Search Engine Optimize Your Website      
                        
            At the request of my Pastor I created a 20 Step program for Marketing our Church on the Internet. To make it as inclusive as possible, I recruited the assistance of Randall Mains of Pathmaker Marketing LLC. Realizing that the results of our efforts would be beneficial to a number of Churches, I decided to do a 20 part series and place it on the Internet so as many people/churches as possible can be Blessed by it!

            To date we have discussed launching a blogging process and doing keyword research. Today, I want to discuss search engine optimization - both what it is and why it is important to you as part of your church marketing program. As we discussed last time, the paradigm shifts in our society mandates that churches utilize small business marketing strategies, and an effective website is an excellent church outreach Idea!

            In a nutshell, SEO is used to receive Page One rankings on Google, Bing and Yahoo which facilitates more people to “click through” and find your website and all that you have to offer. As many people think they know a lot about SEO, there are three myths that I would like to dispel at this point in regard to the topic:

            MYTH #1: As long as you Google your Church Name and come up “#1” you are in fact, search engine optimized.

            The reality is that the major search engines treat your church name as a  "gimme.” As a result, this means that in the realm of search engine optimization, this gives you virtually zero clout! In fact, if you don’t get page one ranking when you type in your church name you have a real problem!

            MYTH #2: Search engine optimization can be achieved quickly!!!

            Actually, nothing could be further from the truth!! It is a long, slow, and sometimes tedious task that leads you to the finish line in this race! There are, as you will learn, several steps involved, each time consuming in their own right. BUT the results are well worth the effort! As you schedule your SEO Program, you will want to allot at least six months to accomplish the task!

            MYTH #3: You can accomplish SEO for Free!

            The confusion in this realm is the fact that visitors come to your site for free, but the competitive nature of SEO mandates that you either hire professionals to achieve the rankings you desire, or that you plan on investing huge amounts of time and energy to accomplish SEO to your satisfaction!

            The myths aside, SEO can be a tremendous boon to the success of your church. If you, through your SEO efforts, you can attain a #1 ranking on a Google search you will get a lot of click through traffic! This may lead to visitors  who will, of course, greatly “enhance the chance” of your church growing!

           Understanding that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of words related to a church, your goal is to make sure that yours shows up for as many of these words as possible when a potential parishioner is searching them, and that is where your keyword research that we discussed in Part II comes into play!

           While the Internet is evolving daily, SEARCH ENGINES is one of the two items that tends to remain constant. Being well positioned allows people to discover exactly what it is that your church has to offer. To better understand this concept, consider the Internet a Super Highway with millions of people zooming along it every day. Your SEO program serves as a  billboard, advising them of what awaits if they will take the “proper exit” and wind up at your place! Unless they can find you, however, they will always be “potential parishioners ” and never “your parishioners!” If you aren’t showing up in searches, you don’t have a Billboard!  The first step is to conduct a keyword research project, which will allow you to find the rigth terms in order to have a website that is optimized!

           As you can see, targeting keywords can lead to more visitors, which strengthens your church outreach. I know this may all seem overwhelming, and would suggest that if you have any questions that you e-mail Randall Mains at randall@pathmakermarketing.net, as he is more of an expert in this realm than even I am.

            At the request of my Pastor I created a 20 Step program for Marketing our Church on the Internet. To make it as inclusive as possible, I recruited the assistance of Randall Mains, CEO of Pathmaker Marketing LLC. Realizing that the results of our efforts would be beneficial to a number of churches, I decided to do a 20 part series and place it on the internet so as many people/churches as possible can be blessed by it!

            In the first installment I mentioned that it would be wise to launch a blogging process. In that, I alluded to the fact that you need to Target Keywords that are winnable, and explained how to do so. The next thing I think you need to concentrate on is doing keyword research.

            Knowing that comprehensive keyword research is the foundation of an effective search engine marketing program will allow you to understand that, basically, you need to “chase down” the people who need the services and programs that your church offers and lead them to your website. The whole idea is to ensure that your church comes up when people type in their search terms.

            You may think that there aren’t all that many words and/or terms, but actually quite the opposite is true. The typical comprehensive keyword search will yield a minimum of 1500 or more keyword variations! Through a variety of filters, you can narrow the number down that you will want to concentrate on regarding your website and your blog posts. The key, of course, is to find “winnable” words, and then prioritize them for your benefit.

            While I certainly can’t list 1500 words/terms here, I will give you an quick example of what I mean, using the top 20 terms found when using Chicago churches as our local example:

churches
bible study
catholic churches
orthodox church
youth ministry
church chicago
church in chicago
willow creek church
willowcreek church
chicago maps
churches chicago
churches in chicago
bill hybels
catholic churches in chicago
catholic churches chicago
baptist churches in chicago
catholic church in chicago
churches chicago il
churches in chicago il
church chicago il

Once you have your list composed, you will want to chose the terms that best describe your ministry, whether it be to teens, seniors, street people or other. These are the terms you want to concentrate on as your church Staff compose their blog posts, and as you “tweak” the copy and contents of your website!

That brings me to my next point - - once you complete your keyword research and acquire your final winnable keyword list the real task has just begun! It will take months - probably six or more - to get you to a point that when an individual types in a term/phrase on your list that your church will come up. Remember I said that this list is the “foundation” of an effective search engine marketing program? While the list is the foundation, the “structure” you will build on it will be all the blog posts that you and your staff write! It is those Church Blogs that will help you acquire page rankings from Google, Yahoo and Bing, and that is what will drive people to your website and eventually your church, making the internet an effective church outreach tool for you! 
                While it may rankle us to have to admit it, “Church Marketing 101” is one of those paradigm shifts that we just need to learn to live with, and Targeting Keywords is one of those internet marketing ideas that will, in fact, allow this to be a viable church outreach idea.

            In closing, I would suggest that you read Part III, as we will deal with SEO - search engine optimization - and how to ensure that your website will, in fact, get Google, Yahoo and Bing page rankings!

            The look on his face assured me that Jim was more than just surprised, he was mortified! Everyone in the place was giving us their undivided attention - - many of their faces reflecting sympathy; most reflecting curiosity, and at least one was reflecting empathy! Jim, a good friend who runs an independent Sporting Goods store, had become somewhat of a protégé of mine regarding internet marketing ideas. Affiliated with Randall Mains and Pathmaker Marketing, I have had an opportunity to acquire a fair amount of knowledge regarding small business marketing strategies and internet business marketing promotion online and have shared this with Jim on several occasions. Every once in a while Jim runs into a snafu, and, of course, immediately searches me out for an explanation or assistance in the matter.

            “Well, Jim, tell me what happened,” I opened.

            Settling onto the stool next to mine, and indicating to the counterman that he needed a cold soda right away, he paused for a minute as he organized his thoughts. Typically we would move to a booth, but interest was running so high on this one I decided we should stay put and let as many people as possible, or wanted to at least, gather around and listen to our discussion.   Taking a long pull on his beverage, Jim began his report.

            “Well, remember how you convinced me to let Annie help the rest of the employees establish blogs and add a post or two a week?”

            Nodding affirmatively, I reflected back on that conversation. Annie is Jim’s teenage daughter, and when she recommended the blogging program I advised him that blogging is, in fact, an effective internet marketing tool. I explained that Pathmaker actually has clients who use us as a blogging aervice, developing their blogs and ghostwriting their various posts. It took a while to convince him that businesses should actually allow their employees an opportunity to blog “on the clock,” as long as it is “business related,” but he was enjoying a fair amount of success as he had made several large sales based on the fact that his employees have a tremendous amount of expertise in what they sell and share that expertise in their posts. 

