Elegantly Simple Web Business.

Case Study: Great web traffic.

 
Jim Weber 28, formally with ESPN the Magazine, was one of the people who just completed the Mentor Program with me.  His website LostLettermen.com is a an interesting Case Study for how to get great web traffic.  

During the six-week program we implemented a marketing strategy that brought in so many visitors, he is now the #1 College Sports Alumni Website.  I wanted to share with you how he's done it. 

Google Analytics:
His Google Analytics shows he currently receives 98,050 Unique Visitors viewing some 392,433 pages on his site per month and growing.  What is most impressive to me is the wide diversity of where he is receiving that traffic from, as well as how he's been able to do it.

He received organic traffic(free) from more than 2,580 different, highly targeted keywords from Google, Yahoo, Bing etc.  Part of the reason why the search engines love him so much is because he writes compelling articles every month and submits them to some of the big sports websites like Sports Illustrated, Rivals and ESPN.

For example, last month he wrote an article titled Gatorade Players of the Year and How They Turned Out. He submitted it to the big sites by emailing them and Sports Illustrated actually picked it up and linked to it.  He received more then 61,907 Views on this page alone last month.

This is at the heart of Web Marketing.  Gain the trust and links from the big sites and not only do you get the traffic from them, but the search engines love you because they now trust you.

How He Makes Money:
He's now making money with it by offering advertising on his site.  He just signed a deal for $2CPM (meaning they pay him $2.00 for each 1,000 Ads he displays) through a bulk Ad provider.  But he can make $10CPM if he sells his own.  He's just begun to do this using his own Media Kit.

So the math looks like this:  At 392,433 Page Views a month and 2 Ads per page, equals 784,866 Ad displays at $2 per 1,000 Ads views, equals $1,569/mo.  Once he's selling his own advertising at $10CPM, that is $7,848/mo and if he puts 4 Ads per page, that is $15,697/mo.

Focusing on high-quality articles is much better than quantity.  Maybe sports writing isn't your thing, but I'm sure something else is.  When I do this for my own site, I think about the most compelling article I could write and whom I could submit it to, to be picked up.

As a side note, Jim is looking for one or two people to open additional sports sites, i.e Hocky, Golf etc. either here in the U.S. or abroad.  You would own the site completely and he would provide all the knowledge he's learned to make the current site so successful. He is selling the sites for $5-$10,000.  Contact Jim here. (Just for clarity, I have no stake in this business.)

Notes:  LostLettermen.com was started in March 2009 and built on a customized WordPress template.  The database runs the site and is written in standard PHP coding.

Elegant Web Business.

 
BestWebsite® Elegance Award > ClaraCollins.com

From time to time I'll feature websites so elegantly designed they might make you sit back to ponder the possibilities of what can be done with a web business.

http://www.ClaraCollins.com/ is just such a website.  The ethereal music and pure beauty of how the site works are brilliant.  Click on any of the books and wait for the pages to load, then hover your mouse over the right arrow and watch the pages flip-by creating a moving picture book of photographs.

It's amazing, ..compelling, ..and simple.

(notes:  As you flip through the pages on the bottom left book, it actually undresses the model completely.  I'm not sure we could do this in America just yet, but in France it's no big deal.)

Becoming a Linchpin.

Seth Godin has an excellent new book titled Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?  I believe it will be life-changing for many people, it certainly has been for me.  It's an impassioned manifesto about how to become indispensable.  If you are a Linchpin you can't possibly be overlooked, underpaid, dismissed or downsized.

In my opinion, it's his most personal book to date.  He cracks a window into how he’s achieved 11 best-selling books in 11 years, how he has become the world's most influential business blogger and how he built one of the Internet’s top-100 websites(Squidoo.com)  A fantastic read, I wholeheartedly recommend!

I wanted to briefly mention someone who so personifies what a Linchpin is; his story is well worth telling.  He is a top engineer at the Boeing Company, named Ted.  His motto has always been to go looking for a new project every Monday morning. 

He goes after the toughest, nastiest, problems the company has.  He knows if he can work on, and solve those problems, he becomes a Linchpin.  No company can dismiss or underpay the key to their most difficult problems.

He's the only person that can sit in a room filled with Pentagon Air-Force generals and call them out on their BS and get away with it.  His reputation is that he addresses the facts and artfully winds around the ego problems that thwart many projects.  When billion-dollar programs are in shambles, it is he they call upon because they know he can get it back-on-track to ship.

