Would appreciate some marketing advice

12 replies
Hi,
I am the owner of an entertainment site. I would appreciate some advice and tips on marketing it. I don't need landing pages and the like (or at least I don't think I do). I just need to get some really good traffic sources to build my audience and followers on the social networks.

I have begun using pdfs (mainly on slideshare) with varying degrees of success. I am also attempting to build an audience through facebook and plan to expand into other social networks. I have already had some successes on twitter.

I am seeking advice and any tips in two areas:
1) Where else can I go (besides slideshare) to submit my pdfs?
2) How do I generate traffic to my sites on a shoestring budget?

Everything I have mentioned above is new to me as far as marketing goes.
What I don't need is blackhat tricks or anything like that. The traffic I need has to be google safe as that is my primary source of revenue (for now anyway)
I would appreciate some good advice on this.
#advertising #advice #marketing #media #social #traffic
  • Profile picture of the author superowid
    Convert your pdfs into videos and share them on your own Youtube channel. Do some SEO with it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      Originally Posted by rpatsmith View Post

      Hi,
      I am the owner of an entertainment site. I would appreciate some advice and tips on marketing it. I don't need landing pages and the like (or at least I don't think I do). I just need to get some really good traffic sources to build my audience and followers on the social networks.

      I have begun using pdfs (mainly on slideshare) with varying degrees of success. I am also attempting to build an audience through facebook and plan to expand into other social networks. I have already had some successes on twitter.

      I am seeking advice and any tips in two areas:
      1) Where else can I go (besides slideshare) to submit my pdfs?
      2) How do I generate traffic to my sites on a shoestring budget?

      Everything I have mentioned above is new to me as far as marketing goes.
      What I don't need is blackhat tricks or anything like that. The traffic I need has to be google safe as that is my primary source of revenue (for now anyway)
      I would appreciate some good advice on this.
      1. You DO need a LANDING PAGE.

      You need to determine specific pages that you are going to direct traffic to. Could be more than ONE.

      You need to determine what traffic you are bringing in exactly and what floats their boat.

      Not saying the landing page has to look anything like your common MMO landing pages, but these main pages need to be determined as they are the beginnings of the funnels created to draw readers to what ever it is that you are offering.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
    You can’t do much without a budget, especially if you are new in this field. YouTube has high quality traffic which converts really well if you have something to offer.

    I would advice to create some short 200-300 word scripts out of your PDFs by sharing something valuable and hire people from Fiverr to make video testimonials with call to action at the end. Create rich keyword titles, good description and insert a bunch of keywords.

    You need at least $50-100 to make this happen.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Originally Posted by rpatsmith View Post

    1) Where else can I go (besides slideshare) to submit my pdfs?
    Scribd. This is the only one worth recommending in my opinion. If Docstoc was still available, i would recommend them too.

    2) How do I generate traffic to my sites on a shoestring budget?
    - PPC
    - Forums, Youtube, Email Marketing
    - Advertising on non-competitive sites in your niche
    - Joint ventures
    - Viral marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucian Lada
    I agree with Jill: you do need a landing page.

    A landing page is the inception of your sales funnel, or, to put it euphemistically, it's the beginning of a wonderful journey ending at the checkout. Even if you're not into what we call traditional MMO, you still need to figure out a funnel, i.e. a process of moving your prospects closer and closer to the sale, and the landing page, as I said, is the beginning. Maybe you start with describing your services, then you move them next to a page full of testimonials from happy clients, then to a pricing page and finally to checkout.

    Anyway, regarding traffic, I recommend you search the forum - it's chock-full of advice on this subject.
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  • Profile picture of the author danieldesai
    Originally Posted by rpatsmith View Post

    How do I generate traffic to my sites on a shoestring budget?
    When you create content for your SlideShare PDFs, you'll want to take that and re-purpose it into multiple formats and share it on the necessary distribution channels.

    Therefore, make videos and upload them to YouTube, and take the audio from those videos and upload it to iTunes and SoundCloud.

    Make sure to give a strong call to action; tell the person watching/listening exactly where to go to get more info about what you offer, and make it appealing.

    It's how I got started online.

    Regards,
    Daniel
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Since you have an entertainment site, you have an unending procession of new trends and fads. Learn to piggyback on those hot moments and be ready to pivot to the next one.

      Jill's right, though.

      A "landing page" is just the page on your site where you want people to land when they click a link. It doesn't have to be, and often should not be, your home page.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alex Com
        Pictures / Documents Tagging For Google Search.

        I was bored at work (data analyst) and decided to do some inbound marketing (landing pages / SEO) I got a huge exposure on a very limited budget through placing product pictures and researching tags that are Gooogle Search friendly.
        I did take a lot of keyword testing and adjustments however the end results was 20,000 views per month. Can't say that this transferred into too many leads. However, I am still getting views without having any time for updates and it was a huge brand name exposure.
        Finally, if you can somehow link your products to trending topics, it's a huge viewership boosts. (Can't go into details, for free, trade secrets )

        p.s. It's your call, however, in your place I would reconsider view on landing pages. Those allow you to test your content and get extra traffic for individual products or locations without any negative effects to your main website.
        Main Website - conservative, proven approach and content.
        Landing Pages - daring content, attention gathering borderline spamming tactics.
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        • Profile picture of the author nancy666
          Hi,

          I think every business need a landing page to capture leads. if you don't do this you'll find yourself down the track constantly trying to get more customers to sell to, when you could have a customer database already open to your offers! Plus the money you will save by not having to advertise all the time.
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  • Profile picture of the author rpatsmith
    I have considered the use of landing pages, but have not had much luck with them in the past. What would be my gift or attraction? the slideshare pdfs? Would I want to include video of some sort in the landing page and funnel? I will agree with you on the need to get and keep a mailing list, but not sure of the effective steps on how to go about this?

    In an earlier post someone suggested using mailing lists in my promotional efforts. What are your thoughts on safelists? I am a member of several, but currently do not use them much due to concerns over losing what good relations I have with google adsense.

    Any thoughts or ideas here?
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      What sites do you consider your competition?

      What are they doing on those sites?

      Go spy on them to get ideas.
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      "May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"

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      • Profile picture of the author Kurt
        Here's a reason PowerPoint is probably my favorite marketing tool. Make a video using PPT.


        Submit the video to Youtube, Facebook and Twitter and probably Pinterest, as well as the other major video directories like Vimeo. Over time, you can build friends and followers on the social sites, so you'll have a built-in audience for your YT videos.


        Then use PPT to export as a PDF and submit to the main PDF sites. Same with the DOC and slideshow sites.


        Depending on the content of the video, consider exporting it as a series of images and submit them to sites like Instagram with regards to the rights that came with the content in your videos.


        When you make a video be sure to have a voice over and submit the audio to the major podcast sites.


        PPT has a free 30 day trial, then is only $7(?) a month and along with a mic and Audacity can handle all the media formats above, plus you get all the other Office programs as well. And, PPT can record audio directly, so you don't need Audacity, although it's free.
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