5 STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL BLOGGING

Blogging is an excellent way to use the Internet to promote you and your business, church or charity.  As with any “tool,” however, to be most beneficial it has to be used properly.  Below are five basic thoughts you need to keep in mind when using blogging as a effective internet marketing tool.

 1)      Write About What You Know About—in Detail!

Blogging helps you establish yourself as an expert in your field.  As a result, you will want to concentrate on making sure your posts demonstrate your areas of expertise.  The key is to share in-depth on a particular topic rather than addressing a lot of topics without sharing any real information.  The catch phrase here is “Depth is more important than Breadth.” Be as articulate as you can, because for many prospective clients, your blog will be your first impression to them, and you want to demonstrate your areas of expertise.

If writing content is a real challenge for you, you may want to opt to have someone ghost write your posts, either someone on your staff with more flair for copywriting, or by retaining a professional. You could constent to be interviewed on your topics of expertise, so your specific thoughts come through in the final copy.

 2)      Be Genuine—Not Promotional!

This is not a time to “hype” yourself and/or your company.  Share real information regarding the topic you have chosen.  For example, if you are operating a sporting goods store and are blogging about the five best flies for trout fishing in June, elaborate on the various merits on the different flies, not on why everyone should come to your store to purchase them!  If your blog is a ministry blog, then make your outreach real, not just hype or hyperbole, If you share valuable and valid information in your posts, people will be drawn back to your blog and, eventually, to your website or online store, or even to the phone meet you in person and get more information—and, hopefully, the five flies too!

3)      You need to be Consistent—and if possible, Prolific!

Blogging is often like exercise—we know we should do it, and have every intention of doing it—when we can get around to it!  Also like exercising, it is only truly beneficial when we do it consistently.  A minimum of one to two blog posts per week will give you the kind of content quantity you need, but if you can ramp up to three-four a week, that would be even better. In other words, be consistent first, then increase your volume over time. One rule of thumb to consider is that Google will start to notice your blog after about 50 posts, and then revisit you for updates. Once your blog is initially spydered and ranked, you can train Google to return more frequently, by posting new content consistently.

4)      Choose the Right Blogging Tool

There are two basic blog services you can use—fee-based tools like Compendium and free blog tools like WordPress.  While the latter has the upside of being free, the former may be far more beneficial for your needs.  Understand that a major goal of blogging is to win “Page Rankings” in Google, Yahoo, Bing (and lesser Search Engines) on your target terms.

It's important to remember that tools like WordPress, Blogger, Typepad may require you to manually search engine optimize your posts to puruse your page rankings, while a Premier Blogging Service like Compendium is engineered from the ground up to optimize your posts for targeting  keywords.  Based on return on investment in getting you search engine rankings results, Compendium is generally a better blogging tool than WordPress, even though it costs, because of the fact that it helps you search engine optimize your blog posts while writing in order to succeed at getting your desired page ranking results. In other words, a free blog tool is a great deal, only if you are getting ranked in the search engines, or you can generate readership independently. 

In truth, our company uses both, with Compendium being the premier blogging service tool we lean on most, and consider to the best blogging service out there, while WordPress, Blogger, Typepad, LiveJournal and others are also used frequently or judiciously, when budget or other reasons need to be carefully considered. See a side by side comparison I did recently on the topic recently.

5)      Pick the Right Terms to Blog About.

Using the right search terms by targeting keywords in your business or ministry blog posts will result in increased page rankings in the search engines.  This is accomplished by determining your winnable keywords via careful and comprehensive keyword research, and then incorporating those words and terms into the text as you write.  You can do this keyword research on your own, using the Google keyword research tool (Google: Google Keyword Tool), which is one of the best keyword research tools to start with. You can also retain a pro services company like Pathmaker, that is adept at the process, to ensure you get it done correctly. Once proper research is done, any company can usually identify a total potential keyword pool of about 1500 terms to pursue. Then you have to rank those terms by winnability: determining their potential for you to win a page one ranking on each of them. Some will be winnable. Others will not be winnable without an enromous budget.

