SiteSell Blog

Learning the "AM" in BAM by Osmosis

Ken's Blog

I've learned so much during this SBI! journey, but the most important lesson (a lesson that has no exceptions) is the following...

What best determines whether you will succeed or fail with SBI!?

The AM in BAM (Brain Attitude Motivation).

While most people may understand the power of the "A" and the "M" of BAM, they under-estimate them.

Each SBIer lives in his/her own skin. We get to experience each others' attitude (good or bad) in the SBI! forums. We see each others' response to setbacks (positive or negative) every day. If you are paying attention, you can sense who's simply heading down the wrong road and who's fast-tracking on the right one.

There's a reason why so many SBIers with 1000+ visitors per day, with the plainest L&Fs you've ever seen, receive praise on a daily basis...

The Information Byway

Ken's Blog

The Web used to be called the Information Highway.

I always thought of the Net as the Information Byway.

It is so easy to get sidetracked with "interesting" stuff.

You can stop yourself by stretching your "is this important" question by just a few words. Ask instead...

"Is this important for my business's profitability, short or long-term?"

If you can't answer with a huge yes, my guess is that you have something more important to do.

All the best,

Imperfect Transparency or Perfect Silence?

Ken's Blog

I'm a big believer in transparency.  So, as Founder and Chairman of the Board of SiteSell, I try to give current plans of where we are heading and best estimates of what major projects are going to be delivered when.

Many corporate executives of larger companies think I'm naive to do this.  They prefer "the mushroom strategy" ("keep your customers in the dark and feed them sh_ _"). It is the preferred "communication strategy" by just about every company that reaches mid-size and larger.

I prefer to consider SBIers as our friends and partners.  We succeed when you do and vice-versa. So I shed light on our plans, and on just about everything else. Business does not have to be oppositional.  WIN-WIN is so much more fun.

I realize that some take my word as gospel. Others understand that I can be wrong about dates and that I can get too enthusiastic. Either way...

An Alexa Tip

Ken's Blog

SBIer Antoinette from free-legal-document.com shared this neat Alexa.com strategy in the SBI! Forums...

1) Open your site in alexa.com like this...

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/enteryoursiteURLhere.com#trafficstats

2) Click on the "Search Analytics" tab.  Scroll down below the graph to see this section, "High Impact Search Queries for yoursite.com," and its description...

"Popular queries that are relevant to this site and are actively targeted by competitors advertising on search engines. Click on queries below to discover who is advertising for these queries."

3) Now click on any Query term, and examine the stats and info provided.

I tried this strategy on Nori's site for "anguilla hotels."

She has just landed a very nice little hotel, Carimar, as an advertiser. If she had not, though, I'd be using this to find, for example, that La Sirena and Cap Juluca are actively advertising on her site. I'd then call up Carimar to make them an offer they couldn't refuse!

Great tip, Antoinette! There are lots of ways to use the information that Alexa is finally expanding upon. Not all of the info is golden, of course. Expecting that from anything is wrong. But the amount of good info (based on your human judgment) is terrific!

As a side note...

I've been wondering when Alexa was going to start responding to Quantcast and Compete and expand their offering. Obviously, someone over there gets it now and is going to start pushing forward -- that in itself is a great sign.

All the best,