He might be the only person in the world, who has climbed aboard to work on both the Space Shuttle and Air Force One.  When NASA had their accident in 2003, he was one of the people that got it back in flight.  So much a key in fact that he made the front-page of the largest newspaper in Kansas (Wichita Eagle) as being the aging materials shuttle scientist that helped NASA get back in the air.  (When was the last time you saw an engineer on the front-page of anything.)

The sheer number of programs he is currently involved in are so big and complex that one of the top level Boeing managers from outside Wichita couldn't believe one person could be the linchpin for so many high-profile programs at once.  So on a trip into Wichita he stopped by Ted's office to see for himself, ..and he left an astounded believer.

Ted says this about how he does, what he does.  “I keep six honest serving men, they taught me all I know.  Their names are What & Why and When and How and Where and Who” (He's quoting the famous Rudyard Kipling poem.)  Ted asks more questions than anyone - a lot more!  Some projects totaling into the thousands. 

He knows that if he asks enough questions, he can identify the true goal of the project and properly assemble a plan to achieve it.  By taking this extra time at the beginning, it ensures the destination is correct.  In the Linchpin book, Seth refers to this as “thrashing-early.”

I am always inspired and in awe of what he does.  I strive to clear the bar he has set; although I rarely can even hit my head on it.  It also turns out that I'm lucky enough to call Ted Bates, ..my Dad.

Notes:  If I listed all the things he does the story starts to become unbelievable, but I did want to mention one more thing.  My Dad also writes an 11-plus page Newsletter every week about our family’s current events and history.  He's been at it over 6 years now totaling some 3,500 pages already and has never missed a week.  email: ted.bates (at) cox.net

The BestWebsite Mentor Program.

 

Have you ever wanted a personal mentor to help guide you to Internet business success?  That's exactly what the BestWebsite® Mentor Program is all about!

What:  A personalized mentor program with renowned Web entrepreneur Nelson Bates to give you specific plan on how-to build your own remarkably successful Web business.

When:  Starts March 1st, 2010 and lasts two weeks.

Where:  We'll meet online here BestWebsite.ning.com; it also includes 10 half-hour phone consultations, one-on-one with me.  One call at the beginning of each week and 8 more to have anytime you'd like.

Why:  The journey to building a successful Web business is incredibly difficult.  The program is designed to illuminate the path to $10,000/mo and beyond by giving you personalized coaching as it pertains to your situation.

Who:  It's for anyone looking to build or expand a Web business.  No matter if you have no ideas and no website or lots of ideas and a partially built website; no matter if you're currently losing money online or making more than $100k a year.

Limited to one person or business group, you and I will be meeting online and over the phone where we'll be discussing how-to build your own truly successful Web business.

The true power of the Program comes from me being able to ask the right questions to truly understand what you'd like to accomplish, and then do the very specific research to layout a complete plan of how we can get there.

Here is what's included...

• Ten half-hour phone conversations with me personally to go over any aspect of your Web business you'd like.

• A user account on BestWebsite.ning.com network where you'll have your own private-page that tracks the questions, advice and discussion about your Web business and it's progress through program.

We'll cover all topics related to your web business including;  domain names, web hosting, web design, graphic design, Search Engine Optimization, press releases, blogs, twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, trademarks and anything else you bring up.

A few of the questions we'll answer are.  What type of Web business you can start that has the best chance of consistently making the most money?  What specific tools should you use to build your website? And how do you license the rights to your website around the world and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit?

The Mentor Program is designed to inspire you, teach you and launch you on your way to building your own remarkably successful Web company.

There will also be two Guest Mentors stopping by to share their wisdom and be available for questions.  First up is Sterling Bates, a veteran of Walt Disney World®Web Marketing. 

The second Guest Mentor will be Melissa Rich, Senior Web Appraiser at BuySellWebsite®  She has appraised hundreds of successful Web businesses over the last eight years and will share her knowledge of exactly what it takes to make big money online.

Will this program make building a Web business easy? 
Unfortunately no.  Building a consistently profitable Web business is incredibly difficult.  I can show you the way, but it will still be tough. 

The reward is, if you can do it, you'll be in complete control of your life.

Click here for

the rest of the juicy details, including the-big-bonus.

Best Website hits #1 on Kindle.

   It took me a year-and-a-half, but the Best Website book has now hit #1 on Amazon Kindle Best-Seller list for Web Marketing. 

It is much easier to get a top ranking on the Kindle list, but none-the-less it is still legitimately stacked against hundreds of other books competing in that category and I didn't do anything to artificially inflate the ranking.

Although I'm ecstatic that it hit number one, I'm much happier it turned out to be a good book.  I really thought I'd hate the book as soon as it was published because it would quickly become outdated.  But reading it again now, I'm surprised at the depth and relevance of the book.  I'm not sure there is anything I'd change about it, only add a few chapters.