            “Well, we have been doing that, and then this morning I got a notice form WordPress that they had shut down my site!”

            “Did they tell you why?” an interested party to the left of me asked.

            “All they said was that I was in violation of Terms of Service. Floyder, can they do that?

            Jim had, like so many others, found out about WordPress’ dark side the hard way. Unfortunately, they typically don’t tell you what, exactly, the violation is/was, nor do they give you an opportunity to rectify the problem. 

            “Well, Jim, obviously they can do it because they did,” I advised him as gently as I could.

            “Do you have any idea why they would shut me down,” he asked, the confusion in his eyes making him almost pathetic looking.

            “Well, actually there are a number of reasons that they might take action against someone. For example they can shut you down over RSS fed content, or content they don’t approve of. And, …

            “Wait,” Jim said, interrupting me. “What is ‘RSS content’?”

            “RSS - Really Simple Syndication. It is usually a situation where blog content is fed to Linked-In, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social networking.”

            Jim pondered that for a minute, and then reminded me I was about to add something else.

            “If you read their information on the internet,” I began again, speaking slowly so everyone gathered around us could follow, “there is a paragraph that says ‘we kill spam dead.’ It discusses the fact that it will keep spammers from leaving comments on your blog, and that it will shut down ‘spam blogs’ that might try to sneak onto WordPress.com. Perhaps they considered yours a “spam blog.”

            Jim sat there, slowly shaking his head back and forth. Heaving a couple of huge sighs, he looked at me and asked the inevitable question,

            “Now what do I do?”

            “I would suggest that you go onto another Host Server, one where you pay like GoDaddy or MyDomain. The cost is minimal, and you won’t have to worry about this happening again. What you do,” I went on, “is simply install WordPress on your own server, and then you can't get your content removed by WordPress any longer.”

            “What if you haven’t already been shut down, any way you can avoid it from happening to you?” the same voice from my left asked.

            “Sure,” I assured him, “transfer your account to a pay server before they get the chance to shut you down. You can migrate your material from one to the other, so it won’t be too much of a hassle at all.

            Jim was now shaking his head - first up and down, then side to side, then up and down and then side to side and so on. I watched for a moment, wondering just how long he was going to keep it up. Finally, realizing that he was, apparently, “locked in” I broke the silence and stopped his head bobbing routine!

            “What’s wrong, Jim?”

            “Floyder,” he said with somewhat of a sheepish grin, “what I can’t figure out is how they would even know that we had fried Spam for dinner the other night.”

            Jim is, without a doubt, precious!

THAT’S MORE WORDS THAN IN A SMALL DICTIONARY!

            Jim was dumbfounded to the point of being speechless. He just sat there looking at me, trying to determine if I was telling him the truth or not. We were sharing a cola and some small talk, when he asked if I knew anything about keyword marketing. He knew I did, but used the question to get us on the topic. Jim often sought my advice because of my relationship with Randall Mains of PATHMAKER MARKETING. One of the services that Pathmaker offers as part of their small business marketing strategies is Keyword Marketing. He offers it as an online marketing tool, and helps clients accomplish that which they seek by using Pathmaker as their search engine optimization agency. SEO is, of course, a sound search engine marketing idea, and one that Jim, apparently, was hoping to incorporate in the marketing plan for his independent Sporting Goods Store.

            Anyway, we had jawed about it for a while when he asked me how many keywords might be associated with his business, and nearly dropped his teeth when I told him it could be upwards of a 10,000 or more. That’s where we were now - - him trying to fathom what I had just told him.

            “Floyder,” he finally began slowly, “you can’t possibly be serious, “ he was finally able to manage.

            “Actually, Jim, I am. If you do this the right way you have to be totally comprehensive.    Let me share a specific example with you, and then we will apply the principle to your business. PATHMAKER recently had a client in Canada that runs a large car dealership. The process started with over 50,000 keywords. From there we narrowed it down to 1500 - - and then to 300 terms which we used for targeting keywords. This allowed them to shoot to the top of the list when people did an internet search.”

            “You mean,” Jim began, again slowly!, “that I should have more than just my name and the store’s name as keywords.”

            And therein lies the problem, I thought. So many people are unaware of the fact that search engine optimization is a science, and not just a crapshoot. 

            “You really think you could come up with that many words?” Jim asked, the gleam that was starting to form in his eye making the question almost a challenge.

            “Jim,” how many types of fishing lures do you either have, or have access to - - this is to include every color of every type and any other variations on the theme.”

            “Good Lord, Floyder, there’s thousands and thousands of them - - you know that!”

            It began right at his hairline, and slowly worked its way down his entire countenance - - realization was starting to settle in on Jim! I knew I had better intervene before he became so over-whelmed by this concept that he suffered from apoplexy!

            “It’s okay, Jim, you don’t have to actually include all of those in your list. What I would suggest is that you feature a few of the better ones for each type of fish - - trout, bass, and so on. And that brings up another point,” I added, hoping this new concept wouldn’t create a brain overload. “You may want to revamp your Keyword List for each Sporting Season as it occurs. I would do this,” I quickly added, keeping him as calm as I could, “by starting with the next upcoming season and then concentrating on each season as it comes along. That way, you won’t incur the cost for the total program all at one time.”

            “How do I now what words to consider,” Jim asked, handling all of this better than I thought. 

            “Well, you hire Pathmaker and we do the research and legwork. You will have constant input, of course, but we would take care of the list building.”

            For the first time in quite a while Jim’s face looked almost placid. Then, as I watched quietly, that gleam started to creep back in his eye.

            “Let’s try,” he exclaimed excitedly. 

            “Try what?” I asked warily.

            “Listing 10,000 words. Come on, Floyder, we can do it!!”

            I knew I was in for a long night - - either making the list or talking Jim out of trying!

     For those whose intentions are to use their blogging efforts in a productive manner to gain themselves significant page rankings in Google, Yahoo or Bing, and thereby make their blogging a viable marketing tool, serious consideration needs to be given to Compendium.  While it is not the only blogging system available today, it is, by far and away, in my opinion, the best blogging system available for “bloggers” who want to be serious marketers.

     To make such a bold statement one needs to be able to support it, and there are three major benefits that give credulity to my claim.  First, and perhaps foremost, Compendium helps me target winnable keywords. 

     To explain this, let me use the illustration of the lemon tree in my backyard.  Typically, my large lemon tree has three “levels” of fruit:  Those which are on the low hanging branches and are easily picked; those on the middle branches, which I might be able to attain but it will take some more effort; and those on the very top branches which are, for all intent and purposes, unattainable.  Applying this to winnable keywords, we find that some terms are going to be easy to win; some are, perhaps, winnable with more effort, and some you probably will never be able to win.  Compendium helps you to determine which keywords are easy picking, so your blog postings revolve around terms that will get you page one rankings and top 50 rankings, both on your target terms and long-tail variations of those terms.

     To punctuate this point, recognize that Google is preferential to ranking terms based on depth of content, so you need to choose those keyword phrases that have not already had an “encyclopedia” written about them.  A good example of this might be “email fundraising” vs. “ephilanthropy.”  While you might prefer to use the more common of the terms, so does everyone else.  Therefore, the former might be unattainable where the latter is readily within your reach and grasp.  Whe you are targeting keywords. pursue the winnable terms first.

