Linkbait done right still makes a happy reader

Linkbait can get you traffic.

Linkbait done right, can turn that traffic into readers. Readers can then make you money.

Linkbait done wrong can get you traffic.

Linkbait done wrong will make potential readers feel cheated. Readers that feel cheated will not return.

Linkbait should never leave your reader feeling like he or she fell hook, line, and sinker for a scam!

It is ok to use linkbait to attract attention.

In this case it should really be called trafficbait. Just like the headline in a newspaper is used to get people to buy a paper and read the story.

If you provide content that does not leave the reader feeling cheated, they will even appreciate the fact that they took the bait. The reader needs to feel they received value for the time they spent.

There are many common uses of linkbait that seem to work well.

Often, the use of a well known Hollywood star in the title can get a lot of traffic. Cashquest’s post 6 Lessons Britney Spears Can Teach You About Blogging is a classic example of doing it right. The catchy title draws you in and the good information in the post keeps you entertained and informed.

In some ways it is the old bait and switch.

A title about something that will catch the reader, but the article is really about something totally different. As long as the content can satisfy the reader it will work. If you fail to provide something the reader is looking for, you are looking for trouble.

Examples of terrible linkbaiting are common.

Offten, an outrageous claim is made and nothing but a poor Photoshopped image is given as content. The author’s claim’s throughout the post about his great discovery and secret fool nobody. Even when the author has no intention of fooling anyone and thinks it is humorous the reader will feel cheated.

The reader feels he had been made to look like a fool.

You fell for my stupid trick.

Ha Ha. I made you look.

This is the type of linkbait that will kill a website or blog.

If you have a good reputation, this will hurt it. If you do this twice to your readers and you are going to lose readers.

You have built a new reputation.

You now provide totally unsubstantiated claims. You make empty promises. You provide no value. You are a waste of time to read or pay attention to. Not the reputation you want.

Anyone can claim to have a new secret method of ranking high in the search engines.

But if you do not back it up, you look like an amateur. A joke. A cheap scam.

It is not a PR stunt.

It is just dumb.

I read a post recently that claimed readers should not expect credibility from a blog.

Could not be more wrong.

People will read your blog for information or entertainment. You need credibility for both. Maybe not scientific credibility, but the reader must be able to trust you to provide what they came for.

If you are known for information and suddenly only have pranks to show, who is going to continue to look to you for information. You lose the reputation for information and your credibility to provide it.

If you are known for entertaining, your readers trust you to provide entertainment.

You have creditability even then. If no one finds you entertaining and your trying to entertain, you have no credibility to entertain and probably no readers.

It does not matter if your blog is just opinion or even fiction.

You are working to gain credibility in providing a service to your reader. Nearly always that is information or entertainment.

Good linkbait or trafficbait keeps that credibility you have with your readers.

It is not just a cheap trick to raise your page view, but an attempt to lure a new reader that you can build credibility with.

In the long run, any business needs return customers to survive.

Why? Because it is far less expensive to keep a customer you already have than go find a new one. There is a cost either in money or time to get someone to your page. That cost is less if they return.

Bad link bait will get you page views.

But you lose credibility with those readers. Perhaps you will profit if they click an ad as they leave, but don’t expect them back. Don’t expect them to trust your recommendation for a product or service. You already cheated them.

How do you feel when you find linkbait or traffic bait?

Do you feel like I do when there is still good content? Do you feel cheated of your time when there is nothing of value there? Have you fallen for linkbait that you still found useful? Do you think blogs can be credible?

This is something I have been wondering since the iPhone was released.

Is Apple’s practice of only allowing iPhone use with AT&T against antitrust laws?

I do not own an iPhone. I would like to, but have not been able to justify the cost (at least to my wife). Is the way the iPhone is currently being marketed against antitrust laws? I am no lawyer (thankfully) but I have seen similar situations that would seem to make the current iPhone questionable.

The industry I am familiar with is the photography industry.

There have been some interesting antitrust laws that applied to the photo  industry. Yet, the iPhone and many newer products and industries are far more restrictive to the consumer. I feel that Apple may be currently acting much worse than Microsoft.

I was amazed to find out how antitrust laws applied in the photo industry.

Did you know that a film manufacturer could not include film processing with a roll of film? You could not by a roll of film with an included mailer to have the film processed by Kodak or Fuji. The mailer would have to be sold separately.

Also, manufacturers had to sell the chemicals used to process the film.

Not only could they not include the processing with the film, but they had to make the chemicals to process it available.

Compare that to the iPhone.

I buy the iPhone from Apple. I can only use it with AT&T. In fact, attempts to make it work with other services have been countered by Apple updates.

