Sales from the EDGE
Back Issue #031

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Sales from the EDGE Issue #031

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Sales from the EDGE
Breaking Through the "White Noise" Of Selling on the Net
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>From time to time, the EDGE publishes important updates that
you need to SELL on the Net. Most "latest and greatest" Net
marketing & sales developments simply waste our time. Today's
"hot new technology" is tomorrow's "whatever happened to?"
 
Occasionally, though, something comes along that STICKS. It
might NOT even be NEW... but we need to be reminded. When
that happens, the EDGE cuts through all the "white noise" of
Web marketing.  It explains the issue and outlines clearly
how YOU can best take advantage of it.
 
SALES FROM THE EDGE is sent ONLY to SiteSell product owners.
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Nov. 5, 2002
Issue #031
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
o SITESELL NEWS
 
  1) Disney, Dreamworks and Microsoft Announce 
     "Next Generation Small Business Web Hosting" 
  
o Featured Article 

  1) Yahoo! And Google Deepen Their Relationship
     ... and We Say Yahoo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ooooo!
     ... and Here's What It All Means for YOU
       
  
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>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SITESELL NEWS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

>-News-
---1---
>-News-

Disney, Dreamworks and Microsoft Announce 
"Next Generation Small Business Web Hosting"

November 5, 2007
Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.


Disney Studios Florida and Dreamworks have partnered with
Microsoft to launch a new online product to address the
millions of small business and SOHO customers who need a
successful online presence for their businesses.  The
product is called "The Web Wizard."

The product delivers the level of excellence expected from
Microsoft in combination with the creative brilliance of
Spielberg and Disney.  The Web Wizard provides a simple A-Z
paint-by-number solution that takes the average person
through a simple, step-by-step process that creates a
Dreamworks-quality Web site experience and then applies all
the necessary technology to automate the processes required
to deliver targeted customers to the site.

The product is expected to retail for $300 per year and will
include all support and hosting services in this price,
making it available to the broadest possible market.

Bill Gates was personally on hand with his new partners to
announce this e-commerce-changing revolution... 

"We're delighted to bring e-commerce online, e-com in the
broadest sense.  After all, doing business on the Net should
be as hard as using the phone for business.  It's not about
e-tail and shopping.  The Web Wizard empowers ALL forms of
small business to succeed, that's what I find so exciting."

The Web Wizard has already been heralded by the Harvard
School of Small Business as the online breakthrough product
of the decade.  Harvard's Dean of Entrepreneurial Studies
commented...

"It was either adopt this product as our small business
curriculum or suffer a severe drop in enrollment.  Books are
fine, of course, and Harvard has achieved an excellent
reputation through this learning paradigm.  But when you
blend information and tools into a process that WORKS,
well... Harvard prides itself on staying on the cutting
edge.  And we're convinced this is how ALL small business
will one day DO BUSINESS on the Net."

--

Ken Evoy here.

You can get off the floor now.   ;-)

It was a slow news day, so we made one up!

In case you missed it, please re-check the date of the
"release" at the top of this news piece.

The press release is dated November 5, 2007.  (Up here at
SiteSell, we hold April Fool's Day on November 5, to REALLY
catch everyone offguard!)

But there *IS* a SERIOUS MESSAGE in the above "press
release," a message that is very, VERY real...

The product ALREADY exists, NOW.  It's called Site Build It!
and it does it all, as described.  It does MUCH MORE,
actually.... and will be doing even more... and more!

It will take "big business" 5 more years (hence the date on
the above "release") to figure out that e-commerce has to be
as easy as using the phone to do business.  Why?  The ivory
towers of "big business" are far, far above the trenches
that you and I work in, every day.  So try Site Build It!
today, completely risk-free (keep the domain you register as
our gift just for trying it)...

https://secure.sitesell.com/build/order.html

Want a fast "how it works" demo?  Take the Quick Tour Slide
Show at...

http://buildit.sitesell.com/tour/index.html

Or, for full information and TO GET YOUR OWN IDEAS of how
you can use SBI! to either enhance your offline business or
to create and grow an online one, please visit...

http://buildit.sitesell.com/


  
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>>                THIS ISSUE'S FEATURED ARTICLE

-------
---1--- 
-------
 
Yahoo! And Google Deepen Their Relationship
.... and We Say Yahoo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ooooo!
.... and Here's What It All Means for YOU


Well... it's been confirmed.  All the speculation of the
last few months is finally over.  Yahoo! and Google have
agreed to extend their relationship.

