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This reminds me of the Shock and Awe campaign of the second Gulf War. Did that actually succeed or fail? I am not really sure. But anyway, it does truly shock me at how quickly we could transform a whole country with a few high-powered explosives. In the marketing world, that shock and awe would be a keynote speech by Steve Jobs of Apple.

Apple seems to have the ability to keep the lid on upcoming projects so well that when projects are launched, people are blown away by what is unveiled (pardon the pun).

But is it sustainable to keep shocking the same audience over and over again? Or do they come to expect it and grow numb to the antics.

Ultimately, I think that being original and interesting is far better. Yesterday, I wrote a post about something that I discombobulated with. Discombobulated is a word I always look forward to using in a sentence. That post was probably a lot more interesting to read than the normal mumble jumble I usually publish.

Could it be that I have been going against my own advice and writing to the middle ground, the boring area? Did I start writing to the middle where the majority is, and not to the fridge that I so often recommend? Why on earth would I do THIS!? Mediocrity is to blame. It took over, and the blog became dull. Maybe it was never exciting to begin with. AHA! Insert theme music from 2001 Space Odyssey here.

So with that in mind. I will try my best not to run a shock and awe campaign but to write the way I would for myself. I hope you all can be entertained and learn something at the same time. Because marketing should be fun, where else can you tell a story and get paid this well?

This is where the person has something they are passionate about and just loves sharing that subject with others. People can easily in time become an authority on that subject and generate a huge following.

Blogging for opportunity

This is when a blogger is using his or her blog as a tool for a different means such as name recognition or networking. You might be using your blog as a leveraging device to help you meet your goals either in business, personal or finance.

Blogging for money

There is no shortage of MMO (make money online) blogs and more are created every day. These are the people who want to sell ad space, a product, service or even the blog. Blogging for profit has become a pretty big business and the short cut to that would be to throw money at it and save time, such as buying an existing blog. This also falls under the paid to blog area.

Blogging for branding

This is a way of quality control on information that you or your business release. This is also how to interact with your customers in a direct fashion, giving people the inside scoop on new products or services.

Why do you blog? What is your goal for blogging?

This is a guest post brought to you by Shaun Connell, webmaster of Make Money, a free resource for those who want to make money online and think outside the “money box.” Find out what the money box is by visiting the site. If you would like to be a featured guest poster go to the guest poster page to learn more.

Every once in a while I stumble onto an analogy that just sticks in my mind. The analogy illustrates a concept or technique so well I can’t help but constantly refer back to the analogy.

For a perfect example, Seth Godin’s analogy in The Big Red Fez did the trick. I can’t think about internet marketing without instantly thinking of his illustration that demonstrated how you can get your visitors to do exactly what you want them to do.

So what was this amazing analogy? Before we discuss it, let’s do some internet marketing 101 for a refresher.

Back to the Basics

We’ve heard the basics a billion times and there’s a reason: mastering internet marketing is found in mastering the basics. Internet marketing tricks and “secret strategies” can be helpful, but they must never be seen as anything but compliments to the two “make money online” basics: writing great content and building links. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

Building the links is for generating traffic. Writing great content is for getting your traffic to take the actions you want them to take. Traffic without content that convinces your visitors to take action is simply a waste. Unless your visitors click ads, sign up for newsletters or check out your sales page, you might as well have never had the traffic. Unless your traffic takes action, you can’t make money.

Keep it Simple, Stupid!

So, what’s the easiest method of getting your traffic to do something? By making it hard to not do it. Your website/blog design should be showcased around the fundamentals of what your visitors should instantly do.

Remember, this is a business. Any page that doesn’t directly make money through readership is nothing more than a “squeeze page,” with its entire purpose to:

1. Build Trust
2. Funnel Traffic

This brings us back to the analogy by marketing genius Seth Godin. How should you organize your design and content? Simple:

Think of your visitors as a bunch of monkeys. These monkeys are at your website for a reason: they want a banana. If you want them to find the banana, just give it to them. On every page it should be obvious what the banana is.

So What Do You Do?

The Internet provides marketers with the greatest opportunity ever known to marketers: the ability to literally hand an eager audience information that they can monetize. They’re coming to you, so feel free to offer them relevant information that you can monetize.

If you want your visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, consider putting the opt-in at the bottom of every post. (Better yet: think about having your website store special cookies so that only those visitors who haven’t already signed up for it will see the opt-in field.)

If your main monetization strategy is AdSense, put it up under the left-hand side of the title, with the text wrapping around the ad.

If your main monetization strategy is an affiliate program, wrap up every post and article with a relevant affiliate link.

In the end, just think about what you want your visitors to do in an ideal visit. Now make sure they can do what you want them to do. Give the monkey a banana, and make money while you’re at it.

This is a guest post written by Shaun Connell, the webmaster behind the free internet marketing resource “Make Money“. That link is the banana. Click it. You know you want to.

This is the fifth installment of the Blogger appreciation week, found here. Blogger appreciation week was designed for me to give back to those who have contributed to this blog through many intellectually stimulating conversations.

That’s Great PR

I met Justin, the creator of That’s Great PR, recently online while exchanging blog comments. He has recently embarked on his journey to build up a blog to go along with the PR group he works with. I see some great potential in his writing and really enjoy watching new bloggers try their hand at it. One of the most important things I noticed about his writing and with his subject is the passion that is prevalent in it. Passion online will carry you through the times of uncertainty and to continuing to write when it all seems as if it is for nothing. Kudos, Justin.

