LNIM055 – WordPress Attack and Consumer Intent

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

In this episode, we talk about the new WordPress Attack, chat more about Niche Keyword Research, why it’s important, and how to think about it. We also tackle a really tough listener question about money making potential in internet marketing. Is it worth the time? All this and more! You gotta love that.

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There is a WordPress attack underway. You can read about it on the CERT site. Concern is creation of a massive high-bandwidth botnet.

Here are some things you should do right away

Update all themes, plugins and (of course) WordPressMake sure that you do not have a user named “admin”Install Limit Login Attempts plugin

Big thing last week was the end of the Forever Affiliate 6 week coaching program. I can say without a doubt that this is the best affiliate marketing course that I have ever been involved in. It was just awesome. As a result of the course, I have a 20 site plan for 2013 with the goal of having 10 brand new profitable sites by the end of the year.

I’m slower than some of the other people in the course because in addition to my day job, I have this crazy blog and podcast to maintain. My plan is still to report all the results to you as they happen. I have this awesome master control spreadsheet complete with tasks and target dates. I need to update that for “reporting” so that I can easily and accurately tell you what is going on….but the basic snapshot is like this. I have the process broken out into five major steps:

Niche selection — including finding an offer, finding keywords and profit testingSite Build — this includes getting the domain up and running with WPPost Content — includes ordering content and images and posting themMonetize site — includes link tracking, offer placement, etcInitial promotion — includes cheap promotion before sale for about a monthPaid testing — includes paid testing through PPCAsset promotion — if the site makes sales, big promotionOngoing promotion — rankings achieved, ongoing promotion

Current status

14 niches identified4 sites built3 sites have content posted1 site in initial promotion

Also working on a cool experiment with another 10 sites based on this report from John Leger and Josh Spaulding.  The report shows how to make automatic sites in just 4 easy steps using Article Builder and Keyword Canine.

We have had more sniffles, fevers and other junk running around my house. I am starting to wonder if we are cursed. It’s really hard to work on your internet business when you don’t feel great, or when you are taking care of a sick little one. It’s one of the things that gets in the way.

Michael Stephens

Mark -I have for some time now been going down the road of affiliate/internet marketing, but the thought that is continually nagging in the back of my mind is that is this really worth the effort? I don’t mind at all working hard for something, and putting in the time, as I realize its not going to occur over night, but I don’t want to do it if its all for nothing and there is no payoff.

I guess I think about it this way – there are certain activities that a person can do that have higher values in an economy than other things. For example a doctor usually demands a higher salary than a clerk in a department store. And I know that if I want to make that higher salary of a doctor, I need to get the education etc. and thus there is a payoff for the effort.

But for internet marketing – there doesn’t appear to be any comparisons – to some extent it feels like I’m rolling dice – it might work and it might not – its a chance. I’m not looking for a guarantee – I just want to make sure I’m using my time wisely and not wasting it. Even if I develop a website that is in the center of my passion and interests, if its not making money and I’m not providing for my family, then its not a business, its a hobby. I heard it said that if you want to catch a whale then you have to go out to the sea where the whales are at- with internet marketing – I can’t figure out whether I’m fishing in the Pacific or fishing in a kiddie pool.
Do you have any thoughts on it??
Thanks
Mike

After listening back to the last several episodes about finding niches online, I was reminded about the critical importance of keyword research to everything we do in internet marketing. When it comes to selecting niches for affiliate marketing, one of the most critical criteria is whether or not your’ve going to have an audience for whatever project that you are about to undertake. SEMoz says it really well:

Keyword research is one of the most important, valuable, and high return activities in the search marketing field. Ranking for the “right” keywords can make or break your website. Through the detective work of puzzling out your market’s keyword demand, you not only learn which terms and phrases to target with SEO, but also learn more about your customers as a whole.

It’s not always about getting visitors to your site, but about getting the right kind of visitors. The usefulness of this intelligence cannot be overstated – with keyword research you can predict shifts in demand, respond to changing market conditions, and produce the products, services, and content that web searchers are already actively seeking. In the history of marketing, there has never been such a low barrier to entry in understanding the motivations of consumers in virtually every niche.

Patrick M Matherne from a Facebook thread here

Hey Mark got a question. I have a site I am staring up that will be based on providing free test questions for people. I am getting really close to having my first mini test out. What I was wondering is how to promote the site on the search engines. Would it be better to go after the test itself or have each page target the question content?

That is a keyword research question fundamentally. You need to put yourself in the shoes of the person that you are targeting. They are trying to prepare for a test — and they are looking for sample questions. What are they typing in Google? Check those phrases. You probably want to target those initially unless you find them too low a volume or too competitive. In your thinking you need to consider what you plan to do with this “prospect” that you give free test questions to. Are you going to sell them a course on passing the test? If so, you’ll want to look at those keywords about studying for the test as well.

Regarding your specific question — again this is a question of intent. If there is search traffic for the question content AND that traffic is part of your target audience, they yes. BUT I expect this is NOT the case for you. Take the example of a computer technician exam. 99% of people searching for “How To Format A Hard Drive” are not searching for that because they are preparing for an exam. They are searching for that because they need to format their hard drive — so they are not your target market. Make sense?

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As always, I’d love to hear what you think about the podcast. Better yet, I’d love to answer your question about Internet marketing on the show. Just drop me a line here on the blog or on the digital recorder at 214-444-8655. Don’t worry, there are no stupid questions. Unless you tell me not to, when you ask a question or leave a comment might even use it on the show.

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