your product! See this video

Who makes a great partner? Someone who you can trust who also has the attention of the audience you are trying to reach. This blog post about growing your own audience will help you think this through.

Example: My partner Andrew and I run OfflineBiz.com but we’ve never met, never spoken, and would probably pass each other on the street without even noticing…but we have a 10,000+ member membership site because we both quickly researched and found the other to be a trustworthy and accomplished potential partner. I had the perfect audience and he had the perfect skills.

Why I’m loving Klout.com – Spread your message faster!

Posted by Jim in reputation and influence 10 comments

I’ve recently uploaded a couple of videos about the free services of Klout.com and how ANYONE can use them to help spread their message or grow their audience.

Leave me a comment or question using the comment button. If you like this stuff give me a Facebook like as well!

Here’s the vids:

The Death of Google (1996-2012)

Posted by Jim in Finding Cutomers, Hot Niche Markets, reputation and influence, SEO: Search Engine Optimization, Traffic Generation 10 comments

A bit dramatic perhaps, but if I’m right you’ll REALLY thank me.  I’m not foolish enough to predict the actual demise of Google, but they are changing dramatically right before our eyes and I think I can help us all win if we understand what’s happening.

My last article told you why I thought CONTENT was king and how to rank high in Google search results the right way. This article is my supporting proof to hopefully convince you I’m right.

My title could be a bit less dramatic, sure.  More accurately stated, this article is about the massive changes I see coming in Google search, and while I’m almost certain it will impact Google’s bottom line in a BIG way, I’m much more interested in helping you know what to do about it NOW to be in a great position as it starts to happen. Even if I’m wrong, I’ll have golden advice for you at the end of this article that will make total sense to you (I hope).

Summary:  This article is about how Google search will inevitably change very soon (I predict) and how to benefit from it starting now.

I’ll cover three things:

1. The facts we know
2. The only obvious conclusions I can think of as a result of these facts, and
3. What you can do NOW to position yourself for traffic, wealth, influence and greatness as Google changes.

Not only do I think trends are in play to wipe out a chunk of Google’s cash flow (Billions annually as browser users “mature”), I also think that the famed Google search engine algorithm is in jeopardy of being increasingly irrelevant very soon for billions of search terms.  Even if these observations are well ahead of their time, I’ve got some golden advice for you anyway. If I’m right about the time-line though, I think you’ll be calling me a genius as early as a couple years from now.

Bold predictions perhaps, but see if you can find any holes in my logic.

We know these facts:

• How Google Makes it’s cash: Google generates most of its revenue currently from Ads running via Adwords/Adsense etc.  If you search for “how to build a dog house” you’ll get paid ads mixed in with what Google thinks are the best sites on the web on the subject based on it’s complex and highly secretive ranking algorithm.
• We are starting to ignore ALL ads: The WHOLE WORLD (especially online) is caring less and less about what advertisers have to say about themselves (paid advertising), and they are caring more and more about what other users and independent reviewers have to say. It’s an undeniable trend.
• We (Google users) are getting smarter and we have opinions: Google users will learn soon (and most have already learned) that the “organic” or “unpaid” results on Google are where the true experts and most respected results are. Sure, paid search results are monitored by Google for “quality score”, but it’s still a game of who has the most money and time to put into writing creative ads. The paid ads do not reflect the quality of the business, knowledge of the expert or usefulness of the content behind the ad. In other words, for good reason we as consumers are caring less and less about paid ads even on Google.
• Google wants us to rank content online and WILL increasingly respect our choices: Google recognizes the need to get end users into the game of “ranking” content, providers, businesses, experts and everything else.  This is why Google came up with the +1 system you see everywhere now. Those ranks will inevitably begin to mean more and more over time. How do I know this? Why else would Google allow us to “vote” on virtually every piece of content online if Google plans on ignoring our votes? I think we’ll see some anti-fraud measures added to the +1 system and Google will take the votes increasingly seriously over time. Sure, they may keep their “algorithm”, but just as with Local Search we’ll start to see the customer feedback really driving the ship. The challenge for Google will no longer be tweaking the algorithm, but will become preventing +1 fraud.
• Ignoring consumer preferences and FORCING us toward paid ads would hurt Google: Any unbiased ranking system can not possibly allow “paid” positioning to be confused with “most popular” results. Sure, Google will still run ads, and sure, some people will still click, but who do you trust more if you are buying a book about building a dog house,  1,000 of your voting peers, or a slick ad writer?

The big question:

If I’m right, where are we heading given the above facts that I think are indisputable?

What will Google do as all these trends unfold and the changes begin to effect their bottom line?

Some of Google’s options once this loss of ad revenue scenario plays out (these are my theories only):

• Start charging us a pay per use/membership fee to use Google (not likely)
• Stop allowing us to vote on content and hope we’ll trust their super secret ranking algorithm forever instead – while also hoping that we’ll accidentally continue to click on and respond to paid ads (this option would almost certainly lead to Google being replaced by a better search engine that allows and respects our votes)
• Google will find a way to snap up experts, top content producers etc. like they snap up small companies now and find ways to cash in on their content. Don’t think they’ll do it? That’s how they run YouTube now with “invitation only” revenue sharing. It won’t be Adsense either – that’s already “uncool” in most corners (and fewer of us will be clicking ads remember?)
• Get a govt. bailout because they are too big to fail (joke)

Regardless of whether or not it plays out exactly like I’m betting it will the following advice is pure gold:

• Create great content and post it all over the place online. Content will clearly RULE both short term and long term online. Any SEO tricks, built in a week websites, set-it-and-forget-it marketing efforts etc. will all DRY UP and be useless at an increasingly faster pace.
• Actively seek the votes and support of your audience as you crank out high quality, low cost (or free) content.
• Monitor your influence and take steps to increase it.
• Engage with your audience. Be in constant conversation. Ask for tangible feedback and support from them.

What if you are not an expert at anything yet? Tap into this trend anyway by helping other true experts capture and share their great content online. I’m always looking for creative people with creative ideas that will expand my reach online and I’m willing to reward their efforts. I’m not the only one in that position either!

You’ll also find many “clueless” experts and content rich businesses in the world that could use help getting into position for the shifts that are happening. Convince them that content is king and then help them get it out there to their eager audience.

Author: Jim Cockrum+