You’ve heard of the “Google slap” where accounts are banned with no warning, sometimes for life.  Well YouTube and even Twitter have followed suit far more aggressively recently.  At least Twitter I’ve heard will work with you to rectify the issue and correct your alleged transgression. The issue with both Google and YouTube is that there is typically no forewarning prior to the punitive action taken.  For many, the only communication informing them that they may have accidently broken a rule is when their account is suddenly shut down.

I find this hard to swallow because there are little published rules detailing what they will or will not allow.  You then are forced to learn them when you taste the back of their hand!  This is important as many online businesses use You Tube as a great advertising and traffic getting tool while even more use You Tube to host their video content that they use on their blogs and sales pages.

I felt it would be very valuable if someone did the research to find out what exactly the “rules of engagement” are for YouTube which would then allow everyone to avoid unknowingly leaving their business vulnerable and thus costing you money. The information below is the result of interviewing many fellow entrepreneurs in my network to learn the mistakes they made which resulted in their accounts being immediately shutdown. I also included information found from my staff’s investigative research. The combination of both sets of information will allow you to “crack the code” sort-to-speak regarding what makes You Tube cranky and leave your account and thus your business vulnerable  Here you go:

1. You should only have one email address associated with your account
2. You should never post duplicate content
3. You should always make your videos relevant to its title & key words
4. You should never purchase views
5. You should never ever use software to add friends, comments or ratings automatically
6. You should NOT keyword load your descriptions with non relevant search terms to get traffic
7. Never (and I mean never) set up multiple accounts using the same IP address. You might get away with it for a while but you can only cheat the YouTube “Reaper” for so long. I don’t know exactly why this seems to be a stipulation for them but their enforcement of this rule has been repeatedly substantiated.
8. Avoid using your videos to aggressively market your business opportunity, product or service.  The key word here is aggressively. As I always say, build relationships.  If you’re sending your videos to other You Tube subscribers and spamming them, then you quickly become background noise to be ignored (or reported). This is proven true for all social media marketing for that matter.
9. With YouTube’s new insight feature, they are tracking the attention people are giving to each video.  If people are watching your entire video, YouTube can see this and then easily assume that your title is extremely relevant to the information on the video.   
10. The Google search ranking rules of providing good, accurate content that generate public interest are exactly the same rules that You Tube is using as well so bear that in mind when chosing the title, content and keywords for your video.

I would also strongly advise you to NOT use YouTube as your only video hosting source.  If you are using video marketing (and you should since it is very affective) then this is very important. I’ve talked to numerous online business owners who lost all their video content because they used YouTube as their sole video hosting provider.  Nothing is worse than waking up one morning to realize over a hundred of your videos are on “lock down” and thus, not playing on any of your sales pages or blogs.

 Trafficgeyser has a great audio & video hosting service that I’ve used for years.  I’ve tried several but the added value with Traffic Geyser is that they will also affectively distribute you video getting it ranked on Google search engines for your keywords quickly.  I have heard nothing but great reviews from advanced marketers that use this service as well.  iTunes is another option for such informal videos as pod-casts.  With more people on their mobile devices than on PC’s this is not a bad route to consider either.

Another great option is Tubemogul.com.  They offer some very impressive free storage and distribution options and their site analytics are pretty spectacular, even on their free service options.  The only caveat is that you cannot directly advertise you business or MLM on the video posted on Tubemogul.com (policy).  This is to prevent constant sales spamming and keep content fresh and valuable.  Most videos you dont really want to sell for knee jerk sales conversions anyway.  Those arent the “quality fish” you are trying to catch. You want to make certain that you affectively promote you, branding yourself as one that offers value and who is very likable, referring them to your blog or another feeder site.

Either one of these two options are reputable and come highly recommended.  It just comes down to which option best fits your marketing and online business objectives.  Bear in mind that you need to make certain when you use any video distribution service that you do not duplicate your video submission to YouTube.  That would of course violate rule #2 and leave you vulnerable to a good old-fashioned YouTube back-hand.

So avoid the YouTube slap by adhering to the rules I’ve mapped out above.  I never mind when rules are tightened because I feel it thins out the numbers of those that don’t provide real value, that spam others and aren’t committed to running their business the right way.  That equates to more opportunities for you and I.  I do mind however, when they are ineffective at communicating what those rules are.  Video advertising is too valuable for you to site on the side lines and not play ball just because you don’t know the rules on the YouTube field. You now know where the out of bounds lines are in your You Tube field of play.  So go ahead and play ball!

