Marketing Blog Link Roundup

This is our first internet marketing link roundup of the best blogs and articles in the niche. I would recommend that anyone out there subscribe to or bookmark the following sites and read them religiously at least 3 times per week. They’re that good.

1. From SearchEngineGuide.com - 4 Copywriting Steps that Will Sell Ice to Eskimos

The 4 steps to copywriting that Stoney deGeyter outlines in his article are excellent, but it’s in the last paragraph that he spills the beans:

The more you give the visitor what they came for, rather than what you want to feed them, the better opportunity you have to capture them not just as a single purchase customer, but a customer for life.

2. From WebProNews - More Consumers Going Online To Research Products

Mike Sachoff has an interesting article up citing Prospectiv research showing that more and more peope are adopting the internet as a research tool before making purchase decisions, even everyday purchases they make at their local grocer. While his main focus is on e-newsletters, if you read the Prospective article, you’ll see them mention ‘relationships’ and how consumers want that from a company.

That means that marketers and retailers “have a great opportunity to create a relationship with the customer,” he says. “Consumers may want to pick the relationship, and they want to be in charge, and most of all, they want something back - savings, information, or advice. But what they are saying is, ‘I want this relationship’.”

3. From Sugarrae.com - The SEMMYS Launch, The WHINEYS TBA

Rae Hoffman has a way of saying the things we all wish we had the guts to say, and this post pointing out the ungratefulness of some people is right on target. Especially this part:

There is no “cash bonus” for being that public target either. There is no “secret society” you suddenly become a member of that opens up all of the world’s seo secrets. Instead, people feel like you owe them something.

Be grateful that people freely give of themselves in this industry. Without their help, all you’d have is someone trying to ’sell’ you the information they take the time to give you for free.

And on that note, check back in a couple of days for another marketing blog link roundup. There are a lot of fantastic blogs out there but there are also a lot of scummy ones. We’ll do our best to separate the cream from the crap for you.