Fish Giver Week – Part 1

29 Comments

1. Jackie

   Great list ~ it’s always fun to get some fish now and then. Glad you had a great vacation. 🙂 You gonna tell us more about gathering your team at some point? I’d love to hear it.

   Jackie
2. PotPieGirl

   Hi Jackie!

   I agree…fish are fun 😉

   Perhaps I’ll talk about gathering a team sometime – not a bad topic at all, thanks!

   Jennifer
3. Noel

   As always, you are so selfless in what you provide. Thanks for everything you do Jennifer. I’ve been learning from you for quite some time.

   P.S. I’m looking forward to that 2000th post at WA. 🙂
4. PotPieGirl

   Thanks, Noel!

   Giving is WAYYY more fun for me…plus, I like to have fun at “work” =)

   I’m looking forward to post #2000 in Wealthy Affiliate, too. I love to give away as much as I can for my landmark posts. I just need to set aside a couple hours to write it.

   Jennifer
5. Fred Raley

   Jennifer,

   You never cease to amaze me with your helping folks out.

   That’s what marketing is all about… helping others, understanding others needs, etc. and helping them out.

   Good job.

   I just got back from a funeral for my Aunt. Had a great “Celebration of Life” with my relatives.

   Onward & Upward!

   Fred

   p.s. I have a marketing blog too. It is also a “Do Follow” blog that helps others!
6. Theresa

   What a great idea and so helpful for up and coming marketers.

   Thanks for sharing . . . you set a high standard and good example to follow.

   All the best,
   Theresa
   Keyword Angel
7. June-Information Marketing

   Memorial Day weekend was a blast! So good to hear you were able to take some time off for yourself and family too! That’s what it is all about.

   When I made my income as a retail manager for a large department store chain, it was not very often that I was able to take off on a holiday unless it was my turn for a weekend off, and more often than not, no one got time off on a holiday weekend.

   When you are working for yourself, you don’t need to ask permission to take time off to be with your family or to go on holiday.

   I was so happy to be able to shut my computers down and enjoy the festivities this weekend. Granted I still worked preparing a lot of food to feed the clan, but this is also good for the soul work that I enjoy and chose to do!

   Take the advice that Jennifer so freely gives and get those niche sites up and running to free yourself from the shackles of being a wage slave.
8. Noel

   I have a question for you Jennifer…I see that some of the “hints” (lol) that you provided for domains have the actual brand name within them. I’ve always heard that was a bad thing to do….is that not the case? What are your thoughts?
9. Mark V

   Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!! Thanks for proving once again that Southerners are very giving people.(lol)

   As soon as I saw the first (fish) the brain juices started churning.

   Thanks ever so much.

   Mark V
   Charleston, SC
10. bill

    Hi Jennifer,
    As Noel mentioned….I’ve heard from many different sources that you should never use a brand name in your website name unless you own the brand. In fact one person stated he received a cease and desist letter.

    Do you know this to be not true?

    thx
11. Traffic Mayhem

    Thank you very much for sharing these keywords. the giving a fish idea is great, i think people will eventually learn how to find their own after a few free fishes. thanks again 🙂
12. Greatest Viral Tip

    Great ideas, but I’ve also heard the same thing others have mentioned….e.g. it’s not a good idea to use brand names in your domain names because the company could actually take that domain from you if they wanted to.

    This is where internet marketing gets frustrating. One person says, “Do this…” and the next person says, “Don’t do this…” so it’s difficult to ever figure out what you should and shouldn’t do.

    We end up avoiding brand name domains cause someone tells you they’re bad while another person is making thousands per month off them.

    So what’s your take Jennifer? I assume brand names are ok with you since they are part of most of your suggestions. In most cases, I would assume the company isn’t going to try and take it from you if you’re promoting in an ethical way and promoting their products, but it would suck to go through all the work of getting the domain set up only to have it disappear and get shut down.