See AlsoPrevious Post: Making the Video: Internet Marketings Inexpensive Money-Making New Frontier

Patrick Daugherty

The “Biz Coach”

CEO of “Learn2Earnitnow” Online-Education & Support

 You can also connect with me at:

Many of you have at least heard about how Google has tightened the reigns on internet advertising.  Well for some they’ve come down hard, “big time” since the end of August 09 with little warning or explanation.  The background is pretty interesting regarding what motivated this change and how it came about.  If you’ve been affected then understanding why  and how to react accordingly definitely will help your business marketing effectiveness.

Google was backed into a corner and the changes were made as a direct result of pressure put on by the FTC.  Pressure specifically brought to bear by David C. Vladeck who was appointed by Barrack Obama to head up the Bureau of Consumer Protection within the FTC.

One thing to remember is that the FTC approved Google’s acquisition of Double-Click last year which many argued was a clear tossing aside of anti-trust laws in vertical market mergers.  It has appeared that they are far more aware of ramifications born from that controversial decision; seemingly recognizing that it essentially created a big advertising gorilla that didn’t effectively police itself.   So, much like when baseball enjoyed so many HGH induced homeruns while MLB turned a blind eye; the government felt they needed to flex their lawmaking muscle a bit.  With that being the case and with a new sheriff Vladeck in town, the stage was set for some major changes to be made.

The concern stems from the far-reaching freedom of any company or individual to make any claims based on their product or service they wanted to as long as they had a disclaimer at the bottom of their site.  Such disclaimers would routinely begin with such verbiage as “The claims made on this site do not guarantee that you will experience the same results.   Individual results will vary greatly and in accordance to….”.  The truth is that this does not protect the potential customer and actually allows the advertiser to essentially have a green light to use unverifiable claims – especially when used in business or business opportunity advertising.

In his first 90 days Vladeck had gone on record as saying that the industry’s attempts to police itself were not good enough and met with industry execs to talk about the issue.  In fact in his first six weeks on the job, he asked Congress for a bigger budget and for a streamlined way to create regulations.  He also stated that he would hire technologists to help analyze online marketers’ tracking.

The end result was the FTC brandishing their big “whooping stick” to put pressure on Google to reign in their biggest moneymaker. Given the fact that approximately 95% of Google’s revenue comes from advertising, it says a lot about the leverage they feel they have (ie we made you a Goliath by approving the merger and we can take you out).

So what does that mean to all of us in the advertising community?  Well, if you are advertising a business opportunity that uses large or (what appears to be) unsubstantiated compensation claims, a website template hosted by such a business opportunity without original content you are getting flagged, slapped or suspended all together (aka The Google Slap).  The problem is that there are legitimate companies that are being drastically affected because they are being misidentified as being the same business opportunity animal.  I know of several affiliate marketers that were spending over $100,000 a month on Google Adwords advertising whose accounts are presently suspended altogether.  Ouch!

From what I hear, if it happens to you you’ll find the quality score of your keywords will immediately drop from good or excellent (7+/10) to poor (1/10) due solely to being determined to have low website/landing page quality.  Your ads will then rarely be shown if at all.

Personally, I think Google is taking a hard swing to show they are taking the FTC bullying seriously and then as dad has his back turned, focusing on other troubled children in the business playground, they will then slowly ease off.  But make no mistake, I believe these restrictions are here to stay they just wont be as militant about it.  The famed Google Algorithms will balance out and find a happy medium but still keep out those that might give internet marketing a bad reputation.

The bottom line is that even though I abhor government intrusion, the original motivation was to keep out many of those in our industry who muddy the waters and which my friends, is actually a good thing.  The problem is that it has been poorly executed creating collateral damage.

Those that have been “’flagged or slapped” need to retool their marketing strategy.  If you’ve been drastically affected then you don’t need anyone to tell you that you’ve put too many eggs in the Google Adwords basket.  You have to diversify your marketing methods!  They must also closely examine their site content, where the site forwards too, who hosts it (ie web templates provided by their business opportunity).  This will force many to rethink their business relationships and chosen business opportunities, especially if it is MLM or Network Marketing in nature.