As you know, because Yahoo! is a human-compiled directory,
it has always had to supplement its own listings with
crawler-based ones.  This is to ensure a surfer's needs are
always properly addressed.  Over the years, Yahoo! has
partnered with numerous search services (Google, Inktomi and
AltaVista), but this is the first time they have ever
RENEWED a contract with an existing partner.  (Google
provided the back-up listings for Yahoo! last year.)

All that aside, what in particular about this new alliance
is especially exciting and relevant to you?

Plenty.

Along with the new partnership, Yahoo! has also completely
revamped the way it displays its listings.  Previously,
Yahoo! would display directory listings first, before
defaulting to Google's crawler-based listings if a search
found few or no matches in its own database.

Now, though, results from Google and Yahoo! are blended
together and displayed on a cleaner, simpler results page.

-----SIDEBAR-----
Yahoo!'s partnership with Overture continues
unaffected.  Overture listings appear above
and below the Yahoo! results pages.  But
remember, they are less effective than truly
"being found" because folks know they're ads.
While Pay-Per-Clicks can be a profitable way
to advertize, nothing beats "being found" in
the "editorial" search results.
-----SIDEBAR-----


The net impression of the new system is a less cluttered,
friendlier search results page... and for anyone who does
well in Google, it's like getting a free listing in Yahoo!  

Why?

Because if you have a page that ranks within the Top 10 or
20 sites in Google for a certain keyword, you will attain
the SAME RANKING FOR THE SAME KEYWORD search at Yahoo!...

.... without paying for a Yahoo! directory listing!

In short, you've just increased your site's exposure by a
couple of hundred million searchers or so.  This is VERY
exciting news.  Just think what that kind of traffic can do
for your business! 

-----SIDEBAR-----
Site Build It! does well at all the engines,
but it does especially well at Google.  So it
didn't take long for one SBI! owner to let us
know exactly what more traffic means for his
business.  What an exciting snapshot of his
situation...

Hi Ken,

It's been a Good Day at jugglenow.com.   :-)

My Alexa rating improved again (I'm now the
44,763rd most visited site on the Net!).
Sold 200+ sets of juggling balls today
(largest yet single order.) Someone else
wants about 5,000 balls annually!!!

Answered a letter today from someone who said
they got my name from SiteSell, about wanting
to know about doing a PayPal store with SBI!.

I just opened another SBI! site, too!!! 
http://www.parrotsnow.com/

And I started a PayPal store in it, too.

And I've "optimized" a jugglenow page that
I've neglected for the SE's.

Just been a good (couple) days... Hope you're
well :-) 

Take care, 
Jim

http://www.jugglenow.com/
-----SIDEBAR-----


Back to our discussion...

Previously, your Top 10 listing (for a certain keyword) in
Google would *not* appear in a Yahoo! search results page if
that keyword search found sites already listed in the Yahoo!
directory.  Now, however, the results displayed on Yahoo!
and Google are nearly identical.

For example, take my daughter Nori's site...

http://www.anguilla-beaches.com/

Her site now comes up Page 1, #2 spot for her most important
keyword, "Anguilla beaches," on both Google and Yahoo!.  And
on Google, she also has an additional spot at #3.

Not bad for a 14 year old with zero html knowledge!  (She
also ranks way ahead of the Anguilla Tourist Board's site,
anguilla-vacation.com, at Alexa.  And, on top of that, the
site's only 9 weeks old -- she has homework, too, you know. 
OK dad, stop bragging!)

But she refuses to blow her allowance and spend US$299 for a
listing in Yahoo.  Guess what?  Now she doesn't have to.

Take a couple of seconds and do a search for "Anguilla
beaches" at yahoo.com.  You'll see Nori on Page 1, #2.  (The
additional #3 Google listing is not there because Yahoo!
eliminates multiple pages from the same domain, giving each
domain only one listing for each search (a nice refinement).
Except for that small difference, the search results are
identical to Google's.)

Bottom line?...

Do well in Google, and you get a "free pass" into Yahoo!.

