Argh.

This morning I received yet another e-mail from some “marketer” or another, promising me the secrets of the guru’s for an unbelievably low price.

Uh-huh.

Amazing how such a large majority of marketers – even some of the most successful ones apparently – can’t seem to spell. Yep, they can dominate the search engines, suck ooodles of cash out of the pockets of hapless surfers, and effortlessly deliver truckloads of back-links to their web sites, without having mastered the basics of grammar.

Guru’s.

With an “apostrophe.”

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A few weeks ago, I put together a post on the growing popularity of online video. In it, I discuss how online video is exploding in popularity and why this surge of popularity has got me so excited. However, the majority of this article covers the logistics of video creation; what you need in the way of software and tools, and so on.

It doesn’t really address some of the really cool ways you can use video to leverage your web site, and its existing content. Since this discussion of video is near and dear to my own heart (I’m eager to find the best – and most efficient – ways to use it on my own site – UltimateFatBurner.com and Real-Customer-Comments.com), I’d like to share with you some of the more exciting avenues I’ve investigated, or am currently investigating.

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I highly doubt Bob Dylan had online videos in mind when he sang “the times, they are a-changing.” Nonetheless, his words are particularly apt in this case. Not too long ago, few people had access to the sort of affordable, high-speed internet services that made watching online videos practical. For most us, it was a hair-tearing, frustrating experience.

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OK, OK, I admit it. This post’s title – “Why PLR (Private Label Rights) Articles Suck…” is inflammatory, and quite frankly, it’s meant to be. I had to get your attention somehow.

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C-T-P-M. Content, Traffic, PREsell, Monetize.

The C-T-P-M acronym was, to my knowledge anyway, first coined by my old boss, Ken Evoy of SiteSell.com. It very concisely “verbalizes” one of the most effective means of building a successful, long term online business.

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It happened again.

Someone sent me a reciprocal link exchange request for a site in an obvious “under construction” state. It was a web site definitely NOT ready for links.

I’m at a bit of a loss as to why this happens so much.

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The task of creating high quality content for a web site can be intimidating. Many folks completely panic when they realize that “killer” content is the key to establishing themselves online, both with prospective visitors and the Search Engines. That’s understandable. Very few of us do much writing in our day to day lives, and most of us haven’t written anything creative since high school.

That’s OK. You CAN write great content. More importantly, you HAVE to. Sure, there are options for outsourcing content creation. For example, you can hire a writer from Elance or Guru.com, publish syndicated material on your web site, or buy PLR (Private Label Rights) articles. You can even use public domain material.

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I’m on the mailing lists of a number of Internet Marketers. Every couple of days or so I’ll hear from one or more of them, and there’s even a select few that e-mail almost daily! 99 times out of 100, these are promotional e-mails, as the guru in question – breathless with excitement – eagerly shares with me  some closely guarded, “just released to the public”, secret that will turn my hard drive into a cash-siphoning machine.

Sadly, very few of these folks are using their lists to build rapport, or to “give something back” to their customers. So many of the newsletters I read contain absolutely no material of merit. There are a few exceptions, of course, but so many contain nothing but blatant “pitches” for one product or another.

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Good content, say the Internet powers that be, is king. After all, good content builds trust, demonstrates your knowledge and expertise and establishes a bond between you and your visitors or prospective customers.

Or does it?

When I went to school, getting a 70% grade on an exam was considered “good.” It was, as far as “levels” of good went, pretty average. A 90% grade on the other hand, was considered exceptional.

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What’s the key to a successful Internet business?

Is it marketing acumen? A huge opt in list? Numerous joint venture partners? A keen hand at the fine art of SEO? (Search Engine Optimization).  Efficient utilization of social media tactics?

Nope. It’s none of these. It’s trust.  Read the rest of this entry »