In a previous post, I explained the risks of phishing.  In the 2009 Annual Study Australian cost of data breach report, they state that the average cost per compromised record is $123. Can you imagine that? If you have 10,000 records in your database, that’s a whopping $1,230,000. Which is why the common statement holds true… “80% of businesses that suffer a catastrophic data breach incident close their doors within 18 months.

Pretty sobering stuff isn’t it?

What can you do to ensure you and you’re data are safe? Be diligent about LIMITING access to data and ensuring you have the best and latest technology possible.

I don’t want to get into the details today, just thought I would share the statistic for you – it sure makes more “real” doesn’t it?

“Phishing” (also known as “carding” or “spoofing”) refers to email that attempts to fraudulently acquire personal information from you, such as your account password or credit card information. On the surface, the email may appear to be from a legitimate company or individual, but it’s not. I came across this particular explanation of phishing that I thought was helpful and valuable enough to share with you.

There are so many people I know who don’t take necessary precautions to protect themselves – for example they don’t shred their personal documents. They just throw them in the trash… this is ESPECIALLY dangerous with apartment buildings. Let’s face it – if YOU were trying to steal people’s identities would you go through the trash to steal ONE person’s or 100, 200 or even 300 all in one go? Sure the pile would be BIGGER with 100, 200, 300, but so will be the payoff!

I am not a paranoid person, just cautious – on the Internet it’s just so much easier for people continents away to be malicious.

Facebook - Reputation Destruction Case Study

This was recently posted on Facebook by someone who thinks Facebook is a great place to sell his product…. How many clients do you think this post got him? Interesting isn’t it?

We are in a new era where our PRIVATE LIVES are melding into our PROFESSIONAL lives… Enough said.

Trying to keep up with Google’s policy changes is getting harder and harder. Ray Keefe of Successful Endeavours sent me this update that I thought you should be aware of – it concerns trademark use in Google Ads. We address these issues in detail with our clients, which is beyond the scope of this blog post, but I thought it timely and important for you to know about it. Information is power as they say. Of course what you do with that power is another story! When you come across news like this, please forward it to me by posting a comment on the blog. I make a point of making sure that ALL contributors are rewarded with a backlink, often more than one!

I’ve been using Skype more and more, but as I do, some people just don’t get it. New technology means NEW ways of working. Not OLD wine in new bottles as one of my Ph.D. professors used to keep saying when academic research was just a re-hash of what we already knew…

Skype is powerful technology – but it can also KILL your productivity if you let it. BECAUSE it has IM chat capabilities, some people think they can just send me chat messages and EXPECT A RESPONSE….

Y’see that’s the same as taking all your phone or mobile calls directly – you end up being a receptionist.

Time value… I’ve discussed this so many times before, but it bears repeating…

What do you value your time at?

At the upcoming Exponential Extravaganza event, I’m going to go into this into more detail, but essentially it’s summarised that if you want to make $100,000/year, every hour you need to create $100 of value per hour. If you want to make $250,000/year, you need to create $250 of value per hour…

So how can you do that if you answer IM or TXT messages in real time?

Something to think about… Something someone with an Exponential Mindset™ considers VERY seriously…

Ray Keefe of Successful Endeavours came across new data that shows Google searches are getting longer and more specific. Attached are a few pointers on how you can adapt.

The data reveals that the percentage of clicks based on search term length is changing. Clicks made through searches over eight words grew by 8.3%, with searches over seven words growing by 5.3%.

In contrast, clicks made through searches using one word fell by 1.1%, with clicks made by searches over two words falling by 1.5%. Searches using three words remained flat.

The data isn’t surprising as the growth of the Internet as a business tool results in more users searching for more specific data, such as brands and product names.

Google reports that 20% of searches are absolutely brand new, meaning they have never been typed into the search engine before. Users are having to think about being more specific to get through jargon and get to what they really want.

This is important for you, as you must think about what keywords you can use in order to show up in as many searches as possible when your target market is looking to acquire your product or service.

One of the biggest trends ignored by small businesses is search-by-location. You must start to use keywords relating to your  location, as users are more and more searching for specific brands and products by suburb.

Not enough small businesses think about ranking for their suburb name, which is an extremely easy thing to rank for and people will use it in very specific searches. This is necessary even though Google is getting better with that sort of thing, with both maps as well as business listings.

At eight words, which is pretty high, think about the things people would be searching for and the combinations they would prefer…

That means you must consider what you think users will be searching for and that means not just what you think should be an appropriate keyword.

