Article Directory :: Internet Marketing/Online Business Articles

When is 'Spying on Your Competition' a Complete Waste of Time?

Copyright © 2009 Ron Hutton

Subscribe to Ron Hutton's RSS feed using any feed reader!

Republish: EasyPublish
Published: 29Jun2005
Word count: 757
Viewed: 382 time(s)
Bookmark this article using any bookmark manager!
Get Free Content For Your Site

Your brain screams "Gimme Fast", "Gimme Easy", "Do it for me automatically"! So when you see the headline that reads...

"Imagine Spying On Your Competition To Build A Massive Targeted Keyword List Of 3000 Or More Keywords On Auto-Pilot... In 10 Minutes Or Less And Skyrocket Your Adsense Profits Quickly And Easily"

You think "Hmmmm. Sounds good. Looks intriguing..."

"Never Build Another Keyword List The Slow And Hard Way!"

Gosh. Is it possible?

"You must understand that this is a numbers game."

O.K. Now tell me something not quite so obvious.

The above headlines and subheadlines are quoted directly from a sales letter for a relatively new piece of software (no names will be mentioned here) that's intended to eliminate all the "hard work" of doing keyword research. It sounds exciting. No more tedious keyword research. Yes! I find life is so much more enjoyable when I don't have to engage my brain.

Don't pull out your credit card just yet.

With this particular product there's no need to review the entire sales letter to find out what else the software will do for you. It's all nicely summarized in the very first headline.

The sales letter includes a link to view a nice video presentation demonstrating how the software works, and it certainly appears to do exactly what the author says it will. I have no doubt that the program delivers on all of the promises of the sales letter, but what exactly are you getting?

Let's go back to the headline again...

"Imagine Spying On Your Competition To Build A Massive Targeted Keyword List Of 3000 Or More Keywords On Auto-Pilot... In 10 Minutes Or Less And Skyrocket Your Adsense Profits Quickly And Easily"

Again, I may be tempted to plop down one cool C Note, but what's wrong with this picture?

What doesn't this software tell you?

1) Keyword search frequency.
2) The amount of competition for any keyword.
3) Keyword bid cost in Google Adwords and/or the approximate Adsense value.

When you take the approach of "spying on your competition", be very careful not to give your competition too much credit for having done their homework. Maybe they did. Maybe they didn't.

If you generate a "highly targeted" keyword list of 3,000 keywords and you don't know the search frequency, the amount of competition for any of the keywords, the Adword bid cost or the approximate Adsense value, what do you do from there?

ANSWER: Start over.

Some marketers like to say that Wordtracker is just "So Expensive"! Have you seen the price of a "Value Meal" at McDonald's lately? "SuperSize It" and you've spent about the same amount of money that it would cost to gain access to Wordtracker for a day. As of the writing of this article, a one-day subscription to Wordtracker costs $7.65.

If you've never used Wordtracker before, you can easily learn all of the "how to's" in a few hours by using their tutorials, which are very well done. Now you still have 20 hours to do intelligent keyword research. You'll have the answers to the important questions that you really should be asking, and you'll have spent a whopping $7.65. Now that's an outstanding value.

Just because someone creates a software application that "automates" the work for you doesn't necessarily mean that the information you'll generate is worth anything.

Would you rather have...

- A big fat hairy list of 3,000 keywords with no real useful information about any of them.

OR

- A truly valuable list of keywords with the search frequency and amount of competition for each and every keyword.

Choose the latter.

Begin with the end in mind. Formulate a plan. Think through your entire project and strategize.

When you learn how to use Wordtracker efficiently, you'll be able to research 10 niche markets in a day without breaking a sweat.

When it comes to keyword research, there are some shortcuts that you can take by using services like Wordtracker and even some very good software programs, but don't give in to the temptation to shift the gray matter into idle.

There are effective ways to build content sites and there are other "click a button and build a bazillion page site" methods. The shelf life of the latter is getting shorter every week.

In the words of the great Aretha Franklin, "Think. Thinka-think."