Change ALWAYS presents opportunity.  If you can retool, regroup and adapt you will be positioned properly to capitalize on that opportunity because unfortunately most become discouraged, lose heart and do not. For ideas on diversifying your advertising strategies, review my article “Hit Your Target When Advertising Your Business Online”.  There you’ll find 11 options available for you to take advantage of that will allow you to better diversify your marketing strategy.

Written by:

Patrick Daugherty

The Biz Coach

www.Learn2earnitnow.biz

Not 10 But 11 Options To Consider When Creating An Internet Marketing Campaign

Advertising is the lifeblood of any home or web based business making it imperative to fully understand all the options that are available.

There are a number of effective online advertising options, however, I believe that there are two main categories of advertising; Direct Marketing methods and methods aimed at creating Credibility & Branding.  Many novice Internet marketers have historically put all their eggs in the direct marketing basket.  This ideology was actually more of the norm 5 years ago among many successful marketers, however, the landscape has changed dramatically to the point where it is becoming far more difficult to reach your business advertising goals if your advertising strategy does not include increasing your credibility and branding through marketing who you are.  Gone are the days when Internet marketing was a bland impersonal business transaction.  Your potential customers are ones that want to believe in what you are marketing and increasingly, believe in the one doing the marketing.

Category 1: Direct Marketing

1. Pay-Per-Click Advertising

This is the most common “go-to” form of advertising.  Pay per click advertising is simply paying for specifically targeted traffic that clicks on your ad that brings them to your site. The analytics offered enable you to monitor and control these advertising programs very closely, as well as, tweak your ad copy and key words that you are using. This can be a very expensive option, but it doesn’t have to be if planned carefully and monitored frequently.  Google Adwords, Yahoo and MSN are the big three.  Watch for new developments in the next 12-18 months in advertising with the Yahoo – Microsoft deal which will combine the #2 & 3 ranked search engines to position them to rival Google’s search traffic.
2. Text Links

This is a simple way to draw traffic to your site that is overlooked by many. It is also one of the least expensive. You can often buy text links pretty inexpensively.  The link will not only promote the specific site or page you choose but also connect it with the specific key words which are most applicable to your business or demographic you are looking to attract. Text links also give you a double pay-ff since you can attract immediate traffic from the host site, as well as, achieve better search engine ranking which will further increase traffic. 

3. Ezine Advertising

Ezine advertising is one of the best ways to reach your future customers because it is typically inexpensive.  It offers you the option to match the ezine audience with your product and ad. It includes an added benefit in not only your initial ad but also longevity in the ezine archives.

4. Email Marketing

Even though there has been a concerted effort to stop spam it is a fact that email advertising is still successful.  You can still use email marketing as a way to reach out and touch your customers and your future customers provided it is not seen as spam.  Be very careful to not cross that line since we are talking about your business reputation which is paramount.

You just need to make sure that no one receives mail except the people who ask for it. People are still willing to sign up for mailing lists–especially if you have something to offer them in return for sharing their email address. You can sponsor a contest; give away an ebook, or tutorial; or offer a discount and you will have people sign up willingly.  If you don’t abuse the mailing list you will have the opportunity to reach them repetitively, which is the advantage.  

5. Banner Ads

Through 2004, banner ads had gone through a period where it gained a bad reputation. In part because of the proliferation of banner farms that swung a striking blow to the banner swap programs (or at least made them completely ineffective). Most of us have memories of those hideous annoying banners flashing across the top of so many web sites.

Banners have come along way since then and a nicely designed banner can be a real asset to any advertising campaign. You don’t have to use one of those giant banners that span the width of the screen. You can use smaller simple ads that can fit easily into the side of the screen or special box on an applicable web site and will work more effectively. It is important that you carefully consider the types of sites you will choose for displaying your banner. (i.e.: A site about web development for your hosting service ad or a site about healthy living for your health supplement site.)  Many text link and pay per click advertising vendors offer banner ads. Similarly many publishers of ezines and newsletters sell space on their sites as well.

 Category 2: Marketing Your Personality & Knowledge

Showcasing Who You Are To Create Credibility & Branding

The next six advertising methods are all either free or very inexpensive, but they do take patience because they require a sacrifice of the time and effort to convey the information effectively.  The benefits, however, far out weigh the sacrifices because you are providing something of value — your knowledge and expertise.  Remember, in most cases your potential customers are ones that want to believe in what you are marketing and increasingly, believe in the one doing the marketing. The goal is to establish yourself as trusted resource in the marketplace with the ultimate goal of being seen as an expert in your field.  It’s sounds daunting but it is far easier than it sounds.  It starts with educating yourself on certain topics applicable to your customers and writing and summarizing what you’ve learned. Below are marketing methods where you can apply the written fruits of your labor.  This will not only provide increased traffic but also great credibility, and it will increase the effectiveness of your advertising.  
 

6. Start a Blog and RSS Feed

While publishing a newsletter or ezine isn’t that difficult it is much easier to create a blog and make its content available via RSS feed. This can offer you the benefits of regularly updated material for your web site, which will be attractive to visitors and search engines alike.  It will also send articles to other blogs and users when posted so that you can increase your site visits as well.  You can register your domain name and host your own site, or there are many free blogging sites around where you can create a blog that is hosted on their site. I personally like using Squidoo and WordPress, but many web hosts now offer blogging services.

7. Create a Newsletter

By creating your own newsletter or ezine it offers you all the advantages of ezine advertising and email marketing discussed in the first section.

8. Write your Own Articles

You can take the material you have generated for your newsletter or blogs and release them as articles. Upload these on as many free content directories as you find available on the web. This not only helps to establish your credibility but the contact info you provide in your resource box (which will run every time someone else publishes your material) will bring in both direct traffic, as well as, search engine attention. 
9. Create an Ebook

Once you have enough material generated from your newsletter and blog then you can combine it into a convenient Ebook and give it away. Make sure to capture names and email addresses so that they can be added to your email marketing list.

10. Post in Forums

If you have the time you should start your own forum, but even if you only have a few minutes a week to spare for this effort it can be well worth the effort. Remember that this is all about credibility, so don’t offer blatant spam posts but find a forum where you have something to offer. Make sure that you include an applicable URL and description for your forum signature, and you will attract the double benefit of both traffic and search engine results.

11. Social Networking Sites

Sites like: LinkedIn, FaceBook, MySpace etc have become increasingly effective at gaining credibility.  In the last three years these sites have totally changed the advertising landscape and added a new dimension that is now considered a “must have” in any campaign. 

Conclusion
A successful advertising campaign cannot embrace one single method of advertising and at the same time, not every method works for every business model. Advertising cannot be seen as a one-size-fits all proposition. You need to establish your goals, assess your business needs and create an optimal combination of methods.  It is important to make sure to track your results—evaluate the measurable data and alter your strategy accordingly to optimize your advertising effectiveness.

Written By: R. Patrick Daugherty

For more information on Patrick feel free to visit:

http://Learn2earnitnow.biz

http://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickdaugherty

http://learn2earnitnow.com

As a business owner I want to know I am getting the most out of my advertising dollar. Understanding internet searching traffic and buying trends are an integral part of that equation. What is unique about this topic however is that it is a challenge to find on the web in a way that is simple and quickly able to be digested and applied; hence this simple and quickly digested article.

Day And Time Of Day Trends

Several studies have shown that late afternoon through the evening hours is the best time for online advertising effectiveness. One study by “Light Speed Research” found that the highest concentration of potential buyers/customers searching the web were during the early evening through late evening hours (4:00-9:00). If you’re advertising nationally which most of us are, then adjust your window accordingly to accommodate all time zones.
Also interesting are the trends that are displayed regarding days of the week. By in large I have found that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the highest advertising traffic days. This trend has been echoed by many of those I speak with who advertise on a regular bases on Google, Yahoo or MSN. Of course the advantage of being diversified in your advertising methods (articles, blogs, postings etc) is that they remain on the web for them to see. Make sure whatever web page or “landing page” your advertising links your prospects to, also cross directs them to your articles, blogs and anything else that increases your business credibility, through hyperlink so that they can review anytime.
So if you want to get the most out of your advertising dollar and you’re on a tight budget, then advertise when people are most likely to pay attention while in the mood to act on it and activate your advertising from 3:00-10:00 Tuesday-Thursday.

Happy Hunting!

Written by:
R. Patrick Daugherty
The Biz Coach

For more information on Patrick feel free to visit:

http://Learn2earnitnow.biz

http://learn2earnitnow.com

I’m on a mission to reclaim lives, to inspire those of you who have muffled your inner-voice, conformed and accepted less of yourself in order to fit in; to empower those who have realized that they’ve accepted merely existing in the past but believe that there must a more fulfilling way to live.  A mission to connect with those of you who admit you have a torch of light burning inside that you’ve kept hidden.  I invite you to come closer my friends, because I’d like to pour my gallon-jug of gasoline on it, to ignite your passion and fuel you for greater things. 

I am a strong proponant of creating the life you want through building a business you can become passionate about.  A business that both utilizes and develops your strengths while fulfilling you deeply and providing financial freedom. To serve that purpose, there isnt any better platform than creating your own business online to take back control of your life.  Trust me, I’m fortunate to see lives transformed everyday.

 It’s for this reason that I created a system that can teach you everything you need to know to launch & grow your business in a few short weeks. This blog plays a vital role in the coaching & training offered by “Learn2earn it now”; an online-education & support portal for aspiring web based entrepreneurs and marketers who seek straight talk coaching and easy to use training.  It is designed to work hand-in-hand with the “Success-Steps” Training Systems” to empower you to create the fulfilled life you desire to achieve.

This blog along with the training systems & resources were created because I couldnt sit on the sidelines anymore watching those that have become successful purely by preying on people like you who are starving for credible instruction & insight only to be utterly demoralized and convinced YOU were the problem. Whether your business opportunity involves affiliate marketing, internet marketing or a multi-level model; if you desire to gain instruction, insight and inspiration that is intended to transform both your business & personal life, then you’ve come to the right place.

I’ve been fortunate enough to provide consultative coaching to business owners and corporate leaders to assist them in reaching their revenue goals for over 15 years. Due in large part to the economy, over the past 2 years the number of entrepreneurs who have launched Internet based businesses have  increased at an astonishing rate.  The fact is that whether you’re an aspiring Internet or affiliate marketer, creating an online business or growing an MLM organization, if you don’t know how to use SEO & advanced internet marketing techniques then you’re doomed already.

With 9 out of 10 new online business owners and Internet enterpreneurs failing in the first 63 days I have felt passionately compelled to share the knowledge that I have been fortunate enough to accrue from both my extensive corporate training & online business building experience.

The Biz Coach Blog  and the “Learn2earn it now” training & support portal are great opportunities for me to do exactly that.  After all, let’s face it, deep down inside we all want the same thing; to live a successful & fulfilled personal and business life.  Both sites are intended to work hand in hand with the Success Steps To Building Online Wealth training system as well as the Success Steps Training System For Network Marketers .  

In this economic climate there are more people taking stock of their life, rethinking their definition of job-security that they’ve bought into for so long and what it means to truly live rather than just “exist”.  Many of you have come to place where you shake your head and say “I feel stuck in my life, almost imprisoned and feel that I’ve been stuck like this for a long time.  There has to be something more…”.  If you’ve asked yourself this question then my answer to you is emphatically  “Yes, there is!!”.  I believe everyone deserves to live a fulfilled life!  This year I’m committed to teaching at least 1000 people how to earn over 6-figures online, get off the “hamster wheel” they feel stuck in and live life fulfilled. 

I invite you to become one of them  by soaking up the valuable information and video coaching I provide through this blog and taking advantage of either the Success Steps To Building Online Wealth or the  Success Steps Training System For Network Marketers.  The “Success Step” training systems are the only programs on the net that combine a full-spectrum curriculum of both written & video training, designed specifically for “non-geeks” to make an immediate dramatic effect on your online business.  They have been created to give you EVERYTHING you need to help ensure your success to build a thriving organization online no matter what business opportunity you’re marketing! 

Those that have had their businesses and lives transformed by the “Success-Steps” have said that it was the difference maker they desperately sought after!  When you click on the link & review the information about the training systems, be sure to check out the testimonials at the bottom of the page. Like a dad, I’m super proud of them. Spend any time here and you’ll quickly learn that I’m “passionately  committed” to transforming lives!

Your Coach & Biggest Fan!

R. Patrick Daugherty

The “Biz Coach”

CEO of Learn2earn it now Training & Support

Author of:  “The Success Steps For Building Wealth Online” for Online Marketers AND  

                 ”The Success Step Training System” For Network Marketers

You can also connect with the “Biz Coach” through:

At “Learn2Earn it now” we believe:

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.”

- President Woodrow Wilson