-----SIDEBAR-----
Here's some really interesting *good* news.
Due to the intensive nature of SBI!'s
(re)submission, spider-tracking, and listing
protocols, we compile some unique data...

We can see how ALL our sites fare across ALL
the major Search Engines for their most
popular keywords.      

And guess what?  SBI! sites don't just do
well at Google -- they do EXTREMELY well!

SBI!'ers who follow the Action Guide, and use
SBI!'s Analyze It! SEO (Search Engine
Optimization) module to build attractive,
optimized sites, find that Google is very
obliging when it comes to delivering hordes
of targeted visitors to their sites.  

Since Google now powers AOL and Yahoo! (plus
umpteen smaller portals like iWon and
Netscape Search), it delivers a high volume 
of targeted traffic to SBI!'ers.

Now, don't get me wrong... 

SBI! generally scores well across ALL the
engines, but we're especially proud of how it
does at Google because we feel Google does
the very best relevancy job out there, and it
does the best job of weeding out the bad and
the "SEO trick sites."  SBI!'s solid-
but-sure approach to BUSINESS-building is
nicely corroborated/vindicated by Google.

Thousands of SOHOs, small businesses (1-5
employees), service sellers, e-merchants,
NOHOs, affiliates, and IBOs have used SBI! to
establish successful online businesses,
and/or to enhance offline ones.  They follow
the simple, step-by-step SBI! process through
a system of tools that handles all the
technology and complexity.  So they can focus
on doing business.

To see what SBI! can do for you, visit...

https://secure.sitesell.com/build/order.html 
-----SIDEBAR-----


So...

For those of you who have been ranking well at Google for
more specific keywords searches, you're about to see plenty
more Google-driven traffic from Yahoo!.  All I can say is...

Yahoo-o-o-o-o-o-o!  :-)

-----SIDEBAR-----
I noted above that Yahoo! lists only one
domain per keyword search.  That means that
your chances of securing a top 20 listing on
Yahoo! are actually better than on Google!

For example, if you do a search for
"xenadrine rfa1" on both Yahoo! and Google,
you'll see that Google displays multiple
listings from the same site....

The first two listings are from Paul Crane's
ultimatefatburner.com site.  The second
listing is from Paul's new Yahoo! Web store,
ultimatefatburner-store.com (an upcoming
experiment to be reported on in his Test Tube
series of articles).  The third is from a
competitor's site, and the fourth and fifth
are from diet-supplement-review.com, Paul's
Site Build It! site.

Yes, Paul has taken 5 of the top 10 listings
at Google!

In Yahoo!, the "second page" from each of
Paul's sites has been dropped, leaving room
for two other sites to appear.  It's a nice
touch, although knowing Paul, he'll build two
more SBI! sites to get those spots back!  ;-) 
-----SIDEBAR-----


And if you are NOT currently being found in Google?...

Get found.  :-)

Seriously... even if you don't own SBI!, you can do it by
following the same processes that SBI! uses and automates.

If you haven't done so already, make sure you have at least
12-20 pages of good content, well optimized.  No tricks.
Yes, page optimization is still critical for Google.  Yes,
Google's PageRank is important, but it's just one factor. 
So get the page right, first.  (SBI!'s "Analyze It!" tool 
tells you exactly how to optimize each page.)

OK, all optimized?  Good content of value to visitors?
(Remember, you must please both HUMAN and SPIDER visitors.)
Good, now you're set for the next step...

Submit to Google, of course....
http://www.google.com/addurl.html

-----SIDEBAR-----
SBI! does all this automatically, for all the
engines, plus tracks the spider visits and
when you get listed, resubmits if need be,
and finally even reports how each of your
pages ranks and what you must do to optimize
to rank higher.  ALL automatically, and ALL
within the Search Engine's tolerances, so you
canNOT get yourself into trouble...

....not even if you tried!  :-)
-----SIDEBAR-----


Next step?

Submit to the last free directory of note, DMOZ (AKA The
Open Directory Project)...

http://www.dmoz.org/

-----SIDEBAR-----
Since DMOZ provides Google's directory
listings, you will see your PageRank score
rise fairly quickly once Google finds your
page in the directory. 
-----SIDEBAR-----


And then?

