Chuck Norris Chimes In: Followup Review Of SEO School

My review of SEO School continues here with a rundown on some real-world results.  And some Chuck Norris goodness as well.

If you haven’t heard of Ittybiz or seen part two of my SEO School review a few weeks ago, I’ll spare you the drama – it was on the market, off the market (uproar!) and now it’s back (double uproar!).  It’s worth the uproar.

I could say blah, blah, blah about it and offer you all kinds of gee-whiz bonuses if you buy it, but that’s not on today’s menu.  Instead, here are some hard, cold results since I read (and applied) the book.

How Much Did My Newfound Knowledge Gain Me?

Ok, keyword traffic to my site is up significantly since I read this book – almost 50%.    Now those with bigger blogs may say 1461 keyword visits in a month isn’t that big, and to that I reply, “Kindly take it up with Chuck Norris.”

Keyword traffic up?  Check.  But more importantly, were sales up?  Hell, yes.  More than doubled, as a matter of fact.

Aside from the raw numbers, how did I fare when it came to some of the keywords I’ve been trying to optimize?  Below are some Google Analytics screenshots for 3 of the keywords that drive my blog revenue (that is, bring in the monies):

Keyword #1 – Up 57.89%

Keyword #2 – Up 525%

Keyword #3 – Up 550%

PS – for those of you without a lot of SEO background who are wondering why my keywords are blacked out, that’s because you don’t want to publicize keywords you’ve discovered convert well (otherwise your competition will use them).

The Big Sales Pitch

Yes, if you click this here link to buy SEO School I will get a little bit of change (which I don’t see anything wrong with, since hey, I’ve spent some time hammering out these reviews over the last few months).  But more importantly, you can see some change by getting more targeted keyword traffic to your site. And that means more monies.  For you.  So buy SEO School and tell ‘em Dave sent you.

I Promised You Chuck, Now Here’s Your Chuck, Dammit

Ok, so here’s the story.  Rumor has it that Chuck Norris demanded and affordable entry-level SEO product after seeing Aaron Wall’s high-three-digit price for his SEO program.  And so rather than roundhouse kick that high-priced product into submission, he put his foot down so hard it shook the earth, and by “put his foot down,” I mean, “wiggled his pinkie toe.” (He’s that good.)

The resulting shockwave caused earthquakes all over the globe, but more importantly, sent a life-altering message to Naomi Dunford: “Get that damn SEO book on the market before Chuck comes for you.”

You see, Chuck doesn’t ask twice.  And now SEO School is back on the market, and you can get it here.

The end.

Mid-lining: Why Shooting for “OK” Gives You Incredible Results

Pop Quiz:  How “good at stuff” do you have to be to double any metric in your business (sales, traffic, etc) that you currently suck at?

• A) A Whole Lot Better
• B) Only A Little Bit Better

If you answered “A,” you failed. Print this article, keep it on your desk and read it every day for 10 days.

If you answered “B,” huzzah. You get 10 cool points, but you still need to print this article, keep it on your desk and read it every day for 10 days.

What They Told Me Every Day Was Dead Wrong

You know the old expression “Jack of all trades, master of none?”  It’s stupid, and it’s bad advice. I used to hear it all the time growing up, when I’d dabble in learning something new or figuring out just a little bit about a whole mess of topics.  People would pull up that phrase, as if to say that focusing on one single skill to the exclusion of others was the secret to success.

Now, I’m not knocking the idea that focused study will make you a master at something.  Can’t be a brain surgeon or rocket scientist without it.  But specialized mastery of one subject alone will not boost your chances of growing fast in your business.  A healthy dose of generalizing, however, will.  (Michael gets this.)

Here’s an example: Jack and Jill are two freelance writers – pretty good ones, too.  On a scale of 1 to 10, let’s say their writing skills are about an 8.  They are above average, yet both of them are struggling to attract clients because their the traffic to their websites sucks.  (On a scale of 1 to 10, their search engine knowledge is at a 1.  They know nothing about it.)

Jack kicks himself every day and wishes he understood this “search engine optimization thing” so that he could bring in more business.  But all that stuff is BIG and SCARY and he’d have to be REALLY GOOD at it to every make it work.  So there he stays at 1.

