Archive for the ‘Internet Marketing’ Category

MarketingConsultants.com Domain Auction

September 16, 2008

I received this email regarding the auctioning of the domain marketingconsultants.com. My thoughts about this domain and the auction are in [brackets] below.

Hello Tim,

I am the owner of the generic premium domain name MarketingConsultants.com.

Since you are a Marketing Service provider, I thought you or your firm would be interested to know that I am auctioning off the domain through domain broker Sedo.com.

[ I am, I have been a marketing consultant for 19 years.]

The auction for MarketingConsultants.com ends in about 3 days.

You own MarketingConsultants.org.

[Yes, I do.]

Advanced Marketing Consultants

Advanced Marketing Consultants

Why not get the best extension for marketing consultants? .Com is king and this domain has it!

Why should you buy MarketingConsultants.com? Besides the points below, you can also refer to the article here:

dmueller.com/benefits-of-generic-domains

MarketingConsultants.com is without doubt the best domain for Marketing
Consultants. It would be a perfect name & a growing asset for your company.

[Agreed, depending on the price.]

It caters to a highly lucrative niche – Offline & Online Marketing.

There are 612 Pay-per-click Sponsors for the term “Marketing Consultants” on Google.

[I actually found 83 pages of sponsored ads on Google totalling 996 advertisers.]

Marketing Consultants

Marketing Consultants

Pay per click rate for “Marketing Consultants” is $3.00-4.72 at Google Adwords!

Just 750 clicks per month would cost you $3,300+ monthly if you are one of the top advertisers for this keyword, but with this domain, you can get even more targeted traffic consistently for free.

This is just a one-time investment.

[ Actually there is a one time purchase price and then an ongoing annual renewal fee between $7 and $10 depending on which registrar the domain is transferred to.]

This premium domain will bring instant brand recognition!

[ Generic descriptive names can not become brands by definition, however established brands can benefit from owning their generic equivalency.]

It would bring authenticity and trustworthiness to any Marketing Consultancy or Marketing Service business.

The majority of clients are aware that only a serious and successful Marketing Consultant would invest in the most premium domain of their industry. A domain of this generic nature adds credibility to any existing Marketing business.

[ Correct ]

Incredible: over 2,880,000 Google Search Results for “Marketing Consultants”.

Keyword Rich domain: Search engines give lot of importance to keywords in the domain.

Once developed, it will easily get high ranks on Google. Getting 1st spot 1st page position for “Marketing Consultants” would not be difficult at all.

[ If getting first page, first result weren’t difficult then every domain would be first and there wouldn’t be any need for second place results or beyond.]

Sub-domains can be used for high search engine rankings. For example, if the new owner creates sub-domain: Internet.MarketingConsultants.com then the site is most likely to top search engines for the term “internet marketing consultant”.

Same with:

NewYork.MarketingConsultants.com

Top.MarketingConsultants.com

Sophisticated.MarketingConsultants.com etc.

[ Sounds good, but I don’t think I have ever seen a sub-domain on the first page for a competitive keyword.]

MarketingConsultants.com is a 10 year old domain: it is an authority aged domain. Will easily get top ranks in search engines.

[ If so, why isn’t it there now after 10 years?]

Domain is concise and to the point. It would describe the business very well.

No hyphen. No numbers. Correct Spelling.

Domains are growing in value consistently. This domain will be a valuable growing asset for your business.

[ Possibly ]

In the long run, this domain will bring a significant number of clients and build brand awareness for any marketing consultant business. This domain will, without a doubt, give unfair advantage to any Marketing business over competitors. Increasingly larger numbers of businesses are searching, researching and buying online, and with this domain, you will dominate this sector. Disney owns family.com, Intel owns chips.com, GE owns TransportationServices.com.

Who should own MarketingConsultants.com?

It’s a rare gem of a domain. Once sold, the buyer might never sell or will sell for much higher price. Do not miss this only chance!

This domain has been professionally appraised at over $45,000, but I have not put any reserve and the current bid is only at $9,100.