For example, Qantas probably use the keywords cheap flights, but they aren’t targeting cheap air fares. Similarly, you might want to use the words “cheap accommodation” but also consider most people won’t type that into Google, chances are they’ll type in “cheap hotels” or “cheap motel”.

As I’ve explained in previous blog posts, you must not get obsessed with adding as many keywords as possible, but instead should add the right types of keywords.

Google Adword strategies are beyond the scope of this blog post, I just wanted to highlight that BECAUSE searches are getting longer, you need to keep that in mind…

You can thank Ray Keefe of Successful Endeavours for the initial source of information – by going to his site and having a look around – that’ll help his SEO!

I previously blogged about this, I called it Stop Feeding The Piranhas… It’s one of my Internet pet peeves. Always use the Bcc when SENDING or FORWARDING to a group of people to protect the email identity and integrity of others. When someone does it to me too often. I take them off my list and literally won’t send them anything. This is a great image to insert whenever you’re forwarding on fun stuff that we all love to get…

Stop Feeding The Piranhas!

Small Sounds, Big Deals: How Do Number Sounds Influence Consumers? This article was so interesting I just had to share it with you. Instead of interpreting it for you, go to the original article by clicking the hyperlink – it’s brief and exceptionally well written! You’re welcome. It’s who I am and what I do… Find stuff that you otherwise wouldn’t find yourself!

I have to admit that the whole concept of things being free gets out of hand sometimes… I came across this cartoon when I was in San Francisco recently… It sure hits home when you think of all the stuff people download from the Internet and never read or watch. They just automatically download it because it’s free…

I teach my clients to value their time and concepts called “Concentration Of Focus” and the “1 Touch Rule” to make the effective and efficient with their time and resources so they can get 3 times more done in half the time…

Free!

Most companies automatically choose their company name as their domain name. While that’s a wise move, it’s often a BIG mistake to stop there. In fact you could be losing as much as 75% of your leads because of it – keep reading if you want to avoid making this Internet Marketing Mistake!

Testing multiple domain names and picking the one that performs best (for example, in Google AdWords ads) is a very profitable strategy. Read More »»

This blog’s main focus is Internet Mastery - anything that has to do with the Internet for business purposes. Today’s YouTube video is another example of the strides we’re making with Virtuality – doing things that were once impossible. Watch the video and I’ll get to why this is important for you and your business.

The reason this is important to you and your business is… Read More »»

Many new clients we deal with realise that a lot of what we do is NOT DOCUMENTED anywhere – they have to do it because they have to TRUST this stuff works. THEN once they do it, they need to TEST and track using what I call Management By Metrics. That being said, it takes an open mind and a low uncertainty avoidance predisposition to even CONSIDER it. Its been well documented in the Entrepreneurial literature that success is directly proportional to the level of Uncertainty you are able to embrace.

Think about that.

This is especially true BECAUSE…

Read More »»

This one is a quick blog post – just a reminder when sending e-mail to NEVER EVER c.c. a long list – always b.c.c. this feeds the spam piranhas that are constantly searching for e-mails. I know, it’s just 1%, but it makes a difference to your reputation. There is nothing worse than all your friends getting on a spammers list ‘immediately’ after getting a long c.c. list from you. TRUST ME – this happened to a friend of mine who ALMOST GOT FIRED because of it.

At a recent Professional Mastery event called Unleash The Speaker Within, we discussed and explained the power of using metaphors when presenting in public. On the Internet, it’s equally if not more important BECAUSE the exchange you have with suspects, prospects and clients is usually TEXTUAL. The following metaphor mistake is important to avoid.

Copywriting Mistake To Avoid: Don’t mention the metaphor

Don’t mention a metaphor when you use one – that’s a copywriting sin. That’s like telling a punchline BEFORE the joke, it RUINS it. Instead start with and continue using the metaphor that YOU know is the thread of your message or your story to get the message across.

That’s it for today – sometimes the simplest, most straight forward distinction is the most powerful – don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.

If you want to learn how to write copy that sells <— Click here to find out more about our Killer Kopywriting, Konversation and Keyword Workshops.

Todays’ blog post is another copywriting mistake you want to avoid – making these headlines TOO complicated – stick to the BASICS – the headline is all about getting the reader to start reading the copy. For some reason, many people think they have to be long – they don’t – they have to be to the POINT.

The POINT is to create enough intrigue and interest for the reader  to want to keep reading – THAT’S IT, THAT’S ALL.

