Līve Ambitions

Twitter is the hottest thing happening right now.  Practically every celebrity, TV show, blog and magazine have been asking viewers to “follow me on Twitter.”  Is it just me, or are there others out there that think Twitter is just overhyped and overrated?  Does Twitter provide enough of a value-added service to justify the amount of praise and publicity it’s gotten?  Or, is it just a snowballing effect of media hype?

I’d say Twitter is a fad.  The site has some practical uses, but it’s nothing more than a mini-blog.  I mean who cares about what someone had for breakfast, or whether someone is using the toilet.  So many people use Twitter for such mindless conversations, it’s ridiculous.  I think people will eventually realize that Twitter is social media built on hype.  It’s human nature to follow the herd, and it’s exactly what has happened with Twitter.

I think there are some individuals and businesses that may benefit from Twitter, such as the Kogi lunch truck in L.A.  The Kogi lunch truck tweets their whereabouts to their loyal customers everyday.  But this represents only a tiny fraction of the entire Twitter population.

The Bottom Line:  The only reason why Twitter has become so popular is simply because of all the hype and media sensationalism it’s gotten.  When you think about it, the ones that really use Twitter are the people in the media and marketing business.  I don’t know of any friends or family members who use Twitter.   Maybe I’m just old fashioned and prefer to follow new stories through traditional outlets such as blogs or news publications.

I understand the concept of arbitrage – buying cheap long-tail keywords and turning a profit for higher paying keywords.  And, I ‘ve also talked to people who’ve had incredible success with arbitrage in the past, but I question whether it still works today.

There are a few reasons why I question the effectiveness of arbitrage in today’s market:

1. Quality Score – With the advancement of Quality Score technology (Google), arbitrage sites would have a tougher time passing the filter.
2. Competition – With more people jumping into the game of arbitrage, we can expect to see competition in just about every niche we can think of.
3. Broad and Phrase Match – With the existence of broad and phrase keyword match, even non-arbitrage sites are able to compete for long-tail keywords.

I’m sure there are still some loop holes around it, but it’s pretty clear to see that things are only going to get tougher for arbitrage sites to make money.

Update:

I know I discussed long-tails as it relates to PPC/arbitrage, but how about SEO?  From an SEO perspective, long-tails are great!  Not only is it easier to rank for long-tail keywords organically, but also very cost-effective.

I just read an article recently published by Microsoft which reveals a survey conducted through Adcenter on 400 small business owners.  The results of the survey showed that 73% of them would rather do their taxes than take a shot at managing their own search marketing campaign.

I’m not sure what to make of this.  I’ve only had experience doing my own personal taxes, but I would imagine that doing taxes for a small business would require some knowledge and a bit of paperwork.  I guess it’s like comparing apples to oranges, but apparently more people would feel comfortable crunching numbers vs. learning how to market their business through search.

What does this mean for the internet marketing industry?

It means that the majority of small businesses out there have not put any effort into search marketing or have no idea how to do it.  This opens up many doors for us in terms of finding new clients to offer our services.

This reminds me of ShoeMoney’s newsletter about local affiliate marketing.  I recommend you read it.  He shares a lot of good tips on how to acquire new small business clients on the local level.

I recommend this printing shop: www.smartlevels.com.  I found these guys after weeding through a bunch of other printing shops that charge ridiculous prices for sub-par work.  These guys produce quality results, and their prices are unbeatable.  Smart Levels is also an eco-friendly company, so that’s a plus.  I ordered my mom’s business cards through them and it only cost me around $30.  This was for double-sided color with glossy coat!

You’ll notice that these guys don’t have an affiliate program.  I think most of their business is from word-of-mouth referrals from happy customers like me.