MarketingConsultants.com Sedo Auction

MarketingConsultants.com Sedo Auction

[ A professional domainer will probably end up buying this domain and then monetize it with ads. ]

— More info below—

32,000 searches are done by businesses looking for Marketing Consultants on Google (below is the exact search count). That is 32,000 potential clients for the new owner of MarketingConsultants.com. Since this domain will easily rank high for search phrases like “marketing consultants”, you can expect lot of business traffic from Google alone, and these searchers are targeted and are actively looking to buy Marketing services.

Please refer to search count below:

Searches Keyword

8,967 marketing consultants
6,750 internet marketing consultants
5,484 marketing for consultants
5,229 consultants marketing
620 direct marketing consultants
501 interactive marketing consultants
490 web marketing consultants
475 business marketing consultants
459 search engine marketing consultants
443 marketing strategy consultants
417 search marketing consultants
325 strategic marketing consultants
318 email marketing consultants
310 sales marketing consultants
280 small business marketing consultants
276 network marketing consultants
276 consultants marketing network
242 online marketing consultants
211 marketing consultants houston
211 software marketing consultants
210 boston marketing consultants
193 marketing consultants san diego
175 sales and marketing consultants
152 law firm marketing consultants
145 marketing consultants uk
144 automotive marketing consultants
139 internet marketing strategy consultants
134 marketing consultants new
134 marketing consultants new york
129 real estate marketing consultants
117 marketing communication consultants
110 marketing research consultants
104 affinity marketing consultants
102 marketing communications consultants

Source: PageRank.net/keyword-suggestion

Important:
Sedo requires member verification for bids above $10k, so if you are going to bid, do not forget to verify your account at Sedo first.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. You can also call me at
xxx-xxx-xxxx

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,

X

[ Considering I bought marketingconsultants.org for $7.41, I am having a hard time justifying entering a domain auction for the same domain albeit with the superior extension at over 1,300 times the price I paid for mine.

I will check back in a few months to see what price marketingconsultants.com was auctioned for as well as to learn what steps its new owners have taken to generate a return on their domain investment. ]

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Posted in Domain, Domainer, Domains, Google, Internet Marketing, Marketing | 1 Comment »

Google Local Business Results and the Last Mile: Search Takes Two Steps Closer to Bridging the Gap Between Web and Foot Traffic

January 28, 2008

Google’s First Step…

As reported and since confirmed by Greg Sterling, Google is now showing up to 10 local business results for geographic specific queries.

Google told Greg the reason it’s showing more links is because usability testing revealed that many people didn’t realize there was additional local content available beyond the three listings, despite the “more results . . .” prompt. Accordingly, Google said that with the 10 links it is hoping to signal people that there is much more local content a click away.

Google also said that it wouldn’t always show 10 results; it might still show three sometimes or one if the query is very specific.

As Mike Blumenthal has noted, it has been nearly a year since Google last upgraded their Local OneBox. At the time it led to a significant increase in Google Maps usage.

It will be interesting to see if and how Google’s worldwide roll out of their new Local OneBox increases Google Maps usage like it did after implementing their last Local Business OneBox changes.

In my previous post about Google’s local business results being expanded, I wrote about how the listings appeared locally and some of the factors I thought contributed to the listings.

Sterling reported the ten results are based on a range of factors, including the “query, proximity, availability of ratings/reviews and their quality and several other variables.”

Since Google doesn’t publish exactly what factors influence their list, all we can do is study what they publish and draw our own conclusions as to which variables may matter the most.

The following are examples of searches I have ran, Google’s Local OneBox business results and my analysis of what variables I think generated the list.

Google Local Business Results: Internet Marketing Oklahoma City –

Google Local Internet Marketing Oklahoma City

This query for a service (internet marketing) followed by the location (Oklahoma City) produced a “top of page” 10 listings OneBox result. I also found some Google Adwords ads displaying the recently discovered business address on the fourth line of the Adwords ad.

