Most SEO’s that are on the hunt for more backlinks are working towards their goals by dealing in "discounted" link pages or they may be paying monthly fees for often "substandard ad placement" that may or may not count for much.
I’m really digging doing something a bit different….I’m out here cherry picking other kind of links.
I won’t even give you examples of the techniques we’re using to identify sites/pages that are related and powerful (I did that here and here).
I won’t even get into what our text ads look like (I did that at the last WebmasterWorld Pubcon).
I’ll just show you 1 "random" email that was sent out today (this also just happened to go live a few hours later).
Hi,
I have a client (www.myclient.com) who will give you $30 for a banner ad above the bottom navigation bar on this page:
http://www.yoursite.com/XXX/your-page.htmHere is a sample banner http://www.oursample.com/banner.html
The size and shape is flexible and I will customize it to blend with the page a bit more.If this works for you can you let me know if you prefer paypal or a check?
Thanks,
Jim Boykin
Now believe it or not, this is not a template…every email I pull up is a bit different…but there’s some common things about many of them (study that email if you want)….I also look at this as a possible "stage 1" for bigger future advertising options.
This site was found on a "research search" which yealded one of these pages in the top Google 100.
This site is all natural in it’s backlinks (no SEO muck-up). (these sites are not hard to find!)
The site just happens to have over 500 backlinks, including 6 .edu’s. This page is Extremely relevant to my client who’s getting his ad there.
There really is so many resources, and so many pages…virgin land…..it’s really the best links from the best places at the best prices….if you know how to look, and how to choose the best pages to get your ads on, and how to do the right ads for the most "bang", and how to deal, and have the time to do things by hand while Thinking about each aspect.
Do you think I’m smoking crack, or believe what I’m saying?
How do you spend your time getting links?
22 Responses
Jim,
That email reads very well, just one question.
Was the $30 a one off payment or monthly/annually?
Peter
Maybe pay per view 🙂
I think most important point for the success of these kind of mails (how successful are they by the way?) is that they are not made from a template.
fyi – one time fee 😉
An email can be concise and still get the job done.
Good example, Jim.
Here’s an example of one of my emails, tell me what you think Jim!
Hi,
I found your site http://www.yoursite.com/ with some outstanding xxx related links. I’d be interested in advertising rates for a text link on your homepage to our site http://www.our-site.com We are a small xxx with two locations in NY and one in Florida. Please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you!
Sometimes I notice that it’s better to offer the price up front (like you did in your email jim) because if you ask them how much they would charge, they tend to jack up the prices. Just an observation.
gzlatin,
I don’t want to go too deep on this….but I’ll critique your first sentence:
“I found your site http://www.yoursite.com/ with some outstanding xxx related links.”
……I don’t like it….”I found your site” is the start of so many link spam emails I get….to me “I found your site” translates to “I scrapered your email from my scraper program that found your site” …
The second part of that sentence “some outstanding xxx related links” makes me think…yea right….I bet you say this to all the sites….sounds like a template born of a software program.
just my 2 cents on the opening of your email.
Also I wouldnt reference the value of the links they have. Why hint at the value of any link while you are buying it. Talk in terms of ad space to keep the rates reasonable. IMHO.
Hi Jim, the Paypal or a check sounds a little pushy. Why not ask another question, or some kind of call-to-action at the end of your email to pry him to respond?
Kinda like: Please let me know, one way or the other.
I totally dig the last line of the e-mail… although it does sound kind of “pushy”, that’s not quite the word I would use for it. It just shows that he is serious, and ready to give the guy a quick few bucks.
The idea of this is to buy “ad’s”, which are really links, from somebody who doesn’t know the true value of their site’s outbound links. You’re trying to target the guy that doesn’t know about linking campaigns, the guy that has maybe herd of some banner ads that give him a few cents a click… and in that case $30 to throw up a banner is a great deal in his eyes.
Depending on who you are dealing with, some people might interpret “Let me know if you prefer pay pal or a check?†pushy, however some might interpret it as “I’m real, let’s cut to the chaseâ€, “I’m ready to put my money where your mouth isâ€, or “Deal, or no deal?â€
There is a problem with your assumption about there being a one-time fee. How long is the link to last? Weren’t you still a teenager when the Internet sprang to life, Jim? I think it is naive to assume site owners will not, in general, be aware that there should be some monthly churn. If links have value they have some time component. When reciprocating links there’s no issue as they each compensate each other, but one-way links are rented. Maybe they would agree to an annual payment, but a one-time fee forever link? Ain’t gonna happen.
The other thing you need to come up with is a standard and reliable method of calculating the value since you are offering a dollar value.
Neuron,
“Ain’t gonna happen” – happens every day.
“standard and reliable method of calculating value” – As little as we can get it for….that’s our standard.
Neuron, I don’t think Jim was so literal when he said “permanent link”. Nothing lasts forever. We will all die one day along with our websites and the links on them.
I think he just meant that there is no monthly fee associated with the link and the link will most likely stay on that page for as long as that page is around.
Right on, Jim. I love these little tidbits about you squeezing some unsuspecting old lady’s website for a sweet little banner full of text links–and paying roughly… $30 indefinitely. LOL.
You’re right about there being so many of these too–it’s just a matter of being able to contact them all. I’m not trying to “shard” myself here, but hey, now that you have the manpower…
yah. nice point u got there Jim. Nothing’s harm about sending email and be specific of what you want. Juz make sure your email gets through in their inbox. =)
It’s been a year since this post…I’ve debated on deleting this post since we’ve gone so far beyond these types of emails:
see:
http://www.jimboykin.com/human-link-building/
Just keep in mind that this email has many “errors” in it by todays standards…..I’ll let ya know my todays standards “tomorrow”. 😉
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