What I like the most:

I like the coverage of different topics that is presented and how nicely Justin ties it into his primary subject, PR (press releases).

Quick Point:

I know Justin has a lot of PR experience and insight. As a person from the outside looking in, I would love to see PR marketing campaigns and the best ways to plan a PR marketing strategy for the absolute best results. ( One example here) I know he has the knowledge to share.

Down On Our Luck

Brenda Carter, the author and founder of Down On Our Luck has appropriately named the blog so. She set out to have an outlet to the world in which she could share her life experiences and day-to-day struggles. Don’t look now but if you read some of her posts about switching over to a new server and upgrading Wordpress at the same time, you will think the blog was appropriately named (remember to always back up your blog before doing anything remotely major).

What I like the most:

Brenda is an open book with her life, troubles and experiences. In an online world where it is easy to hide behind avatars and fake names, that is something to be desired. If you have the time and want to learn about her and her husband Q, I would read through her “my story” tagged posts.

Quick Point:

I know that her goal is to interact, share and talk with others who are facing some of the same or similar problems she has gone through. I recommend a weekly question-and-answer series with readers. My girlfriend does a similar thing with her readers and has gotten a good response over a short time period.

It Might Be Love

Everybody needs a little love from time to time and you’ll find it at It Might Be Love. Chelle has collected quite a montage of love-related pieces that cover just about every angle except the kind not allowed at work. I have found some really funny posts on her site that are totally worth sharing, but instead of listing all I will give you a couple of my favorites and let you discover the rest.

• Flight of the Conchords - If You’re Into It
• 100 Classic Rock Love Songs

What I like the most:

I love the vast quantity of posts and articles written. With a subject that can be as broad as ever, she has put together a great collection to covering many areas.

Quick Point:

I think some passionate colors intermixed throughout the blog would really draw the reader in, almost as if setting the mood for the subject at hand. I also grew up in a house with no white walls anywhere, blame my mom

The Blue Workhorse

The Blue Workhorse is a collection of sports writers (6 by my count) who have come together to share in a subject they all love. My favorite stat on the About page is the combined 100 years in sports. I would expect to find nothing less than a lot of good stats on this blog. If for some reason you don’t like sports, I bet you could still find their posts full of humorous writings. I am also sure their hands will be pretty full in about a week with the Olympics.

What I like the most:

a group of writers are working together to share about the subject they all like. I am envious of the collaboration they have in building their blog.

Quick Point:

I would like to see some rugby discussion or updates. My girlfriend and I have played rugby for a number of years and really enjoy the sport. If not rugby, the second sport I wish you to discussion is Jai-Alai. Well…, because that would be cool.

Anybody with millions of dollars in their advertising budget can run a huge and effective marketing campaign, but how do you run an effective marketing campaign online for free?

First off, none of these marketing techniques are new by any means, but they do sometimes get overlooked. So without further adieu, I present my top 5 effective marketing tips online.

1. Get involved

Build it, and they will come. The famous quote from the movie “Field of Dreams” goes half way to accomplish the task of marketing online. It takes more than just a unique or well-designed site to garner quality traffic. It also takes time and effort. That effort come from writing posts, commenting on similar sites, participating in forum discussions and writing guest posts for other sites. I wish it were as easy as flipping a switch, but to effectively market yourself online, it takes participation.

2. Reciprocate

You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. It is not hard to find others who are either in the same boat or similar boat as you in regards to development online. Team up with a few like bloggers and help each other out in ways that are mutually beneficial. Swapping posts, comments, ideas and strategies are very effective marketing techniques to use. Guest posts and comments will direct people towards your site, hopefully capturing the audience of another blogger. Not stealing their audience, but hopefully appealing to them as well.

3. Give credit

When someone helps you out or you get an idea from another blogger, send them a link and quick note stating that they made an impact on you. You’ll be surprised what happens in return. I have this on a number of occasions and still receive hundreds of visitors a day as a result. People like to be recognized and usually are willing to mention that to others. Its simple, yet effective.

4. Give freely

I can’t stand ebooks that cost money. In the world of light speed information exchange, trying to make a couple bucks off of an ebook seems ridiculous to me. In my perfect world, all of that would be free. Unless that ebook is a service that goes beyond the digital covers of its confines, give it away. When you talk about your tips, tricks, techniques, experiences and opinions freely, people listen. You might as well become that authority on the subject and beat out the person who is charging for it. I would rather effect change in 1,000 people’s lives daily than make $20 by selling information people can find for free.

5. Admit mistakes

All publicity is good publicity, right? Well, it is if you know how to use it to your advantage. When you make a mistake, handle it in the right way. Usually the right way to deal with a mistake is to admit fault and offer a solution or experience. If you deny or try to cover up your mistakes, it will normally lead to more bad publicity than you desire. People will understand that you are human and will quickly move on if you allow the subject to rest by dealing with it.

Conclusion

I know you were probably expecting some Digg or Stumbleupon gaming techniques or how to make money beating the lemming to the gold mine. But effective marketing online begins with principles and strategies, not gaming schemes to get traffic. What good is traffic that is here now and gone tomorrow?