Steer clear of the sharks - 8 ways to increase web traffic to your website

Publish = blood in the water

From the second I published my online business website, I have been inundated by sharks. They contact me every way you can possibly imagine at all hours of the day and night, weekdays and weekends. No time is safe and they seem to never sleep. To whom am I referring? All of those companies who make money selling online businesses the 'service' of generating exposure.

The calls usually come from area code 425 – Washington State. Although some have been from Utah (801). I'm wise to such calls. Mostly because I am not in Washington or the states so there is no particular reason for my initial clientelle to be from WA.

The claims and approaches from these blood-suckers are as wide and varied as the types and number rain drops that fall on their beloved state.

Some are relentless, somewhat complementary and smooth, some insulting and impossible to get rid of while some try the kindly, helpful approach. No matter the tactic, the goal is the same: separate online business owner from their money. (And in honesty, most new online business owners don't make money. Like other new business owners, they spend money – a lot of which isn't even theirs to begin with. You know that's the truth.)

The claims range too:

“We'll get you to the top of the search engines.”

“We'll drive qualified traffic to your site”

(I love this one in particular because – they've called, emailed, used my site's contact page – they're relentless. And note the above website info – not found. Every search of this company yielded other companies and even the usual 'purchase this domain name'. Sure – I'm going to give you $1000s to promote my business when I cannot find yours. Wait by the phone for my credit card info!)

“You need to optimize your key words and metas”

“We can guide you through the process of getting seen through blogs, online shopping catalogs, meta optimization, key word searches, etc.”

“You need to know what people are searching – and sell that”

“We get 17 000 online shoppers daily to our 'mortar-and-brick' style online shopping mall”

Really? Hmmmm. I buy stuff online. Sometimes I use a general search. Sometimes a proven seller – like the Shopping Channel. (One of my favs. I just bought a few things tonight actually.) But NEVER have I used either an online catalog, or mall. Never.

The crazy thing is to get to the top of the search engines – you need to do what they want. Mostly, have links going to and from your site. The best way to do this – a zillion malls, directories and catalogs that no one uses but that update many times a day, thus re-initiating all of those links making it seem as though people go to these sites.

Another fav of the search engines – press releases. Most of the online press release sites are likewise totally bogus and you can only find them if you are really looking for them. A reputable news site seems to generate more weight than the fabricated, no one sees them 'news' sites, but bottom line; any website that's updated very frequently and contains the links in the format recognized will do the trick.

Personally, I checked my Google search status prior to updating my Google Adwords and found that my site was being found on page 2. With the adwords account re-invested, I was suddenly 4^th on the 1^st page. (Not counting the ad which appeared at the top of the page.) Coincidence? I doubt it. Pay them money – and they'll immediately rank you higher.

So what have I learned about online business by starting a commerce-based website?

1. Don't pick up the phone if the area code is 425. If they're reputable, they'll leave a message – and often they will when they're not.

2. Use metas and key words in a way that will optimize your searchability. No more than 6 repetitions on any 1 page of your key word(s) and make sure your metas match. And use the reverse search tools to find out how people search for your items.

3. Publish often. By often, I mean as close to everyday as you can manage.

4. Exchange links. Find businesses to link exchange with you. This usually means setting up 1 or more pages to accommodate these but the links are what the search engines want to see so you've got to do it. And try to keep these exchanges within your general category of business. (Not always easy since you're all in competition.)

5. Don't be swayed! Sometimes the sharks will tell you that it's unclear if and/or what you're selling on your site. Or even that your site (that you probably agonized for 100s of hours to build) is awkward to navigate. Ask people close enough to you to check out your site but far enough away from you to tell you the truth. And pick people who shop online!

6. Blog. Become an expert at something – preferably something related to what you're selling. (There's a reason why so much of the info on the net is crap – businesses are forced to be experts – and often they're not. They're just slogging along like everyone else.)

7. Ask for and take advice. I'm big on doing research – mostly because I like it and I'm pretty good at it. I've read so many books and articles on how to generate traffic and business online. And most of the advice is the same. Worse still, most matches with what the sharks say too.

8. Keep at it. I'm sure every person reading this knows someone who's done a multi-level marketing business (Amway, Norwex, Avon, Tupperware, PartyLite, etc.). I'm also going to guess that that person you know gave up on their business. Not because it didn't work – but because they didn't stay in it long enough for it to work.