Google Local Business Results: Oklahoma City Internet Marketing –

Google Local Oklahoma City Internet Marketing

Searching for the same terms in a different order; placing the location first (Oklahoma City) and the service (internet marketing) last, produced a OneBox result with only three business listings. Some local Adwords advertisements still appeared with their specific address on the fourth line, which as mentioned previously only displayed a city or state.

Google Local Business Results: Business Marketing Oklahoma City –

Google Local Business Marketing Oklahoma City

A slightly different search for a similar business category yields a new clue to at least one of the factors Google uses to generate its OneBox 10 local business listings.

A search for the service (business marketing) and the location (Oklahoma City) produces a different yet seemingly innocuous list of businesses. However, in this particular query and in addition to the expected listing for my business “Advanced Marketing Consultants” appearing, “Cohn, Tim” also appears as one of the results.

Cohn, Tim is one of my business phone listings in my local Bell telephone directory. The phone company apparently can’t sort and digitally publish business listings with an individual’s name like they can an individual’s residential phone data.

A search in YellowPages.com produces “Cohn, Tim” for my business phone number –

YellowPages.com

Yet, a search in Google for “Tim Cohn Oklahoma” produces both of my residential phone numbers and listings in correct order: Tim (first name) and then Cohn (last name) –

Tim Cohn Oklahoma

I haven’t investigated whether the phone company automatically reverses residential phone records before they are published to the web or whether Google reverses the data before they publish it.

Regardless, it looks like the business listing for “Tim Cohn” will remain forever memorialized in the vast telephone company data and its Internet counterpart as the business listing: “Cohn, Tim”.

Having accepted the fact that the telephone company seemed incapable of changing their listing results years ago, I decided to turn this particular piece of flawed data into my “control”.

When Cohn, Tim appears in print – whether online or off – its source is always local phone company data.

Thus at least a portion of this particular Google local OneBox list origins lies in business telephone directory data.

To its credit, Google has become proactive in allowing users to modify incorrect Google data as Barry Schwartz recently reported.

And unlike my attempts to get the phone company to correct how my business phone listing appears both in print and online, I am sure Google will let me append my business listing in their Google Local Business Center, but that will have to be the subject of another post.

Google Local Business Results: Chevy Oklahoma City –

Google Local Chevy Oklahoma City

Unlike with an old fashioned yellow pages search for listings with “Chevy Oklahoma City” keywords whether in the yellow pages or through directory assistance, Google can return results most likely relevant and matched to the searchers or callers intent.

Whereas, a yellow pages search or directory assistance call would take a couple of “passes” to yield the similarly accurate and desired result – businesses listings most likely to be known as “Chevy Oklahoma City”.

Brilliant!

If the telephone company can’t arrange and organize my single business listing correctly in their digital directories, how will they ever be able to compete with Google’s ability to anticipate and even provide multiple possible answers to each searchers question?

Google Local Business Results: Double Glazers Chelsea London (England) –

Google Local London

Google’s local business results aren’t just appearing in the US. A search for “double glazers” in the Chelsea section of London produces a list of double glazers midway down the search engine results page. I am not sure why some OneBox results appear at the top of the page and why others appear in the middle of the page but I believe it too must be based on Google’s understanding of the searchers intent.

Google Local Business Results: Travel Agents Sydney (Australia) –

Google Local Sydney

This search in Sydney, Australia for travel agents also produces a OneBox result. Here the OneBox appears again at the top of the page above the organic results.

In my next post, I will show how Google’s local business results have taken a second step closer to bridging the gap between paid web search traffic and foot traffic…


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Posted in Advanced Marketing Consultants, Advertiser, Advertising, Adwords Ad, Business Marketing, Business Telephone Listing, Foot Traffic, Google, Google Adwords, Google Maps, Google OneBox, Internet Marketing, Local Business, Marketing Consultant, Marketing Consultants, Marketing Consulting, Oklahoma City, Search Traffic, Tim Cohn, Top 10, Web Traffic, Yellow Pages, YellowPages.com | Leave a Comment »

Profitable Internet Marketing?