And here's one final bonus step to Successful Blogging:

 
 6)  Protect Your Content

WordPress has a documented habit of just closing down blog sites if they determine that the user has violated their usage standards for one reason or another.  Unfortunately, bloggers often don really know what those “standards” are, nor do they give you the opportunity to change your content to adhere to their prerequisites, once your site is down.  This is one of the hidden little secrets to the free tools out there...you could lose all your content since it's hosted on their servers, not yours.

The best way to protect your content is to install a tool like WordPress on your own web server rather than on theirs.  Then blog away. Your content resides on your own servers, not theirs, and you can rest easier knowing that it's safer.  A simple task, this is truly a worthwhile endeavor as a precautionary measure to protect your content. Obviously, you should always have local PC backups too for all content posted on your company or church blog.

For more assistance with blogging, don't hesitate to call Pathmaker Marketing, LLC in Phoenix, Arizona at 1-623-322-3334, and we'll be happy to help you sort this out further.

     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.

     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.

           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.

            “Floyder, I am ready!!!”

            Not only did Jim’s proclamation get my attention, it got the attention of everyone in the place. And, like me, they could all see that Jim was, in fact, ready. The question was - - ready for what? He was attired in some of the most unique garb I have ever seen anyone wear. His outfit looked like a cross between a Haz-Mat suit and something retrieved from the prop storage unit of a really bad Science Fiction movie. Where he actually did acquire all of the various parts of his outfit was a mystery, but not as confusing as why he had chosen to dress that way - - and then announce to me that he was ready. By now everyone had actually gathered around us, and I figured we should find out what was going on.

            “Jim,” I asked, “what are you prepared for?

            “The contest. I heard you and Randall talking about a contest where you have to sweep steaks. I have been around enough raw meat to know that it can get more than a little nasty, so I thought I had better get an outfit that would protect me from all the yuckiness.”

            If you have read many of my other blogs you already know about Jim. Owner of an independent Sporting Goods Store, he is, to the best of his ability, trying to go “Hi Tech” with his Marketing. And, as a result, he sometimes gets his wires crossed in regard to the different programs being offered. That, obviously, is what had happened this time. Jim had joined Randall Mains, Director of Pathmaker Marketing, and I the other day late in a conversation we were having regarding the various aspects of a project we are working on for a client. Pathmaker’s area of expertise is coming up with Internet Marketing Ideas, which ranges from Keyword Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Services to Premier Blogging Services and everything in between. For this particular client, the “contest program” that we are employing includes the base contest, a sweepstakes, and a giveaway. Jim, having heard only bits and pieces of what was being said, surmised that there was a contest where the winner would be the one who could best sweep steaks. I smiled at Jim as I explained to him, and all of those present, what Randall and I had actually been talking about.

            The loud groan from the crowd indicated that everyone present was hoping to watch the steak sweeping actually take place. Everyone but Jim drifted away, and once we were alone he just gave me a somewhat sheepish grin. I smiled back, knowing that to him a steak-sweeping contest might actually be a valid Small Business Marketing Strategy. As I thought about it, I could almost accept that it could be an Internet Business Marketing Promotion if you reached the right Target Market with an E-mail blast. 

            “Floyder,” Jim said, breaking my train of thought, “is the contest program working?”

            I assured him that it was. So well, in fact, that this was actually the second contest we are doing for the client. That seemed to satisfy him, and, bidding me adieu, he sauntered out of the restaurant to parts unknown. I, on the other hand, could only wonder if he would have, in fact, won the steak-sweeping contest!

To preview our real NLT Facebook Sweepstakes, Bible Contest and Giveaway, visit the linked copy in this string of text through April 30, 2010. You could enter to win one of our daily NLT Bibles or the Grand Prize of a trip to Hawaii.

A virtual tour can be an interesting and valuable addition to your website, and if you do it properly, it can be a valuable part of your internet marketing ideas.

But if you’re thinking of adding a virtual tour to your non profit website design, you’ll need to take a number of issues into account before getting started.