     From the blog posting side of this coin, since depth of content is a paramount concern to the search engines, you should be prepared in the long run to write 50 – 200 posts on the terms for which you are targeting keywords. 

      Secondly, Compendium gets me page rankings on my search terms.  A major goal of any business is to have a prospective client go on the internet, run a keyword search (on something other than your company name), and have the name of your business pop up, preferably in the number one slot, but at least somewhere on the first page.  Getting these page one rankings is what will drive those prospective clients to you, and allow you to convert them from “prospective” to “first time” client. 

     The Compendium system excels at this by automatically search engine optimizing each blog post domain and page construction, and guiding you in real time to optimize your post content too. You won’t get that advantage from any free blogging service out there. This auto SEO step equips your blog to be truly optimal before Google, Yahoo and Bing, so that you get you the page rankings you so eagerly want to achieve. To do this in another blogging service, you would have to manually SEO each post, or hire an SEO specialist to do that for you.

     In our current economic environment, you want a system that will save you both time and money in your quest for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  These are additional advantages that Compendium offers.  Compendium has a tool that will help you optimize every blog post before it goes live.

     When looking for competitive blog services to Compendium, the one most often mentioned is WordPress, a system that can be accessed and utilized at no expense to the user.  The fact that WordPress is free can be a little misleading.  If your intent is to use your blog for internet marketing purposes, WordPress can cost you far more to Search Engine Optimize your posts to get the page rankings, than the expense of using Compendium. All things considered, Compendium saves me time and money over other options.

     The best way to compare Compendium and WordPress is, perhaps, in the form of a chart.  Below I have constructed a table that will allow us to do just that:

COMPARISON ITEMS	Compendium	WordPress
Optimizes Your Blog Post Domains.	Yes	Yes
Optimizes Your Blog Page Construction	Yes	Yes
Automatically Optimizes Your Blog Post Content	Yes	No
Automatically Compends Your Blog Post Content into Keyword Blogs	Yes	No
Organizes Your Post Content by Keyword	Yes	No
Allows for Unlimited User Blogs	Yes	No
Allows for Dynamic Calls to Action Headers, Ads	Yes	No
Provides Weekly Metrics	Yes	Yes
RSS Feeds into Your Social Networks	Yes	Yes
Provides Strategic Research to Identify Winnable Keywords	Yes	No

      As you can see, Compendium is superior to WordPress in a plethora of ways - - all of which are important to the dedicated internet marketer.  Compendium is, after all, a premier blogging service that is guided, directed, blogging for the purpose of winning page rankings on your keywords! For more intel, call Randall Mains at Pathmaker Marketing.

           Floyder - - Even People YOUR Age Are Using Social Media!

           Jim’s comment raised a few eyebrows, and even got a few guffaws from the crowd. Good friends, Jim and I have an easy relationship, with each respecting the other.
That’s why I was surprised that he had alluded to the double decade difference in our age with his opening comment. Sporting a wry grin, I ordered us each a cola and then we made our way to a booth.

            “What,” I asked, with a smile on my face and in my voice, “is that supposed to mean?”

            “Oh, not that!,” he responded immediately, realizing the connotation that could have been made. “What I mean is, maybe I can use Social Media as part of my Internet Business Marketing Promotion after all. Remember, we were discussing the fact that Facebook and Twitter might not be appropriate as the majority of the people using it really aren’t part of my Target Market? Well, apparently that isn’t as true as we had first thought.”

            Jim and I have, in the recent past, had a quite a few discussions regarding Internet Marketing Ideas. He is trying to make his way into the 21st Century as best he can, and, as a result, has high hopes and aspirations of using the Internet effectively to promote his independent sporting goods store. For the most part he is doing pretty well, though occasionally he gets his facts a little askew. This time, however, it appeared he knew what he was talking about.”

            “How,” he asked, almost philosophically, “does Twitter and Facebook compare to Blogging as a Marketing Tool?”

            “Well,” I began, taking a sip of my beverage, “let’s look at the immediate differences. Your Blog can be several paragraphs long, where a Twitter is limited to 140 characters or so. I would think that Search Engine Optimization is probably a possibility with Twitter and your blog, but probably not for Facebook.”

            “Randall would know for sure on that, wouldn’t he?” Jim asked.

            He was referring to Randall Mains of Pathmaker Marketing, which offers both Search Engine Optimization Services and a Premier Blogging Service as well LEARN MORE > >. Randall and I have worked on several projects together, and Jim more or less uses me as a conduit to glean needed information from him.

            “Yes,” I assured him, “I’m sure he would.”

            “You know, since I have to be concerned about Targeting Keywords, I can pretty much write anything I want to on my chosen terms, right? Floyder,” he went on, not waiting for a reply, “How, exactly would you use them if you were me?”

            “Well, you might Tweet that you are offering a special sale for the beginning of a season, and drive people to a dedicated landing page that features the offer. Or, on your Facebook page you might promote the fact that you have a Sweepstakes running with significant prizes from a particular vendor.  In your blog, you might write a Case Study about a customer who's had some succesd using your business expertise.”

            Jim took a draw on his drink, and sat there looking very contemplative. I checked my watch and realized I needed to leave for an appointment. I had made my way almost to the counter when I was interrupted.

            “Hey, Floyder,” Jim declared, “thanks for the soda and the advice. You know,” he went on, his voice taking on a tone of impish frivolity, “you’re still pretty sharp for someone your age.”

            Not bothering to turn around, I just waved a good-bye and grinned as I walked out, feigning disgust as best I could!

          Floyder - - I don't even know what a bloghead is!

          Jim looked pretty pathetic, to say the very least. Somewhat loud, though never obnoxious!, Jim is truly a sensitive soul and that is why the comment that had been leveled at him had been so devastating. It seems that last Sunday, in front of a whole group of people, his pastor slapped him on the back and exclaimed, “Well, Jim, why don’t you head up the committee for Internet presence. After all, you’re the biggest Bloghead in the congregation.”

            “Floyder, will you call Pastor and ask him why he would say something like that about me?”

            His puppy-dog brown eyes made it impossible to say “no,” so I gave Pastor a call. I surmised, and verified, that all Pastor meant was that Jim used Blogging as an Internet Marketing Tool for his business more than anyone else. The fact that “Bloghead” sounds suspiciously like “Blockhead” had made Jim feel like he was being ridiculed, which, of course, was not the case. Finishing up with the call, I explained it to Jim.

            A visual sigh of relief crept across Jim’s face, making it as placid as a crystal clear lake. As I watched, however, the metamorphosis continued, and the placidity was replaced with a look of total confusion. I waited, as I knew another question/ request would be forthcoming.

            “Floyder, is there such a thing as a Church Blog?” indicating by the question that he was accepting Pastor’s offer to head the committee.

            “Certainly, Jim,” I assured him.

            “Well, what does a church Blog about?”

            “Oh,” I explained easily, “there are several ways a church can use a Blog as an outreach tool. They might want to simply employ Christian Blogging to post content that is relevant to members of their congregation. Or they might want to develop their blog into an outreach tool, so that in that case it actually becomes a Ministry Blog.”

            “How would that work?”

            “Well, it could actually take several forms. For example, they might use the Blog as a discussion forum to facilitate small groups discussions on the pastor's weekend sermons.

            “They might also use the blog to feature and highlight the special ministries a church offers their community, such as children's activities, helping the homeless or their outreach to military families.”

            "Or they could use the blog as a vehicle for outreach, discussing subjects that matter the public at large, with a biblical point of view.