In our Killer Kopywriting Workshops, we focus on Kopywriting, Keywords and Konversations. We use actual case studies, examples and samples as well as create new copy LIVE and INTERACTIVELY in what I call streams of consciousness that can create magical outcomes – like the testimonial that just ‘happened’ instantaneously (click on the hyperlink to view the 2 minute video). Contact us to find out when the next workshop is scheduled – or purchase the Killer Kopywriting System online.

I need to say this – Social Networking sites are a mirror of who you are to the entire world. I know you think it’s private, but it’s not. I don’t have time to get into the details, other than to say that the image you project on these sites can be killing your career, business and sales. I just can’t believe the stuff people post on there. Without naming names, there are a handful of people that I have seen post stuff that has totally ‘turned me off’ and in one case lose total respect for that person. I thought she was a professional only to have her reveal herself as an infantile, insecure and self-absorbed person that I would never want to be associated with.

I realise that this is an extreme case, but others are destroying what little ‘persona’ and brand they have by offending or otherwise diluting any social equity they might have built up – then they wonder why they are unemployed or otherwise struggling in business or their careers…

That’s all I really have to say about it in a public forum like this – I just needed to get that off my chest – I’ve just seen too many examples in the past 2-3 weeks to stay silent.

This is one of those 1 Percent Improvement Doctrine suggestions that really adds up in the long term – it’s simple. Whenever you send an e-mail, make sure you send it with a subject line. This will make retrieval later on a lot faster and easier. Of course using KEYWORDS in the subject line that you can search for is even better – what I mean by KEYWORD is NOT SEO KEYWORDS, but the words you’ll use to search. For example I have an event called Internet Technical Mastery with the acronym ITM, so I use it in the subject line so that I can quickly find messages relating to it.

Of course here, I am referring to ‘internal’ e-mails – there are multiple strategies for mass e-mail broadcasts, but that’s a discussion for another day. I teach those strategies in my Killer Kopywriting Workshop.

How country specific domain names effect SEO and Google AdWords performance

Many people ask me what implications “domain name class” have on SEO and Pay Per Click (e.g. Google AdWords) rankings and results.

“Domain name class” is another word for “Top Level Domain”, or the extension on the end of your domain name (e.g. .com, .net, .com.au).  In particular, you should know the implications that country code top level domains (or ccTLD for short) can have on your search engine marketing efforts.

ccTLDs and Organic Search Engine Optimisation

Should your “main” website URL be a .com.au if you’re primarily targeting Australia?

Read More »»

Today’s post is brief – in fact REALLY SHORT because according to recent research (source unknown), online video attention spans are shockingly short. Take a QUICK look at the chart below so that the next time you set out to create a YouTube video – don’t waste too much time creating your masterpiece… Most people won’t watch it to the end!

Online Video Attention Span Statistics

Just to hammer this point home:

Online Video Statistics:

• 1 in 10 people don’t even give you 10 seconds before they switch off.
• About half will give you a full minute before abandoning the video.
• 9 out of 10 are gone within the first 5 minutes.

That basically means UNLESS your audience is SPECIFICALLY TARGETED, your videos won’t be watched for very long, hence – LESS IS MORE!

If you’re stuggling to make a go of the Internet, you’re not alone. It’s been said that the top 5% make more than the other 95% COMBINED. That’s because they have what I call 20/20 foresight. I teach our Internet Mastery clients how to make the trend your friend, to catch the best wave and ride it INTO the beach like a pro.

That being said, it’s getting tougher out there in the virtual world of the Internet. Tactics that used to work no longer produce positive ROI.

Click through rates, opt-ins are dropping like a boat anchor to the bottom of the ocean.

I have been updating my clients about these trends and changes to make sure they don’t become victims of shifts that are taking place right now.

This blog has great information, but because it’s free, you’re not getting the most up-to-date tips and techniques that I reserve for my paying clients.

But you know that – I just need to remind you from time to time to consider stepping up and getting ‘with the program’.

We have programs from the Silver Membership at an affordable $97 per month to the top-end Platinum Program where I actually GUARANTEE RESULTS.

Imagine having 20/20 foresight and knowing what’s out there before anyone else…

I alerted my clients to Twitter in early 2007 – it took almost 2 years before the masses caught on…

Take a look at our programs and let’s start helping you win the Internet game – after all the 5% of us who do make money on the Internet get paid VERY WELL for our out-standing efforts!