1. What is the goal for your tour?
If your Internet marketing idea is to showcase your business, then you’ll want a lot of photos of your campus – this is a more informational type of tour. But if your Internet marketing idea is to tell the inspiring story of how your ministry, church or business started, you’ll want to have more drama in your tour – and this could add to the bandwidth as you include more sound effects and perhaps video.

As you begin to compile information for this particular Internet marketing idea, you’ll want to always keep your specific goal in mind and organize that information in the tour so that it will be easy to present and experience. And you’re going to want to focus on what makes your campus, business, product, etc., unique.

Whether you include a virtual tour in your website as an informational or inspirational Internet marketing idea, you’re going to need to provide a real guided tour – not just drop people off and make them find their own way around on their own. This brings up another point, some people will want to be dropped off and explore, meaning you're going to need a visible map so anyone can find their way around ... and include the words "Begin Here" in the map.

2. Who are you trying to reach?
If your non profit is a university primarily for people directly out of high school, this Internet marketing idea should showcase the sorts of things that appeal to younger people. But if you have a combination of younger students plus people coming back for some mid-career training to stay relevant, you may be talking about two different tours. You need to think this through so filming day takes the approach for the generation you’re attempting to reach, and you’ll want your script, and the narrator, to have the voice of the generation you’re trying to reach. Any information you provide is going to need to be relevant and interesting to your specific audience – from their point of view, not yours.

3. What kind of interactivity will your audience most appreciate?
Some people, especially younger people, want to be in control of their browsing experience. They’ll appreciate choices – where can they click to find out more information? Some older people may want the tour to completely load and allow them to sit back and watch with few needs on their part for making choices. Your tour should be more than QuickTime videos with some text. It should be a special production that integrates many different kinds of media – videos, text, maps, photos, etc.; but these should be done in a seamless way so the viewing experience is appropriate for the audience and flow well. And provide choices for people who want to sit back and watch your tour as well as those you want to get dropped off and do a more self-guided tour.

4. What kind of bandwidth will you be working with?
Your IT department will be very unhappy if a virtual tour suddenly goes online that you have not discussed with them because they have a specific amount of bandwidth to work with, and you need to make sure your project is going to be well served without taking from other functions of the server.

Pathmaker Marketing is a professional fundraising company that serves ministries, non profit organizations and a for profit businesses. We offer search engine optimization services, fundraising services, blogging services, business marketing promotion online, and many Internet marketing ideas. Give us a call at 623-322-3334 to see how we can assist you, whether with a virtual tour or any other kind of website design or online fundraising services.

After you’ve made your masterpiece of a website, the next thing to do is get people there. And then you’ll want to convert them to assets such as lists, leads, sales and donations. Business marketing promotion online consists of five basic elements. All require some level of online marketing expertise that professional fundraisers offer. One excellent online marketing professional and non profit consultant you may want to contact is Pathmaker Marketing LLC.

The five elements of a complete business marketing online promotion plan, particularly as it relates to search engine marketing, are outlined below.

Blogging to win organic search

Many people have blogs, but you need one that is a workhorse to help you achieve your business objectives. Pathmaker Marketing uses a Premier Blogging Service that leverages each of your blog posts into several others. It’s keyword-oriented, meaning you identify the keywords that best relate to what you do, whittle those down to the ones that will be the easiest to get you into a top 10 ranking in search engines, and then really focus on blog posts that use your keywords. The advantage of the tool Pathmaker Marketing uses is that it automatically posts to several of your keyword blogs, giving you more content in your blog and more links back to your website. This makes your site easier for search engines to find. No other blogging tool works as hard for you as this one.

Link Building

Getting websites to link back to yours is essential for getting search engines to list you in the top 10 results on keywords that relate to you. You want national links, authoritative links, "deep" links and local links. It’s a manual process of submitting your site to directories, getting yourself into sites like Wikipedia and finding other websites to link to you. Pathmaker Marketing offers fundraising services that will help you build your links efficiently.

