Nate Rivers Interviews Me for Strayblogger and a $50 Amazon Giveaway

Published: Tue, 06/26/12

Interview, Niche Finding, and a Backlinking Strategy - Get Ready!
Hi, everyone!  Time for some more tips to get you through the summer and also share an opportunity to win $50 from Nate Rivers (no purchase necessary). 

It's HOT here in Arizona this time of year.  108F degrees (42.2 Celsius for those of you in other countries) so if I mess something up in this email chalk it up to a brain in desperate need of ice. 
$50 AMAZON GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY
FROM NATE RIVERS

Nate Rivers is an experienced Amazon Associate and shares his strategies at Strayblogger.com.  He's also active on the WarriorForum and has a wealth of information to share.  I was thrilled (and honored!) when he asked if he could interview me for his blog. 

You can read the full text here:  Nate Rivers Interview of Erica Stone

At the bottom of the post, you'll see he's giving away one $50 Amazon gift card to a lucky respondent who shares the post and adds a comment about what they liked best.  I can't be the only one who thinks that's a great deal so I encourage you to head on over and participate.  It costs you nothing but a few minutes to get your shot at winning.


Finding Great Niche Ideas for
Squidoo Niche Blaster Lenses

I get a number of emails from people who struggle to find good niche ideas for their Squidoo Niche Blaster lenses.  I'm going to walk you through how I find ideas with great search volume that meet the SNB requirements.

Read through the steps, do the same steps yourself, and see what you come up with.  You could have a brand new set of lenses up in less than a week and a whole list of ideas to keep you going all summer. 

There's a search query in the book that I still use today.  Simply paste the following into Google:

"(5..500 customer reviews)" -squaretrade site:amazon.com $50..100

That search query does list a lot of electronics which just get in the way.  It helps to scroll to the bottom of the first page results in Google and click to go to the 5th page or higher to start browsing.

It doesn't matter which page of results you look at so even if you go to page 10 of the results and browse all the way through to page 100, you have the same chance of finding niches that sound appealing.  It's then a matter of looking for the kinds of products that people would buy based on looks (not products people want to read reviews about - we're talking about home decor items, clothing, accessories).  

When I scroll through the result of that search query, I find the following niche ideas. Notice that I don't include the name of the specific product, I just make a note of the general name of the niche. I might see a listing for a pair of Kamik Women's Heidi Rain Boots in the search query results and I just put down "rain boots", not the brand name:

  • sunglasses
  • pregnancy pillows
  • action figures
  • rain boots
  • wood organizers

Next, I'd take this list and do the following:

  1. Bring up the Google Keyword Tool
  2. Check the box for Exact match search and uncheck the box for Broad match search
  3. Type the word 'sunglasses' into the search box
  4. Type the word 'sunglasses' into the Include Terms filter on the left sidebar
  5. Click the Search button
  6. Sort the results from largest to smallest in the Global monthly search column
  7. Scroll down to around the 3000 exact Global monthly search volume (If everything is greater than 3000, use the Advanced Options & Filters to show only results where the Global monthly search volume is less than 3000. You can keep lowering that filter to show more and more long tail keywords or you can log in to Google Adwords to page through all of the results.)
  8. Look for keywords that are 3-5 words long and describe products people could find on Amazon
  9. Repeat the steps for each niche idea on the list

This gives me the following keywords that are 3-5 words long, are products people could find on Amazon, are products people buy based on looks, and have search volume between 500-3000 exact searches a month:

  • heart shaped sunglasses - 2400 searches a month
  • sunglasses with chain - 1600 searches a month
  • best polarized sunglasses - 1300 searches a month
  • hello kitty sunglasses - 1300 searches a month
  • red star sunglasses - 1300 searches a month
  • harley davidson sunglasses - 1000 searches a month
  • harry potter action figures - 1300 searches a month
  • gears of war action figures - 1000 searches a month
  • dc universe action figures - 880 searches a month
  • yellow rain boots - 1300 searches a month
  • hello kitty rain boots - 1300 searches a month
  • cheap rain boots for women - 720 searches a month
  • wood closet organizers - 880 searches a month

You may have to go to the lower end of the volume guideline and settle for a keyword that only has 500 exact searches a month. That's okay because the 500 searches is just a starting point for your lens. Once you add the 3 categories of products, you'll be adding more long-tailed keywords and expanding the reach of the lens. There's also usually less competition for those keywords which can sometimes mean better rankings very early on.

For the best results, stick with keywords that have 500-3000 exact Global monthly searches, are 3-5 words long (yellow rain boots -YES, rain boots, NO), are products people buy based on appearance, and describe products people can buy on Amazon.


MY BACKLINKING STRATEGY THESE DAYS

 Other than avoiding anything resembling a blog network, my backlinking strategy has not changed from what I outlined in Extreme Review.  I focus on using web 2.0 sites, bookmarks, article directories, and RSS feeds. 