            Jim cogitated on what I had said for a while, and then asked,

            “Floyder, should I seek Pathmaker’s help?

            Jim was referring to Pathmaker Marketing, which promotes a Premier Blogging Service for churches (LEARN MORE >>). Jim and I have discussed numerous aspects of Internet Marketing, and, on several occasions, he retained Randall to help him with suggestions.

            “Well, it wouldn’t hurt.”

            Jim smiled and went to a world of his own where he was contemplating his course of action. Me, I was just glad he no longer looked pathetic!

Floyder - - It Don’t Get No Better Than Free!

            We had been having a pretty decent conversation, Jim and I, when I told him that the free blog posting system he was using might not be the most beneficial for his Internet Marketing Program.

            Jim, who owns an independent Sporting Goods store, is constantly rushing headlong into the 21st Century, somewhat helter skelter where Internet Technology is concerned. Because of my affiliation with Randall Mains and Pathmaker Marketing he typically runs his somewhat skewed views by me in an attempt to either verify or clarify his situation. Occasionally, however, he challenges my professional view with his stubbornly supported opinion. That was the case today.

             “What do you mean?” he asked, disgust and incredulity mixed freely and dripping form his voice.

            “Well, you have to understand - - if you’re just blogging for fun it doesn’t matter what blog services you’re using. But if you are using blogging as a serious Internet Marketing play, then you need to be a little more careful about which system you use.”

            “Why?” he asked, his voice indicating that he was a little more curious and a lot less critical this time.

            “What you want, to the point of needing, is a system that will help you with strategic keyword research. Your goal is to have your blog contain as many winnable keywords and phrases as possible. When you do, you have an excellent chance of positioning your blog to achieve page rankings in Google searches. You need a Premier Blogging Service that that helps you Keyword Marketing."

            “A ha!” Jim exclaimed excitedly, “I already have a number one ranking!”

            It was obvious that Jim thought he had me. I was pretty sure I knew what he was talking about, so I opened up my laptop and Googled the name of Jim’s store for Phoenix. Sure enough, he popped up right at the top of the list. I gave him a glance that allowed him to give me the “I told you so wink” that we often use on each other. Returning to the search box, I typed in “Fishing Flies” and hit search - this time his name didn’t show up at all, not on any of the first five pages. I did the same thing with Shotguns, Fishing Rafts, Softball & Baseball Gear and even Basketball Shoes. Nothing. Every time.

He just sat there stunned for a minute, then, in his “please help me” voice, he asked,

            “Floyder, what can I do?

            “Well, Jim, if you are serious about using blogging for marketing purposes, I would suggest that you get in touch with Randall at Pathmaker and have him set you up with Compendium.”

            “Compendium?”

            “Right. It is the blog posting system that Pathmaker Marketing promotes. It's a Premier Bogging Service, recommends to all of their clients, and it is, without a doubt, the best system on the market.”

            “What makes it so good?”

            “Well, there are a multitude of reasons actually. A few of the more important ones, where you’re concerned at least, include the fact that it automatically optimizes your blog post content, systematically organizes your post content by keyword, allows for unlimited users and dynamic calls to action. Not to mention the comprehensive keyword research you also receive to help you identify your winnable terms so you can begin targeting keywords.”

            “So all I have to do is sign up with Compendium and I’ll win keywords and page rankings?” Jim asked hopefully, realizing that probably wasn’t the case.

            “No, not quite. Google tends to prefer to give rankings based on depth of content, so you need to spend lots of time posting blogs for the next few months.”

            “How do I know what to blog on?”

            “Compendium will help you find your winnable keywords, and that’s what you need to concentrate on.”

            Jim was satisfied, I could tell, and I knew he would soon be giving Randall a call. Even though Compendium isn’t free, it gets results for its bloggers.

      Blogging is a wonderful way to impart pertinent information to the rest of the world.  And, as a result, many people are taking advantage of this avenue of expression.  If you are in business, however, and you want to let your blog “work” for you, you probably need to adhere to a different set of “rules” than the individual who is simply blogging as a hobby, to vent frustration,  or to seek an audience to pontificate to.  For the sake of this article, let’s refer to the business blogger as a “Professional Blogger,” and the casual blogger as a “Social Blogger.”

    The Social Blogger, typically, is mostly blogging for fun.  As a result, they blog when they have a few extra minutes or when they get around to it, and they blog about a myriad of topics.  One day they may write about the wonderful new restaurant they ate at the night before, and three days later they might vent about how poorly their favorite baseball team is doing.  They will discuss the high price of gas, or how they have begun their Christmas shopping earlier this year.  While their thoughts and approach might be very focused, even profound,  in each individual blog, they tend to take a “shotgun” approach where their choice of topics is concerned - - spreading a wide range of thoughts to their reading public.

    The Professional Blogger, on the other hand, can’t pursue such a haphazard approach to their blogging - - or at least they shouldn’t.  Rather, the Professional Blogger needs to be blogging with a specific purpose in mind, always mindful of the fact that their blog site should strive for a depth of content in what they write.  Their blogging has to be intentionally focused on areas of expertise - - they must also purpose to provide a steady flow of content posts per week.  They must continually be adding quality content to their blog site, always bringing readers back for more.  They must not be lackadaisical about this - - they are using this as a major part of their marketing plan and therefore must attend to it religiously!

     The Professional Blogger needs to be targeting keywords that they want to win a Page One ranking on in Google, Yahoo or Bing.  Once these target terms are determined, they pursue these top page rankings by creating best in class content surrounding those keywords, and, as a result, they also establish themselves as an expert in their field.

     While it may seem easy to identify keywords you want to write about, the real trick is to isolate the “winnable” words or phrases, since what's most important is picking terms to blog about that both relate to your expertise, and have some capacity to win you a Page One Ranking. Page One rankings will get your blog qualified visitors, who may convert into names to your email list, qualified leads, product or service buyers, donors, etc.

     The subtlety of finding Internet success though, can find you, like the old TV character Maxwell Smart, “missing it by just that much.”  Let me give you an example.  

     Suppose you want to win a page one ranking for “e-mail fund raising,” You already have a wealth of knowledge on the subject, and have been most successful in helping clients with the endeavor.  You now, however, want to use the Internet to “recruit” new clients, and decide that blogging is the route to go.  So, you diligently begin adding appropriate keyword content to your blog and, lo and behold, nobody is beating down your door to have you help them.  The reason?   People are not searching on line for “e-mail fundraising,” they are searching for “ephilanthropy” - - by the millions!  

     Obviously, this scenario could be frustrating to the point of devastation!  To determine the keyword marketing terms to pursue, you can either hire a Premier Blogging Service firm such as Randall Mains company Pathmaker Marketing, or you need to invest hours, days, or possibly weeks to research them yourself, using Google’s Keyword Tool or something similar (To learn more about this, read my upcoming blog, How to do Strategic Keyword Marketing Research for Your Blog).  

    Determining your area of expertise should, at least theoretically, be a little easier.  However, you may want to take a broad term and “narrow down” your area of expertise.  Let’s use our example of “e-mail fundraising.”  Fundraising, obviously, is a term used by non-profit organizations.  Now, you may want to concentrate on e-mail fundraising for churches.  To be more specific, you may want to be an expert on e-mail fundraising for churches with under 500 members.  Once you make the determination of what you want your “niche” to be and you have accurately identified the marketing keywords you want to win pages for, you can begin to employ your blogs as a valuable sales tool! (Don’t miss my next blog, 5 Critical Steps to a Successful Blogging Initiative!)