Social & Professional Media

There’s more to having a social media account that works for you than simply opening up an account in Facebook, Linkedin or some other professional site. You need to open the account appropriately so you can develop business content and link backs to your website. If you don’t set it up right, you could get limited value from your social and professional networds. Once you have the account set up properly, then you can increase the number of links back to your website, and you can auto flow blog posts through these account. It all adds up to increased visibility.

Pay Per Click Advertising

This is a good way to jump start your website's traffic. You advertise on sites like Google using your keywords. You develop dedicated landing pages for these keyword ads so that people see the appropriate content when they click on a specific ad. Dedicated landing pages also help you measure how well your ad is working for you. And they give you a way to collect the information you need to build your email list and get sales or donations. You only pay for these ads when someone clicks on your ad.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

This involves having the right content on specific pages so that when someone does a search using one of your keywords, they get directed to your page. You should optimize many pages on your site using different keywords. Pathmaker Marketing uses a tool that helps measure how effective your content is for a specific keyword.

Call 623-322-3334 to schedule a free consultation with Pathmaker Marketing, or click here to visit the website.
 

Four years ago, I was a wreck.  I was an arrogant, self-involved person who proclaimed that she had no need for God.  I did not see the value of reading the Bible or being in fellowship.  Faith to me was nothing but psychological gibberish masked as religion.  I believed that the only person I should have faith in was me. 

Fast-forward to today.  I am changed person.  I have become a person whose basic principles and beliefs are centered on the Bible.  I am an active member of the church who often volunteers to make sure its activities go well.  I sing in the choir, host Bible studies, share the Gospel and invite my family and friends to church.   

So, what happened between now and then?  Well, I literally and figuratively searched for God on the internet and was led from one website to another.  Finally, all the information I collected in my head translated into spiritual grace moving in my life. 

I believe that I was not the only one searching for God at that time.  I am blessed that my search led me to my salvation.  But, wouldn´t it be a shame if there were someone like me in your area searching for your church but you could not be found?    

This is why we are writing this – to make sure that your church is able to use the world wide web to upgrade your church outreach on the internet and to help your congregation grow both spiritually, in number and in resources. To that effect, we've compiled this list of Top 10 Internet ideas for Church Outreach and Online Marketing.

 1. Launching a Ministry Blog to Expand Your Outreach and Find New Friends is our 1st of 10 Church Outreach Ideas for the Internet.

A blog is an online commentary that can be read by an infinite number of people at any given time. There are many people out there who follow a couple of blogs on subjects that are of their interest.  Chances are you also read the blogs of your family, friends and mentors regularly.   

To maintain a ministry blog is a exceptional way to speak and minister to a diverse, often international audience.  By writing down your current spiritual insights, excerpts from your sermons, or devotional thoughts, you can communicate powerful messages that would help your readers grow in their faith.  Additionally, you also get a chance to interact with many people as they share their own reflections or their point of view in your blog´s comments section.   

Truly, a church blog is a wonderful way to enlarge your online ministry and get to know the thoughts of people both within and outside your congregation.  That being said, you must remember that there are over 50 million blogs out there.  Your ministry blog will easily get lost in cyberspace if you do not use the proper techniques that guarantee that you reach your target audience. So, how can you leverage your blog to expand your outreach while also establishing new friends?

Unless you have plenty of time to search engine optimize (SEO) your blog, you should avail yourself of a premier blogging service from Pathmaker Marketing.  It has costs associated with it, but it excels in so many ways beyond the free blog options available on the internet. The compended system in a effective internet marketing tool that helps you write keyword-rich blog content in a search-engine friendly manner. This powerful tool allows you to write one blog and then it populates (compends) your content across multiple "keyword" blogs, thereby saving you enormous time and effort.

It also automatically provides search engine optimization services for your blog (and each keyword blog), making them all friendly to Google, Yahoo and Bing.  Plus, you can have as many users as you'd like on your blog system, meaning your staff, associates, youth pastor, deacons, elders can participate too. 