Jill says, “screw that,” picks up Naomi’s SEO School or Michael’s SEO teleseminar and says “I’m going to spend 5-10 hours or so learning about all this SEO stuff.  Jill does, and with 5-10 hours of training she’s now at a 4 on that sliding scale.

Fast forward 6 months and guess what?  Jill is eating Jack’s lunch, that’s what. She’s not an expert at SEO by any means, but she now knows enough to stop making stupid mistakes and she knows the bare minimum she needs to in order to make her pages rank better.  She’s doubled her traffic by just doing the few things she learned when her skill level went from 0 to 4.

Mid-lining: The Art of Getting To 4 (Or Thereabouts)

There are all kinds of things you can learn to make your business grow:  copywriting, SEO, graphic design, negotiation, sales, social media … tons of stuff.  Chances are you don’t pursue them because you think you have to get to a 8, 9, or 10 on that sliding scale, and that’s just something you don’t have the time for.

But you don’t have to get to 10 – or even close to it – to get a huge return on investment for your time.  Instead, work your way to the midpoint of that line – a 4 or 5 – and let that drive your business forward.

People drastically underestimate the monster advantage that comes with knowing even the basics about something, and they don’t realize that 99% of their competitors are sitting at a 1 on that sliding scale.  But mid-lining – just getting to a 4 or 5 – gives you a huge tactical advantage with a minimum of investment.

It Doesn’t Take Long To Get To 4

What does it take to mid-line and get to 4?  In a lot of cases, only 5 to 10 hours of study.  Seriously.  5 to 10 hours.  Sometimes even less, if you have the right mentor / book / course.   And getting to that mid-line can double your traffic, or your conversion rates, or your referrals, or whatever – because doubling small numbers is easy.

Think about that.  Going from $100 / month in sales to $100,000 / month in sales may require you to go from a 1 to a 10 (tons of work).  But going from $100 / month to $200 or $300 / month doesn’t take that much effort at all.  And most people tend to be stuck at flat or small growth, so mid-lining would be a huge opportunity for them.

Investing in yourself is one of the best things you can do – and if you’re not doing it, you need to set a budget for it (time and money) immediately.  There’s so much power in that 1-to-4 range that could change your business radically if you just took the 5-10 hours to get yourself there.

Decide Right Now To Mid-Line Your Business

What is it about your business that you suck at?  SEO?  Traffic?  Sales?  Something else?  Where are you feeling the pain because you’re at a 1and think you need to be at 8, 9 or 10?  Take ten seconds an think of it now, and then commit to yourself to learning the very basics of that topic – just 5 hours worth – and see where it gets you.

You need mid-lining if you want to grow faster without pouring money into high-priced consultants.  (Note: There’s nothing wrong with high-priced consultants.  Use them to do the 5-to-10 skill level stuff.  Just don’t pay top dollar for 1-through-4 stuff you can do yourself).

Where will you apply mid-lining in the next 30 days?  Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear it.

How To Get Through Damn Near Anything

Ever have one of those tough-as-hell weeks where it feels like the world is unloading both barrels at you – where things fly at you at such an vicious, unrelenting speed that you feel like life is pushing your limits simply to see where your breaking point is?  Where the pressure is on, the sleep is never restful, and you find yourself bubbling up with frustration about your job, your endurance, your attitude … and it seems like at any moment that life is about to break you?

I just had a week of exactly that.  It was curious.  And by “curious” I mean fricking hell.

So, How Do You Cope With “Hell Week” (or Month, Or Year …)?

There are only three ways of coping with a sudden trip into unrelenting hell:

1. Snap.  Messily.
2. Go numb. Stay numb.
3. Get through it, and get stronger.

Obviously, the first option isn’t one you want to take.  Lots of lawyers and dry cleaning involved.  The second option isn’t much better – I’ve done it many times, and in the long run, it’s not a much better option than the first one.  But there’s a third option, one where you decide you’re not going to settle for anything less than getting through this ordeal a stronger person. That’s where you want to be.

Yeah, I know.  It’s not easy.  But it doesn’t have to be as insanely difficult as we make it out to be.

What To Do When You’re Stuck In A Rut

You’re going to have times when you feel like your emotions are out of control.  You’re horrifically depressed.  Uncontrollably angry.  Unreasonably scared.  Stuck in a rut.  Entering the downward spiral.  Locked into a pattern of frustrating, paralyzing, you-don’t-wan’t-this-but-can’t-change-it emotion that makes you hate your life and where you are.

