Today I am going to show you a simple trick that can help you create perfect SEO based headlines for your articles, blogs and publications.

When I was younger, I used to go fishing a lot with my dad, and one of the skills that great fisherman seemed to possess was the ability to know where the fish were likely to be. This was something that always impressed me, it was almost like they were inside the minds of the fish… and whilst I never did manage to master the arts of angling, I did seem to transfer this technique to the Internet.

Here is what you do:

1) Decide the core message you are about to write

2) Put yourself into the shoes of a Google searcher who is looking for that message

Let’s presume we are writing about SEO headlines. As an author, I may be tempted to create a headline like “Killer SEO Headlines“.

But who is going to type that into Google?

So I could be more specific and write: “How You Can Write Great SEO Headlines”

Sounds like a decent headline… right?… wrong!

You see, nobody is going to go to Google and write in second person. Remember, you need to get inside their mind, what would they write?

They would put the focus on themselves, e.g “How Can I Write Great SEO Headlines“.

Notice how I used “I” instead of “you”.

A safer bet is to simply be non-specific: “How To Write Great SEO Headlines”. In this example I used “to” instead of “I” or “You”.

So next time you are writing a headline with the aim of getting good Google rankings, go to Google.com first, and type whatever you think will get the best results, then, simply use that as your headline. Simple!

Dean

PS: This technique doesn’t always work… I recall 5 years ago I was in Manchester airport with some friends, and we were lost and looking for “Gate H”, one of my friends turned to me and said: “Dean, if you were Gate H, where would you be?”

Is Google Adsense dead?

Today we are going to find out once and for all… but first, a little story from my time in Los Angeles.

Whilst I was in LA, I managed to meet pretty much all of the biggest names in Internet business and Marketing. But there was one guy who I wanted to have a beer with more than any other… his name is Joel Comm.

Joel is a New York Times best seller, and even had his own reality show, but what appealed most to me, was the fact that he seemed a fun and laid back guy.

On the last day I went over and had a chat with Joel:

and he was very cool. He gave me feedback on the presentation we were doing, and we have since spoken many times via the old Internet.

Anyway, people keep asking me whether Google Adsense is dead… and truth be told, I am not the right person to ask. Adsense is not a big part of my business model, in fact, I don’t have any ads at all on this blog (not even affiliate ads). So I turned to Joel and asked him, and was surprised to learn his making over $500 per day in passive income from adsense, which is 250 beer tokens each and every day.

I wanted to know a bit more, so Joel invited me to check out his brand, spanking new ebook: http://www.adsense-secrets.com.

He also provided a video to explain it in more detail:

To be honest, I wouldn’t have purchased this previously, not even at the very cool new price point, simply because I don’t use adsense much these days. But since meeting Joel, I will definitely be checking it out.

By the way, I was offered an affiliate link for this, and I am sure I could have made a few hundred easy beer tokens myself, but I have a ZERO-ADVERT policy at DeanHunt.com, and that includes affiliate links.

Why do I do this?

1) To ensure that the blog is all content and no fluff/ads
2) To ensure that you realise that if I do promote anything, then it is NOT for the money. Too many blogs promote anything, and I don’t like that.

Enjoy.

Dean

PS: If you manage to get a copy, email me your feedback.

I have had family over to visit me and Elena in Madrid recently, we had a great time, but clearly the gods of marketing and business wanted to bring me back to reality with a bang…

This morning I received an email from a lady who subscribed to my email updates on April 9th, she then received two emails from me as a welcome, and she freaked out and tried to call the cops.

Here is email one, in response to whether she would like to get updates from the other blogs I write for:

(NAME) here,
I’m interested if it doesn’t cost me a penny! About your blog posts and articles.
but if it costs me even a penny, i wont be taken. also, how do you know my name?
Email me back w/ an answer please. i would like to know.

Have a nice day,

(NAME)

p.s. if it doesn’t cost me anything, i’m interested in the blog post and the articles.

Ok, so nothing dramatically wrong with this one, clearly it seems she has a penny that she just doesn’t want to let go of, but there is nothing wrong with that. But then she also asks “how i know her name?”. The same name that she put in my opt-in box only a few days ago.

Anyway, a few minutes later I get another email, this time more aggressive:

WHO ARE YOU??????? Why do you want to know were i live, and stuff?
please give me an honest answer or i’m calling the cops!!!!
+, how do you know my name? honest answer, or the cops are on you!