The goal of this church outreach tool is to get your blog to display in the Top 10 search results on your target keywords so that people find you online in internet searches. When your blog shows up in a Google display of results, you get reader traffic that can become new ministry friends, new church visitors, etc. As your church blog shows up in Google results, your blog truly becomes an outreach onto the internet, ministering to new people even as it encourages them to become ministry participants or church visitors. For examples, see:

Dr. David Mains´ blog is a 20-Keyword compended blog rich in keywords and spiritual content.

Or examine the Pathmaker Markering blog to see a 50-Keyword compended blog system in action.

You can also Google: Premier Blogging System

For a free demo: Call Pathmaker Marketing at 1-623-322-3334

What you really want out of a premier blogging service is to see it deliver results, right?

Well, consider this.  With four posts to this compended, Keyword Blog system, I've already gotten to a Top 10 position on Google for this Keyword phrase: Premier Blogging Service. And I intend to stay there by talking about all the merits of this keyword marketing, compended, premier blogging tool.

For one, it flows my blog posts automatically onto the appropriate keyword blog categories. That saves me a ton of time and effort that I get to spend in other areas of my life. This unique feature is called compending. Said in another way, it auotmatically "populates" each appropriate keyword blog every time I post to my main blog.

Secondly, it search engine optimizes all my blog posts, guiding me to create content that makes the search engines, like Google, Yahoo and Bing, very happy. Plus the content is targeting keywords on the internet.

Thirdly, I can have unlimited users on my system so other friends, staffers or colleagues can help me in the blogging process. That doesn't cost me anything extra. And I like the extra help. It gives my blog the edge in developing ongoing, relevant content.

Fourthly, it allows me to generate content that gets flowed all across the internet. In doing so, it finds me new friends, who like what I have to say, and want to consider further the services I have to offer.

Fifthly (is that a word?), I can autoflow all my blog posts from this system onto my other "free" blog accounts.

Finally, it's so easy to use, I just love it. And it comes with complete tech support so that if anything ever goes wrong (which it never does), I'm covered.

If you'd like a Free Demo on this exceptional internet marketing tool, (which can easily become your church blog, ministry blog, church outreach, christian blogging tool, christian marketing tool, non profit marketing tool, or small business blog service), please call me today at 1-623-322-3334. Ask for Randall Mains, and I'll be glad to share my enthusiasm with you about this fine product that you can take advantage of too.

If you are using a Premier Blogging Service, like this compended marketing tool that I'm promoting here, for your ministry blog or church blog, you can also autoflow your blog posts across the internet for maximum church outreach and internet business marketing promotion.

Once you've got your core blog services established and you are blogging away, consider the following process for leveraging your content across the internet.

1. Establish a new account with ping.fm
2. Establish a new account with twitterfeed.com
3. Create a new feed in twitterfeed that pulls content from your source blog and autoflows that content into your ping.fm account.
4. Choose the accounts you want to establish in ping.fm

For example, blog acounts include: Wordpress, Blogger, Xanga, LiveJournal and Vox.
Social accounts include: Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, Linkedin, Jaiku, Tumblr, etc.

Doing this will populate your blog posts into your free blogging services, and into your social networks, without any need to spend extra time.  You can then begin to implement efficient, effective internet marketing.

You can also just use the ping.fm account on its own.  This is relatively simple process but it requires you to create a simple message every time you want to flow content out. So it's mildly more involved but still a superior method than updating all your accounts one by one.
I like to autoflow my blog posts across the internet, then use ping.fm for additional messages that are not part of my blogging process.

If you need professional help to get this done for your church outreach or small business, don't hesitate to call me directly at 623-322-3334 and Pathmaker Marketing will be happy to perform the process on your behalf. 

Installing an effective ministry blog or church blog can be a simple decision.  Do you want to go the free route, using a service like Wordpress or Blogger, or do you want to go with a premium service like Compendium which costs something but is a real marketing tool for your ministry?

I would argue to go with the premier blogging service first.  Then add your free blog services later.  Let me explain why I feel that way. 