This is far worse than the typical cell phone being locked to the cell phone carrier you buy it from.

In most cases, you can still get the same phone at another cell phone provider. There is also no problem getting the phone unlocked to use with another mobile phone provider if you want.

A locked cell phone is a bit like a film company including the processing.

But Apple has gone a lot farther than just locking the iPhone. It is very difficult to do. They have made it more difficult.

So, when I read the following article about a lawsuit and antitrust, my thought was "Why has it taken so long?"

In the lawsuit — the second in as many weeks involving the iPhone — Smith alleges that Apple violated several California antitrust statutes when it tied the smart phone to AT&T and prohibited customers from using other carriers. The result, read the lawsuit, was that Smith paid too much for the iPhone.

"Apple forced plaintiff and the class members to pay substantially more for the iPhone and cell phone service than they would have paid in a competitive marketplace either for the iPhone or for AT&T’s cell phone service," read the suit.

Calif. man sues Apple over iPhone ‘bricking’

Unfortunately, Apple and the iPhone are not the only current examples typical of this practice.

Can you think of other products place similar restrictions on consumers?

BTW, I would still like to get an iPhone. I think it would be a very useful business tool. I am really interested in the calendar function as I need an easy way to keep track of appointments and set them while keeping it with me.

As always, I’d love to know how you think and feel about the subject.

You comments on the subject are highly valued.

Liz Strauss had another great article about sales on her blog.

Basically she pointed out that people like to make their own decisions for themselves. They don’t like to be told or talked to, but listened to.

I suggest a quick look over at the original article at her blog.

We’re hype adverse. Put that together with these natural human responses.

• No one likes to be told what to think.
• No one likes to lose the right to pick their favorite.
• No one likes someone else to decide what they need.

4.6: Simple Sales 101 — How to Get Customers to Sell Themselves – Liz Strauss at Successful Blog – Thinking, writing, business ideas . . . You’re only a stranger once.

Liz points out that you are far better off asking questions and letting the customer or client tell you what they want.

In learning sales in my portrait studio, I learned the magic question.

It is the most important thing you can ask a potential customer. It does not matter what the product the customer is looking at is. It works for everything.

I learned it from photographer Charles Lewis.

If you have plans to make a living from portrait or wedding photography, his sales guides and materials are nearly unparalleled. I not only learned what needs to be done in sales, but why from him.

Anyway – the magic question.

"What is most important to you about…..?"

What is most important to you about making money online? What is most important to you about the blogs you read? What is most important to you about the host for your blog?

I’ll finish this post with the question Liz finished her post with.

What do you need to give this a try?

It’s all in how you let go

I had one of the most annoying things happen with a client recently – the kind of thing that makes you want to scream.

One of my full time businesses is a service type business. I meet with a potential customer at no charge. We discuss their wants and needs, my pricing, and what I can do for them.

I let them know before they spend a cent what they can be expecting to pay for the final result.

After this first meeting, they can decide if they want to commission me to do work for them. It takes about 30-40 minutes out of my time, but I feel the results are worth it. They then pay my starting fee and we schedule the time for their work. They now know what they can expect to pay when the work is finished.

In this case, I had just what the client was looking for.

The client wanted several things that were going to take extra time so I had to schedule an extra large block of time for them to come back. This is also during my busiest time of year. She also wanted to schedule at the most popular time of day.

Several hours before the appointment the client calls to reschedule.

Actually, it was a voicemail. They cannot make it for the appointment but would like to reschedule. I have one opening left later in the week and have other clients coming in that may use that time slot.

I called the client and only got voicemail.

I told her that I had one opening yet this week. If she would like it, she should call right away. I can no longer use the time slot she had, it is too late to schedule anything else there. This costs me quite a bit of my potential daily income.

The client failed to call back.

I call her just before a appointment the next day before the time slot is taken. She was just about to call and say she did want that time slot. Great, I’ll see them then. My next appointment has to wait a week to get in now.

I prepare for the client to come in.

This usually take me 15-30 minutes of my time. It allows me to start right away and get more done while they are with me.

Then I wait.

And wait. And wait. And wait.

Nearly 45 minutes after the appointment the client calls.

Obviously, she is not here. I am now told they have changed their mind. Can they still get their money back?

What would you do?

I am out the income that I would have made for two days. It is my busiest time of year. The busiest time slot. I have had to tell others I am unavailable for those times and days. Both times, too late for me to use the time for anything useful.

Three steps for dealing with a failed client/customer relationship.

First, do not lose your temper.

