This Guy is awesome, really helps to rap out some basic web coding and design knowledge!

This year’s Collegiate Conference was in Memphis, TN… about 3 hours from my home.  There were chapters from all over the country competing in Business Intelligence, Application Development, Microsoft Solutions, and Database, just to name a few. I competed in both Application Development and Microsoft Solutions, and although I didn’t win either I will be ready to win next year!  The problem statements were exceptional and they showed me that I still have a lot to learn about the programming world, so this summer I plan on gaining a slight mastery in C#.Net, while learning some new things like SilverLight and the new Expression Studio suite. (If you are a college student you can get all of this for free at DreamSpark.)

Anyways, thanks to everyone I met and thank you Gus from Microsoft for the advice and the stuff!

Go to conferences and meet people!!! The contacts you make are often the most valuable thing you have.

Within that fraction of time the surfer see your ad and makes a conscious decision to click or not to click. So when he clicks, he is taken to your landing page (let’s talk affiliate for a bit) and then he converts or presses back. Now most would tell you that you must always be optimizing your landing pages (which is true) and that you want as many clicks as possible… which is semi-true.

Since the competition has risen is virtually every vertical of CPC advertising you can’t just get all the click in the world, you have to target them more efficiently. One way is negative keywords, which most of us use. For example lets I’m running a campaign for a Free T-Shirt offer that has a shipping cost. I would want to add negative keywords for popular terms that don’t relate or are contrary to my add, like “Free T-Shirt Designer” and “100% Free T-Shirt” if I am broad matching. The second way you can have more targeted clicks is by fixing your adcopy, something often overlooked. So lets say my simple ad is…

Get a Free T-Shirt

Limited Time offer! Tons of Designs to Choose From.

Ok, ok… I know shitty adcopy but anyways, this is going to attract lots of clicks from people wanting a free t-shirt… FREE. Now this offer is for a free t-shirt with a shipping charge, so what are surfers going to do once the see a shipping charge? I’d say 90% will leave feeling emotionally violated and robbed of their innocence… ok maybe not that bad . So we are going to waste a ton of money and get few conversions… So let’s adjust this adcopy.

Get a {Keyword:Default_text} T-Shirt, Free

Limited Time Offer! Tons of Designs, only $4.99 Shipping!

This is a much better ad that will attract more relevant clicks because a keyword your targeting will appear in the headline and more importantly it mentions the $4.99 shipping charge. This way when users click the ad they won’t feel violated that there is a shipping charge involved and people that just don’t want to pay anything won’t bother to click. TaDa! Improved conversions and lower spending! (now just expand your keyword list to offset the possible loss of traffic)

Just be straight forward and honest! Bait and Switch don’t work here!

As you can see things in life don’t always go your way. Shit breaks, people screw you over, and adCenter sends you retarded emails…

What we must remember as internet marketers, is that things rarely go our way or as planned. Everyone knows what I’m talking about: companies treating their affiliates like dung, ad networks over-regulating, and the ever changing environment we work in. So just a few words of encouragement for all, don’t give up! And never settle for your current ways. When left sedentary campaigns will often fall into exponential decay, often leaving up wondering why. Always be expanding keyword list, testing new adcopy, and always look for long term revenue(subscription, investments, etc.)!

Overall what I’m saying, and currently experiencing, is that nothing always goes as planned so work to diversify your earnins and get a strong foothold in the markets your currently occupy. oh yah… and the video make me laugh.