Martin Koss – Internet Marketing Strategy Coach

It winds me up sommat rotten when I hear of someone using a bogus copy of expensive software that the rest of use shell out good money for, or when I hear of someone’s huge collection of divx movies that were hacked and downloaded for free, or the DJ who proudly advertises 100,000 tracks – most of which came from LimeWire or some other dodgy website…

The thieving cheating criminal ______________s…
(feel free to fill in the blank with your own choice word)

Just this morning (or, the other morning, depending on when you’re reading this – or, one morning about a year ago – you get the idea) I was checking some ‘latest’ Google snippets and came across a PDF of Chris Brogan & Julien Smith’s book “Trust Agents” was now available via one of those sites that should, quite frankly, never get indexed by Google, should never be given any search engine rankings and should be taken down for illegal activities. Read the rest of this entry »

For about the 3rd time this week I found myself rushing through the ‘crash course’ of DIY Internet Marketing by phone to a small business owner. He knows his business better than anyone else and is, in my opinion, best suited to do his own marketing.

Maybe one day when he is too busy for all the Googling and Facebooking and Twittering he can hire an SEO dude, someone to distribute content on a wide scale and maybe a bloggist but – for now – the DIY route is the best way to get started without shelling out more cash than he is able to spend.

So this post is for all the small business folks out there who want a five minute ‘crash course’ on Internet Marketing. No jargon, nothing that’s really going to challenge the gray-matter, nothing too tasking at all really.

Ok, start the clock – the 5 minutes minutes starts… Now: Read the rest of this entry »

Isn’t it sad that more and more suppliers only want us to listen to reminders of how wonderful their website is when we call them by phone – possibly because we can’t get any joy on their website?

Just the other day I was struggling with a supplier’s website – I was unable to login (which is the only way I could buy the item I wanted) so I called their ‘sales’ and advice line. Instantly I got a message saying that their call centre was experiencing a ‘seasonal’ high call volume and it may be easier and faster to find the answer I’m looking for via – you guessed it – the website.

I hung on a while – ‘cos I’m a persistent so n so… Eventually given the option to press 3 for technical support… And there I was told to call back at another time as they are experiencing a higher than normal call volume.

Funny really – because within the past few weeks I’ve heard the same BS several times when calling a variety of suppliers – it seems none of them want to provide telephone support or telephone based customer services, and why? Well, I think the answer is simple: it saves money by ‘forcing’ their paying customers to wade and wait. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you still been bombarded with ‘free’ reports and ‘amazing new software’ that works with, or shows you how to make the most of, the ‘latest’ Google update? Still? Months after the update actually happened?

Some people just can’t do enough BS creation and I for one find it so annoying that so called experts and ‘insiders’ try lining their pockets by ‘selling’ their products and services based on what is, effectively, old news.

I got an email this morning inviting me to a webinar which would explain to me all the amazing new features of the latest Google update – code named ‘Caffeine’ (as we all know by now, of course) and how optimising web content has changed ‘dramatically’ because of it (cough, cough, erm… bullshit).

Whenever Google launch an update, which is more often than is publicised, by the way, there is a gaggle of money grabbers who announce that they, and only they, have all the ‘secrets’ you need to take advantage of the ‘newest’ version of the most powerful and most widely used search engine.

If anyone gets in touch and spouts on about ‘optimising your website for the latest Google update’ tell them, as politely as you see fit, to have a nice day. You might also want to let them know that the ‘news’ is about 6 months old and they should get a life and keep up with current events. Read the rest of this entry »

I got a criticism the other day – yep – criticised for doing what I love – the way I feel most comfortable doing it.

You see, I love writing (some will have already noticed that). But, believe me, I don’t love scouring the web for the perfect complimentary ‘royalty free’ photo from Flickr or Big Stock Photos – just to add the obligatory photo alongside a blog post.

Some may say, and, I suppose, they’d be right by saying that I can’t be arsed. Fair enough – I can’t. All that techy stuff gets in the way of my ‘flow’ and that stresses me out. I don’t want to get to the end of the day regretting that I didn’t write xzy post because I lost so much time looking for, saving, editing, uploading, embedding, (not forgetting linking to the photo ‘owner’) the ‘must have’ photo on the other post I wrote.

