Posted using ShareThis

This is called Web Arbitrage… and it’s debatable whether its SEM at its best or worst.

searchengineland.com/search-arbitrage-web-blight-or-brilliant-marketing-strategy-10768

This is not the sort of thing you should do for a single page or two, but in a well orchestrated manner it can be very lucrative. There are a few companies that solely make money this way, and others that have thousands of pages that use this as supplementary income to increase revenue.

I learned at lunch today that the search engines are really not fans of this and that even though they are making money off of the paid search, they often close down accounts for suspected companies. In order to not come off as suspicious, I was told, you should make sure there’s quality content there. That can be a lot of work, so be careful.

You should also consider using that fake page that you’ve now directed people to to simply click on an ad, to actually drive traffic to your own site. Put an link or banner that leads to your site wherever you can, valuable web real estate that you’ve paid to direct people to should always be used to drive traffic to your real sites too. This will increase the value of your actual site, and that’s really what you want to be able to show off… not your fancy arbitrage skills.

I’ve been interviewing at a company over the past few weeks for a position I didn’t want. The position was way to analytical for me, and though I can pull data and make pivots tables and write up reports… I’m a people person and much more than 25% of my day doing that drives me pretty nuts.

My first interview was with the director of finance, he made me do math on the whiteboard.

My second interview wa with the director of product, he couldn’t promise that my day would be less that 60% analytical stuff.

Somehow, these people still liked me enough to invite me back to speak with the CEO today. I guess I’m pretty good at math. Though the position I first came to them for was this overly analytical opening, in my second meeting they mentioned potential marketing openings. I figured, if I met the CEO, and he liked me, chances are he could recomend me for one of those. CEOs get to make decisions like that

So I met the CEO, and within a few minutes we agreed that the analyst role was not for me, and that I was more suited for openings in marketing and web development. He then had the CIO and CMO meet with me… you know because CEOs can do that sort of stuff. I hit it off with both of them, and they are now entertaining the option of bringing me on for jobs that I probably would  never have been interviewed for because they were impressed with my energy, and know that the CEO will back their decision.

Lesson learned… if the CEO is going to meet with you… you show up.

1) No one else will probably be as passionate as you are about the idea to actually make it

2) If you don’t talk to people, they can’t tell you all the red flags you might be missing

3) Sometimes that how you recruit advisers, partners, and evangelists

Based on his advice and others that agree, I talk about the Iphone apps I’m developing to loads of different people.

Today, I learned an additional reason why sharing is a great idea… it turns out that I can’t be everywhere, I know, shocking, and I can’t read everything, again shocking. But with a network of people who know what I’m doing, when they see things that are of importance, they send it over.

If you’re interested in the newest data out there about Iphone Application usage and why you should probably charge for an app you’re developing… read on….

http://tr.im/gDzu

Today site: cr.am

God I love it when you use the .xx to finish your name, like chi.mp

Cram will shrink your links to very small links, like tinyurl does but they’ll actually pay your site if you add their toolbar and your users start using them. Cool beans.

Alternatively, there’s tr.im which help shorten your urls and can give you great analytics, but no money.

Be warned of burn out. If you’re going to go to every networking event that comes your way and go on every interview, even if you don’t want the position, you’re going to start getting frustrated. Once you get frustrated, you become less genuine, and less effective. This is not good. It also does bad things to your relationships that you’ve had before you started networking like mad.

Concentrate your efforts on targeted opportunities where you will be able to connect with the right people, on jobs that you are properly qualified for an interested in. This will leave you less frustrated, which will make you happier, and more excited to talk to that person who will actually connect you with your dream job.

Oh… and as one of my best friends says… don’t forget to sleep, it works wonders.

This weekend I sat in on a talk about the struggle between intimacy and eroticism (I promise I’m going someplace with this).  The sex therapist was helping couples in long term relationships understand why their sexual lives had fizzled out. Her theory was that we long for security and intimacy which comes from knowledge of your partner, but that eroticism is derived from the unknown and mysterious and therefore anticipated. The advice given was to keep your sex life interesting, keep trying new things, and create erotic spaces which are separate from the other parts of your life in order to increase the mystery, the anticipation, and the erotic nature of the acts.

The connection? When generated a press kit with feature lists and taglines… make them SEXY. Differentiate and separate your product from that which is already known to add anticipation for something new. Discuss it in a mysterious way where you show part of the story but leave the reader asking for more.

At Twiistup I was explaining this challenge to Don Mosites of Streamy, which will hopefully launch this week. He were laughing about extraverts and introverts and I explained to him that though I definitively meet a larger number of people, I also make sure to return to those I have met before and continue to develop the relationship. That at any given event, I might meet 10-15 new faces and exchange information, but that I also make sure to spend an extended period of time with those who I am already acquainted.

Building on relationships through extrapolation on previous encounters, enhances both the current experience and future interactions. Furthermore, the more you learn about someone as the depth of conversation increases, the more you might know how you or one of your connections might be able to help them. Or… the reverse… a warm introduction is always best.

I’m not saying that introducing yourself to many people is a bad way to go about these things, it’s the very foundation. I’m just elaborating on the importance of utilizing that foundation to build something stronger and more meaningful.

How many people do you talk to at a networking event?

Last week at Startonomics, the final speaker I was able to stay for discussed the importance of building out a good team, and what he looks for in team members for his company, the Rubicon Project. As I listened to how much he cared about his employees, I said to myself, “wow it would be awesome to work in that sort of environment”. While walking to my car it occurred to me that an old friend of mine from rockclimbing had mentioned a new job at a cool company called Rubicon and upon contacting him I learned it was in fact the same group. He invited me to take part in their catered lunch and to introduce me to their team leaders and HR representative. It was a good time, and who knows what will come of it, but I learned about their company and the services they provide first hand, and the value there is worth a thousand burritos.

If you’ve never heard of the Rubicon Project, you’re missing out… as they say, they can help you make mad cash. How? (Paraphrasing my friend’s explanation here) They give web publishers (anyone with a website) a very small piece of code to put in the space you would traditionally put ads in. Then, using great technology that ping the hundreds of ad networks out there to get an ad that fits in your space and you get paid for it. They optimize which ad networks make you the most money and make sure those are the ads that end up on your page. Currently, they are working on a number of patented processes that make sure pornography and competitor advertisements never show up on your site, but they are rare even with their algorithm that is in place today.

Now that I understand what they do, I’ve become one of their biggest advocates. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m willing to give up 10% of a lot of money to make the pool it’s being taken from larger to begin with. Why not have someone who’s vested in making that 10% as much as possible be working on making the bigger pool as big as possible. They are an automated commission based sales program, and you don’t even have to buy them lunch

Find a good site that aggergates events, conferences, forums, etc. for your industry and start showing up. Nothing will help you more than showing that you are dedicated to that industry, and the more you go to the more familiar you are to others and the more they will be willing to talk to you.

Also, being connected to someone who is already very visible will help you be able to talk to people and have them be interested in you. It’s the classic friend concept from dating, translated to networking.

This past week I attended Startonomics at UCLA, which was a great LA local event with amazing speakers who are leaders in the LA Tech scene and globally. This week I’ll be at Twiistup, a more social tech event that is worth be driving an extra 100 miles that day. Bottom line, missing a big event is not an option, I never know when someone who I’m already connected to will introduce me to the person who will finally get me a job. For instance, at Startonomics, I finally met someone I had had an informational phone interview with, and while there he was contacted about a job and recommended me instead. He might have thought of me either way, but I’m sure seeing me earlier that day didn’t hurt. Can’t wait to see what happens at Twiistup.