    Thanks for all the great advice! 🙂
13. Linda Thompson

    Jennifer thanks for all your help. I am a struggling newbie. How do we get to be on your team.
    Are you suggesting we make a website or blog for these little fish? Then write articles or what?
    Like I said I am a struggling newbie.
    Linda
14. Eleazar | Entrepinoy Bank

    I’m looking for great keywords to start a new blog and this post is a great help for me. Thanks for giving this fish for us newbie fishers.
15. PotPieGirl

    Hi all!

    Glad you’re enjoying – it was fun to put together. I sure hope some folks snatch these ideas up and let me know how they work out.

    As for the “brand name” questions…

    Here is what I wrote about that in the post above (right before I listed the “fish” – with the “disclaimer” image next to it:

    “Some of these “fish” have brand names in them. Whether you use them or not is totally up to you. I’ve heard of marketers getting Cease and Desist letters from having a brand name in their domain name and the marketer had to take the site down. That has never happened to me as of yet. If it ever does, I’ll take the site down with no issues. That’s my thoughts on that- not to be mistaken for advice or legal counsel =) ”

    Should you have a brand name you don’t own in your domain?

    My short and responsible answer would be, “No”.

    If you are not comfortable with it – Do Not Do It.

    Have *I* done it? Yes, I have.

    Could I have those sites shut down at any given moment? Yes, I could – and I am prepared to take them down in a heartbeat if it is requested.

    Me vs. Them? They win.

    Here is my personal way of looking at it when trying to decide if I should use one of these domains or not…..

    When I search the keyword in Google, I look at the PPC ads.

    I know some advertisers have very strict rules about bidding on their brand name in PPC.

    If I see advertisers showing up (that aren’t the brand owner) advertising for that brand name keyword, I might consider giving it a go.

    My thoughts are that if I am using their name or product name (or version of) to help SELL their product, maybe they won’t be so upset.

    People have used my “brand” name (PotPieGirl) and my product name (One Week Marketing) in their own domain names. As long as they are using it to promote me/my stuff, I have no problem with it.

    That is my opinion.

    Is this legal advice? No. Am I right about this? I have no clue.

    You each should do what you are comfortable with…

    and never, ever try to outsmart your common sense.

    If it feels like a bad idea, then go with that feeling until proven otherwise.

    Jennifer
16. Greg

    Hi
    On looking at the linked sites in your post, I can see that ‘sniper’ is $77, but even after scanning/scrolling through pages and pages of self-promotion I cannot see any price for stay fresh. If someone is SOOOOOOO keen in trying to convince us to buy, why do they try so hard to ‘hide’ the price.
    It may be there, but it is so ‘hidden’ amongst the hype, it is VERY difficult to find. Can’t see it in the “Buy Now”
    I don’t care if they want to “give” me the key to Fort Knox. No price, no buy!! In fact, I am unlikely to ever buy anything from such people, as it always looks as if they have something to hide.
    I wonder what that could possibly be……………………?

    The third link I could not find the price either.

    Thanks.
17. PotPieGirl

    Hi Greg =)

    Ya know what’s “funny”? I never noticed any of that. I always just click the buy button if I wonder how much something is.

    I guess I’ve gone “blind” to salespages after looking at them for all these years….lol!

    After getting to know these guys I feel pretty comfortable saying that they aren’t trying to hide anything – I hate that it comes across that way.

    Jennifer
18. Jan

    I have to agree with Greg about the price on sales pages.
    There was a guide floating around the net sometime back that said you get more click throughs by not putting the price on the page. Personally, it is a major turn off for me.

    Back to using brand names though. I have been toying with this idea for a little while, there are some great keywords to tap into. There is always the risk of being forced to pull it down.
    But, what has it cost you? A few $ for the domain and a couple of hours to put up a basic site.
    I still dither over the ethics of hanging onto the big boys coat tails by using brand names…

    One thing that does tickle me, I get hits for Potpiegirl articles just for mentioning Potpiegirls cute beaver and The Dam Way in my side bar!

    A bit of testing and tweaking, you might get away with not having brand names in the domain name and having decent content with site tags optimised correctly.

