Tell
me how Best USA works
by Randall Tomaras
Most web sites are like winking at a pretty girl IN
THE DARK? Nobody notices. Placement – Placement – Placement in
websites is like Location – Location – Location in real estate.
The nice thing about the Internet is that very few know anything about PLACEMENT,
so those in the top three pages receive 90% of the business.
If it was easy, everyone would do it. There are 7 or 8 search engines that are responsible for 80 to 90% of all the traffic. They all have different rules and they change weekly to prevent anyone from staying in the number one position too long. Photographers are at a disadvantage because the computer geeks that make up the rules look at "pictures" (they don't call them “images”) as a way of slowing down a page from loading on to a site. Truth is, in their eyes, a snapshot and the "Image of the Year" are treated with equal importance. You spend a lot of time, energy and money getting your web site to look appealing to your clientele, but NONE of that helps you in "search engine placement."
There
are four ways to secure placement –
1. Research – Type
in a key phrase and see who is listed in the top ten. Study the major
factors the search engines look at. Design a page to compete with them.
Trouble is your page and copy are not going to look the same. This is
VERY time consuming in that there are a lot of keywords and over 31
factors to consider. Plus it changes weekly. We did this with MSN
as a test of our ability and scored placement in the top two pages in
over 600 keywords for photography. We will be tackling Google and Yahoo
next.
2. Bid for placement -
Ever wonder why some photographers seem to be number one for
no apparent reason. The top spots go to the highest bidder. This is how
the search engines make their money. Keywords or phrases that the consumer
may type in to find a photographer could go from 15 cents to one dollar.
Every time someone finds your site you are charged that amount. Most photographers
do not find that very cost effective. Can you imagine 5,000 people hitting
on your site in a month? What about 100,000? Plus, various search engines
work together. Sites with the highest hits on one search engine may be
number one on another engine. It's all pretty sneaky. The bottom line
is that the more you buy the higher you will place in nearly all search
engines regardless of what they claim.They are all buying each other out
and making deals. Best USA Photographers will buy placement on
certain key words when we get out of pre-launch. There
is no need to waste money on search engine placement while we are contacting
photographers to be members. We want to spend our dues for quality consumers.
So you are not going to see us high in placement until we are out of pre-launch.
Your membership won't start until we are out of pre-launch and
the special is over.
3. Advertise for customers -
Search engines do look at how many people check your site out. So if you
advertise or run a contest or win a web site award, you create more traffic.
For example Bride Magazine might be one that Best USA Photographers advertises
in for wedding photography. Commercial Art one for Commercial photographers,
and so on. It probably is not cost-effective for a photographer to do
this individually, but co-op advertising is. Best USA Photographers has
a few other tricks up their sleeves to create traffic.
4. Have products that consumers
want. People go to the Internet for information. They
may not be looking for a photographer, but how to organize their wedding,
or information on an annual report. There are several booklets that we
are putting together that consumers want. These will be e-booklets that
have links to contributing photographers’ web sites. This could
be HUGE. Click here for a list of e-books in the works. We are also considering
a series of calendars from Best USA Photographers Calendars. Those selected
will have their web address on the image.
How
does Best USA Photographers make this happen
Best USA Photographers provides the power of photographers working together.
Most consumers are looking for a photographer either geographically or
by a type of photography. Best USA Photographers has all 50 states and
50 different categories. We are not limited by association or type of
equipment a person uses, ONLY QUALITY OF WORK. Let's say that we had JUST
ONE photographer in each category in EACH state. That's 2,500 photographers
and because of the categories and states vary few you would compete against.
Do you think the monthly dues from those 2,500 could buy a few keywords
and advertising that would attract a few customers? If you only received
one customer all year it should pay for itself. That's the power of working
together. This deal is sweet. You are receiving the benefit of
half a million dollars in advertising for under $30 a month.
The Charter Member photographers have accepted our concepts and what we
have proposed. Most of them see the value of photographers of all categories
uniting together in this time of change for the photography industry.
Compare our advertising to the other forms of advertising
you do. You'l. 2,827,325 see how sweet Best USA Photographers is.
What
you receive for a membership –
Aside from potential customers which is the main point.
A. Each photographer is allowed nine images in up to
six categories. Additional categories and images are $5 a year. These
images are placed in three areas: Your State, The categories, and Alphabetical
by last name.
B. A buffer page designed to qualify customers, warn about
copyright, and sell you as a photographer
C. A handsome Best USA Photographers plaque suitable for
hanging on your wall. Personalized with your name.
There
is only one thing left to do.
See
if you qualify
Email us your website for review
(This is kind of like being in the "loan collection," so please
do not be disappointed if you do not make it first time around)
