In this installment of list building tips, I want to discuss what I call "Drive By Linking" and how you can use it to actual build your links. If you write any kind of content at all that is published online, you might want to pay attention to this one.
I'm convinced that if you gave an Internet marketer a sledgehammer to do a job that could be done by a wooden mallet, he's still use the sledgehammer. Why? Because Internet marketers really like to drive the point home. Don't get me wrong. Driving the point home can work very well in many cases. But sometimes you really want to use a more subtle approach.
A lot of content writers are fixated with one idea. Give the content as quickly as possible and then when you're all done with it, drive that sales pitch home... just like a sledgehammer doing the job of that small wooden mallet.
The problem with that approach is twofold.
For one thing, sometimes it's just overkill. You've hit them over the head with that sledgehammer so hard that you've figuratively left your prospect dead by the roadside. They're "hyped" to the point of a marketing seizure.
I hope you have lots of smelling salts and possibly a crash cart ready.
The other problem with that approach is sometimes, because you're using the wrong approach, you simply miss the target altogether. You've slanted the pitch in a way that doesn't quite correspond with the message of your content. The disconnect causes your prospect to zone out and you've lost them.
They're not dead. They're just no interested because you started off with point A and ended with point B and the gap between the two is as wide as the Grand Canyon.
However, if in the process of writing your article, within the context of the article itself, you happen to drop a drive by link, as long as it's relevant, you're quite likely to get your reader to click on it and check out what's on the other side.
Probably the best way to illustrate this is with an example. What follows is a fictional excerpt from a fictional article on Magic the Gathering, a card game. I'm sure you'll get the idea.
"Jace, the Mind Sculptor is the latest powerhouse to hit the standard scene. It's a blue 4 drop planes walker that has not one, but FOUR relevant abilities from drawing a card to literally removing the opponent's library from the game. If you're playing standard, you really want to pick up a play set of this guy. By the way, if you want to be informed of the latest new cards in standard, check out Joe's Magic Card Newsletter at (insert link here) and sign up so you can be kept up to date on the latest."
Notice how subtly I drop that in there? It doesn't come off like a sales pitch but more like a "Oh, by the way, you might find this interesting" kind of thing.
Does it work? If you use it within the context of the content itself and it fits, it can work very well. Somebody who is interested in getting news on the latest standard Magic cards and wants to know what the good cards are, WILL sign up for that newsletter.
Could this have worked within the confines of a signature? Sure, but in that context, it comes off as more sales oriented because it's outside the confines of the article itself. It's not as natural. That doesn't mean it can't work. But it also doesn't mean that drive by linking should be ignored, because it can be VERY effective.
Try it sometime. You might be pleasantly surprised by the results.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
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