There's a lot of information on internet marketing forums that says article directories are a waste of time but I don't use them to get the backlink from the article directory itself (which I agree has very little value) but to get the article syndicated by related blogs.  The backlink from the related blog CAN have value and any you get from just having written a 500 word article is a great use of time, in my opinion.

I use this strategy with new sites and with existing sites that need a boost.  All of the sites where I've used nothing but this strategy survived Panda just fine:
  1. Use the Google Keyword tool to find ten phrases related to your site's main keyword that each have 500-1000 exact Global monthly searches.
  2. Create a Squidoo lens using the first of your five keywords from step #1.  Write at least 1000 words about that keyword spread across five text modules in Squidoo.  Include some images and one link to the home page of your site.  Don't use your main keyword as anchor text.  Use the name of your site, your straight URL, or something like "read more here".  
  3. Bookmark the lens at 5-10 bookmark sites.
  4. Submit your lensmaster RSS feed to at least 3 RSS submission sites.
  5. Tweet about your new lens.
  6. Submit your link through your ping.fm account.  (Now, ping.fm keeps saying their switching to Seesmic but this hasn't happened yet and it's such a neat tool that I hope it doesn't switch until they have all the same services set up.  Make sure you've connected at least 7 of the social networks that work with ping.fm.)
  7. Create a Hubpages using the second keyword from your list.  Write at least 1000 words about that keyword.  Include an image or two and a link to the home page of your site.  Vary the anchor text.
  8. Bookmark the Hubpage at 5-10 bookmark sites.
  9. If you can find the Hubpage RSS feed, submit it to 3 RSS submission sites.
  10. Tweet about your new lens.
  11. Submit your link through your ping.fm account.
  12. Create a free Weebly page using the third keyword from your list.  Write at least 1000 words about that keyword and include a link to your home page.  Vary the anchor text.
  13. Bookmark the Weebly page at 5-10 bookmark sites.
  14. Submit any Weebly RSS feed to 3 RSS submission sites.
  15. Tweet about your new lens.
  16. Submit your link through your ping.fm account.
  17. Create a Tumblr blog using the fourth keyword from your list.  Write 3 posts, each about 400-500 words long.  Include a link to your home page in the last post (because it will be at the top of the blog).  Vary the anchor text.
  18. Bookmark the Tumblr blog at 5-10 bookmark sites.
  19. Submit the RSS feed to 3 RSS submission sites.
  20. Tweet about your new lens.
  21. Submit your link through your ping.fm account.
  22. Create a Blogger blog using the fifth keyword from your list.  Write at least 3 posts, each about 400-500 words long.  Include a link to your home page in the last post (because it will be at the top of the blog).  Vary the anchor text.
  23. Bookmark the Blogger blog at 5-10 bookmark sites each.
  24. Submit the Blogger blog RSS feed to 3 RSS submission sites. 
  25. Tweet about your new lens.
  26. Submit your link through your ping.fm account.
  27. Write a 500 word article about the sixth keyword on your list.  Submit the article to ezinearticles.com with a link to your home page in the bio box.  Vary the anchor text.
  28. When the article is live, bookmark it at 5-10 bookmark sites.
  29. Submit your ezinearticles.com author RSS feed to at least 3 RSS sites.
  30. Tweet about your new lens.
  31. Submit the article link through your ping.fm account.
  32. Copy that article and submit it to at least 5 other article directories.
  33. Create another Squidoo lens using the 7th keyword on your list.  Include a link to an inner page of your site and to the first Squidoo lens.
  34. Bookmark the lens at 5-10 bookmark sites.
  35. Tweet about your lens.
  36. Submit the link through your ping.fm account.
  37. Create a 500 word article about the 8th keyword on your list.  Submit the article to ezinearticles.com with a link to your Blogger blog in the bio box.
  38. Create a Livejournal page about the 9th keyword on your list.  Write 1000 words about the keyword.  Include a link to your Weebly page and your Tumblr page.
  39. Bookmark your Livejournal page at 5-10 bookmark sites.
  40. Create a free Jimdo site about the 10th keyword on your list.  Write 1000 words about the keyword.  Include a link to your first ezinearticle and to your Hubpage.
  41. Bookmark the Jimdo page at 5-10 bookmark sites.

Use only unique content.  Try to use 20-30 bookmark sites in your bookmarking activity to get a good mix.  Do a search online for "list of web 2.0 sites" to add more links.  Do a search online for "list of  bookmark sites" to find the most recent bookmark sites.  Do a search online for "list of RSS submission sites" for the most recent RSS sites.  (This ensures we don't all use the same set of accounts.)  Follow any terms of service for the sites you use.

Spread this out over 30-60 days.  There's no need to rush it.  Want to do something right away?  Just do step #1 today and go back to what you were doing.  Tomorrow, tackle step #2.  


Oh, my.  That is a very long email.  Sorry about that.  Once I get started, I just can't stop.  I'm hoping you find it well worth your time, though, and material that you can immediately put to use.

Now, off to find some ice.  Wish me luck!

Sincerely,

Erica Stone

erica@extremereviewer.com