     The bottom line is this: when blogging, be targeting keywords that you've thoroughly researched so that you know you can win page one rankings that will get you readers.  That process is called Keyword Marketing, and it can pay off in spades for you.

THAT’S MORE WORDS THAN IN A SMALL DICTIONARY!

            Jim was dumbfounded to the point of being speechless. He just sat there looking at me, trying to determine if I was telling him the truth or not. We were sharing a cola and some small talk, when he asked if I knew anything about Keyword Searches. He knew I did, but used the question to get us on the topic. Jim often sought my advice because of my relationship with Randall Mains, owner/director of PATHMAKER MARKETING. One of the services that PATHMAKER offers as part of their Small Business Marketing Strategies is Keyword Marketing. He offers it as an Online Marketing Tool, and helps clients accomplish that which they seek by using Pathmaker as their Search Engine Optimization Agency. SEO is, of course, a sound Internet Marketing Idea, and one that Jim, apparently, was hoping to incorporate in the Marketing Plan for his independent Sporting Goods Store.
 

            Anyway, we had jawed about it for a while when he asked me how many keywords might be associated with his business, and nearly dropped his teeth when I told him it could be upwards of a 100,000 or more. That’s where we were now - - him trying to fathom what I had just told him.
 

            “Floyder,” he finally began slowly, “you can’t possibly be serious, “ he was finally able to manage.

            “Actually, Jim, I am. If you do this the right way you have to be totally comprehensive.    Let me share a specific example with you, and then we will apply the principle to your business. PATHMAKER recently had a client in Canada that runs a large car dealership. The process started with over 50,000 keywords. From there we narrowed it down to 1500 - - and then to 300 words. This allowed them to shoot to the top of the list when people did an Internet search.”
 

            “You mean,” Jim began, again slowly, “that I should have more than just my name and the store’s name as keywords.”
 

            And therein lies the problem, I thought. So many people are unaware of the fact that Search Engine Optimization is a science, and not just a crapshoot.
 

            “You really think you could come up with that many words?” Jim asked, the gleam that was starting to form in his eye making the question almost a challenge.
 

            “Jim,” how many types of fishing lures do you either have, or have access to - - this is to include every color of every type and any other variations on the theme.”
 

            “Good Lord, Floyder, there’s thousands and thousands of them - - you know that!”
 

            It began right at his hairline, and slowly worked its way down his entire countenance - - realization was starting to settle in on Jim! I knew I had better intervene before he became so over-whelmed by this concept that he suffered from apoplexy!
 

            “It’s okay, Jim, you don’t have to actually include all of those in your list. What I would suggest is that you feature a few of the better ones for each type of fish - - trout, bass, and so on. And that brings up another point,” I added, hoping this new concept wouldn’t create a brain overload. “You may want to revamp your Keyword List for each Sporting Season as it occurs. I would do this,” I quickly added, keeping him as calm as I could, “by starting with the next upcoming season and then concentrating on each season as it comes along. That way, you won’t incur the cost for the total program all at one time.”
 

            “How do I know what words to consider,” Jim asked, handling all of this better than I thought. 
 

            “Well, you hire Pathmaker and we do the research and legwork. You will have constant input, of course, but we would take care of the list building.”
 

            For the first time in quite a while Jim’s face looked almost placid. Then, as I watched quietly, that gleam started to creep back in his eye.
 

            “Let’s try,” he exclaimed excitedly.
 

            “Try what?” I asked warily.
 

            “Listing 100,000 words. Come on, Floyder, we can do it!”
 

            I knew I was in for a long night - - either making the list or talking Jim out of trying!

 

IT ISN’T CAUSED BY POISON IVY!!

 

            “Floyder,” Jim began with a look in his eye that told me while his body was present his mind was somewhere else. “I can’t decide, so I would like your opinion - - wood or plastic?”

            It was obvious that Jim and I were about to have another one of our discussions where only he knows what we are talking about in the beginning. After a few well chosen and asked questions I can usually figure out what it is he is talking about, but sometimes he gets a little frustrated before I can get there! And, I have discovered, it isn’t just me - - pretty much everyone has this challenge with Jim! Anyway, I figured before I gave my opinion I probably should figure out what he was talking about.

            “Wood or plastic what?” I asked.

            “Why, back scratchers of course,” he replied, intimating by the tone of his voice that I should have known exactly what he was talking about. 

            “Do you mean which one do I like best?” I asked, still trying to figure out where this was going.

            “Well, I guess. I mean, like you and Randall said at the seminar at the Rotary Club meeting, we should always try to scratch our clients biggest itch, so I thought I would send them a back scratcher since I can’t possibly be there to actually do the scratching myself.”

            Obviously only Jim’s body was present at the seminar, too! What he was alluding to was the fact that Randall Mains, owner/operator of Pathmaker Marketing, had done a presentation on Internet Marketing Ideas and effective Online Marketing Tools. In his presentation he had mentioned that the most Effective Internet Marketing takes place when the business owner concentrates on his clients by “scratching their biggest itch,” Jim, who owns an independent sporting goods store, is always on the outlook for Small Business Marketing Strategies, but, as in this instance, he frequently gets his wires crossed in regard to what he is learning. Having more than a little success with the Internet Business Marketing Programs Randall and I have helped him with, he is always willing to follow our advice to the letter - - even when he has no idea what we were actually talking about.

            “Jim, that was Randall’s way of saying you need to find your client’s biggest need and then fill it for them.”

            He just looked at me like a kid who has discovered that a cow can’t really jump over the moon. As he shook his head back and forth a bit, I noticed that his eyes were back in focus, and that we probably were going to be getting somewhere now.

            “So, you really don’t scratch their back or anything”

            “No,” I assured him.

            “Ohhhhhhh,” he replied contemplatively. “Well, how do I know what their biggest need is?

            “Probably the best way to find out is to simply ask them,” I advised him truthfully.

            “You mean I have to call up everyone on my list?” he asked, incredulity heavy in his voice.

            “No. Since you have a pretty good size e-mail list, you can either use “Survey Monkey,” or put together a short questionnaire yourself.”

            “Can Pathmaker help me with this, or do I have to do it all myself?” he asked, the panged look on his face non-verbally pleading that we help him.

            “Sure, we can help.”

            “Great! So all I have to do is run the questionnaire and I’ll know what kind of things to offer forever!” he exclaimed triumphantly.

            “Well, that’s not quite true,” I informed him. Continuing before he could ask, I explained my comment. “Look, Jim, your business has several specific seasons that you deal with - - hunting, fishing, softball and so forth. And, in fishing that breaks down to summer and winter, as the needs for ice fishing are different. You should, I think, send out an e-mail at least every two months and see what people are looking for to make their sporting endeavors more enjoyable and productive.”

            “Ahhhhhh,” Jim said, his nod indicating he understood what I was talking about. “Boy, the people whose business isn’t seasonal sure have it a lot easier, since they only have to survey their clients the one time,” he commented.

            “That’s not quite right either,” I informed him. “With the number of paradigm shifts that are taking place in our society today, everyone needs to keep a finger on the pulse beat of their clients' needs.”

            Jim again nodded in agreement, and prepared to change the topic. He did, however, have one more question.

            “Floyder, what’s your biggest itch?”

            I realized that Jim was right about one thing - - he would need Pathmaker’s help with his questionnaire!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     I filed a recent client report showing the Page Ranking results for their 15 Keyword premier blogging service.  To produce this report, 22 targeted keywords and 2 URLs were checked on 5 search engines, including Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and AOL. The first 50 listings of each search engine were evaluated to get the client's current results.