9. Paying the sharks won't get you all the business you're looking for right away - if ever. When you talk to them long enough, you'll find (if they're honest with you) that they say it'll take 6-12 months to see any marked improvement in traffic.

Calgary Woman's Show Fall 2010

Thank you Calgary!

Thanks to everyone who came by our booth at the Calgary Woman's Show. We are taking this opportunity to acknowledge everyone who took the time to offer their support, give us tips for new products and markets as well as the many, many who came to make purchases for themselves, their loved ones and the soon-to-arrive loved ones in their lives.

The ladies of Calgary were so generous we even had one lady, Heather S., purchase a Ready for Anything pack to donate to the Foothills Hospital so that one of their patients may have an easier time with their stay in hospital. She thought the packs were a great idea but had recently been in hospital and wasn't planning a future visit. Go figure.

When I went into the hospital to deliver the pack, I explained the situation to the volunteer on duty and was taken to the admitting desk. After a long wait and no one available to speak with us, I was sent to Unit 61 where most people who come from emergency end up when they need to stay in hospital. I took the pack to the nurse on duty and tried hard to get the whole story out quickly so that she wouldn't think I was wasting her time and once I got the words out her face changed. She was so happy to hear that someone would go to that kind of effort to repay the kindness they had received at their hospital. It's this generosity that makes Calgary a wonderful place to live and do business.

Our biggest seller was the Office Pack which I think we're going to have to rename. So many people seemed to think it was perfect for a short hospital stay or for returning home from a minor procedure. No one likes to be confined to bed, even at home, but having a few things nearby that aren't going to clog up the whole of your bedside table - now that's convenient.

So once again, thank you Calgary Woman's Show attendees for your warm reception. We will be posting the winners of our Show prizes (2 daily prizes of Elizabeth Grant Golden Angel bath products and our Grand Prize of a photo sitting with pictures from our kind friend Nadine Foster.)

Be sure to use your Calgary Woman's Show Coupon for future purchases - good until the end of the year.

Normally I wouldn't be happy to hear that my dad has the bacteria that causes ulcers. . .

This may sound weird but after my mom's trouble with ulcers you'd think that it would be natural to check my dad for the bacteria that causes 90% of all ulcers: Helicobacter pylori. I wrote a blog about this a few months ago and included info about how this little factoid was discovered - and how it resulted in a Nobel Prize for Dr. Warren.

My dad reminds me in some ways of Dr. David Suzuki. I don't mean in the seriously eco-sensitive, hosts his own TV show, has a foundation to help protect the earth way. You may not have seen the interview with him that disclosed his commitment to his physique but it left a lasting impression on me.

OK, so in that interview he told a story about how one of his daughters had a bodybuilding magazine out that she was looking at and he offhandedly mentioned that he could look like that. According to his interview, she scoffed as only a teenager could which prompted him to take up bodybuilding. He did end up looking like the guy on the cover of the magazine (see above - wow) but more to the point of my father, they showed some footage of Suzuki building a deck. He was hammering nails into the boards with the speed and accuracy of a nail gun. No fooling. And he was in his 60s at the time. Yikes and Hey - How You Doin'? My dad believes in exercise as no one else I've ever known. He devises little machines and routines regularly to improve his physique. The man exercises for a living via his career in home improvements and then comes home to walk the dogs for and hour. Every day. And then proceeds to do his made-up exercises. So when he was having gastrointestinal problems that would not be cleared my mom began to worry. I was asked for some insights and gave the usual answers - watery diarrhea use activated charcoal. But if it's an infection it should clear on its own in 7 to 10 days. This didn't happen. He wasn't dehydrated. He didn't have cramping or pains. Just this knowledge that the volume going in wasn't reflected by the volume going out. So my next suggestion was a laxative. This did help with the volume going out. This is good but still this water problem. Adding to my mom's concern was that he wasn't active. He was watching TV. Not that he never watches but he sat for more than an hour. This doesn't happen. Ever. He was fatigued. And it wasn't ending. Combine that with the need to use the facilities immediately after eating and that's a combo no one wants. Now when my mom was diagnosed with an ulcer back in 2006, I told my mom to get dad checked. They are from a part of the world (middle Europe pre-1960) where the incidence of Helicobacter pylori infectivity is super high. Did he go? Course not. But something about these symptoms really bugged me - so I put the bee in mom's ear and she called his doctor's office and forced them to run the test. And finally the results are in - yup, he's got it. So why am I relieved? There is a cure. Even though antibiotics do not work a lot of the time (like a 70% failure rate). There are natural things that can help out with clearing the bug.