Get some links from high-value sites that are related to 
the theme of your site.  For example, Nori has some 
excellent links from some wonderful little mini-hubs...

http://www.news.ai/news20021006.html
http://www.menus.ai/
http://www.anguillaguide.com/link/category/26/

When Google finds these links, Nori's rankings will improve
even further!  I tell you... she does NOT want to pay that
$299 Yahoo! fee.   :-)

-----SPECIAL SIDEBAR-----
All of this is far better explained in the
"Make Your Content PREsell!" Action Guide,
which you can download for free, at...

http://freetrial.sitesell.com/sitesell-downloads.html#SBI

And coming soon... the "SiteSell Value
Exchange."  We were going to call this the
"SiteSell Link Exchange," but that gives the
wrong feel to what a SOLID link-building
program is all about.  But I digress -- the
link tools in this new module will be yet
another "unique to the Net" functionality
that will drive yet again more traffic for
SBI!'ers. 
-----SPECIAL SIDEBAR-----


OK, Back to DMOZ for a second...

Although free, DMOZ is notorious for taking FOREVER to list
sites.  You really can't afford to wait 3-6 months for a
decent PageRank score, considering the traffic-generating
power of the Yahoo!-Google alliance.  So...

Inquiring minds want to know...

If Yahoo! is now displaying the same results as Google, what
point is there in forking out $299 annually for a directory
listing?

That's a VERY good question.

And you can bet that Yahoo! thought about this BEFORE they
implemented the new changes.  It's clear that there's an
increased amount of co-operation and cross-referencing
between the two sites.  Depending on your situation, this
could bode well for you.

For instance...

Do a search at Google for my old software "pennygold." 

-----SIDEBAR-----
PennyGold was my first effort on the Net, a
wonderful little investment software that I
wrote myself, based on a successful strategy
that I still dabble with.  One thousand lucky
people stumbled upon a great thing, since I
was experimenting to see if it was possible
"way back then" to sell on the Net.

Conclusion?  YES, IT IS!

We sold 1,000 copies and then stopped, as
planned, since we did not want too many
people doing the same thing.  But the site
remains up since we use it to illustrate
various lessons in MYSS! 2002.

I still get terrific, satisfying letters of
thanks.  And letters begging for a copy, at
any price.  The answer is always no.
-----SIDEBAR-----


Regarding that search for "pennygold"...

You'll see that "goodbytes.com/pennygold" page still holds
top spot.  No surprise there, of course -- "pennygold" is a
unique word, so you'd expect it to be Page 1, #1.  But 
bear with me and you'll see where I'm going with this.

Now over to Yahoo! to do the same search.

What do you see?

That's correct, again "goodbytes.com/pennygold" page holds
top spot.  However, Yahoo! tells you that this page is in
its directory by showing you a red arrow at the bottom of
the listing, followed by "More sites about" and then the
subcategory where it's located.  It's a nice touch, because
it permits you to click on this link to enter the relevant
category for drill-down searching. 

-----SIDEBAR-----
Overall, I now personally prefer to use
Yahoo! to search rather than Google for this
very reason.  It lets me branch off if I find
something of interest.  Otherwise, I still
have Google's fine results.  Best of both
worlds!  But I digress... 
-----SIDEBAR-----


What the heck is the significance of the "pennygold" search
results?  Ah, good question, grasshopper!  ;-)

Somewhere along the way, unbeknownst to me (it's been a long
time since I've looked at PennyGold), the Yahoo! editors
changed my title to "Penny Gold" -- two words.  So searches
for "pennygold" (as one word) at Yahoo! would NOT bring up
my site as a Yahoo! site.  Searches for "penny gold" did!

But NOW, Yahoo! *IS* recognizing my site as a directory
listing.  There's only one way that could happen...

First, Yahoo! does the search at Google.  Then it checks to
see if any of the URLs are in its directory.  If they are,
Yahoo! shows the red arrow/category.  So, for example, when
Yahoo! sees "goodbytes.com/pennygold/" from Google, it
checks to see if it has that same URL in its own database. 
If it does, it shows it as a directory listing.

IMPORTANT CONCLUSION...

Yahoo! does NOT search its own index for keywords anymore.
Your title and description remain important for marketing
reasons, of course (i.e., to get the click), since Yahoo!
does show *ITS* title and description (rather than Google's)
for your site if your site is in the Yahoo! directory.

