Convert or Die Blog by Darwin Hall

I believe to some SEM is a mythology. This especially holds true for non-marketer types. Attempting to explain traffic behavior to some is like having a conversation with an adult about Santa Claus paying their car note. If you find yourself in the position of having to educate those around you in regards to increasing traffic through search. Good luck.

Here are a few thoughts to help you better cope with the adversities of SEM.

Everyones a marketer!

This is one of the truest statements that you will ever hear. Everyone thinks they’re a marketer. This is until their expected to deliver measured results. Search Engine Marketing is no different. Anyone who uses a search engine feels they understands how they work. Especially after an article or two about Google updates or Algorithms.

Beware of some articles and resource material

Just because someone said they’re an expert in a particular field and tells you that, “buying links are bad”, or “content is king“, or any of the commonly used jargon to gain your trust, does not mean that the rest of their advice is prudent. I have read articles by those who have only developed targeted traffic in their minds or understand the conceptual idea about traffic. Depending on the web presence you operate there can be a number of variables dto determine the best way to increase traffic for a particular site. Remember content is good, but traffic is king!

Help others grow

Always, always, always help the righteous learn and improve. Having the ability to drive traffic can add real weight to someones resume. As popular as SEO is, very few can drive targeted traffic using the technique. You will always run across those who want to pump you for your SEO “tricks”. You’ll find that these folks won’t appreciate you either way. This is because they expect you to tell how to deliver target traffic in 10 minutes. Which of course is not possible. And once you tell them it’s alot more to it, they’ll thing you are trying to hide something.

I guess the bottomline is to remember how young the Internet really is. As technology changes and paradigm shifts happen, you will find that it will be alot easier to discern the heros from the zeros.

All things must change. This especially holds true for our budding information era. Are we headed for “Googlezon” or will a paradigm shift in technology crown a new jack? Who will be the next big dog on the block?

Read the expert comments to this question on LinkedIn.

Have you ever received a check from an affiliate program you totally forgot you joined? If you have then you know it’s one of the best feelings in the world. A few years back I was sent a check for $400 from a credit card program that I thought went out of business a long time before. To be honest I never figured out the actual site the affiliate link was flying on.

Recently I received a check for 65 bucks from a pop-under affiliate program that I totally forgot about. I think I joined the program back in ‘99. The payout is like $0.005 per pop-under. Most affiliate programs now offer auto-deposit, so when I get an affiliate check snail mail I can immediately tell it’s from a side dish affiliate.

I just read how Treasure Troopers, an affilate program that does’nt require a website or advertising, is still paying their affiliates out. Read more about Treasure Troopers at CasThompson.com