(NAME)

All in all, this is reason 146 of why I love the Internet - no matter how much information is out there, no matter how many thousands of times we see something, there will always be people who are doing it for the first time.

Don’t worry (NAME), my updates are free, thanks for the email, and remember: there is no expert on the planet that wasn’t a newbie at some point.
Dean

I HATE Making Money Online…

Actually, that is not quite true, What I ACTUALLY hate is aspects of the “make money online” industry.

For example, I don’t know about you, but reading a 35 page sales letter for a 10 page product is just absurd. If you have time to read a 35 page sales letter, then no wonder you are broke.

But enough about my peeves about the industry, I want to hear yours. I want to know what you dislike about the industry? What puts you off purchasing something? What drives you crazy?

The best answer gets 8.5 points, and remember, if you get 100 points, you get a goldfish in a bag*

* Water may not be included.

Today I am going to talk about the clash between pushing boundaries and sticking to your strengths, in particular, this was a major issue that I had recently in LA, and I would love to hear your feedback.

First, let’s start with a quick overview of these two business staples:

Pushing Boundaries = going the extra mile, forcing yourself to go one step further than you are comfortable with, doing things that are not within your comfort zone etc.

Sticking to your Strengths = focusing your energy and time on the areas that you are best at.

Ok, so here is my issue/problem, myself and Barry Dunlop (more info on Barry later in the week) were recently in LA because we were asked by Yanik Silver to be speakers at his Underground Marketing Seminar.

Now, I have done some public speaking before, and on a small stage (classroom, college etc) I have been fine, no nerves, no issues… but it is certainly not something I have ever enjoyed, I get no thrill from it, and I don’t enjoy it or benefit from it in any way, shape or form. But when I heard that there would be 300-400 people in the audience in LA, each of which had paid thousands of dollars to be there, that it would be beamed all over the Internet, and that DVD’s would be made from it, I have to say I was pretty anxious (understatement alert).

So anxious in fact, that I decided it would be best if I stuck to writing the bulk of the content for the presentation, and we use Barry’s excellent public speaking skills to present it.

Now, perhaps you can see the issue here… I had a chance to push my comfort levels, but it was something that not only am I not naturally very good at, but it is something I dislike intensely.

So it was a clash/contradiction in my brain-box.

As you all know, I have previously pushed myself and my comfort levels to extremes that most people could only dream of: I was a semi-professional golfer at 18, by 19 I was high street manager of a major retail store (a world age record for that brand), by 21 I was making a healthy living from the Internet, by 22 I moved to a foreign country where almost nobody spoke English, and at age 25 I was making 6 figures, and generally out-earning most people who were twice my age.

So clearly I am capable of pushing my boundaries, but all of the above have been areas where I have either had a natural talent, or it has been something I enjoy.

So I pose this question to you:

In your opinion, is it a good idea to push your boundaries with activities and tasks that you are naturally not so good at, and that you don’t get any level of enjoyment from at all?

I should add that public speaking is not, and has never been part of my career path or job description, but do you think I should have done it anyway? Even considering that my business partner is far more skilled in that area? And considering that my strength is in my writing abilities?

I look forward to your opinions.

Dean

Recently I posed a question based on customer service, as one of the main things I learnt from LA was that a high level of customer service can put you ahead of your competition.

This is something I have always believed, and to this day I reply personally to all the 300+ emails I get per day, something that as far as I am aware, no other guru does.

Why do I do this?

Partly habit, partly because it keeps my finger on the pulse of the community and industry, and mainly because I believe in giving a high level of service.

So, what did the waitress in LA do when we forget to tip?

She simply said nothing, lined up 7 shot glasses, and filled them up with a liquor.

One of our group got the glasses and was curious to know where they come from, so he asked her and she explained that we gave no tip, so perhaps her service was poor, therefore she was giving the shots as a way of making it up to us.

The truth of the matter is that us Brits rarely tip in bars, so whilst it is second nature to Americans, it is something we occasionally forget. (especially after a few bottles of wine)

The waitress could easily have complained, we have all heard horror stories of people being chased out of restaurants for not tipping, but she decided to rise above it and make a grand gesture…

TIP: Actions speak louder than words

When we found out, we gave her $10 for her troubles.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that this technique is probably a tried and tested technique, I am not naive enough to think that she 100% genuinely  meant the gesture, it perhaps is even part of the staff training, but it worked, and hey, I am talking about it now, so it is customer service and buzz marketing combined.