June 26, 2007

I am amazed at some of the comments and inquiries my sites receive.

Lately I have been receiving a slew of email spam for top placement in Google.

However, the following was entered by hand at marketingprinciples.com.

The irony is that the salesman who’s name and company I have changed to protect the guilty, found my site via a search engine!

Submitted on Tuesday 6/26/2007 8:36:31 AM

(Profitable Internet Marketing)

“Joe Blow” sends the following:

Dear Website Owner, If I could get you five times the RELEVANT traffic at a substantially reduced cost would you be interested?

“Acme Optimizers” can place your website on top of the Natural Listings on Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Our Search Engine Optimization team delivers more top rankings than anyone else and we can prove it. We do not use “link farms” or “black hat” methods that Google and the other search engines frown upon and can use to de-list or ban your site.

The techniques are proprietary, involving some valuable closely held trade secrets. Our prices are less than half of what other companies charge.

I would be happy to send you a proposal using the top search phrases for your area of expertise. Please contact me at your convenience so I can start saving you some money.

Please do not hesitate to email or call me if you would like further information.

Sincerely,
“Joe Blow”
Executive Vice President
“Acme Optimizers”
123 Main Street
Anytown, USA 98765
Toll Free: 1-800-Optimizers

joeblow@gmail.com

Profitable Internet Marketing

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Posted in Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization | 1 Comment »

Google Advertising Seminars

May 26, 2007

I decided to apply for the Google Adwords Seminar leader position again.

Their latest application was slightly different from the first one in December of 2005. After looking over my original application, I am surprised my application was even given serious consideration.

Two Google Adwords Seminar Leaders were chosen in early 2006. I believe they have since presented Google Adwords seminars to over 1,000 attendees.

Spending the last year and a half preparing for and writing my book: For Sale By Google – How To Make Money on the Internet Selling Your Products Using Google Adwords and Search Engine Marketing Strategies has given me an entirely different perspective on the paid search business and search in general.

I believe my answers below do in fact reflect that change in perspective.

Section 1:
Background Info
All fields are required.

First Name: Tim
Last Name: Cohn

Email address: timcohn at gmail.com

Website: Search Marketing Communications

Phone number: 405-842-0163

Current Address:
(Street address) 6403 NW Grand Blvd., Suite 208
(City) Nichols Hills
(State / Province) OK
(Zip Code/Postal Code) 73116

1) How long have you been an AdWords advertiser?

Since March of 2002.

2) Do you have experience with other advertising channels? If so, please explain.

Yes, since 1989 I have been a direct marketing consultant.

I have developed marketing campaigns through nearly every form of advertising media available to the small and medium size business.

I have created and ran advertising campaigns in radio, television, magazines, newspapers, yellow pages and direct mail. No other recognized form of media compares to Google paid search. Word of mouth marketing out performs paid search but the process has yet become measurable and thus manageable.

Since the advent of Adwords, I have focused exclusively on producing results for myself and clients through reaching the search audience through paid search.

I have personally managed the production of 100 million impressions and one million clicks.

3) Do you have teaching or training experience? If so, please explain.

I spoke several years ago about the power of Google Adwords to business audiences in Atlanta, GA and Scottsdale, AZ. I have since accepted a contract to write a book about my Google Adwords experience for John Wiley and Sons. The book, For Sale By Google – How to Make Money Selling Your Products on the Internet Using Google Adwords and Search Engine Marketing Strategies is nearing completion.

As you may gather from the title, the book targets the small to medium size business market with an emphasis on how they can reach their audience more cost efficiently with Google Adwords as compared to their other media options while generating leads and sales in the process.

I believe my direct marketing background which is rooted firmly in advertising accountability and return on investment helps me give proper perspective to the small business owner who needs guidance when it comes to choosing where best to place their advertising dollars.