At least not in front of a client. It will only make you lose respect in their eyes. Even when they know they are wrong. Keeping your temper in check will raise their respect for you. This is the hardest part. You can bet, I am angry, but the client will not know it.

Second, keep up your part.

Yes, my guarantee says they will be 100% satisfied with the work I do or their money back. It would be easy to argue that it is not my fault but theirs. They have cost me a lot of money and time and have not even let me do the work.

You will get taken once in a while if you offer a guarantee.

This is even more likely in the online world than offline where you actually meet the person and they have to look you in the eye when they come for the refund. It is worth it though. A guarantee will most often more than make up for this in the amount of additional business it brings you. Honestly, the situation would have been slightly worse if I forced them to let me do all the work and then have them say they want a refund.

Finally, do not do business with that client again.

While there may be special circumstances for a given situation this is a statement about that person. If you should decide to work with them again, expect similar treatment. They do not respect your time and most likely will waste your time in the future if you give them the opportunity.

Oddly, this could be a sign you need to raise your prices.

If you command a large amount for your time, you are less likely to have people not respect your time. Let’s face it, you are far more likely to skip a checkup with your doctor than an appointment with an expensive surgeon. It helps to be at the top of your niche.

It also helps if you can blog about it.

What would you do in this situation?

Last Good Friday (2005), we were really forced to change our business

Since it is Good Friday and since the I only have the link to my portrait studio up so far, I think I’ll describe how my business in photography had changed. I’ll also talk a bit about the changes in photography in general a bit. Back in 1984, my father opened a 1hr film processing lab as a family business. He had seen a newspaper add about the business. It was just a small local business in a very tiny shop located on the main street in Cudahy, WI.

Photography was very different then

When we opened we really had no competition in the area. At the time, the nearest 1hr processor was at a mall about 15-20 minutes away. Drug stores took over a week for film, as did the camera stores. It seemed like a great business to start, and besides, I had kinda always wanted to be in photography too.

In order to increase the profits, we added framing, enlargements, and a portrait studio

By the beginning of the 1990′s business was actually pretty good. There was lots of film to develop. The portrait studio, while we were not able to do everything a full studio could, was very successful.

By the end of the 1990′s things were starting to change

I think the first change was the failed attempt in the industry to introduce the APS film format. It really was a bad idea. Small labs like us had to decide if it was worth upgrading to handle the format, as much as $30,000. In truth, APS really was close to the old 110 format in quality (little better but not much). We did not and it was a good choice since there never was much demand.

Soon the industry started to talk about digital

The first digital cameras were really bad. I know many people that purchased early digital cameras and were very disappointed with them. I think companies were overly optimistic about the quality. Also, the industry had not really thought out what anyone would do with the photos they got.

Then came the drug stores

Soon, every drug store in the area started to do 1 hr. film. They even built new drug stores. Discount stores also added labs. These companies sell processing at cost to bring business into their stores. Its hard to compete on a service you rely on for income when your competition is not even trying to make money on it. Our better quality kept many of our customers but our volume started to drop.

Since we saw the film processing business eventually ending, I started trying to improve the studio

We knew eventually we would end the 1 hr. business. But last Good Friday (2005) we finally had no choice.

On Good Friday 2005 our lab (the main printing machine) went up in smoke – literally.

We were told it was not repairable (after they charged us $1000 in attempting to). New machines would have cost $100,000 to $250,000. With the cost of digital prints falling (even then only $.25) we decided new equipment would never pay for itself with the volume we could see us doing. How many $.18 prints would you have to do to pay for a machine that cost that much? We knew the end had been coming. I just wish we had a little warning.

Since then, we have really only been doing portraits and framing

I am glad we had been planning to turn to something else. It has been a bit of a struggle to redesign the entire business plan. We are still working on the change. I have seen many other labs go completely out of business. In our area, there are only two independent labs left. The drug and discount stores have taken too much of the market by competing for the lowest price. That, combined with the huge changes in technology, has changed the entire photography business.

Even the big companies are having problems

Within the last year, Agfa and Konica-Minolta, both equipment makers and paper-chemical suppliers, have gotten out of the market. Agfa went bust. Konica-Minolta just decided to leave that end of the business. There are so many changes happening that trade magazines are usually announcing new products from companies that are no longer in the market.

With all this, I am more excited about photography than I was 10 years ago

I am more confident and excited about my portrait photography than ever before. I am hoping that these changes in my work will actually be for the better in the long run.

How about you?

Have you had a huge change in your business? Has technology changed your industry in a short period of time. Have you had a catastrophic change in your business and been able to overcome it?

I’d like to hear about it. Or, share with us how photography has changed to you.