Purveyor of High Technology
I have been using this keyword tool for a while and it takes the cake and here is why:
Short and Sweet, Download and Enjoy.
Without naming names, URL’s or subjects I would like to explain how I accidently stumbled into an organic search gold mine. I purchased a URL a while back to promotean offer in the health and nutrition vertical. I chose the offer because every network had a few different variations of it and because my spam in my inbox from the following offer had gone up 1000x with spam about this offer.
So it must be hot, right.
I bought the URL, did a nice review style landing page reviewing 3 different brands of this stuff. I got real life feedback from people and put that on the page. I got quotes from 3 different respectable sources on how good the product was. etc etc. Basically all the stuff that goes into making a landing page that sells.
Finished, I did a media buy, and kept the budget pretty tight. Nothing. Opened up budget, a little bit trickled in, but not enough to keep my ROI in check. I tweaked for days and couldnt get that sucker to convert as good as I needed it to for the price of the clicks. 2 weeks after I started it, I dropped it.
A month and a half later I am checking my stats on some stuff and come to find out this page has been getting great organic traffic and converting it. Since 9/1/2008 -to the tune of $660 right behind my back.
In doing research, this page ranks very very high on google and yahoo for many good keyword relating to this niche. I am talking mid/upper first page of search results for some very basic search terms related to this niche.
I have never really been into SEO before, but now that I see some fruits of the SEO world (not paying for clicks) it seems pretty nice. I am sure most SEO’s dont get exciting about this, but heck - it is $660 that I didnt pay a dime for. You cant beat that, or can you?
I recently went out and purchased a tool bag and the following: Set of screw drivers, Set of linemans pliers, snips, and needlenoses, nice tape measure, a level, a utility knife, a set of drill bits, a set of screw driver and torque bits, a hammer, a little case for screws, nails and hardware, and some other stuff to fit in the tool bag nicely.
I was sick and tired of going to hang a picture on the wall, or putting something together or trying to be handy around the house and not having the right stuff.
This brings me nicely to my post topic. Having the right tool for the right job. This not only applies to my around-the-house chores but in every aspect of life. If you have the right tool (the right stuff) for the job you almost assuredly are going to be better than the guy who does not.
Those are just a few easy examples that actually involved tools as we know them. The thing is tools can be anything. They can be knowledge, they can be wisdom, they could be other people and their skillsets, or it could be the choices you make.
Next time your doing a project or chore or whatever you call it -think first! Do I have the right tools to complete this job? If the answer is no, you are almost always better off not even attempting it until you can get yourself the right tools or find someone who does.
Seth Godin writes:
How much of your day is spent doing things you have to do (as opposed to the things you get to do.)
In my experience, as people become successful and happier (the subset that are both) I find that the percentage shifts. These folks end up spending more and more time on the get to tasks.
You’d think that this happens because their success permits them to skip or delegate the have to tasks. And to some extent, this is true. But far more than that, these people redefine what they do all day. They view the tasks as opportunities instead of drudge work.
A simple redefinition transformed the quality of their day, and more important, the perception of their work.
What a smart guy!
I will preface this with: this is just a theory, I have no idea if this is actually true or not, but it has happened to me twice.
I have had 2 domains that haven’t been indexed by google until I search for the domain name on google. The latest was right here at justinrumpf.com. Since this is a new site I was checking google last night to see if I was index. The easiest way is to just type your domain name into google. You can also use the SITE: search operator. Last night I wasn’t indexed. This morning I am. Only after searching for my domain last night and getting no results.
I think google keeps track of the search queries that return no results and tries to find a way to return results next time.
I never told google my site was available. I have no backlinks. I havent listed my site in any directory. I havent pinged an RPC server or anything.
Next time you have a new domain, trying googling your domain name and if it returns nothing, check back the next day and see if you have been listed. I think I am onto something…
Today is a big day for me. I finally got my VOIP server all setup and able to place outbound calls as well as recieve inbound calls. I setup 3 options from the main menu. 1 for me. 2 for Stacy and 3 if you are selling something. If you hit three it tells you politely we are not interested. This way, if they call again and bother me I dont feel bad yelling at them.
I also set up some internal extensions so I can intercom/transfer calls to around our house.
Right now I just have soft phones running. I am planning to buy a couple voip hardware phones. Probably ones on the cheaper side.
My goal was to have the ability to answer and route calls like a fortune 500 company and I think I am close enough to call the project a success.
For those of you interested more on this I used asterisk server running on a really old Dell Poweredge 300. My SIP service is coming from a company called broadvoice. I picked them because they were cheapest.
More detailed details will be posted at some point. Not really done playing with it and deciding if it is stable enough to replace my realy home phone with. Stay tuned…
This is one of my favorite blog posts of all time by one of my favorite guru’s, Seth Godin.
Thinking about Danny Devito
George Clooney is a movie star. He looks like one. He makes tens of millions of dollars a year, hangs out at Cannes and has starlets falling at his feet.
Danny Devito is exactly five feet tall. He was perfectly cast as the Penguin.
Can you imagine the career advice Danny got? The well-meaning people who explained to him (as if he didn’t know) that he didn’t really look like George Clooney? That perhaps, maybe, he should consider a job as a personal trainer or short order cook…
The math, however, tells us something different.
(number of people resembling George Clooney)/(jobs for people resembling George Clooney) is a much bigger number than the ratio available to Danny. For the math challenged: Because everyone in Hollywood is trying to be George, there are a lot more opportunities for the few Dannys willing to show up.
Invest in Danny. The edges usually pay off.
I hope you found that as insightful as I did.
For those of us with more than 1 gMail address or 2 addresses on one domain; a neat little trick. Using Google Chromes new “Porn Mode”, errr incognito mode you can log into both of you gMail accounts at once. One can only assume IE8 and Firefox3 follow suit. This is a slick feature that I could have used more than once.
**but not too fast, this just in**
This is verbatim off the AP wire:
BERLIN (AP) — Internet surfers should approach the preliminary version of Google Inc.’s new browser, Chrome, with caution because its security is untested, a spokesman for Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security said.
“People should be aware that this is a beta version and that we don’t yet know much about its security,” spokesman Matthias Gaertner told The Associated Press. “Beta” refers to a test release.
Our good friend and Democratic Presidential Nominee, Barack Obama, brings us some important lessons to learn about being online and trust. Click here for more .
Check out this new service called Fonolo. Basically it allows you to look up large companies and all the departments and phone numbers that comapny has. You then just select the department you need and Fonolo dials the company and goes through the phone prompts. When the call is routed and ready, Fonolo calls you and puts you on the line with the company. How cool is that?
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