Marketing Archives | ARI HERZOG

My First Amazon Review

Aug. 24, 2020 By Ari Herzog

I created my Amazon account in 1998.

Every time I search for a product, I sort the resulting list by average customer reviews. This enables me to peruse how many total reviews were written and which percentage gave four and five stars. Then, I click into product description pages and scroll down to read other people’s reviews.

If one product has fewer reviews than another product, I buy the item with more reviews. The first product might be better; but reviews are forcing my spending habits. I’m not alone. A 2017 article about the $400 billion online reviewing industry indicated that 50% of shoppers relied on Amazon for reviews.

Because I spend a significant amount of time to read what random people think about a product, it’s strange that I never wrote my own reviews.

I can’t explain it. I use Yelp to read and write business reviews, and I use Goodreads to read and write book reviews. Why don’t I do it on Amazon?

Once I determine what to use for a handle, I’ll start writing reviews for all of the products I’ve ordered during the pandemic.

My latest delivery was an 8″ ring light tripod that I’ll use to illuminate Zoom meetings. There’s already over 22,000 reviews; but mine isn’t there. After unpacking the product and trying it out, that will be my first review.

How To Be a Better Guest Blogger

Aug. 16, 2015 By Ari Herzog

Every blog publisher wants to increase eyeballs and visits. We are open to introducing our readers to new voices by way of guest posts; but, after years of blogging and receiving email requests from wannabe bloggers, I’ve learned that a lot of people don’t understand the difference between blogging and article marketing.

Here are 6 real examples of emails that suck:

The 6th reason your email sucks:

You never researched nor read my blog.

I wanted to make sure my topic fits with your theme. I have two guest posts that I would like to have published. One is about how to plan for retirement in your 20s. The second post is about odd things that need to be transported.

The 5th reason your email sucks:

You confuse guest blogging with article marketing.

Hey there,
We have been reading the articles on your website and are very impressed with the quality of your information. We have a team of copywriters who specialize in writing articles on various topics and would like to write an original article for you to use on your website.

The 4th reason your email sucks:

You are the same as the 6th reason. What has a cost here?

I came across your site, Ariherzog.com, and would like to offer you free content.

The 3rd reason your email sucks:

You are the same as the 4th reason.

I read some of your content and really found them interesting and informative. So I was just wondering if I can also do something for your site, maybe writing an article for your site FREE of cost as a guest writer.

The 2nd reason your email sucks:

You don’t even introduce yourself, and your article is off-topic.

I have attached an article for guest posting please review it. Waiting for response.

And, the number one reason your email sucks:

[insert drum roll sounds here]

I was wondering if you accept guest postings?

I used to have a page with guest posting guidelines. I don’t anymore. But I will still publish guest posts. I don’t care if you make a living as a content marketer or a search engine optimizer but try to personalize your email to me. Accept the fact there is a difference between guest blogging and article marketing, as Ann Smarty elaborates in this table:

	Guest posting	Article Marketing
Unique content?	Yes, absolutely	No (“spunn” content is NOT unique. Period)
Extra links? (to your article)	Yes!	Hardly possible
Potential promoters and followers?	Yes!	Hardly possible
Increased exposure to social media?	Yes!	No
Networking power?	Yes!	Hardly possible
Boosting reputation?	Yes! (if you are great)	Maybe (if you are great!)

Michael Dolen is among a slate of guest bloggers for me. He wrote a great 2-part series about the online successes and failures of the credit card industry. His email?

Hi Ari,
It’s interesting that your focus is on emerging media, because I own/operate a very popular forum and blog; CreditCardForum.com. On behalf of my site I do quite a bit of guest posting and take pride in the fact that I don’t write the cookie-cutter and bare minimum “guest posts” that a lot of people churn out these days, ha. Is there any particular topic you would like to see me cover? I reviewed your archives showing the last 100 articles and here are a few ideas that popped into my head from looking at those…
[Mike shared three sample titles and related content.]
Would you like me to write up one of these? Or something else? Just let me know what’s best for you.
By the way, congrats on being elected to Newburyport’s city council! Even though I live some two-thousand miles away on the other coast, just want to say I dig local politicians… I feel they’re the only politicians who actually get stuff done 😉
Thanks,
Mike

Show me you are a person and I’ll be your best friend. But the moment your email seeking guest blogging opportunities turns into a spamfest of SEO qualifications, pluralized pronouns, and irrelevant content, you make it painstakingly clear you never visited my blog, shared a post, or would ever think of talking about your passion to my readers.

Social is More Important Than Social Media

Aug. 11, 2015 By Ari Herzog

I bought a Shark steam mop a few months ago and, with a question about the best way to wash its microfiber pads, I first turned to Google. Results suggested different customer opinions. I wanted to know what the company thought and didn’t feel like clicking around its website.

They tweet and facebook and, while they do respond to inquiries, I wanted a more immediate response. Enter Live Chat! I inputted my name and email address — and typed back and forth with a customer support representative. Quick. And, she had a personality!

The takeaway is while social media is important for multiple reasons (customer support, product news, personnel changes, etc.), nothing trumps the personal connection from meeting in person to talking on the phone to typing on the computer.

And, have a sense of humor. Nobody likes talking to robots.

Why Your Website Might Lose its Google Rank

Apr. 20, 2015 By Ari Herzog

Starting April 21, 2015, Google is penalizing any website from appearing in its search results if the website is not mobile responsive. This means if your website has small text, links too close together, or other elements that prevents Googlebot from reading it on a smartphone or other mobile device, you’re in trouble.

Andrew May explains the rationale in a longer post about the importance of mobile web design — but the takeaway is you need to run your website through Google’s free tool to determine if you are mobile friendly.

I live in northeast Massachusetts and I ran seven city websites through that tool.

Of the seven cities, only Gloucester and Newburyport passed the test for mobile responsiveness. But they have horrible mobile layouts that I’d rather pause my search until I’m in front of a large desktop computer. The other five city websites failed the test and will potentially be removed, if not demoted, from Google’s database unless they are edited quickly.

In terms of U.S. states, my home of Massachusetts is no better than the above. It passes the mobile-friendly test but, compared to North Carolina and Utah, it needs a lot of work to improve readability.

Stop Dividing Marketing and Media

May. 27, 2014 By Ari Herzog

Why are we creating schisms in marketing and media?

Digital marketing
New marketing
Online marketing
Social marketing
Social media marketing

Digital media
New media
Online media
Social media

The list goes on.

Why are we fighting to be the expert and guru in each of these subcategories?

If you stop and think about it, what is the difference between digital marketing and social media marketing — vs marketing itself? What are the elements of online media that differ from social media? Take off the end of a hammer and you have a stick. It’s still a tool. Why must we be specialists in sophisticated sticks?

If the strategy and audience are the same, then where is the value in creating schisms?

If you call yourself a social media expert then I suggest you are a media expert.

If you call yourself a digital marketing consultant then I suggest you are a marketing consultant.

Stop with the adjectives. Simplify.

[Untitled]

Mar. 13, 2014 By Ari Herzog

If you have a blog, do this for me:

1. Write a pithy post. Whatever you write about, keep it short and simple.

2. Skip the title. That’s right. No title. Your dedicated readers will keep reading.

3. Include a link to something epic. If you don’t know what to link to, link to this post.

P.S. Cheers to Dave for the idea.