Does that make me lazy? Apparently. But not in my game. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you expect everyone from a complete techno-numpty to the super-geek to find their way around your website and to carry out what you think is a relatively simple and obvious action – but is it as straightforward as you actually think it is?

Have you ever watched someone attempt to carry out that so called ‘straightforward’ action on your website? Someone who has never seen your website before or read your blog?

Maybe you should. It’s the best way to find out if your website is (as you think) easy to use, or whether it is frustrating the heck out of your visitors.

If you have never done user testing you could be in for a shock – and, if your website or blog is part of your ‘sales funnel’ – not being as simple to use as you think it is could be (and most likely is) eating into your revenues. Read the rest of this entry »

After 15 years of involvement in developing Internet Marketing Strategies for many clients, when I started writing this blog I made a decision to limit all mention of SEO.

Although it is hardly ‘rocket science’ – SEO can be somewhat baffling and many unscrupulous ‘Google Resellers’ and self-proclaimed ‘SEO Experts’ are milking the vulnerable less-knowledgeable business people who simply want honest answers, ethical strategy development and a slice of the potential Google traffic.

A couple of years ago, I’d had enough of working in SEO as it became clear that this growing ‘industry’ is full of empty promises, valueless guarantees, scams, unethical practices, ‘one size fits all’ SEO processes, and rip-offs.

However, having spent quite a bit of time consulting with a new client, recently, and having, or so it seems, repeated myself many times while I explain the methods of achieving high rankings – and maintaining them – I thought I’d right a few ‘back to basics’ posts for my own clients and for anyone else who is interested – all about the mighty Google.

Where shall we start… Read the rest of this entry »

This is part 2 of a 3 part post. Make sure you read part 1 first else it might not make sense what I’m talking about.

Remember – Google guarantees nothing. It is not a directory that assures your spot in the rankings will be consistent. It is a search engine and the objective, as at Bing, too, is to get better and better at serving up what is current, most relevant, and, by doing so, most accurate results for their users.

Sprinkling a spot of SEO here and there now and then ain’t gonna cut it as the web gets more and more competitive. Just like you, no-one wants to concede the top spot and no-one wants their listings shoved off the top 10 (the elusive first page of Google).

So often I get asked questions like: Read the rest of this entry »

This is part 3 of a 3 part post. Make sure you read part 1 first and then part 2 else it might not make sense what I’m talking about.

There are many things SEO related that have, at one time or another, made me wake up in a screaming fit at 3am and, along with the millions of so-called experts and gurus, there’s the ever growing list of Software that guarantees top-10 or free;

Software with the most ridiculous ‘rock-solid’ money back guarantees I’ve ever read – yeah, right! But people buy that crap. Do some people not think before yanking their wallet out? Do some people really think a $199 app can solve all their SEO problems and actually believe that if it doesn’t make all their dreams come true then they’ll get their money back?

Let me ask, before we carry on, who really cares about the guarantee? Isn’t the loss of a year hoping the software would work more important than the purchase price? If it doesn’t do all it’s cracked up to do then you have just lost a year! You might have your $199 back but you’ll be a whole year behind your competition! In dog years that’s, erm… a long time! Wasted!

Firstly, the top-10 guarantee is not just about what you do with your titles, your headings and your hidden meta-tags etc., it goes much deeper than that. If you fail to act on any of the dozens of suggestions then you will not be entitled to your money back – and you’ll still be pulling your hair out because you won’t get top-10 rankings – unless you work hard at it and follow each and every action.

What you don’t know, though, is what your competitors are doing. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been said by pretty much everyone at one time or another that ‘content is king‘ – but what really is ‘king’ in the eyes of the Google algorithm is new, fresh content.

Here’s the bottom line: The more your create, the more your content is indexed. But, the more up to date, the newer and more ‘fresh‘ your content is, the higher your content ranks – but not forever – hence the need for new and fresh content added consistently.

Look at the way Google’s new algorithm ranks the latest content above older, stale, content… That’s a good thing for you, me and everyone relying on the mighty Goog for what is relevant to ‘me’ right now. Afterall, when you search for some info you don’t want some old regurged content from 5 or 10 years ago (that’s been said before, many times).

We all want, need and get much more use from what is, in fact, new – relevant right now. Read the rest of this entry »