Google Adsense: What Pamela Anderson and Mr. Rogers Taught Me
There’s a man or woman out there right now who getting trounced by his Adsense competition. And it’s all his fault. Sure, they may not know that, but that doesn’t change anything. They’re still getting beat.
I want to get a point across, a point that I ignored in my last article regarding Adsense and Adsense site content. Whether you’re doing content for your site, or content for promotion of your site, the old adage applies: don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle. In short, make your content shine out from the others.
Understand that this article is not a license to dismiss quality content. I’m not telling you to write and produce content that has no quality or meaning for your Adsense site. Not at all. But what I am saying is that you should strive to create content that appeals to, let’s say, the reader’s baser instincts. There’s no reason why your content can’t touch an emotion of some kind, as well as inform.
Let’s face it, types of emotional stories appeal more than another boring story. It’s the reason why the “National Enquirer” is selling millions of copies more every week than the New York Times.
I’m talking about creating content that fills a need in the realm of human emotion. Want, need, or desire. Any copy can fill that, if thought out properly.
Let’s look at a few things to think about when you’re creating content for your Adsense site, or for an article promoting your site.
1. The Pam Anderson Effect: Come Up With A Great Headline
Any major marketer or writer worth his salt will tell you that he works on the title to a advertisement or a story more than anything else. John Caples, the great mastermind said that he’d work on a headline twice as long as the copy for an ad itself.
He and all great marketers know one thing: if the title or headline doesn’t grab you, if it can’t get your attention, then your efforts (and your good article with the boring title) are going to be lost in a sea of other articles and content, probably never to be found. And the last thing you have to waste is time and energy.
For some reason (probably because I had just come back from vacationing a week in Yosemite), I had forgotten this very headline rule when I wrote my last article. I simply called it, “Web Traffic for Adsense: A Primer”.
That was pretty stupid of me.
What was I thinking about? What a silly, boring title. You get nothing out of it, it’s about as generic as a title could possible be.
It sounds like the title to every other informative piece about Adsense out there. That title did nothing to provoke, to make people ponder. And in this competitive Internet market, you need to prod your reader a little to stand out. Sometimes you need to prod a lot.
Consider this: the very nature of information is to, well, inform. A headline should draw people in, and raise the curiosity factor of the person looking for the information.
Marketer Joe Vitale wrote something of this in his great book, “Hypnotic Marketing”. He said that the marketing press releases he does have to have what he called the “P.O.” factor.
In short, they had to be “practically outrageous.”
He didn’t say to lie. He didn’t say to shock. He called it being “practically outrageous”. In other words, Vitale strives to write articles and press releases that step outside of the norm.
A perfect example on the web right now of the use of being “practically outrageous” is The Rich Jerk’s ebook on making money on the web. It’s a great book, one that covers at least 9 different ways to make money on the web. I think every person serious about making money on the web, in Adsense or whatever should have it, if not just to look at the way he makes money on the web.
But it’s the marketing angle of The Rich Jerk that takes the cake. It’s a perfect example of being “practically outrageous”. And really, it’s brilliant.
If you want to see what I mean, (and pick up a good book on web marketing as well) check him out here at RichJerk.com. Just the opening title conveys a unique and practically outrageous message. It reads: “I just bought two more cars and another mansion…did you?“
(EDIT: RICH JERK BOOK NOW ONLY $9.95 THROUGH THIS LINK- IT WAS $50, AND At ONLY $10, IT’S A STEAL.)
Considering the brilliance of that marketing headline alone, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did just what he said.
2. The Mr. Rogers Effect: Put Yourself In The Reader’s Shoes
It’s so easy to get caught up in creating content, while being hunkered down in your own little niche/ world, without considering that your audience, though they are looking for the material that you are giving them, might simply be overwhelmed by it. I’m talking more here about presentation than anything else.
When I create content, or put content in my site, I don’t post it right away. I finish it, then I go away for while, then come back to it later. It’s amazing all the things I come across that I later realize may be over the head of the very person I’m targeting.
I think one of the reason that forums are so popular right now is that they contain information that’s easily spelled out, and that information can be questioned and elaborated on.
In short, we need to “keep it simple”, for the reader’s sake, and the building of our online presence and reputation. People want to know about what you’re telling them. Don’t make it harder for them to get the message you’re trying to get across.
When people know they can get content that’s not only in abundance, but easily digestible, they’ll come back.
Dan Gookin was a man who had a idea to create a easy to understand book on learning DOS, the computer language. He created a book, and none of the bookstores thought it would sell.
He kept on insisting that his easy-to-understand book would sell. The bookstores relented, and his book became a best seller. The title? “DOS For Dummies.”
That one book spawned literally hundreds of other book in the “For Dummies” library. Now it’s hard to imagine any home in America NOT having a “For Dummies” book somewhere in it.
And it all started because one man strived to “keep it simple”. Dan Gookin put himself in the reader’s shoes.
Can you do the same? Sure you can. If you think about it, you can make that site that appeals even more to your audience, and bring even greater Adsense profits, now and in the future. Now, get to it!
Till Next Time, Keep Building!
Gary