Ron Hutton is a 20 year sales and marketing veteran with a passion for coaching and training. Subscribe to "GoThrive Online", for Free Video Tutorials for Internet Marketing and big juicy marketing tips in small, easy-to-chew, bite size servings. Free Video Tutorial Archives Here: http://www.gothrive.com/free-video-tutorials.htm

Bookmark this article using any bookmark manager! Subscribe to Ron Hutton's RSS feed using any feed reader!

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here

More articles by Ron Hutton

Free Report!
Ten Essential Secrets Of Article Marketing ... Grab Your Free
Copy
Now:




We respect your privacy.


Need Content?
Regular Top Quality Content for your Blog, Ezine or Website ...
Delivered Direct,
For Free!

Click For Details



Arts & Entertainment
Automotive
Business - General
Computers & Technology
Finance & Investment
Food & Drink
Health & Fitness
Home & Family
Internet Marketing/Online Business
Legal
Pets & Animals
Politics & Government
Reference & Education
Religion & Faith
Self-Improvement/Motivation
Social
Sports & Recreation
Travel & Leisure
Writing & Speaking

More internet marketing articles:

  • Starting Your Own Online Business Can Be Fun And Exciting (Jamison Alexander)
    Those with time on their hands can use internet marketing to make a part time income at home, through sales and commissions. That is why you should consider affiliate marketing. This is probably the easiest option to use when learning how to make extra money online, and it can be a great way to earn part time income at home without getting bored from doing the same thing over and over again.

  • If you want to buy something on line (Richard Marsteller)
    buying things online,buying online,help

  • Necessary Intro Info on Internet Marketing As Your Earn Money Ways (John Chimber)
    When you're new and need to know the skinny on internet marketing in a quick, easy and concise way, this article tells. When you want to know what they are doing to make all that money and what's involved? We tell. So if new, this article's for you.

  • Wealth Creation - Positive Thinking (Maria Rattray)
    Sometimes we are daunted by problems that, at first, are seemingly too big. An untended garden will appear to be almost impossible to transform, and yet, with diligence and determination, great changes can be effected. This approach applies to our thinking too. If we tackle our problems in small chunks, often we will find that the size of the problem shrinks accordingly, and wonderful outcomes can be achieved.

  • Using Video Marketing To Dominate On The Internet (Annette Lode)
    A lot marketers are not using video marketing just because they don't know where to get started with it.It is not too complicated to do and you will start to find straightforward.

  • Giant Squid Open Mike Monday (Kate Loving Shenk)
    Giant Squid Open Mike Is A Blog Talk Radio Show Which Discusses All Things Squidoo--And Beyond.

  • Submitting Articles To Get Maximum Traffic (Annette Lode)
    Article marketing is a frequently used strategy for getting traffic.It has been effective since the beginning of Internet marketing and even in our high technology times is an valuable traffic generation technique.

  • Increase Your Profits with These eBay Powerseller Secrets (Amanda O'Brien)
    If you would like to be an eBay powerseller or if you already are but would like to further increase your sales, then the eBay powerseller secrets contained here could help you. There's never going to be an easy way to make a fortune, short of robbing the nearest bank, but with some hard work and effort directed into the right areas of your business you could soon see a return on your time investment.

  • Stop Trying To Build The Perfect Website (John Thornhill)
    Many of us dream of making our fortunes online and in our quest to generate our online wealth we usually start by building our first website. We spend months trying to build the 'perfect' site that will enable us to quit our job and live the life we can only dream of. However, we quickly discover things are not as easy as we imagined and ultimately the site makes little or no money and we end up giving up disheartened and exhausted.

  • Key elements of setting up a successful membership site (Neil Stafford)
    Membership sites are very attractive because of the regular inflow of income, but you need to first ask yourself why" you want to build it. Building and running a membership site is one form of Information Marketing and that "why" is probably your most important consideration. If you are to be successful, whichever medium or delivery method you chose, there are some key considerations. They are:

We Automatically Distribute Articles
To Thousands Of Publishers And Web Sites:

Submit Article
All content is viewed and used by you at your own risk and we do not warrant the accuracy or reliability of any of the information. The views expressed are those of the individual contributing authors and not necessarily those of this web site, or its owner, Takanomi Limited.
 
Copyright © 2009 Takanomi Ltd. Company no. 5629683. All rights reserved. | Privacy | Legal | Contact Information