-----SIDEBAR-----
Actually, since Yahoo uses its TITLE and
DESCRIPTION instead of Google's, it can
actually be a drawback to have a Yahoo!
listing now if you score well at Google.

Why?  Because Yahoo's prunes the title and
description that YOU would like ruthlessly.

For example, here are PennyGold's...

Yahoo! listing...
TITLE: Penny Gold 
DESC:  - serious penny stocks book and software.

Google listing...
TITLE: PennyGold: Powerful Penny Stock Software
DESC:  PennyGold: powerful penny stocks
book/software shows you how to make money by
investing in penny stocks... AND gives you
ALL the tools to DO IT.

Which would you rather be selling for you?
-----SIDEBAR-----


One more point about the Yahoo! listing process -- it is no
longer so important to sweat about getting your most
important keywords into the title and description unless
they just naturally belong there now.  Of course, no harm
done if your keyword *IS* in your title and description
BECAUSE...

.... this, too, could change!

(Change is the only one constant you can count upon at the
engines/directories.  SBI! keeps users up to date, by
summarizing ONLY the info you need to know in its special
HeadQuarters for the free engines, pay-for-inclusion
engines, directories, and Pay-Per-Click engines.  So there's
no need for you to read hundreds of marketing e-zines -- we
do all that, and summarize it, for you.)

-----SIDEBAR-----
Yahoo! is only cross-referencing Google
listings for the *EXACT* URL listed in its
directory.

In other words, if a search at Google brings
up...

http://www.yourdomain.com/page2.html

.... and you have not paid to have that
SPECIFIC page included in Yahoo!, this page
will not be shown as a Yahoo! directory page.
-----SIDEBAR----- 


What does all this tell us?

Well, first of all, my daughter is certainly saving $299. 
No need to list in Yahoo! if she already scores well at
Google.  And she is, for many of her keywords.

But if she wasn't ranking well (and if you're not), listing
at Yahoo! could very well make a big difference.  Why?

The increased level of data sharing ensures that Google will
quickly know that you're in Yahoo!.

And THAT will increase your PageRank score at Google (heck,
if you don't have a PageRank, it will give you one!).

And THAT, in turn, will increase your search results across
the board at Google.

And THAT, finally, will not only bring you more traffic from
Google, but also, NOW, from Yahoo!.

-----SIDEBAR-----
To test this, Paul has submitted his brand
new Yahoo! Web store (PageRank score 0)...

http://www.ultimatefatburner-store.com/

.... to the Yahoo! directory.  Watch this
space for a report of the results.
-----SIDEBAR-----

    
The bottom line is this... if you're scoring well at Google,
rejoice!  If not, follow the above process (or better
still, just buy Site Build It!).

Once you've followed the above steps...

If you can afford it, and it makes sense for your business,
a Yahoo! listing will pay off in the long run. 

-----SIDEBAR-----
As always, paying the $299 listing fee
(sheesh, that's as much as ALL of SBI!) does
NOT guarantee that your site will be included
into Yahoo!.  My SEO expert buddy, Mike
Grehan, informs us that up to 40% of Yahoo!
applications are rejected.  So be darn sure
your site contains plenty of content, is
easily navigable, and has no dead links.  In
other words, ensure it adds value to the Net!
-----SIDEBAR-----


If you canNOT afford Yahoo!, follow the above steps and be
patient.  Most importantly, keep creating more and more good
content.  Of all the "tips" I can give you, this is the
single most important one.

If you do it right, you WILL succeed and be stunned at the
amount of traffic that Google and Yahoo! send to your site.

Free.

Overall, from our viewpoint, of course, this new alliance is
great, great news!  SBI! has long performed extremely well
at Google.  We've just added Yahoo! for free.  :-)

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SiteSell Discount Directory~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html
 
Please bookmark this page -- it's the only page that you
will EVER need to buy SiteSell products at an owners-only
discount. For owners of SiteSell products ONLY, it provides
discounts on all products, except for MYSS! 2002 -- if I
reduced the price on it, I'd have to pay *you* to buy it! 
;-)
 
SiteSell Discount Directory
http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html
 
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Ken Evoy, M.D.,
President, SiteSell.com
(c) copyright 2002 SiteSell.com