Now I don't know if my dad will be 100% after his treatment regime but if he can get back his energy and not need a washroom every time he thinks about eating - I'll be happy. Bottom line - you need a patient advocate. Seriously, what kind of doctor doesn't think to check the spouse of a known ulcer patient who has tested positive for H. pylori. This isn't rocket surgery. It's passed through saliva and hello married people are known to kiss, share food and drinks. Not to mention the above stated likelihood of his having the bacteria due to location and conditions of his life prior to living in Canada. The patient shouldn't need to diagnose themselves. A reminder of your individual situation no matter how difficult it may be to get your healthcare practitioner to listen, may just lead to the diagnosis you need so that you too can be on the road to recovery; like my dad.

Why does my mind kick in after the person I'm talking to has left?

Has this ever happened to you? You're chatting with someone you don't know very well and after they leave you remember all the things you should have said or done. For instance, I ran into a high school alumni at a farmer's market and instead of giving him a business card to get in touch with me I pointed out my website address on my bag.

To be fair it's a lot easier to remember something simple like You Get Well Soon than it is to ask him to remember my name and its exact spelling. (Some names are complicated and mine really is one of them.) It also would have been nice for me to remember some of the details I wanted to at the time that I was giving away my maternity and early baby clothes. Life is pretty funny. I was trying desperately hard to find a local organization to take these items along with some baby stuff (swing, breast pump, sling, etc.). I am now and always have been a firm believer in donating rather than trashing my used stuff. And I don't know why I forget every time but it's like the organizations go out of their way to not get donations of anything other than cash. Now I understand that used stuff (and even new stuff - that they'd prefer) requires sorting and storing and assessing needs and therefore Manpower. I get that. Not every facility has storage space or enough volunteers to make this possible. I really do get it. BUT. Why is it that items that were perfectly good for me and my kids are somehow found to be lacking for the less fortunate?

They're less fortunate - why do they need better stuff than I used? I ran into this years ago when I wanted to give away my car. Plenty of organizations were willing to have me trash my car and then give me a tax voucher. That's not what I wanted. It was a fully roadworthy vehicle. Subarus last forever - well practically. They'll go until the body rusts through and there's either nowhere to sit or the engine falls out. But giving it away was a nightmare. After far too many phone calls and surly volunteers (I even talked to churches), I ended up finding someone through my mom who needed a car.

This lady grew up in a less that ideal situation and had let's say a limited trust of people. She befriended my mom though and they were quite close. When I gave her my car she was not only happy to have a working car - for free, she also gained some measure of faith in people. The small thing caused a ripple effect. And I was happy to do it. I'd rather give my car to someone who can use it that trash it or go through the hoops of selling it for a few hundred bucks. So likewise, I wanted to give my old maternity and baby stuff away. There is a never-ending need for these items by those ladies who cannot afford them for any number of reasons. So why is it so hard to be charitable with such items? I burst into a conversation a table of ladies had at a coffee shop regarding charities. (Not surprised are you?) They were discussing the sad state of charities. One point that was brought up was the high number of organizations. Each, of course, with at least one paid position . It's not a bad way to make money. Solicit funds for a genuine cause, get the tax breaks and collect an income while doing good. Sounds like a perfect scenario. And it would be if there weren't so many thus spreading the actual usable dollars so thin. Think of it, if there is say $1 million dollars donated annually to charities in your city geared towards those who are financially in dire need (homeless and those victims of abuse who need to abandon their homes). Of that million wouldn't more actually go to those in need if there were fewer agencies and therefore not only less overhead (as far as salaries go) but also more volunteers that donate their time would all be working for the same place - getting more done. After what seemed like endless calls to about a dozen agencies, I got referred to 2 places. The Thrift Store which is an arm of the Salvation Army and the Women in Need store.