     On May 25th they had 115 total Top 50 Page Rankings:
45 Top 10, plus
30 Top 20, plus
14 Top 30, plus
26 top 50.

     The Page Ranking report showed them receiving an overall 19 fold increase in Blog Listing Results vs. January 20, when they had 6 Top 50 Page Rankings (2 Top 20 and 4 Top 30). The premier blogging service we are using on their behalf is really delivering to them substantial results, and we're glad to to have it be a part of their core blog search engine optimization services.  What's nice about the system is how it automatically optimizes their blog posts for the search engines, saving them a lot of time and effort performing manual SEO.

     If you'd like to consider a substantive tool for your company or church blog, or Christian blogging efforts, then check out Compendium Blogware and then give me (Randall Mains) a call at 623-323-3334 to discuss how this substantial tool could reward your company with more leads, sales and name acquisitions, along with the ability to use the blogging process to establish yourself as an expert in your field.

     I've been asked recently to defend the use of my Compendium Premier Blogging Service, because so many other blogging tools are available for free on the internet.  Well, let me say this in my defense.  For anyone wanting a church blog, or wanting to use Christian blogging to get page Rankings in the search engines, I think my system is superior.
     There are three things that is does really well for me, automatically:
1. It optimizes my blog urls
2. It optimizes my page construction
3. It optimizes my page content
     My compended blog system creates keyword blogs from my posts that are optimal for my target keywords.  Those three things tend to get me noticed in Google, Yahoo and Bing, and I get really good Page Rankings as a result.  Plus, with my system, I leverage my blog posts into WordPress, Blogger, Xanga, LiveJournal, and Vox, so I get the benefit of using those free blog services too, but without having to worry about multiple accounts to upkeep.  My central blogging happens here, and the power of the internet flow it elsewhere.
    Until someone tells me otherwise, I'm asserting the fact that using any other blog system would require me to manually search engine optimize my individual blog posts, and since I do that for a living on client websites, I know how tedious and complicated that process can be to get decent page ranking results.
     Plus, my system allows you to have unlimited user blogs, which is a very hard to beat feature and benefit.
     If you want a demo of the high-powered premier blogging service we use to get stellar page ranking results for our clients, give me a holler at 623-322-3334, and ask me to show you the system we use.

      I marvel at how often clients come to us at Pathmaker Marketing and do not have a firm grasp of exactly what they want us to accomplish for them.  This seems to be as true for those companies who are seeking a small business marketing strategy as those charities who are interested in non-profit fund raising. 
     For whether they are looking for an online marketing tool, church outreach ideas or search engine optimization services, their goals are often murky and poorly defined.  An example would be those who put together an internet ad without having defined how to evaluate the results of the advertisement, or measure its success.
     First, as you develop your online ad you need to know what, exactly, you are expecting it to accomplish for you. 
     There are basically a few strategic things that you can hope to receive from your internet marketing endeavor - - a list addition, a lead or a sale.  Typically, your product or service will determine which you should expect.  For example, if you are selling your services as an Architect for Church Expansion, you will undoubtedly pursue leads, not sales. 
     On the other hand, if you are selling a $49.95 product titled “6 Steps to 1,000 Perfect Sermons,” the end result is more apt to be a sale than a lead. 
     Once you fully understand your objective you can better measure the results. Making this determination will allow you to decide whether or not your advertising program was a success.
     Second, as you determine your objectives you will find that they may be different depending on whether you are prospecting for new customers or selling to your current ones.  Example: is the list email you are using an “internal” or “external” list.  For an internal list, one where you are contacting current/past customers, you may decide that for a thousand dollar investment you will want to realize $10,000 worth of sales.  It might be more, it might be less - - you should be able to determine this because you will already have a track record with those individuals. 
     However, with an “external” list, a list of potentially new clients, you may be pleased even if you don’t break even!  For the same thousand dollar investment, a return of only $750.00 might be acceptable because you are acquiring new names/clients for future upselling to your internal list.  These individuals will have ongoing upsell potential and a “life time value,” which may be very significant.
     It is vitally imperative that you define your objectives, for without doing so you cannot determine if your campaign was successful or not!  Too, you may want to set up a “scale” of probably/possible success.  If your “goal” is to glean $10,000 on a $1,000 investment, and you only glean $8,500, you might decide that the program was, albeit short of your expectations, still a success.  As with any goal, not reaching the ultimate goal does not mean you failed.
     It is possible that you may need help in defining and refining your objective, and we at Pathmaker would be more than happy to assist you in this.  However, before you invest in an internet advertising be sure you know what you expect it to do for you!
     Give us a call if you need more help to find ways to win on the web.

            I heard him. And, I understood what he said. I did not, however, have any idea what he was talking about. Unfortunately, this seems to quite often be the case when Jim and I get together. He is a wonderful person, and a true and loyal friend. But sometimes he is just a tad out of step with the rest of the world. I used to think it was just with me, but I have discovered that it’s with everyone. The problem is, I have surmised, that typically Jim only shares half of what he is thinking at any given time. So, while it usually only takes a minute, it is wise to get the whole story from him before responding.

            “Jim,” I began slowly, making sure he would stay with me, “should what be digital or analog?’

            “Why, the watches!”

            We were almost there, but I still wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

            “Watches? What Watches?’

            “You know. You told me to be sure to add a free watch, and I just want to know which kind to buy.”

             A-ha! Now I knew what he was talking about. The day before I explained to him that Randall Mains and I had been talking about the importance of “adding a free watch” when doing an Online Ad. Randall shares this concept with his clients as an excellent Online Marketing Tool. It is but one of the many Internet Marketing Ideas that Pathmaker advises their clients to incorporate, and since Jim knows that I often work with Randall, he frequently picks my brain in regard to Small Business Marketing Strategies. Jim and I had been discussing Business Marketing Promotion Online, and I had mentioned that it is often wise to give a “free watch.”

            “Jim, the ‘free watch’ doesn’t really have to be a watch,” I said with a smile.

            I immediately knew I had lost him. He gave me a look as empty as his glass, so I ordered another round of colas and began to explain.

            “Jim, people often need extra motivation to buy something - - even when it is something they want or need. The ‘free watch’ concept is to provide them with a free gift that will push them over the top, if you would, to purchase that which they are considering.”

            “Ohhhhhhhhhh. What else can you use, and how do you know what to choose.”

            “Well, I’ll answer the second part of that question first. When choosing your free gift, make sure that it doesn’t eat up all of the profit you will realize when making your sale. A good rule of thumb is the gift might cost you five to ten percent of the profit realized.

            “Now, the gift should relate directly to what you are selling and your target market. For example, if you are going to feature a new fishing rod in your ad, you would not want your gift to be a free Bible Study, for example.”

            “I see. So, my free gift should be something sportsman would be interested in?”

            Jim was following the conversation extremely well!! As the owner of an independent sporting goods store, sportsmen were, in fact, his target market.

            “Yes, but you should try to make it more specific to the exact target market you are hoping to reach. In our example about the fishing rod, it would be better to give a free fishing lure than a free duck call. While fishermen and duck hunters are both sportsmen, the fishermen don’t have to be duck hunters, so the free duck call might not push them over the top.

            “So, the free gift is always an item?”

            “No, not necessarily. A really good ‘free watch” is to offer free Shipping and Handling. Also, ‘how to’ manuals are excellent free gifts.”

