Friday, December 02, 2005

Keywords for your Weekend

My buddy, Peter, flies one of these. To me, it's intimidating, yet so beautiful. I am thrilled by almost anything that flies and this is no exception.

When we get together, as we will do this evening, we always talk about flying and the whole aviation industry. It is hard for me to put my mind around how Peter sits in the cockpit and leaves Miami for Osaka, Japan, without more than - "it's another day at work, Dave."

I think about that, and am certain, due to e-mails I receive, that many of you are intimidated by the whole contextual advertising industry. You are thrilled to see someone gain big, almost like cheering when someone wins on "Wheel of Fortune". I often told my Dad that it wasn't he that won the car at the end of the show. He was happy, just the same, to see someone else gifted in a big way. But that's another "blog".

You, too, don't have to just sit on the sidelines and watch. You do have enough knowledge to get started and create some great residual income.

I am currently working on an e-book that will detail step by step how to create and run your own site with contextual advertising. If you follow the steps in the book, you will be on your way to residual income within 30 days - I am confident.

If you'd like to be advised when the book is available, please drop me a line at dave@davejackson.com. I will send you an e-mail when it's completed. I am so sure you will benefit from this book. It will be complete in a few more days.

Now, it's Friday night - and I thought I'd leave you with a few keywords you can use to create some great sites. Just remember my rules: create sites with content of value and drive traffic to your sites. The rest will pretty much take care of itself.

Okay - the first keyword is "air mattress". 43,000 searches were done on it last month. There are 1,370,000 matches in Google for the keyword and around 110 AdWord ads for your AdSense pages, with the top bid running around $1.52. The KEI index is 1361.

Next is "chef hat". 12,000 searches last month. 401,000 matches in Google. 55 AdWords. $1.31 is the highest bid and the KEI index is 338.

Then there is "corel draw". 23,000 searches last month. 2,080,000 matches in Google. 33 AdWords ads. $1.82 highest bid. KEI index of 251.

Here's a great one for the season: "firewood rack". 5800 searches last month (better now, no?) 64,000 matches in Google and 55 AdWords ads. Top bidder was at $1.26. KEI of 518.

And finally, there is "fish oil". 38,200 searches last month. 2,090,000 matches in Google. 97 AdWord ads and $1.22 paid by the top ranker. KEI index of 696. Sweet.

These are from my research. I will post more soon. So go out now and spin the wheel. With enough clues, you will solve the contextual ad puzzle and win in a big way. That's my wish - and hope that you find many of your clues right here.

Thanks for your interest and have an awesome weekend.

Sincerely,
Dave

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Google Page Rank and Contextual Ads

Last April (2004), my family had the opportunity to visit the beautiful beaches of Ubatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, shown to the left. Overhead, a sky diving team makes light what would scare most of us senseless. Because they've jumped more than a few times, what was once frightening even to them, is now fun and thrilling!

These guys didn't jump while we were there, and a friend directed me to their sky diving site, but I am told they all made it back down to earth only to jump again another day.

In my experience, you could go from a frightened contextual ad user to having fun watching your revenue increase in a few months. Block out a few hours of day now to learn your craft. Just remember - work this thing as a business, and you will get paid like a business.

A few posts back, I commented how the Google Jagger update zeroed out my Google Page Rank. It dropped from a healthy five. In case you are wondering, yes, I did write Google and let them know that I thought it was a mistake because the site does offer what many have told me is valuable content.

Of course, many think I'm just rehashing what they already know, but that's okay. If I had this information when I started with AdSense many moons ago, I would be wealthier.

In any event, I am happy to say that the powers that be at Google agreed with me and reinstated my Page Rank to a five. Someone actually took a stab at trying to figure out what Page Rank is and how it is derived. The funny part to me is that you never hear from Google whether someone "came close" or really "got it right". They are quiet about this stuff. But, if you read my post on Page Rank, you'll see it's an evolution of why Google even exists.

I was asked recently if PR really mattered in the grand scheme of things.