Even though I self-published with-out wide distribution for either the printed or Kindle editions, it hasn't mattered because of Online stores like Amazon and devices like the Kindle.  You don't even need a Kindle to buy the book, just an iPhone with the Kindle App installed on it and you can be reading a Kindle book in five minutes.  The publishing industry has changed dramatically in a short amount of time.

I apologize, I'm sitting here patting myself on the back, ..I'll stop that now.  A sincere thank you, to you, who put me here!

Somehow motivating.

There is a great article in this month's FastCompany about Ashton Kutcher and how he is redefining social media marketing.  The part I find somehow motivating is buried near the end that talks about how much he and his company have failed. Here is a brief excerpt..

It's most recent Kutcher vehicle, Spread, earned a pathetic $250,000 in the United States, although Kutcher says, "We made $10 million overseas, so we recouped." The Beautiful Life TV series was canceled after just two episodes, and Personal Effects, a teary drama starring Kutcher and Michelle Pfeiffer, got little U.S. distribution. For 2010, Kutcher has two major features coming out, and Katalyst is producing what the partners call an "experimental film" that could easily flop. "We're taking a big risk, but we're all about learning,"

I guess it's just nice to hear people who have had a lot of success don't always hit home runs.  What I admire about him, is that he's not afraid to try stuff that might not work ..at all.

Action'ers make all the money.

Strategizer vs. Actioner

One of the most important factors in business is this.  The people who make the most money, run the most successful websites, write the best books and blogs, are the Action'ers.

Action'ers are the people who start a business with only limited knowledge of the market.  They know that by the time they have an idea they believe can work, it's probably time to start acting on building it now.

They know that additional knowledge will probably hurt them; they know reading another book, going to another seminar or having another strategy session to look at the "data" will only serve to confuse them.

Action'ers know that it's much more important to get their product/service/website launched now and start testing different marketing ideas and making mistakes, ..but learning from them quickly. 

They know that the Strategizers will be busy planning and theorizing about the marketplace, while the Actioner is learning truths about the market and how to win it.

I'm not advocating jumping in before you're ready or haphazardly.  Only to recognize that by the time you have an idea you believe can really work, it's probably time to start being an Actioner!

Go for the money first, passion second.

I'm sure you've heard to choose something you're passionate about as a business and your passion for it will eventually break down all barriers on your way to success.

Unfortunately, too often that isn't the case.

I suggest a small change to the approach... I agree to chose something you're passionate about. But find where the money is to be made when you're starting out; because if you don't solve the money issue soon(meaning the business is reasonably profitable), you'll have to go back to doing whatever you were doing before that you didn't like.

Once the money issue is solved, slowly but surely morph it into what you're most passionate about.

That's how you get to do what you love AND make BiG money doing it.

This sums up every website, I've ever built..;-)

Every web business I've built has been much harder to make successful than I anticipated.  I guess that's not surprising, but every time I start out, I think I have this killer idea and there's NO way it's not going to be a huge success right off the bat...  it never is.

What I'm saying is; if you believe in what you're doing and it's not looking good right now, keep working, keep trying to make it a little better every week.  It's very normal for it to look like a complete disaster most of the way through the start-up phase.

note:  You're welcome to use the cartoon anywhere you'd like.

How much I earn for each book sold.

A few notes about my book..

I self-published with BookSurge which is a publishing house owned by Amazon.  I liked them because of their association with Amazon as well as the highest payout of anyone I considered (35% royalty).  This means I receive $5.25 from my publisher and another .50¢ from my Amazon Associate referral fee for a total of $5.75 per copy sold.

I was talking with a Doctor that published his book through a traditional publisher and makes .37¢ a copy, with a $2,000 advance paid to him. 

Although I had to pay up-front for my deal, approximately $1,700 and an additional $500 for professional editing, I’ve come out way ahead already.

If you’re a new author and believe you’ll be able to break into the New York publishing world, the answer is.. it will be almost completely impossible.  I don’t say this to discourage you; there are just too many books out there and far fewer publishing deals being offered.

It took me two years to get an offer of $20,000 advance and $1.00 a book royalty and I actually said no to them and decided to self-publish and retain all my rights, both domestic and international and then sell the international rights myself for allot more than their offer.

It is also nice having complete control over the title and content of the book as well as the release date and price of the book.

I definitely recommend BookSurge to self-publish, their entire team was very professional and I felt well taken care of.  They have separate people assigned to the book to design the front-cover, layout and help with promotions.

Note:  Just for clarity, I don’t receive any compensation from anything I recommend.