So to the girl in LA, whoever you are, we thankyou for your kindness, and most importantly, we thank you for sharing a killer customer service tip with us that we can all apply to our businesses.

Bottoms up.

Dean

Today I am going to talk about one of the things I learned whilst in LA…. how to create buzz with remarkable customer service.

Barry talked about the word “Remarkable” in our presentation, and for those of you who were not there, you may not know that it is one of the single most important words in my vocabulary.

The meaning of the word has changed over the years, but in it’s essence, it means remark-able, or something worth remarking about.

Sounds a lot like buzz and viral doesn’t it?!?

Anyway, I was chatting with Tony Hseih from Zappos.com (He is set to do $1 BILLION in sales this year), and he was telling me about the level of customer service at Zappos. Frankly, it is amazing. They are so good that people have even called them for directions, and ordered pizza through their customer service reps.

What’s more, Tony introduced the world’s first 365 day refund… on shoes (yikes).

Oh, and returns and shipping are free, so you can order two pairs of shoes and send back the pair that don’t fit.

Can you see why this level of service is worth remarking about? Heck, I am talking about it now, so clearly it works. This is what sets Zappos apart from the competition, and it is one of the main reasons that they are going to do over $1 billion this year from sales of shoes.

What I Learnt from the Saddle Ranch Bar 

Here is another example of remarkable customer service that created buzz for me and my friends in LA…. We went to a sleazy bar in LA called the “Saddle Ranch”, myself and my good friend Mason were keen to ride the mechanical bull (no, that is not a metaphor), anyway, one of our group went to the bar and ordered 6 Coronas, and he accidentally forgot to tip the waitress… trust me, as a fellow Brit, this happens, we don’t do it on purpose…

Anyway, instead of making a scene or sulking, the waitress did something remarkable…

I will give 10 points to the person who can guess what she did.

Answers in the comments section please.

Dean

PS: No rude answers you filthy lot

Ok, I am back from LA, a little jet-lagged, but despite being ill for the majority of the trip, I had a great time.

I am preparing a blog post for you guys that will discuss the contradiction between pushing boundaries and sticking to your strengths (don’t panic, it will be interesting)… but in the meantime, I am going to let you guys decide the next blog post…. What do you want to hear about?

Here are some options:

* What I learned in LA

* LA vs Vegas - Which did I prefer

*  Details about the Buzz Marketing Bootcamp

* Insider info on our buzz Platinum Club

* More Buzz Marketing tips

* How to do a Joint Venture with big names, even when you don’t have an affiliate program

* My plan to do 100 blog posts in 24 hours

* Which celebrity names was I hanging out with at the Seminar

* Anything else (You know me, I will talk about anything)

So leave your comments, and I will aim to get the blog post up and running tomorrow.

Gracias,

Dean

Dean Hunt has died…

or so it would seem, as this blog hasn’t been updated for a while.

The fact is that I haven’t updated the blog for a while because I am super busy in LA for a buzz marketing presentation we are doing entitled “From Lame to Fame”.

I have received over 65 emails in the past few days asking if I was ok, and where I was, so I decided to make this post just to assure you that all is great, I have been hanging around with many of the biggest names in the industry, and yes, a few beers have been consumed along the way.

I didn’t want to bore you with crappy blog posts about a conference that you are not at, that would either bore or frustrate you, but I do apologise for  the lack of updates, and also I apologise if the title of this blog post made you fall out of your chair.

Ah well, it is great to know you care. (cue violin music)

Normality will resume in the next few days,

See you soon.

Dean Hunt (Alive and kicking in LA)

Where is best - America or Europe?

Next week we will be in LA doing a presentation at one of the biggest marketing seminars on the planet. One of the big secrets that we will be revealing at this seminar, is that we will be doing a ‘Buzz Marketing Bootcamp’ in the very near future.

The purpose of this blog post is NOT to promote or plug it, in fact, I am not even going to share with you all of the juicy details… instead, I come bearing one question and one question only:

If we did a Buzz Marketing Bootcamp for 30 people… would you prefer it in Europe or America?

Please make your opinions known, as your comments will have a direct influence on where we host this shindig.

Many thanks,

Dean

PS: Specify an exact location if you wish