More lessons in link building.
Ok – we are getting a few more questions on how to use * link bait * effectively for your marketing projects – several people even wrote in that it wasn’t an appropriate strategy for “ their” business – which is just a euphemism for – my customers/clients/prospects are better/busier/smarter than to be sucked in by some sort of superfluous, manipulative means or machination.
Which is of course, in my humble opinion – just flat wrong.
First – a quick look at using the Compliment ( ary) link baiting strategy I mentioned in the previous post, in quick combination with two of the other 6 C’s – Creativity and Comedy.
Here we have Alex – who does a mind map comparison contrasting Britney Spears and her bald head with that of Jeremy Shoemaker – aka – “ Shoemoney “ a popular and iconic blogger and online entrepreneur of AuctionAds.com fame.
http://mappio.com/mindmap/alex/why-shoemoney-is-better-then-britney-spears
Who is ( was ) Alex yesterday?
Who knows – but today – his mindmap – with a link – adorns the top spot on Shoemoney’s very popular blog –
http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/10/01/shoemoney-britneyspears/
where untold thousands of people most likely ( I did ) took a look at what Alex had done to get there.
( which was – in case you missed it – not create an incredibly funny/insightful/amusing mind map per se – but rather – find a unique way to pay a Compliment to a person of influence – and using some creativity and a ( very ) thin veneer of comedy – was able to generate a ton of eyeballs ( and probably other links ) to his project file.
And of course – Shoemoney himself states straight away – link bait – I’ll bite.
Why? Because we all want to be acknowledged. I don’t care who you are – or where you are on the totem pole of success – we all just want want our egos stroked. Which is why there are very few Buddhists in the Internet marketing field;-) . You need a fair share of ego to get up everyday and share your thoughts with the world – because ultimately – it’s all about approval. If you can recognize this – and tap into it – I don’t care how big the fish is – if the compliment is big enough – you will be recognized ( and rewarded )for the effort.
Now let’s look at how to incorporate some of these very same ideas in your business – totally eliminating the * Internet marketing * crowd from the equation ( which seemed to me to reflect the basic objection a few people emailed about – ie – this is an Internet marketing only effective strategy)
As I mentioned before in the previous post – my favorite approach to doing this well is using the publicity pounding battering rams of Controversy and Confrontation in your strategic approach to getting attention.
One of the readers who “ objected “ to my link baiting laws said that these things would be hard to incorporate into his field ( financial advise to to low income & minority populations) as they were sensitive to confrontational approaches – and controversial topics.
Ok – I will buy that – I’m not in that business so I won’t pass judgment.
(Yes I will – I disagree – but for the sake of this example let’s pretend not..;-)
The idea then – is to pick a different entity to confront – or controvert! Rather than worry about the sensitivities of your clients in devising this strategy ( who – to be honest, I wouldn’t have made the target of the strategy anyway) why not pick on the biggest guy in the playground if you are looking for some momentum in your marketing.
If you help low income people borrow money – and advise them on best practices for applying/qualifying and remitting loan applications and forms – and find that there is a huge discrepancy in their ability to secure funding that other populations don’t….Why Not:
What have you done here? You’ve Confronted a problem ( minority lending practices ), created an enemy ( the bank) and provided a solution ( You )
And your headline is controversial – people well outside of your niche/geography/sphere of influence or care will stop by and read what you’ve got to say. Will some people take exception to your article? Probably so. But – that is sort of the point of this approach to begin with. And if you are highlighting and illuminating a real problem ( and real solution) as you see it – more power to you to say it well. And if you say it strong enough and do just a little bit of active promotion ( social networks, pinging some relevant blogs/etc ) you are going to get a lot of attention. And attention – especially when you are wearing the Robin Hood hat – usually means more business.
You can spin this a thousand ways from Sunday and try lots of different approaches to the same game – stronger or softer than the above depending on your comfort level and the brassiness of your balls. But in this case – it would certainly be a much more effective strategy than Comedy – or Creativity – or even Complimenting your potential customers or competition.
I’ll cover some ways to do this again in another post covering some of the other “ C’s” as well as expanding on this area a little bit more as it’s ripe for picking, poking and prodding ( as all good link building strategies should)
Agree? Disagree? Let me know – send me an email ( or just leave a comment ) below and share your thoughts – ( on this – or any other marketing problem/question/conundrum you have )
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