Something is worth whatever someone else is willing to pay for it.

I do not simply write an article, but craft an article to get links. I also submit the article through my power network.

Compared to other marketing services it is quite effective.

Abhilash, people do make money with the hit and run crowd and with the kind of seo you describe. But that’s renting, not owning. A repeat customer is where the true profits lie.

Compound interest is a powerful concept.

For years I ran with the hit and run crowd, now I’m all about building the list and a grateful crowd of clients who keep coming back.

However, now I am thinking of sending my writers to libraries :D and paying them $40 per article.

If you know where to invest, you can get those bucks back in a short time.

On the other hand, if you put your full effort into producing a winning and unique site, then you stand to attract people who may be persuaded to purchase your product.

I think the days are gone where you simply say, “I do SEO”. At least to anyone who knows what the market can off. Of course for some that may be enough, but how successful are general services.

David – Yeah it’s sad, and frustrating when you can see the benefit but the client can’t. Blogging can be an extremely effective marketing tool for small business people as long as it is done right.

Rodger – You echo my thoughts. Brilliant writing will attract brilliant recognition. When packaged up with a juicey headline and killer networking a piece of content can be that nuclear bomb you need under your website.

Jake – Will head over to 10e20 to comment, it’s a great blog and I advise anyone else to do the same.

There is a feeling I get that the very nature of doing business is changing, because of the web and because of blogging. This idea of creating the relationship is alien to a lot of small business people I meet. Who quite honestly couldn’t give a toss about building relationships with their customers.

They are the dinosaurs, the “buy it or piss off”, crowd.

Our job as marketers is to educate or blog them into exctinction.

Great post and I completely agree that you must establish a relationship. It’s completely true that eCommerce and retail sites are thin & wide. That’s a recipe for failure all around. Your suggestions of quality, engaging content are spot on. Customer review are crucial at the end of the day. Blogs and content from the staff are crucial.

I wrote a post recently on 10e20.com about creating quality content for your site, which some may wish to review. Here is the post:

10 Helpful Hints for Creating Strong Web Site Content
http://www.10e20.com/2007/05/01/10-helpful-hints-for-creating-strong-web-site-content/

I look forward to your future ideas and discussion in this important realm.

Regards,

Jake

Another way e commerce sites can add experience is to have a tool that can add value to your website by having the ability to solve problems for users, i.e. Mortgage calculators for mortgage sites.

Acheiving that means you’re product or service is truly one of a kind.

Rodger

Good read, Lyndon.

One additional point I’d like to tag onto this is internal linking – a lot of SEO work is often done on internal linking – but done for the search engines, too many people fail to see the benefit of internal linking to the customer. By producing all this great content and linking deep within your own site to specific products it can greatly improve your conversion rates.