Now they will take the clothes but not any 'furniture' and apparently the swing was considered furniture and was deemed un-donatable. How I was told that they work is that they are a store. So anyone can come in and buy anything in the store. And, they give vouchers to those who qualify and they can 'spend' them on whichever items in the store that they need. It's like giving them away but also has I suppose an accountability associated with the donation. Needless to say, I did not end up using these organizations for the donation of my baby and maternity stuff. I called up a couple well-connected people I know who then led me to the same lady. She and her husband came by my home and picked up the items. I told them they could go through the stuff now and leave what they didn't want or they could take everything if they promised to give away what they wouldn't use. They were great and seemed to be appreciative of the items. They were actually really cute and asked about a few aspects of parenthood and I volunteered what info I could at the time - and then directed them to my blogs (here and through Wordpress) to flesh out some topics that are too big for people who don't really know one another to get into - like breastfeeding and diapering without droning on and on. Can't really do that with people who not only have come from work and are tired already but also, hello, pregnant lady. She doesn't need to be on her feet any more than is absolutely necessary. Bottom line - it shouldn't be this hard to give quality items to those who genuinely need them. The women who got my things could use them and I'm sure the expenditure savings were nice but Need is another concept altogether. It's a shame that it isn't easier to connect the haves with the have nots when both parties want.

How I went from infirm to energetic

I was having dinner with a very dear friend tonight and a topic came up: my friend was having serious problems with her energy levels. Given her recent troubles, it wasn't unexpected but she's so out of breath that it brought to mind a situation I had many years ago and what I did to "cure" myself. Many a moon ago, I worked in a lab that poisoned me with chlorine gas. I went from being quite active to not being able to vacuum my tiny apartment in a matter of months. My lung function was so poor that the doctor who examined me actually asked me to sit down to review the results directly with him in his office. I was put on a variety of medication and given a schedule by which to see him. After 3 months, there was no real improvement - with the meds I could vacuum but not go up the 2 flights of stairs to my place without taking a breather. So I started looking into alternatives. By chance, I came across the book by Dr. Robert Fulford: Touch of Life. (I've since found out that it is available in paperback to this day. It was first published in 1996 - 1 year before the beginning of my symptoms. Lucky for me.) Dr. Fulford was an osteopath. The DO stands for Doctor of Osteopathy. This discipline is similar to medical school but the methods are very different. Osteopaths usually deal with injury repair - not like I was shot and need my tissues put back together. More like I was shot 3 months ago and need to remold and repair the area. They also deal with chronic injuries like those that result from childhood trauma or car accidents; you get the idea. Part of how it works is by opening up the congested, scarred region to the flow of the body's energy. And, at the end of this book is a chapter called exercises. I pulled the exercise pix that I'll post here from this osteopathy pdf. These exercises together with using a cleansing tea called FlorEssence took me from that terrible physical state to being able to help my parents re-roof their home just4 weeks later. I even went back to university right after that. And as everyone who's been knows, this is not a stress-free endeavor. So what is FlorEssence? This is a tea that was based on Renee Caisse's original formula known as Essiac tea. Essiac contains burdock root, Indian rhubarb root, sheep sorrel and slippery elm. This formulation was based on a Native American/ Native Canadian combination used to treat cancers and other serious ailments. If memory serves, Ms. Caisse was allowed to test the tea on terminal, untreatable cancer cases early in the 20th century. The results were so unexpectedly favourable that the formula has not died but instead been expanded by an additional manufacturer in the form of Flor Essence. It contains the same four herbs plus watercress, blessed thistle, red clover and kelp thought to increase the potency of the Essiac formula. For me, the combination did wonders. I've used the tea for 3-12 weeks every year since (expect when pregnant and nursing). Unfortunately, I've let the exercises go by the wayside. This blog post is reminding me of how good it felt to do these exercises and I think it would make a great addition to my daily routine. Well, I hope that this combo can help you or someone you know. And please check out Touch of Life. It changed my views of medicine and what has been practiced in North America for the last 100 years. Here are the exercises - try them out. They're simple and surprisingly beneficial.

Julia Roberts has done it - now I'm displeased . . .

I was happily watching the Oprah, even though it was a repeat (I'm pretty sure I saw parts of it the first time). It was the one with Julia Roberts discussing Eat Pray Love the movie. Haven't seen it yet but I read the book and liked it so hey why not catch the O about it.

Where does the displeasure come in - well Julia was talking about how she has taken to knitting and sewing stuff for her kids. So far so good. It's a nice gesture to the kiddos and as she herself said, it's good for the mind to learn new things. But then she did it - she went on to say how in these trying economic times, you've got to do all you can to save. "Have you seen the price of kids clothes?" Hazel's dresses are just 2 panels sewed together - I can do that'. (I paraphrase - but it was something like that - I tried to look up the interview on You Tube but was copyright protected and the Oprah website didn't have the whole transcript available.)