The compended blog tool that I use is a superior outreach and promotional vehicle for my company and could be for your ministry, church or small business as well.  It gives me the following advantages in effective internet marketing:

1. It allows me to establish multiple Keyword blogs. (See my Category list down the right sidebar of this column). Each of these Keyword blog terms has been carefully researched, then run through 2-3 serious evaluation layers, giving me a high degree of confidence that my Keyword Blogs can bust into a Top 10 listing on Google, Yahoo or Bing.  As long as I stay committed to developing relevant content for my keywords, this tool assures me a fighting chance for a Top 10 listing on my terms. It could do the same for you.

2. It populates all my Keyword blogs automatically as I create my primary blog posts.  This saves me a hige amount of time and energy.  It effectively leverages my writing effort dozens of times over.  For example, once I finish writing this blog post, the system will automatically "compend" it to these other relevant Keyword Blogs (Blog Services, Ministry Blogs, Church Blog, Premier Blogging Service, Ministry Blog, Christian Blogging, etc). Do you get that incredible advantage?

3. Each Keyword Blog is also fully Search Engine Optimized on that term for Google, Yahoo and Bing.  That begins with each blog having a unique URL. It also includes a nifty color bar tool that enables me to create each post in a way that my copy is fully optimized for my terms.  I would have to do these steps manually otherwise, a time-draining process at best, even for a marketing firm like ours.  For those who don't understand the SEO process at all, this advantage would be out of reach. If you paid someone to Search Engine Optimize your blog, it would cost you hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars of income.  It might even be money well spent, if it gets you a top listing for your blog, but the point is, I don't have to spend any money on SEO with this tool, because my blogs are already optimized for every keyword in our system.  Yours would be too.

4. It allows me to have unlimited blogger accounts. I can open up the blogging process to as many staffers or writers as I 'd like, at no additional cost to me.  This gives me the advantage of getting content from multiple sources rather than just relying on myself or a few dedicated writers. If you're a church, for example, you could have your Senior Pastor, Associate Pastor, Youth Pastor, Worship Leader, C.E. Director, even Deacons and Elders all blogging ont eh same system, under one account.

5. It notifies the search engines each time we update our blog.  This process, called pinging, keeps Google informed that there is new content available for evaluation. It does this step so you don't have to.

6. It is actively fighting to get me visibilty on my keywords -- it's a true marketing tool.  The compending and optimization process, by intent and design, is looking to establish a presence for each keyword in my blog in the Top 10 results of a Google search. This primary goal recognizes that if I get presence on my terms, I will get qualified traffic from those terms to my blog. Qualified traffic to my blog means qualified names added to my email lists, new leads to my church, new sales for my business and/or gifts to my ministry.  This system is prospecting for new customers for me even as it establishes me as an authority in my areas of expertise.  It would accomplish the same strategic objective for your company.

7. It allows me to autoflow my content to the free blog services.  Once my premier blogging service is installed, then I also have the option to begin flowing my blog content automatically into numerous other free blog services like Wordpress, Blogger, Xanga, LiveJournal, Vox, etc.  This way I get all the advantages of my superior marketing tool and maintain a presence in the other blog services, without any additional effort on my part.
You would establish a substantial presence across the internet with this tool in your marketing lineup.

8. It allows me to control the posting process.  Each post that gets submitted from my bloggers goes into a qeueu waiting for my approval. This allows me to oversee the posts, perform quality control if necessary, and approve them before they go live. You would ahve the same measure of content control.

9. It comes with a superior team of tech support professionals. Although it's really a turn-key process, if you need help in getting to success using this superior tool, the Pathmaker Marketing team and Compendium are both available to help you.


For a Free Demo of these online marketing tools, call me today at 623-322-3334, and I'd be more than happy to discuss in more detail how this resource could be implemented for your church ministry, non profit organization or small business.

Choosing a Premier Blogging Service makes all the difference in the world.