4) Do you or any of your family members work in the internet search and advertising industry, or for any company that you might reasonably consider to be a direct competitor to Google? If so, please explain.

No.

5) Resume: please paste your resume or a URL linking to your resume into the box below.

As a self-employed marketing consultant, I don’t have a resume per se. However, I do however keep a Curriculum Vitae of the projects and deals I am working on.

Section 2: Short Answers
1) Why do you want to be an AdWords Seminar Leader? (1-2 paragraphs)

A. If I am not constantly teaching others all that I have learned and I continue to learn about Google Adwords, I will be doing both them and my self a disservice.

B. I believe in the power Google Adwords has to transform the small business and the small business owner’s life! I made a commitment to understanding and mastering Adwords to the best of ability long before it became a requisite for being competitive in the market.

2) What is the most challenging situation you have faced when managing AdWords accounts? (1-2 paragraphs)

Being ignorant of any Adwords feature.

3) If you could change one thing about AdWords, what would it be? (1 paragraph)

Add Zip Code Targeting.

4) What is your favorite AdWords tool or report? Why? (1 paragraph)

The Keyword Tool.

Because it rationalizes demand into language.

Section 3: Video Presentation
Please submit one video presentation containing the following 2 components:

a) Introduction (max 1 min.) – Tell us who you are, when you first started using AdWords, and why you want to be an AdWords Seminar Leader.

b) Lesson (max 7 min.) – Choose one of the following two topics and create a lesson as if it were a partial session of an AdWords Seminar. You may use visual aids, but please do not repeat or reuse any materials from the AdWords Learning Center.

* OPTION 1: Your audience is a group of local small business owners with small advertising budgets. They are concerned about competing with large, national advertisers who are also advertising on AdWords. Explain to them how AdWords pricing works, and which AdWords features can help them advertise effectively in this competitive environment.

* OPTION 2: Your audience is a group of new AdWords advertisers. During the Q&A session of the seminar, one advertiser asks: “I’ve been advertising on AdWords for a few weeks. I’ve spent a few hundred bucks, but I’m frustrated because I can’t get my ad to show up on the first page of search results. I’m always in 7th or 8th place on the second page. How do I get my ad to show up on the first page?” How would you address his question?

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Posted in Advertising, Advertising Model, Adwords, Adwords Seminar, Audience Profile, Buying Advertising, Direct Marketing, For Sale By Google, Google, Google Advertising Professional, Google Adwords, Google Video, Internet Advertising, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Book, Internet Marketing Strategy, John Wiley and Sons, Keyword, Marketing Book, Qualified Individual, Return on Investment, Search Audience, Search Marketing Communications, Small Business Marketing, Target Audience, Targeted Advertising, Television Advertising, Word of Mouth Marketing, Writing A Book, YouTube, Zip Code | 2 Comments »

Internet Marketing Book by A Guy and His Laptop

September 24, 2006

129 days until the release of my internet marketing book – For Sale By Google.

In late 1999, I was fortunate to recognize the impact internet marketing would ultimately have on the marketing and advertising industries. I decided then to move my firm Advanced Marketing Consultants marketing consulting practice completely online.

I was approached in November of 2005 by John Wiley and Sons to write a book about my online marketing experiences at www.marketingprinciples.com.

Why me? I think Wiley contacted me because my internet marketing strategy has consistently attracted 500,000 unique visitors from around the world to my site annually for each of the last three years. I have generated as many as 4,400 online transactions monthly for myself and clients.

All the while still just a guy and his laptop. Well, some servers too…

Writing a book has proven to be much more difficult than I expected.

However, at this time I wouldn’t trade the opportunity and experience for any other.

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Posted in A Guy And His Laptop, Advanced Marketing Consultants, Advertising, For Sale By Google, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Book, Internet Marketing Strategy, Marketing, Marketing Book, Marketing Consulting, Marketing Experience, Online Marketing, Online Marketing Top Tips, Unique Visitors, Writing A Book, www.marketingprinciples.com | Leave a Comment »