And the worst part of it is, no one is coming to your rescue. No wave of a magic wand will help you feel better, and no cheery “You can do it!” advice is going to break the hold of how you feel.  And to make matters worse, Dave is going on and on about how bad you feel and still hasn’t gotten to the part where you can start feeling better.

This Is The Part Where You Can Start Feeling Better

Throughout my week, I’ve had to deal with enormous frustration and bouts of near-depression about things that seemed to be controlling my life in ways that I didn’t like.  It was rough as hell, but the only thing that kept me from snapping messily was focusing on one simple phrase that helped me break the pattern of pain and move on with my day:

“I don’t have to feel this way.”

These seven words may not sound like much of a solution, but stop and think about it: When you’re locked into an emotion that’s controlling your attitude, you tend to feel powerless to change it.  Powerless. And that’s precisely why that emotion has a hold on you the way it does – you feel like there’s no way out, no matter how hard you try.

And in a way, you’re right.  “Trying” doesn’t seem to work most of the time.  You’re feeling defeated and drained, and you’re not in a good position to put up a fight against an unusually strong emotion.

So don’t fight it.  Accept what you’re feeling in the moment, and realize that your feeling is driven by what you’re focusing on in the moment (namely, all the stuff that sucks so horribly).  Take ownership and admit that you are feeding this feeling by focusing on all the things you don’t like about your situation.

And don’t feel bad about it.  Don’t beat yourself up about it (because that only feeds that feeling further).  Simply accept that this is a cause-and-effect thing, and that it’s part of being human, and that even the person you think is the most stable, “can-do” person you want to strangle has crap days just like you do.

And then repeat to yourself,

“I don’t have to feel this way.”

Things Change When You Take Responsibility For Your Feelings

You see, we feel like crap because we imagine that life does things to us, that bad situations make us feel bad.  But you know from your own experience that it doesn’t have to be that way – you’ve been in plenty of situations that sucked where you’ve been the voice of reason – the one who was able to stay in a constructive mood even when other people didn’t.

How did you do it?  It wasn’t magic.  It wasn’t willpower.  And it wasn’t positive thinking – it was realistic thinking. Somewhere along the line, you realized that feeding yourself depressing thoughts was going to depress you, and you didn’t want to settle for that. You wanted more. And you told yourself that you didn’t have to feel this way.  You focused on something good, or you just focused on the fact you’d get through this in one piece and that if you ripped the band-aid off fast enough, the pain would only be temporary.

In other words, you refused to let the world play you for a sucker and drive your feelings, and you put both hands on the wheel and refused to let go.  All you have to do now is remember you’re the one in the driver’s seat.

Breaking The Pattern = Hope (A Much Stronger Position)

When you’re mired in a strong emotion, it’s easy to feel that it’s hopeless to fight it.  But when you focus on your own ability to choose things instead, you put yourself in a stronger position, one where you can make a difference.  You recognize that emotions don’t control you – you control emotions, and that makes all the difference in the world.

When you tell yourself, “I wish I felt better,” you feel powerless.  There’s not much hope for change there.  But when you tell yourself, “I don’t have to feel this way,” you’re giving yourself the option not to feel this way, and that’s an option you didn’t have before when you were focusing on the big scary emotion.  You’re reminding yourself to be reasonable about the whole thing.  You’re reminding yourself that you’re stronger than you’re currently giving yourself credit for.

And stronger is a good place to be.

How To Break Your Pattern And Start Feeling Better

When you feel like crap and there doesn’t seem to be a way out, simply say to yourself, “I don’t have to feel this way.” If that doesn’t immediately help, repeat to yourself “I don’t have to feel this way.” If it still doesn’t help, repeat it again: I don’t have to feel this way.” And again.  And again.  And again.  And AGAIN.

Focus on opening up new options for yourself.  Take it to the next level and ask yourself what you could do to feel differently: “I don’t have to feel depressed about my job.  If I wanted to feel better, I’d focus on <insert something I’m taking for granted>.  If I wanted to feel better, I’d remind myself that <insert something that gives you perspective on something good in your life>.”

Remember, your emotions run on a cause-and-effect pattern.  Use that (instead of being used by that).

The key to this is repetition.  On some level you’re going to resist feeling like you should have that much control over your feelings, because the part of you that wants the easy way out (or is simply intimidated by the strong emotion) is going to tell you there’s no point in trying.  Don’t listen to that voice.