The blog post that you are reading right now is part of a 50 Keyword, Compended Blogging system.  It's a high -powered outreach tool and ministry marketing machine rolled into one.  It could easily be adapted as your church blog, ministry blog or christian blogging system.  To see how this superior blogging tool works, review the posts on my page, notice the categories that are targeting keywords in the right sidebar, click on my calls to action, and enjoy the overall professionalism of this incredible ministry tool.

Consider this as an upgrade to your church outreach online. See it as a major player in your non profit marketing lineup.  Consider it thoroughly as one of your key outreach ideas.  Add it to your core set of small business marketing strategies. Use it as an outlet for preaching or teaching from your pastors, elders, deacons or lay leaders.

Here's how the blog services work:

1. I do strategic keyword research to find those golden search terms that I want my blog to appear in the top 10 results on Google, Yahoo or MSN.
2. I faithfully and thoughtfully blog about internet marketing ideas three times a week or more on my keyword categories (I add other users as I want at to help push up my weekly postings).
3. The compending system takes my posts and appropriately distributes them (compends and re-allocates) onto my 50 keyword blogs in a search engine optimized fashion, notifying Google about my new content, and saving me tons of time and effort.
4. After about 50 posts Google starts to notice me and display by blogs in my keyword results.
5. After 200 posts I'm getting seen as an authority on my subject(s) so I begin to get significant traffic on my target search terms. This goes on forever if I keep on blogging.
6. I work to convert the qualified traffic that visits my blog into lists, leads or sales through calls to action like Whitepaper Downloads, Case Studies, Webinars, Email Signups, etc.
7. I watch my business grow because my blog establishes me as an authority in my field and brings me qualified search traffic every single day.
8. I buy groceries and clothes and other stuff for the wife and kids.
9. I go to sleep happy as my business grows and I become more successful online.

Any Questions?

Call me at 1-623-322-3334. Ask for Randall Mains at Pathmaker Marketing. Ask about my Premier Blogging Service that is keyword marketing my business all across the internet. If I can do it, so can you. Call today.

I want to share with you a specific strategy that we are using to help our Pathmaker clients in the area of Keyword Marketing. This is a five-part plan for effective internet marketing and prospecting by targeting keywords used in Google searches.

The goal of the plan is to isolate priority keywords that relate to the ministry niches of non profit organizations. This approach can also be used in any commercial business.

Step One is targeting keywords that will give you qualified website traffic that you can convert into marketing assets...namely lists, leads, gifts or sales.  I'll talk more about Keyword Research in future posts.

Step Two is identifying strategies you can use to gain dominant real estate positions on your priority keywords.  Often this second step is begun by targeting searches around your company name, executive's name, or ministry brands. These are your priority keywords and you should be looking to establish complete domination of the real estate around these keywords.

I usually break down the keyword results into the following catagories:
1. Your Websites
2. Positive Reviews (but not your sites)
3. Neutral Results
4. Competitor Results
5. Negative Results

If your ministry, top executive or ministry brands have any search results showing up in category #5, you need to go immediately into reputation management mode, whereby your top objective is to subordinate any negative or adverse search results onto page two, three or four, which most people never read.  These negative results are tarnishing your brand.  Why would someone consider making a gift to your ministry (or buy from your business) after reading a compelling piece of adverse publicity about you in the top 10 listings?

If you don't have any #5 results about your company, (celebrate over lunch first) then you can proceed into targeting keywords using the five-part strategy below. Your goal is to move competitor listings, and potentially even neutral listings, off of page one top 10 results by replacing them with search results that you control.

The chart below shows how to do keyword marketing using five core methods:
1. Search Engine Optimization of your website;
2. Pay-per-click advertising via Google, Yahoo or MSN;
3. Link building in multiple ways like local listings, volume, deep, and authority links;
4. Targeting Keywords using our premier blogging service
(Not just any blog will do, but our keyword targeting, compended blog services will);
5. Entering the Social Media world strategically and effectively.

An illustration of this approach is vividly demonstrated in the image below.



More insights into how to accomplish this will come in future posts.

In the meantime, if you'd like to talk with Pathmaker about how our Keyword Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Services shown above can help your 501c3, simply call us today for a free consultation (623-322-3334).