The question came in the form of e-mail, and had to do with the bearing Google Page Rank might have on the quality of contextual ads running on the site. So, I investigated.

Taking into consideration the Page Rank, I looked at click through rates and ad payout. What I found was that there is a correlation between the frequency ads are displayed and the quality of ads displayed, but no link between your PR and what ad appear.

As a matter of fact, the highest paying ads I have are running on pages with no Page Rank at all.

What does this mean? It means that I will continue to concentrate on what is most important and that is - driving qualified traffic to pages filled with content of value to them. Even if Page Rank did influence the ads, I would still make this my motto.

Okay, so maybe my few sites are not enough to qualify as a scientific experiment. But, I'm sticking with it until I learn otherwise. It just makes sense.

Keep working on getting higher CTR's and contact me if you believe I can help.

Kind regards,
Dave Jackson
Naples, FL

Monday, November 28, 2005

A Lesson in Necessity - Do You Have What it Takes?

I trust you had a very nice Thanksgiving. We had a fabulous one. This year we jumped in the car (my wife wishes it were that easy), and drove to Tennessee where my mother has recently moved. And, yes, on several occasions we sang, "Over the river and through the woods - to grandmother's house we go." It was fun and we enjoyed the closeness of our family and the many blessing God has poured out on us over the last year.

You won't believe what I saw.

I am a people watcher, but this one takes the cake for stupidity. Along I-75 in Georgia, far from civilization, a fellow was watching at least a 5" DVD placed on the dash of his pick-up. He was engrossed in the movie, while driving at 80 mph!

Is it that some people just don't know any better? Or do they feel they are "much" more developed and can multitask at this level? I am sure you know what I feel. Accident waiting to happen.

And my favorite funny was the gal that rode my tailgate in the showoff lane for 5 miles only to get busted 10 miles down the road by a smoky. Pays to have a fuzz-buster. Showing my age, now.

Okay, on to today's lesson.

How creative can you get? Out of necessity on some streets here in Naples, FL, people got creative with what they had to get what they need.

The biggest question that perplexes me more than any other is why people wait so long to get into contextual or other monetizing of their web presence. Are you monetizing your web presence?

Probably not on the scale you could be. But it's your own fault, and here's why:

You don't have to.

Ever hear the story about the fellow who never repaid his buddy, but never missed a rent payment? That's the way most of us are wired. We will not get thrown out on the street, but know our buddy will probably keep letting us off the proverbial hook.

And that's where you come in. You don't have to make AdSense or any other advertising program work. It isn't a must. But before you hang your head and write me off, please think for a moment what would happen to your monetization program IF you had to make it happen? What if someone told you if you don't build your campaign to $1000 a month your car would be repossessed? You would be thrown out of your home or apartment?

Your Internet would be turned off forever.

Wow - got your attention now! And that's just it. When people ask me why it doesn't work for them, it boils down to the basics: a site with content of value and focused traffic. As long as those two are in place, people will be attracted long enough to your site to click an ad out of curiosity.

Prove me wrong - but per chance I'm right. You won't do what it takes to learn about a program, AdSense or otherwise, and work it until you are making the $1000 a month level. You won't read through the articles here, won't try and test what you've learned. What you will do is write and complain that it doesn't work for you.

Or will you? How much is it worth to you?

Here are a few quick tips to get you in the mindset to keep working on your AdSense:

  1. Create a goal. Right from the very beginning, create a goal of "X" amount of dollars you will earn by the end of next month. For beginners, I would set a daily goal of $5.00 at the end of your first 30 days. That should be a piece of cake with my materials here.
  2. Make your program part of a bigger plan. In other words, make the reason you are earning the ad money part of a bigger goal or vision. For beginners, I suggest giving 50% to your mother, the church, or someone else in need.
  3. Share your goals with 4 other people who think like you. Online communities are great places, or friends on your instant messenger list. Ask them to help you stay accountable.
  4. Lastly, ask God for help. Now that can't hurt, can it?

Okay, run with these. I really "do" believe you can do it if you make it a must. If it's not a must, you won't do it because you don't miss the money you don't have.