Now doing sewing and knitting for your family as an expression of love - awesome. Doing it to save money - that's cool too. BUT this woman makes $10's of MILLIONS for the movies she does. Are you *&@ing kidding me? How Profoundly Insulting to the millions of Americans who are actually struggling. And that doesn't include the millions who are homeless. Or the 10's of millions of children who don't have enough to eat in the States - let alone pretty clothes. (According to the Hunger Site, 14 million children in the States live in "poverty and desolation".)

And that's just America! Worldwide - 1.02 Billion are experiencing chronic hunger (due to the current economic crisis!) with 53% of pre-schooler age children's deaths being directly attributable to malnutrition. Julia - You do NOT need deals. You are not affected by any economic crisis. Be respectful of actual people's daily struggles as opposed to rejecting the reality of the vaulted life you are privileged to live and accept.

And Oprah even backed up this sentiment of hers in her August issue of O Mag - in the "What I Know for Sure" article. She discusses wanting deals. Really? Are you kidding me? I get not wanting to get screwed over just because you have money. But it's that sentiment of not wanting to pay what something is worth that is the most insidious form of greed. That's the greed that big business uses to justify its figurative and literal enslavement of workers. More Profits - well, there are limits to everything. It's long past time we figured that out.

There's nothing wrong with paying what something is worth. Mind you, if we were really doing that natural gas, hydro-electricity, nuclear energy would include the environmental costs. Corn, wheat, dairy, beef would all cost much more - they're currently subsidized. We actually throw out more milk than we consume - because we don't produce food for consumption, we produce it for profit. But there's a cost - and the Oprah's and Julia Roberts' of the world should at least be willing to acknowledge that there's a gap. AND that they, of all people, can afford to pay it!

It's a SCAM! Snack food expiry dates that is.

I've begun checking expiry dates very carefully on snack foods for business reasons - no one wants to purchase a gift bag with expired treats. This led me to an interesting and disturbing find. . . Have you noticed that snacking foods (crackers, cookies, etc.) all have ridiculously short expiry dates?

I bought 4 boxes of the 100 calorie Oreo wafers. I like them and there was a double coupon offer so, hey, yeah 4 boxes. It wasn't until I was prepping for a home show for You Get Well Soon that I noticed that of these boxes that I had bought ONLY 2 months ago 3 had already expired. So I thought I'd check out all the snacks I could find in Costco that would otherwise be appropriate for the business. Lo and behold, not 1 and I mean that literally, not 1 had a date later than November. Most had September. September? It's August!

I was in the health food store and heard the clerk speaking with a customer about how if everyone in the world ate the way we did (in North America) the Earth would run out of food in just a few years. But the more I thought about it the more I was angered. It's not the way we eat it's got much more to do with the fact that we don't grow food for consumption we grow food for profit. Every grocer has to have 'enticing'displays so that we'll buy their food. How much waste is involved in that process? And when we don't buy - it all goes to waste. What about the food we do buy? Do we eat all of it or isthere waste in that process too? This doesn't even include restaurants - even more waste. We are training ourselves, our children and the rest of the world to waste food at a rate many times (orders of magnitude) higher than that at which we consume.

And so I am brought back to the expiry dates. It would seem as though the producers of the snack foods mentioned in the first paragraph are not experiencing enough waste - because clearly waste = profits. It must, right? If the food expires before the store can sell it - it's tossed (at a loss) and then the store will have to order more. And so the cycle continues. It's a SCAM and it's time we as consumers started talking to not only our local stores, news and everyone we know. It's time we took the argument to the producers - not only by not buying their products (because we're talking about pretty much all snack food producers) but directly talking to them. Letting them know that we're on to them and we want honesty - not scams.

If food packaging was really that poor - for snack foods in particular - than none of us would be alive today to be scammed. Expiry dates on snack foods is a pretty new phenomenon. So we who are older than 10 years old have eaten food from the pantry (that had been there for more than 2 months - I can almost guarantee it) all of our lives. I have had such food and I know it was more than a year old. And guess what - tasted great. It is highly unlikely that the packaging available has gotten less effective over the last 30 or 40 years. So what is the difference? The manufacturers have realized a new way to increase their profits - WASTE.

Nothing makes me more crazy that waste - especially when it's for no reason. If it makes you crazy too - I Want to hear about it. We can stop this - but first we have to be aware. Then let those in the biz know that not only are we on to them - but we won't stand for it!

Help me out on this one and we'll all benefit!