Listen to reason instead.  Listen to hope.  Listen to what’s going to pull you out of this mess.

You have the power to change things – to stop feeding the draining feelings you don’t want and to start feeding the feelings that will help you rock your day and get out of that rut, so you can be the person you know you’re capable of being.

Feed the right feelings. And come back for seconds.  You’ll thank yourself for it.

3 Things You Can Do Now To Make This Message Stick

• Leave a comment below and join the discussion,
• Subscribe to this blog (it’s free!) to get even more tips you can use, and
• Link to this article and spread the word.

The Second Law Of Action: Everyday Accountability Gives You Ten Times The Results

Welcome back to the Secret-bustin’ series that treats the Law of Attraction like one big ol’ magic genie pinata. Catch up on all the posts here.

The age-old First Law of Action (coined just a few weeks ago) states that A refined outcome is easier to achieve. Simple enough to agree with – you get specific on what you want (and what you don’t want), and the path you need to take to get there becomes clearer.   Nice and simple.  You don’t have to be a quantum physicist to figure that one out.

Now, let’s take a look at the Second Law of Action, handed down through the centuries penned as I sipped my evening rum & Coke:  Everyday Accountability Gives You Ten Times The Results. Again, not rocket science … but seldom put into practice.

When You Decide To Act Everyday, Everything Changes

The reason why we don’t get what we want has less to do with how talented we are and a whole lot more to do with how consistent we are with action. Whether you’re building a blog, developing a new habit, or punching your way out of a living grave (thanks, Sonia), taking focused, non-stop action on a daily basis speeds up your results tenfold.

The reasons for this are many:

• When you hold yourself to taking action on something everyday, your whole psychology undergoes a shift.  You’re essentially telling yourself “I’m serious about this,” and you devote more of your focus to making yourself work.

• When you decide to take daily action on a project, you pretty much have to sit down and make a plan of what to do next, and next, and next, and next … and instead of taking random action, you tend to make more of a strategic plan.  No futzing around anymore.

• When you tackle the same goal day after day, you start to become more sensitive to understanding the results you’re getting.  You get better at discerning what type of actions have a bigger payoff than others, and when your current strategy isn’t working.

• When you make taking action a daily habit, you quickly develop a sense of dissatisfaction for taking any action that doesn’t give you really good results.  You stop fooling around and start getting serious.

• When you take action more frequently, you refine your strategy faster.  As you get into the thick of a project, you start seeing ways that you could reach your goals more effectively because you’re immersed in it and you’re seeing results you can measure.

For all these reasons – and many more, which I’m sure you’ll talk about in the comments – holding yourself accountable to take action everyday on a goal moves you from a leisurely stroll to a marathoner’s pace (and sometimes to a hard sprint).  In fact, it’s clinically proven* that getting serious helps you make progress ten times faster.

(* According to a study where imaginary researchers come up with nice round numbers to support my points).

How To Tap Into The Power Of Everyday Accountability

If there’s something you say you’re serious about that you just aren’t making progress on, it’s time to make the shift to everyday accountability.  The process is simple:

• Refine your goal into a measurable outcome, such as “10% increase in traffic,” “100 new subscribers,” or “15 hours of studying copywriting per month.”

• Schedule time in every day to take action, because if you don’t schedule it, you won’t do it.  If you’ve got a daily schedule that varies, just schedule 1 or 2 days ahead at all times and you’ll be fine.

• Every day, ask yourself the Big Question, “What did I do to make progress on this goal?”  This accountability question alone will speed up the process more than anything else, because it forces you to evaluate how much progress you’re making.  You can’t be complacent when facing this question.

Don’t Let Time Pass Without Taking Action

New Year’s Resolutions fail because you check in on them once a year.  Most “30 day goals” fail because people don’t check in on them until a few weeks have passed.  If you check in on yourself daily, and you get honest with your answer to the Big Question, you’ll be amazed at just how quickly you make things happen.

Everyday accountability –> Everyday Progress –> WIN.

3 Things You Can Do Now To Make This Message Stick

• Leave a comment below and join the discussion,
• Subscribe to this blog and catch the entire Laws of Action series, and
• Link to this article and spread the word.