    Thanks for the fish Jennifer and another great post.
19. Greg

    Hi Jennifer (PPG)
    i understand what you are saying, but it is different if you know the people who are selling the product. If you don’t; then it may well be “pot luck” that everything is fine; but there are just too many shysters with deceptive products.
    Like Jan says, it makes us less likely to buy. I look at it this way. If you are trying to hide the price, what else are you hiding?
    Thanks for all the fish!

    Best wishes
20. Arlene Chase

    Thanks for the fish.
21. PotPieGirl

    Hi Jan =)

    re: Price – We marketers are always testing something, aren’t we? lol! Thing is, the only way to make conversions better is to test new things, see the results, and get feedback. I’m sure the guys will appreciate hearing feedback on the lack of obvious price.

    re: brand names in domains – Sounds like you’re thinking like I do…. I’ve got what? $10 or so and a little time invested in the site. If a “Big Boy” says take it down and stop selling their stuff there – I’ll take it down quick as a wink.

    Thanks for reading!

    I’m putting Part 2 together right now so keep your eyes out for a new list of fish!

    Jennifer
22. Brett - SEO in San Diego

    Awesome stuff PotPieGirl ;-). I probably have 40 domains sitting in my Godaddy account for this exact thing “one week campaigns”. It’s awesome you’re sharing and are helping everyone out like that. It really opens peoples minds to the millions of niche, and sub niches that are out there that can make you money. I think most “noobies” always try and dive into the most competitive niches because they don’t understand this. Looking forward to the upcoming posts. Have a blessed day!

    -Brett
23. XYZ

    Personally, the price thing doesn’t bother me. As a marketer I understand its all about conversions.

    Greg, I don’t think they are trying to hide anything from you, just increase conversions.

    I have tested the price thing with my reverse cell phone lookup site, and not mentioning the price upfront dramatically increases conversions, I am talking about 300% increase!

    I know it might annoy a few people, but I am a marketer and my job is to increase conversions not make everyone happy at the cost of conversions. I am guessing the 80/20 rule applies here.

    As for domains with brand names in them, if you are asked to take it down, there is a simple solution without losing rankings.

    Simply do a 301 redirect(.htaccess 301 redirect) to your new domain name and within a week or 2 your new domain name will replace the domain with the brand name.

    You won’t lose rankings and the links pointing to your brand domain will now count towards your new domain(This only applies in Google).

    Don’t be afraid to test things and make mistakes, it’s the only way you are going to get ahead in this business.

    Remember, testing is the only way you will know for sure if something works. I have tested many things that people say don’t work or you shouldn’t do, but they have worked fine for me.
24. JulieW8

    Is there somewhere here on your site where you address domain name trademark violations?

    I wouldn’t want to put the time and effort into building and promoting a site with a domain name that’s clearly a TM violation. If one of them belongs to a company that aggressively defends its TMs, you’re looking at losing the domain name and all your hard work.
25. Legal Beagle

    Suggesting that your followers purchase domain names which incorporate famous trademarks like polaroid, waring, conair is irresponsible to say the least.

    If this is your “free” advice I shudder to think what you might suggest with your paid services.

    Your site is an excellent example of the idea that on the Internet “everyone” is an expert.

    Might be wise to include a disclaimer that federal lawsuits can be downright expensive!
26. Chip

    Might want to also mention that not only is it unethical to use someone elses Trademark without their permission to make money, it is also illegal. You are libel for fines, profits, fees and potential jail time. The courts and laws see it as stealing and consumer deception.
27. PotPieGirl

    As I clearly stated in the post above:

    “Some of these “fish” have brand names in them. Whether you use them or not is totally up to you. I’ve heard of marketers getting Cease and Desist letters from having a brand name in their domain name and the marketer had to take the site down. That has never happened to me as of yet. If it ever does, I’ll take the site down with no issues. That’s my thoughts on that- not to be mistaken for advice or legal counsel”
28. Brian C.

    Jennifer,

    I have a question are you affiliated with Dave B. (4dmmb) and his team, seems like his information and resources are exactly the same as yours. Just curious.

    Brian C.
29. Bella

    So these programs are just more stuff for us desperate newbies to waste our limited resources on.
    Not good.