When is Spying on Your Competition a Complete Waste of Time?

Your brain screams "Gimme Fast", "Gimme Easy", "Do it for me automatically"! So when you see the headline that reads...

"Imagine Spying On Your Competition To Build A Massive Targeted Keyword List Of 3000 Or More Keywords On Auto-Pilot... In 10 Minutes Or Less And Skyrocket Your Adsense Profits Quickly And Easily"

You think "Hmmmm. Sounds good. Looks intriguing..."

"Never Build Another Keyword List The Slow And Hard Way!"

Gosh. Is it possible?

"You must understand that this is a numbers game."

O.K. Now tell me something not quite so obvious.

The above headlines and subheadlines are quoted directly from a sales letter for a relatively new piece of software (no names will be mentioned here) that's intended to eliminate all the "hard work" of doing keyword research. It sounds exciting. No more tedious keyword research. Yes! I find life is so much more enjoyable when I don't have to engage my brain.

Don't pull out your credit card just yet.

With this particular product there's no need to review the entire sales letter to find out what else the software will do for you. It's all nicely summarized in the very first headline.

The sales letter includes a link to view a nice video presentation demonstrating how the software works, and it certainly appears to do exactly what the author says it will. I have no doubt that the program delivers on all of the promises of the sales letter, but what exactly are you getting?

Let's go back to the headline again...

"Imagine Spying On Your Competition To Build A Massive Targeted Keyword List Of 3000 Or More Keywords On Auto-Pilot... In 10 Minutes Or Less And Skyrocket Your Adsense Profits Quickly And Easily"

Again, I may be tempted to plop down one cool C Note, but what's wrong with this picture?

What doesn't this software tell you?

1) Keyword search frequency.

2) The amount of competition for any keyword.

3) Keyword bid cost in Google Adwords and/or the approximate Adsense value.

When you take the approach of "spying on your competition", be very careful not to give your competition too much credit for having done their homework. Maybe they did. Maybe they didn't.

If you generate a "highly targeted" keyword list of 3,000 keywords and you don't know the search frequency, the amount of competition for any of the keywords, the Adword bid cost or the approximate Adsense value, what do you do from there?

ANSWER: Start over.

Some marketers like to say that Wordtracker is just "So Expensive"! Have you seen the price of a "Value Meal" at McDonald's lately? "SuperSize It" and you've spent about the same amount of money that it would cost to gain access to Wordtracker for a day. As of the writing of this article, a one-day subscription to Wordtracker costs $7.65.

If you've never used Wordtracker before, you can easily learn all of the "how to's" in a few hours by using their tutorials, which are very well done. Now you still have 20 hours to do intelligent keyword research. You'll have the answers to the important questions that you really should be asking, and you'll have spent a whopping $7.65. Now that's an outstanding value.

Just because someone creates a software application that "automates" the work for you doesn't necessarily mean that the information you'll generate is worth anything.

Would you rather have...

- A big fat hairy list of 3,000 keywords with no real useful information about any of them.

OR

- A truly valuable list of keywords with the search frequency and amount of competition for each and every keyword.

Choose the latter.

Begin with the end in mind. Formulate a plan. Think through your entire project and strategize.

When you learn how to use Wordtracker efficiently, you'll be able to research 10 niche markets in a day without breaking a sweat.

When it comes to keyword research, there are some shortcuts that you can take by using services like Wordtracker and even some very good software programs, but don't give in to the temptation to shift the gray matter into idle.

There are effective ways to build content sites and there are other "click a button and build a bazillion page site" methods. The shelf life of the latter is getting shorter every week.

In the words of the great Aretha Franklin, "Think. Thinka-think."

Copyright 2005 Ron Hutton

Ron Hutton is a 20 year sales and marketing veteran with a passion for coaching and training. Subscribe to "GoThrive Online", for big juicy marketing tips in small, easy-to-chew, bite size servings. 17 Free Cool Tools... http://www.gothrive.com

---

The Deadly Itch!

It is a story about Manku, a blind man who... Read More

What is RSS - For Marketers

RSS is a technology that has the potential of overcoming... Read More

10 Sure-Fire Viral Marketing Strategies To Increase Traffic To Your Website

"Viral Marketing" is giving something away for free and allowing... Read More

Converting Visitors into Subscribers

Copyright 2005 Javier SalcesVisitor conversion is a challenge faced by... Read More

The Most Profitable Internet Marketing Strategy Ever

So what's the most profitable internet marketing strategy you can... Read More

Online Advertising Traffic and the First Law of Web Surfing

Hint: don't send send your online advertising traffic to your... Read More

The 2 Step Lead Generation Machine

Cold calling doesn't work, it's no fun and often you... Read More

Free Demographics or Updated Data?

During your search, you may encounter free demographic data. If... Read More

10 Creative Ways to Sell and Market Resale Rights Products Offline

Are you having a tough time selling that ebook or... Read More

Help Your Online Customers Feel Confident Even If Theyve Never Heard Of You

The Internet world is truly exciting ? there is no... Read More

To Survey Or Not To Survey

I have learned over the years that when it comes... Read More

Mortgage Marketing: What To Expect From Your New Website

The day has come for your new website to go... Read More

How to Choose an Internet Marketing Strategy on a Shoestring Budget

An Internet marketing strategy is important if you plan on... Read More

Sheep Spend and Lose, Leaders Make Money

Remember that leaders spend more money on learning and growing,... Read More

Building An Effective Banner Campaign

Banner advertising can dramatically help you increase traffic to your... Read More

Identifying Top- and Bottom-Line Growth Strategies for Your Web Business

Defining Top-Line versus Bottom-LineAn Internet business improves their "top line"... Read More

Stepping Outside the WAHM Zone

Often times on message boards you'll see several reps from... Read More

I Want To Be An Online Marketer!

Where do I start if I want to be an... Read More

5 Things More Important to Internet Buyers than WHAT Youre Selling II

Web commerce is all about courtship, not salesmanship. In life,... Read More

Success in On-Line Business

Here is a story of four traders who each started... Read More

Web Success Secret - Overdeliver

A few days back I got an email telling me... Read More

Find Your Niche - the Internet Marketers Goldmine

If you haven't heard the word 'niche' being batted around... Read More

Secrets to Business Success on the Internet

Secret Number One: The Key Is A Niche MarketIdentifying a... Read More

Road Map to Internet Marketing Success

Today, the internet has become part of our life. We... Read More

Look Smart Not Small Business Friendly

There is a firestorm of negative press regarding LookSmart's recent... Read More

Yanik Silver Asked Some Questions That Peaked My Curiosity

It's so simple! I wish I'd discovered it a year... Read More

Seven Ways to Keep Earning After Youve Completed the Sale

So you've just sold another digital product; things are going... Read More

The ABCs of Online Customer Support

Want to provide great online customer support? Want to provide... Read More

Do You Market To These Emotions Online?

What can Mother Theresa and Charles Schwab teach you about... Read More

Idiotic Marketers Who Waste Time Should be Shot

Ok, that's a little harsh for a title but you... Read More

Google Sitemaps ? A New Free Google Tool

Google has released another valuable. The tool, "Sitemaps", allows you... Read More

It Really is only early Days in the Internet Gold Rush....

One of the questions that I am getting more and... Read More

Blog and Ping ? A Search Engine Traffic Bonanza

Everyone is talking about blogs these days as the magic... Read More