Honk If You Love Freelancing / Writing: 3 More Posts You Might Want To Read & Comment On

Rock Your Business Wednesdays will pick up next week.  In the meantime …

Things are going full steam ahead at the Rock Your Day headquarters – the Overcoming Procrastination video course is coming out in the next 14 days and I’ve been posting new articles at other places around the blogosphere (links below).

First, A 500-Subscriber Celebration

We’ve also topped 500 subscribers here at RYD (and almost 1000 on the newsletter), and I want to give you all a big shout-out for subscribing – it’s good to have you on board.  As my little way to celebrate, I’m going to give anyone who wants it a chance to pick up the Overcoming Procrastination course for about 25% off by joining my Advance Discount List.

Just sign up and you’ll get an email a few days before launch with a link to get it for $20 instead of $27.  More money stays in your pocket.  Can’t beat that.

Now, On To The Show …

I’d love to have you drop by some of the other blogs I’ve been posting on and get your feedback if the topics are helpful to you.  Drop on by and check out what I’ve been writing about at:

• Freelance Switch - 3 Smart Moves To Make After Landing A New Client

• Freelance Folder - 3 Freelancing “Bad Habits” That Cost You Money

• Write to Done - 5 Clever Ways To Keep Your Muse On Speed Dial

Have a great week, and I’ll see you in the comments section!

Dave

Rock Your Business Tip #2: How To Get Magnetic People To Notice You

(Yes, I know it’s been a week without a post, but the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina were calling me out for an early Labor Day Weekend.  Good times.)

Last Wednesday we talked about the importance of having “Magnets” as business contacts so that you would be pulled towards growing, rather than keeping the status quo with your Grounders.  Magnets are essential to making the big leaps that get you to move past what you think you want and start chasing what you really want.  (Clay gets this.)

Now let’s talk about how to start attracting the attention of these Magnets so your business can grow like you want it to.  Here’s the big, deep, dark secret:

The Top Secret Strategy:  Givers Get.

I’ve said it before – the number one way to connect with people is to get to know what they are passionate about and discover how you can add value to what they are doing.  That’s it.  You want to get on a Magnet’s radar?  Find a way to make their life easier.  Find a way to help them get what they want.  Find a way to make them feel better, or more valued, or more confident.

Take note:  I’m not talking about ass-kissing.  That’s a stupid networking strategy, it’s not sustainable, and it doesn’t give you any leverage.  I’m talking about connecting with someone on a meaningful level and making their world better for your being there.

A long time ago I realized the secret of climbing the corporate ladder wasn’t to be a superstar at work (though that’s important for a lot of reasons).  The secret of climbing the ladder is making life easier for the people above you and helping them reach their business goals.  Then they notice you and want to reward you.

When You Give, Give Strategically

Face it – your time, energy, and personal bandwidth are limited.  There’s not “enough of you to go around” for everyone.  So when you start networking via this giving strategy, you have to choose the people who you give to strategically.  You can’t just give to everyone without limit.

Think about what your end goals are, and begin to give accordingly to the types of people who can not only benefit from what you give, but also are in a position to give back according to your goals.  A great example of this strategy is guest posting on people’s blogs.  (James gets this.)  I’m doing this like crazy right now, because it works both ways – I bring good content to other blogs, and I get exposure to their audience.

This is also the reason that links to other blogs work so well when connecting to bloggers.  You’re giving them something they want (exposure) without asking for anything in return.  And more often than not, what goes around comes around.

These are blogging examples because that’s my giving strategy at the moment – I’m working on raising the profile of this blog, so I’m helping other bloggers achieve their goals.  Many people keep the focus on themselves, but shouldn’t – the payoff for helping others is nothing short of amazing.

Of course, there’s another benefit to focusing on being a giver – it makes you a nicer person to be around.

In my next Rock Your Business article, I’ll go into how to start choosing strategic networking connections.  Stay subscribed so you don’t miss it.

A Few Networking Posts You Should Read

A while back, I started writing a few networking tips articles that I think you’d enjoy.  Check them out if you’d like, and please leave a comment if you’ve got a moment.  That’ll put you on my radar

• 5 Must-Have Skills For Million Dollar Networkers
• Become A Master Networker By Changing These 3 Beliefs
• Confidence: The Networking Strategy That Works Every Time
• How To Build A Huge Network Without Traveling Anywhere
• How To Start Building Your Networking Plan