            “Hmmmm. With the fishing rod, a manual on how to tie your own flies would be better than one giving five easy steps to building a duck blind?”

            “By Jove ”, I thought, “I believe he has it!”

            “Any other questions?” I asked, wanting to make sure he had a full grasp of what I had shared.

            “Just one. Should they have straps or bands?”

            Sometimes Jim has a one-track mind with a narrow gauge!!!!

 
Pathmaker Marketing exists to find you ways to win on the web. Give us a call in Phoenix at 623-322-3334 if you'd like our help with Internet Marketing Ideas that can help your business grow.

           As usual, Jim’s loud proclamation got everyone’s attention. I had just raised my glass of cola to my lips when Jim burst through the door - - literally!, and laid his statement on me. I was mighty parched, but knew that Jim’s need was obviously greater than mine, so I put my glass down and swiveled to face him. 

            He looked awful. He was perspiring profusely, though it wasn’t all that warm out. The rivulets of perspiration that had flowed from his forehead to his chin had left little trails of grime, and his eyes were as large as saucers. I noticed it had become as quiet as an abandoned mortuary, as everyone in the room strained their ears to see what Jim was going to say next. 

            “Jim, let’s go over to a booth and discuss this.”

            He started moving with me, but he didn’t wait until we got there to continue. And, he didn’t tone it down any, either.

            “Floyder, I swear to God I've never removed my clothes in public. I mean, I’m considered one of the pillars of the community! Good Lord, what is Martha going to think if she reads this.”

            “Jim . . . JIM!!, “ I fairly shouted, until I got a look that reassured me he was finally back with me. “Jim,” I began more calmly, “what the smash are you talking about?”

            “You gotta help me, Floyder. There must be something you and Randall can do."

            Jim was alluding to Randall Mains, co-owner of PATHMAKER MARKETING, a firm that specializes in Internet Marketing and Premier Blogging Services, as well as other Internet projects ranging from Online Fund Raising for Non-Profit Marketers to Search Engine Optimization Services. For the life of me, though, I couldn’t connect Jim’s nudity proclamation with Pathmaker Marketing!

            Jim’s facial expression could now only be described as pleading, so I knew I was going to have to get down to the bottom of what was going on.

            “Jim,” I began succinctly, “tell me exactly what happened.”

            “Well, “ he began, “remember last night when you told me the importance of Search Engine Optimization, and how that both me and my Sporting Goods store should have a presence on the Internet?’

            “Yes,” I assured him.

            “Well, I had a few minutes this morning so I typed my own name into a Google search and it popped up right there on my computer screen that I am a Nudist. And, Floyder, it even had pictures!”

            “You saw a nude picture of yourself?” I asked, my voice almost as excited as his.

            “Of course not! Floyder, I already told you, I ain’t no nudist!”

            More than a little confused, I whipped out my laptop and set it up. By the time I had logged in and started my search, we had quite a crowd forming a half circle around the table. Everyone was so interested I didn’t have the heart to ask them to leave, and, apparently, Jim didn’t have the inclination to. Finally the link popped up, and when I clicked on it sure enough, there was a photo. Only it wasn’t Jim, and he wasn’t nude.

            “See, see what I mean. That’s not me,” Jim proclaimed.

            I took a moment and read the brief bio. The gentleman pictured had the same name as Jim, of course, but was nearly forty years his senior and lived in Pensacola, Florida. Everyone drifted away, apparently disappointed the man was adorned in a bathing suit and beach robe rather than being au natural, and Jim and I were again alone.

            “Floyder, what am I going to do?”

            “Well, Jim, you have discovered what a number of other people are learning. It is important that you protect your personal branding online - - both of your personal name and your business. What you need to do is spend either the time, or money, to make sure that when your name, and your company’s name, is typed in for a Google Search, the Jim they find is the one they are looking for.”

            “Can Pathmaker do that?” Jim asked.

            “Yes, we can, and very effectively I might add.”

            “Good! I’m going to call Randall right now and set up an appointment. But before I do, will you do me a favor?’

            “What’s that?”

            “Will you call Martha and tell her I ain’t never been a nudist?’

            The plea in his eyes was greater than the one in his voice, and there was no way I could say “no” to either!

Get Pathmaker Marketing to evaluate your personal brand on Google, Yahoo, Bing and AOL, and determine what you can do to displace any adverse listings that might appear.  Contact us at 1-623-322-3334 for a free consultation.

            Jim looked like a little lost pup when he walked into the place. To define him as looking “pathetic” would have been a little too extreme, but the man sure looked like he could use a friend. As you probably already know, I am his friend, so I steered him towards a booth and got him seated.

            “Floyder,” he began without any prompting, “are you sure sending out e-mails is a good Internet Marketing idea?”

            The question kind of caught me off guard - - not because he thought I would know the answer, but that he would even voice it. My association with Randall Mains and Pathmaker Marketing has allowed me to become familiar with a number of Online Marketing Tools, including the use of Social Internet Marketing, and especially email fundraising. Jim has been using his e-mail list what I thought was quite effectively, and I was therefore surprised that he was questioning its validity now.

            “Yes, Jim,” I assured him, “using your e-mail list is the most viable Small Business Marketing Strategy. Why do you ask?”

            “Floyder, I just had three people unsubscribe from my list because they said they were getting too many ‘junk’ e-mails from me. I don’t want to offend anyone because of my mailings.”

            Pulling out my calculator, I asked Jim a question I already knew the answer to, “How large is your list?”

            “About 10,000. Why?”

            “Well, if three people unsubscribed, that means you lost .03%, or .0003 of your list. Jim, if you don’t send out any e-mails at all you would lose 250 names through natural attrition rate (aka bounces), because the typical email list will lose 30% of its names per year to bounces, not unsubscriptions. You see,” I went on, “an e-mail list is like a muscle - - if you don’t use it, it will suffer from atrophy. In other words,” I added, “you either use it while you got it or lose it altogether over time.”

            “You mean people don’t get upset when they get a lot of e-mails?” he asked, true curiosity heavy in his voice.

            “Well, they could of course, but it depends on a couple of things. First of all, how often are you contacting them, and what, exactly, are you sending them?”

            “I have been sending out an e-mail about twice a month, and, usually, I am sending out notifications about items I’m running a sale on.”

            “Both of those sound reasonable,” I mused. Then, hit with an epiphany, I asked Jim another question.

            “Jim, when did you send out your last mailing?

            “Day before yesterday. Why?

            “Other than the three unsubscribers, have you had any other responses?

            “Yeah - - I had twenty three people buy the sale item on line, and another nine have come in so far and bought the product in person.”

            “So,” I said, picking up my handy dandy calculator, “in only two days you have already realized a sales closure rate of .32%. That means, Jim, that your success rate is 107,000 times greater than your unsubscribe rate - - and that’s after only two days!!”

            A big smile began to creep across his face. It started in his eyes, and then snuck down to grab the corners of his mouth to stretch that into the unmistakable evidence of the pleasure he was now feeling.

            “So losing those three people wasn’t that big of a deal?” he asked, even though it was obvious he knew it wasn’t.

            “Not at all. Jim, how many new names are you adding to your list a week?”

            “Probably forty or fifty”

            “Even if you lose three subscribers every two weeks, and 250 bounces per month, you’re still staying steady.”

            The smile got even bigger, and I noticed that “pathetic” was now a long way from the way he looked!

For more help with your email fundraising or email marketing efforts, go here or call 1-623-322-3334.
 

            I couldn’t tell if Jim was perplexed, confused or both. He had a somewhat dour look on his face, and was, obviously, not his typical jovial self. He was just sitting at the counter, heaving gigantic sighs, and I decided I had better get over to him and see how I could help. He had called earlier and requested that I meet him as soon as possible, but hadn’t indicated why.  He greeted me with what was as close to a smile as he could muster when I approached, and waited until we had situated ourselves in a booth before he explained what was wrong.

            “Floyder,” he began, heaving another one of those large sighs, “I think I have been hornswaggled, and by my own church!”

            I studied the man before me for just a minute. Jim is a good man, and usually when he wants to speak to me it is about Small Business Marketing Strategies, especially in the realm of Internet Marketing Ideas. Because of my affiliation with Randall Mains and Pathmaker Marketing,

he often visits with me about ideas he has for his Sporting Goods Store, but it was apparent that today’s meeting wasn’t business related. I know many of the people who attend Jim’s church, including his pastor, and was more than a little surprised that they would do anything to harm him.

            “What happened?” I asked, real concern in my voice.

            “Well, we were at a meeting last night to discuss fund raising for the church. We were kicking a few things around, and before I knew it I had been chosen to chair the committee. Floyder, I don’t know anything about fund raising.”

            I smiled to myself, realizing that things really weren’t all that bad. 

            “Well, maybe I can help you a little.”

            “Really, you think you can talk them into giving the chairmanship to someone else?

            “No, but Pathmaker Marketing does serve as a Non-Profit Consultant. We have experience with Non Profit Fundraisers, and even Non Profit Marketing. Are you trying to raise funds for anything in particular?”

            He took a few minutes and gave me a thumbnail sketch of what they were hoping to accomplish. Some of the projects had definite timelines, while others were more on-going in nature. When he finished, he asked me what I thought he could do. I mentioned a few programs that we had used, and told him that he would probably be better off contacting Randall in regard to this, as he has far more experience than I.

            “I don’t know if we can afford Pathmaker Marketing or not,” he shared.

            “Well, give him a call or e-mail him at randall@pathmakermarketing.net. I have always found that it is better to verify that I can’t afford something than to assume I can’t. After all, the worst thing that will happen is he won’t be able to help you.”

            Nodding his agreement, Jim began to smile. He now had the possibility of a “high tech” battle plan, at least, and would be able to look good the next time the committee met. We visited a while longer, brainstorming the typical fundraisers churches use, but knowing that the real money for Non Profit Fundraising is found by utilizing the Internet!

“FLOYDER, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH 365 BIBLES?”

 

            It was a legitimate question. In fact, I suppose one could wonder what anyone would do with 365 Bibles. Not only did I not have an answer to Jim’s question, I had no idea what he was talking about!

            You remember Jim - - my friend who is typically a day late and a dollar short when it comes to Small Business Marketing Strategies for the Internet. He is always on the lookout for Online Marketing Tools, but seems to misinterpret most everything he tries. He has had some luck in promoting his Sporting Goods Store, especially with Social Networking. Due to my relationship with Randall Mains and Pathmaker Marketing, he usually shares his ideas with me to get my take on it. This also usually results in my clarifying the points he is a little short of understanding. Today, however, it seemed that he had something other than Internet Marketing Ideas on his mind.

            “365 Bibles?” I asked, recognizing the lack of intelligence in my question. 

            “Yeah. You know that contest that you and Pathmaker were working on for the New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible?”

            Nodding my affirmation, I listened as he continued. 

            “Well, I went to http://biblecontest.newlivingtranslation.com/contestrulesandconditionss2.php and entered the contest - - and I won!!!”

            “You mean you won the trip for four to the Holy Land?” I asked, the excitement in my voice causing enough commotion that everyone else in the place began to start paying us a little attention.

            “No, I was too late for the first contest. I am,” he went on, “entered for the Grand Prize for the current contest - - the trip for two to the crystal clear waters of Oahu’s North Shore. No, that’s not what I won - - what I won was one of the Daily Bible Give Aways. Saaaaay, I’m not going to be disqualified because I know someone who works with Pathmaker, am I?”

            I assured him he wasn’t, and then asked, “Why did you ask about 365 Bibles?”

            “Well, I won a daily Bible, and there are 365 days in a year, so I guess that means I won 365 Bibles.”

            I took a deep breath and decided I would have to explain to him how the contest works.

            “Jim, the Daily Bible Give Away doesn’t mean that the winners get a Bible daily, it means that each and every day of the contest someone is chosen and they win a Bible.”

            I watched Jim for a moment, always intrigued by the metamorphosis his face under goes when the truth about a situation sinks in. This time was as enjoyable as ever. He was a little deflated, but rallied quickly.

            “You know, Floyder, I checked that New Living Translation Study Bible out, and it is really pretty neat. After reading it, I seemed to understand God’s word a little better than I usually do. Winning one was a pretty sweet deal.”

            He began to beam again, preparing for his parting salvo.

            “Besides, Floyder, what would I do with 365 Bibles!?!”

 

 

 

 

The New Living Translation Study Bible Sweepstakes

 

            If you aren’t already participating in The New Living Translation Study Bible Sweepstakes you need to correct that situation immediately! Designed by Randall Mains and Pathmaker Marketing, the Sweepstakes is an excellent example of one of their Small Business Marketing Strategies for utilizing Online Marketing Tools. Benefiting both the participants and the sponsor, the Sweepstakes was designed to help allow the sponsor to achieve certain milestones, and reward the participants as those milestones are met.

            The Sweepstakes started on March 16, 2010 with multiple milestones in place:

                        First Milestone: 1,700 Fans on the NLT Fan Page

                                    The prize for this level was a 32G iPod Touch and a Life Application   
                        Study Bible, with a retail value of $300.00. The rapidity with which this  
                        milestone was reached is nearly unbelievable, as within twenty-four hours, 
                        on March 17^th, the 1,700 Fans goal was reached.

                        Second Milestone: 3,500 Fans on the NLT Fan Page

                                    A Kindle DX and a Life Application Study Bible was the prize when 
                        this level was attained, and it didn’t take long to realize the goal! On March 
                        27^th, a mere ten days later, this prize, worth $489.00, was awarded.

                        Third Milestone: 5,500 Fans on the NLT Fan Page

                                    It only took a week to add the additional 2000 Fans needed to    
                        reach the Third Milestone. The prize awarded on April 3^rd was an Apple iPad 
                        16G and a Life Application Study Bible, valued at $499.00.

                        Fourth Milestone: 9,000 Fans on the NLT Fan Page

                                    To date, the prize for reaching this level, an Apple iPad 32G and a 
                        Life Application Study Bible worth $599.00, has not been awarded, as the 
                        needed number of Fans has still not been reached. 
As well as the four gifts/prizes listed, there is also a Grand Prize - - an Apple iPad 64G and a Life Application Study Bible, which has a value of $829.00.

            The fact that neither of the last two prizes has been awarded is why you need to, with great dispatch!, enter the Sweepstakes and the Contest associated with. Just click through on the following address and follow directions: http://www.facebook.com/NewLivingTranslation. You will also want to enter their Contest and Daily Bible Giveaway by visiting the following site and, again, follow directions: http://biblecontest.newlivingtranslation.com/contestrulesandconditionss2.php. The Grand Prize for the Contest is a trip for two to the Crystal Clear waters of Oahu’s North Shore!   Good luck in both, and enjoy the New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible.