Exclusive Interview with ALLAN POLLETT- "THE TORONTO GURU"

Spotlight on:

Allan Pollett

*SEO Guru & consultant* Entrepreneur*CEO/Founder Global Net Trade* Online Marketing Guru*

Allan pollett

This week I am gonna be doing something different on this blog which I think would definitely be part of what we would be seeing on this blog with time as this blog is all about inspiring people to follow their guts and vision in a context of happiness.

As I often say, “Today’s youths are exposed to more information daily than our great grand parents have been exposed to in a life time”. Because we live in an era marked by such amazing technogical advancements, we are at a greater advantage than preceding generations. Sometimes such advantages can make people apathetic. Instead of striving to continue this process of growth, they simply rest upon the achievement of others.

It is our responsibility to continue the development of humanity’s evolutionary growth so that future generations may benefit from the progress we make during the course of our existence.

If you want to be a success in life, you have to learn from the experts. You have to discover the secrets of the successful.

When I stumbled on Allan pollett’s profile on the internet, I was fascinated and immediately I was like ‘I must contact and interview this guy’. I must tell you that from what I have seen, Allan is a definition of success in the SEO and DOT com business.

If you need help on increasing profits/returns for your business online, he is the right man for you. He is considered an online marketing guru having done interviews on SEO radio, CTV’s, web media, and CBC radio and has published frequently in web pro news, webmaster world and site pro news.

Allan has 14 years of SEO/SEM and web development experience. He developed real-estate-city.com, a real estate network of 300 sites serving every major city in US and Canada which generated 200 million dollars of real estate leads per day. He is also an accomplished writer having published articles on the New York Times, Toronto business Journal, among many others. He has helped over 800 clients achieve top ranking on all of the major search engines.

He is indeed an online marketing Guru.

Breathe in! Breathe out! Sit back, relax as you read on and digest the secret of this successful guru where he shared with me his challenges and success story in this exclusive interview with no other than the ‘Toronto Guru” himself.

Allan pollet

! Discovering the secrets of the successful:

Can you briefly tell us what SEO means? What is the business all about?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. The goal of SEO is to help make sites more relevant to targeted keywords searches and therefore rank higher on Google/Yahoo/Bing when potential customers search those keywords.

That means you help people create traffic for their sites, Can you tell us when you started sir?

Yes, by getting improved rankings most sites will get many more visitors. Usually a well optimized site will get 60-80% of all its traffic from the search engines. I started working in the field in 1998, when I launched a translation web site. It was a simple site built on Geocites but was my first experience with trying to build a web site and have it rank on the search engines. At that time Google wasn't really important. The main focus was AltaVista and Yahoo.

Wow! The next question comes in two parts: How do you help these sites get that traffic? And WHAT is the greatest challenge you have had to face over years?

There are really two main factors that determine rankings on the search engines: 1) Content of the site. If you mention the keywords, you will rank somewhere for those keywords. May be not the top spot but somewhere. By theming your site around keywords then this can be greatly improved upon. 2) Links pointing to your site. Links act like recommendations about the authority of your web site. Links from relevant and authoritative sites will help you rank above sites that have fewer or weaker links.

To answer your second question...it isn't really an SEO challenge that I had. The challenge was a business one. Back in 2005, I had the #1 site for every real estate market in North America. I was generating about 200 million dollars worth of real estate leads per day. At the time I was partnered with a real estate agent who made the process of collecting commissions legal. After having generating over 100 million in sales for him alone he ended up stealing all the sites I built. To make things worse at the same time the business was hacked, where spammers created 14000 copies of my real estate sites. The business not only died from within, but the spammers had killed the rankings. At that time the search engines didn't understand duplicate content well and had banned both my sites and the hackers’ sites. Literally over night the business was dead. The situation for me was a crushing blow and it took me a long time to recover. It forced me to abandon my personal SEO projects to instead focus on client's sites in order to pay the bills.

How did you recover from this challenge?

I didn't really recover. Instead I shifted my focus. Built a business of helping more clients be successful rather than focusing on my own success. Now I work with about 300 clients.

Hmm! this brings us to the next question. What do you consider to be the most outstanding achievement of your career?

There isn't just one achievement I can point to. In a way SEO for me is a game. To win the game it is a matter of getting sites to the top of the rankings. Getting there is the achievement. Once I helped a client outrank Google on Google for a keyword both companies targeted.

Okay! What is the most effective technique you have ever used in this Game of yours?

The most effective technique would be to optimize the structure of the site. This means optimizing the navigation and internal link structure and theming of the website. This strategy has worked since the very beginning of SEO and still works today. Many SEO techniques and tricks have short life spans.

 Hmm! Good stuffs can you give an example of how you would apply this technique in a real life situation?

Hard to give a quick example. But the idea is to create a general theme to a web site for example: cats. Then use the pages of the site to create sub themes for example: fluffy cats or kittens

The site's navigation and sub-navigation reinforces the keywords.

Okay sir we are finally getting to the end of this interview. Who were some of your role models sir?

I guess my father would be my main role model. He always taught me to be honest and work hard. He was the one who recommended that I start a business online. His values and guidance have led me to where I am now.

My success has really been about being honest and truly wanting to help people when many others in my industry try to cheat people and are about trying to make a quick buck.

Because clients know I am honest and deliver what I say I'll deliver I keep my clients for a long time and get many referrals from these clients.

A man of integrity I see

My philosophy is simple: My clients’ success is my success

WHAT is the most valuable advice you can offer an aspiring SEO/ blogger?

Write interesting articles. Make sure to use all the available social media outlets to promote the articles.

Social media will play an interesting role not only with providing traffic but with search engine rankings.

Social media? Can you shed more light on that?

 For example if you Google+ an article/blog entry then it will be instantly picked up by Google search. Tweets, likes, shares act like recommendations which will be counted towards how well the article will rank.

It is called social signals.

I talk about all this stuff in much greater depth in my blog at http://www.allanpollett.com/blog

Thank you very much for your time Allan.

Glad I could be of help.

I hope you have gained a lot from this piece. Feel free to share with your friends.

Sadiq Daniel

SEARCHING FOR A JOB IS A JOB

My mama once told me that “you cannot continue doing the same thing and expect the same result. Only a mad man thinks that way”. When she made that statement, I was perplexed. It didn’t actually make sense to me at first.

But when I got to the university, I started seeing reason with that statement, in fact I lived it.

You see one problem I have with many Nigerian proverbs or clichés is that they are meaningless. They seriously need to be restructured. Lets look at this one, I call it the ‘patient dog-ish’ cliché and it goes like this: “the patient dog eats the fattest bone”. It doesn’t make sense at all. Maybe it did in the days of Adam and Eve but now if the dog in question just lies on his tummy doing nothing, he might not even get a bone let off the fattest hence, dying of hunger.

If we continue digesting statements like this (patient dog-ish one) we might not fulfill our goals in life because you become what you think with time.

The fact that over 2 million Nigerian youths (especially graduates from higher institutions) are jobless is no longer news. In fact if there is an industry called “unemployed youths plc” with shares at the NSE market, you would be amazed at the avalanche of profits you would make if you invest it such because the number of unemployed youths increases annually.

When you ask the powerful question “why”, you would get ready made answers like no jobs, government, and e.t.c. Then you begin to ask yourself another question like; what is the essence of spending 4-5 years somewhere when you have nothing to show for it?

I tend to wonder if nowadays youths go to school with the aim of joining the “jobless crew”.

In my quest to finding a solution to this dilemma, I discovered something incredible.

The best job you can ever have on this planet is SERACHING FOR A JOB. It is the only job that creates room for self development. And until you admit and realize searching for a job is a job and drop the “patient dog-ish” proverb, you might remain jobless your entire life.

SEARCHING FOR A JOB is the only job where you are your own boss. I know you might be asking; how is searching for a job a job? Relax, the answer is straight forward and all you have to do is read on.

When you flip through pages of your local dailies and you come across job vacancies ads, I know nothing irks you more than the 10-15 years working experience part of the ad. And the question that comes straight from your heart is; how am I going to get 10- 15 years working experience when no one would ever employ me?

The answer comes in two parts: DO something, START something!

Is that it? You might say. Yeah! I mean it, DO something.

Doing something, makes searching for a job a job, Companies don’t employ a person that has nothing to offer and that is why you would definitely find the 10-15years working experience in their ads.

Work for free; apply for internships at the industry you desire. Opportunity they say can come as a disguise but make the best use of it. Don’t just submit your CV somewhere and stay idle. 

Keep doing something and you would be amazed at the wealth of experience you would have acquired in no time.

The second part is START something! Okay let me share with you my story; I started my first business at the age of 17. You would see me then with a back pack selling my stuffs from door- door. I got little or no gain, made lots of mistakes but I was persistent enough that at 22, I already had a big store where I sold my computer accessories. Apart from me making money daily; I am not trying to blow my horn here (Okay just a lil’ bit), I learnt a lot about entrepreneurship and you cannot get that experience and relationship I had developed with my customers anywhere.

I started small but did not limit my thinking. I thought big.

I didn’t wait till I had enough money to build a big store. The mistake so many people make out there is that they want to start big so they can start earning big.

If you start big without any experience, how are you going to manage and handle big mistakes when you cannot even stand the small ones?

Start with what you have with a bigger picture in mind.

There are so many businesses you can start up which requires little or no capital that can earn you big profits; you may mail me at sadiqdaniel@gmail.com for free tips and ideas if you wish.

We are in a century where it is only ideas that work, if you can convince and get people to cherish your ideas you win. You win financially; you gain power to change the world in which we live. You just have to think.

As long as you can use your idea to change the way people think, talk or act……… You can create value.

Fulfilling your dreams in life is a journey that you can’t finish in a day even if you are traveling at the speed of light.

Do something, START something! And you would be surprised how far you can go in life.

You have unlimited potentials in you. Tap into it today.

Searching for a job is definitely the best job you can ever pray to have.

I would like to hear your views on this article and you can reach Sadiq Daniel on twitter at @ayamtheone. Email: sadiqdaniel@gamil.com for free tips and advice

                                                                                                                        Thank you

                                                                                                                        Sadiq Daniel

THE ARSENAL OF MARKETING

I was at a writer’s summit last week and while in a conversation with one of the organizers, I was asked a question that almost swept me off my feet.

“Dan” he began, “I heard you say you blog about entrepreneurship and leadership, what exactly do you know about entrepreneurship?” he asked. I actually opened my mouth to respond to the question but nothing came forth. I was like a phone that has suddenly lost its network signal and my brain couldn’t process the right words at that time.

If only I was on the Frank Edoho’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire show, I would have phoned a friend or asked the audience.

“What exactly do you know about entrepreneurship at this your age?” he asked again but this time I could sense he was mocking. He sounded as if I was some 16 year old kid across the block. I opened my mouth again but this time around the words kept flowing as if I was doing freestyle on the Dj Jimmy Jatt’s Jimmy Jump Off show on TV.

“One thing I have learnt from entrepreneurship over time, is that you have to start somewhere and that is what I am doing right now” I answered confidently.

I have terribly digressed. I apologize.

Today I want to share with you a secret I discovered in marketing. When people hear the word marketing, they automatically believe it only has to do with all those MBA and accounting shit (permit me to use that word), so they don’t want to get involved.

Marketing is not limited to selling goods. In order for you to fulfill the purpose for which you were created, you have to market yourself. Millions of youths are jobless just because they lack the right marketing skills.

You can only be a success in marketing when you put your mind in it. If you cannot convince yourself or believe in what you are doing, you cannot convince others to do likewise.

Marketing is like dating… you have to be committed for the long haul and you must be a powerful communicator and your actions must mirror your belief.

Everyone has unlimited potentials in them that requires the right marketing skill to be unleashed.

One thing I have seen in people over time is that they don’t act because they are afraid of the end result. A glass of cold water has absolutely no value to a thirsty man unless he drinks it. Likewise, although you may possess tremendous potential, unless you develop your potential so it can benefit others, it is worthless.

 One of the worst mistakes you can make is charging blindly ahead, without gathering complete information. I am not saying you need to know every little thing to the point you get bogged down with analysis paralysis. 

What I mean is, decide what you need to know going in, then make sure you get that information.

Before you invest your time or money in something seek experts and gather enough Intel on it.

Another arsenal of marketing is persistence, this is my favorite. If you have not read my article on PERSISTENCE http://sadiqdaniel.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-quitters-are-afraid-to-do.html you should do that now.

The ability not to take NO for an answer would take you places beyond your wildest imagination. Do what you have to do to get what you want out of life in as much as it is the right thing.

It is difficult to recognize opportunity because it comes as a disguise hereby making non- persistent people quit.

Persistence is the only tool that can survive the blades of rejection and I would advise that you use it, teach it and live it. In your road to success, many obstacles will stand between you and your goal. Don’t abandon your goals: instead, consider altering the path you are taking to reach them.

If you persist eventually you will find the road to success.

I hope you have been touched by this piece and I would like to hear your views on this article.

Feel free to share with your friends.

                                                                                                                                     SADIQ DANIEL

NEGOTIATING YOUR WAY TO POWER

How far can an entrepreneur go without being skilled? You will always negotiate with associates, workers, to win contracts, for peace at home and the workplace. Negotiating a win-win solution for conflicting parties is inevitable. Most meetings and conversations end up with negotiation, without planning for a meeting of such. It is a part of our daily lives. To negotiate means to bargain, confer and discuss with the aim of reaching an agreement and achieving a fair, mutually beneficial conclusion. Negotiation is successful when both parties win; a win-win consensus. Negotiation skill is an important interpersonal skill. Research reveals that as people go higher on the corporate ladder, they need more interpersonal skills than technical skills. During my interpersonal skills training, participants suddenly begin to realize that by increasing their negotiation skills, they can make more money, influence people, and achieve their wildest dreams. Contrary to mainstream thinking, effective day-to-day negotiation is not about ploys and gambits; it is about sound interpersonal skills. A ploy is a trick and gambit is a cunning sacrifice made with the intention of significantly greater gain. Successful entrepreneurs know that negotiation is not a tug of war. It is about getting what you want and helping the other party to get what he/she wants. Imagine you just yanked the door ajar, and walked straight inside a sophisticated office. You were told to take a sit at a meeting with top executives. Of course, you want to win the contract, the job, or sell an idea. You can't afford to lose! When you find yourself in this kind of situation, you have to play your cards well, utilizing sound principles of negotiation. Let’s look at what you have to do before you get to the negotiation table. Preparation Gather information and do a thorough research before you get to the negotiation table. Get facts and figures. Research the organization's history, values, previous dealings, and the organization's culture. Becoming knowledgeable on the subject-matter before hand will increase your bargaining power when negotiating. If you are trying to resolve conflict at home or in the workplace, gather information from both parties to know the cause of the disagreement. A fraction of your preparation time should be dedicated to your grooming. Check your wardrobe, and search for an outfit that befits the occasion...dress for the occasion. We are judged by our appearance. People see you, before they hear you. My mentor used to tell me that looking good is good business. Good preparation entails rehearsing your speech. This is not far-fetched. Before you get to the negotiation venue, you should have an outline of your key points, which you have rehearsed. If you will be addressing a group of people, then you really have to spend time on rehearsing your speech, which is easier when you have a good understanding of your subject matter. Furthermore, you have to focus on your inner dialogue. Often times, when we are scared of something, our inner dialogue is negative, brought about by fear. One way of conquering fear is by changing your inner dialogue from a negative one to a positive one. Go with the mind-set that you will win because you are prepared. Developing a strategy is part of your preparation. Ask yourself the following questions. Is my proposal/request different from others? How can I present an offer that is too good to be resisted or rejected? What is my Unique Selling Proposition? What are my strengths and weaknesses? When you ask yourself the right questions, you get the right answers. Anticipate possible questions, and be prepared for answers to them. Now you are ready to swim with the sharks! Effective negotiation borders on three key factors: Authority, Attitude, and Assertiveness. Organizations want to work with experts, not a novice. Every time the corporate shark knows that you are an expert in the subject matter, your bargaining power increases. One way to show that you are an expert during negotiation is to seize initiative in areas of undoubted competence, and ensure the other person depends on you for clarification and information. Those are your strength zones. A reputation for unpredictability will also go a long way in increasing your bargaining power. The other party will be conscious of what he/she tells you for the fear that he/she cannot predict your reaction. Ask the other party unexpected questions that matter. Being an expert, you should set the pace. As people say, attack is the best defence. It could be in comparison to playing the Chess game. You want to use the white piece, not the black one. You make the first move. In setting the pace, be the first person to mention money (or whatever is the dominant item to be negotiated. Before you do that, you should know what your competitors charge, and what the organization may be willing to pay. As a pace-setter, you have to open with strength. It is during the first few seconds of a negotiation that each party forms their impression of what the final agreement will be. Get the attention of the other party in thirty seconds or less. Don't beat about the bush. If you do, you are giving the other party the impression that you don't know what you want. When you don't know what you want, you can take anything. Furthermore, you have to set goals for yourself: Both short term and long term goals.  Before you get to the negotiation venue, you have to determine your fall back position. Determine your Banta. During negotiation, start high, and if necessary, gradually, come closer to your fall back position and don't go below it. Instead of going below your fall back position, you can decide on what you will do voluntarily for free. That doesn't make you cheap. Rather, it is a way of giving the organisation a taste of your offering, thereby, fostering a business relationship with them. That's the equivalent of sacrificing a Pawn. It's a simple Chess logic. Once you have established your authority on the subject matter, the other party will treat you with respect. Some ploys and gambits used by aggressive negotiators are: keeping you waiting, the best offer, and last minute wavering, so, watch out for them. Keeping you waiting is a tactic senior people use on junior people. It is a way of saying: I am a decision maker here, so you have to dance to my tunes. Other manipulators can use it to disorganize you or make you nervous, so you can concede quickly. An effective counter measure is, to read a book while you wait. After waiting, the boss, emerges and asks you-what your best offer is? If you've been overly nervous, you will be pushed straight to your fall back point.  Side-stepping the request and signaling that you need information is a good counter measure. Don't forget to start high. Imagine that after reaching an agreement, the other party tells you that he/she is not the decision maker, that his/her boss has the final say. The new boss comes over and begins wavering over some seemingly trivial points. Your defence is to remember that every time they raise a new issue, points that have been previously agreed on can be brought back for discussions. Stay positive and stand on your rights, while acknowledging the rights of the other person. I would love to hear your views on this article and i hope you benefitted from this piece                                                                                                                                                                                            SADIQ DANIEL

‘WASHING’- Selling yourself in a crowded market

I’m going to give you some ideas on how you can scream and make yourself heard even in an over-crowded market. Most “solopreneurs” (a coined word signifying one-man entrepreneurs) are selling something, an idea, a product, a service but then most entrepreneurs never quite get beyond the point of selling, and move into marketing on a much bigger scale. They keep on trucking to make small sales, and get by day to day. Some keep waiting and hoping for the big time job or contract which sometimes proves elusive and finally outlasts their patience and persistence possessed by small entrepreneurs.

It’s a crowded market with multinationals that have enormous marketing budgets, solopreneurs - with little startup capital, organizations with hugely successful brands, and thriving entrepreneurs with seemingly bottomless pool of funds for PR. How does a ‘solopreneur’ successfully sell himself in a ‘dog eat dog’ business world where everyone’s fighting for every bit of the customer’s money?

We are going to point out some ways a solopreneur can stand out and make a difference. From experience I have learnt the following lessons

3 Key Lessons

·          The customer’s perception of you is at least as important as who you are - always consider your personal image (haircut, business suit, shoes)

·          Most people still and often will judge a book by its cover - includes your paper image (letterheads, business cards, brochures, and website)

·          Always consider the eye of the beholder and you can fool some of the people some of the time (appear the image of success)

Among youths in Nigeria there is a slang or slogan called ‘washing’- there’s a thin line and slight difference between this phrase, and what in business world is often called branding. The meaning in layman’s term implies creating an intrinsic emotional connection or perceived image on someone about a certain business or product. In the business world a brand may very well mean everything. It’s the differentiation between a software program that can be sold for millions of Naira to a bank by a multinational corporation, and another with the same functionalities that a startup solopreneur will find difficult selling for a couple of thousands of Naira to the same bank, irrespective of the fact that both software programs are identical. When such incident occurs as they very often do, you can say that the bank has been ‘washed’ by the big corporation.

How does a solopreneur successfully ‘wash’ or brand his/her self in today’s competitive market? Consider the following case study as a guide

Case Study

Ruth decided that her event management company didn’t stand out in anyway from the competition, and very well didn’t stand the chance of ever growing from a micro enterprise into a small or medium size enterprise.

Strategy

Ruth decided to move from word of mouth referrals, and personal selling; she took a leap into the web and used up most of her savings to advertise on social networks online, such as FaceBook, Hi5 and the likes.

Outcome

Two months after launching her business on the web complete with referrals, testimonials and pictures of her previous events, she was overwhelmed with phone calls from potential clients from across the country requesting her services.

Lessons

Consider re-evaluating your business. Most times, solopreneurs tend to become bugged down by the tedious nature of their day to day activities that they remain focused on fishing in a small pond while there’s an ocean waiting to be explored.  Ask yourself before considering the internet as a viable marketing alternative - Do you have the resources to pursue this strategy? What is the impact of your strategy on your kind of business? Would you be better off going into an internet only operation? Can you make yourself seem larger than life by the web content displayed on your website? How do you get clients to visit your website?

The internet represents a cheaper and often more viable means of advertising yourself. While big corporations have the budget to consider advertising on national dailies, television and billboards, a start up business or solopreneur is often left behind. The internet is and still remains an effective and cost-efficient strategy of being able to create an outlook and perceived value in the minds of clients about a business. Most often what they see when visiting your website determines what impression they have about your services without ever meeting you in person.

Alternative ways of making your business stand out especially when selling services (often less expensive strategy than selling products), may include getting trend-setters, industry leaders, or local celebrities to use your products free of charge. You can then leverage on this goodwill by asking for testimonials and subsequently mentioning such often high sounding names during sales presentations, and adding them on your list of clients on your website or business proposal when bidding for a job. This could be all the ‘washing’ you need to position yourself as being already successful and you may end up  fooling some of the people some of the time. Look out for this section next month for more innovative ideas on achieving your business targets.

Source: The street Hawker

THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION

“The dude is stinking rich; he just got himself a Rolls Royce of 45million naira” Bimbo argued with his colleagues as I passed by. Oh! Who got himself a Rolls Royce? I asked. Initially I never intended joining in the conversation as I was in a rush to get myself what to eat, but two words caught my attention; Rolls Royce and 45million naira. More than two words I guess.

When my friend Jimi heard about the Rolls Royce and the money, he told me something that left me hanging. What could he have said? He said he would make sure he gets rich by all means. Good dream, but what would he do to get the financial freedom he desires? I asked myself.

I guess I got myself three questions that require answers but which one of them is the million dollar question?

We have so many ‘Jimi’ out there; you just have to trust me when I say this. I have attended a lot of seminars ranging from wealth creation to leadership and I have seen frustrated and desperate guys, as in messed up guys. One thing I have discovered overtime is that they don’t really know what financial freedom really means. Having a lot of money is not financial freedom, you might have a lot of money and still work for it but when you get money to work for you, then you are financially free.

Another thing I noticed is that many people want to be successful in life but some are afraid to do what it takes while others want to start big; they have this ‘big money-big profits’ mentality. We have heard it countless times to start small and think big. If you can’t handle the little cash you have now what makes you sure you won’t do likewise when you have something bigger?

“He who fails to plan, plans to fail” is a cliché that is still valid but if you plan and you don’t take a single step, you are heading for the opposite of success big time.

Action is the fuel of success. You already possess the raw material necessary to produce success. Your dream is the seed and your ability to take action is the nourishment needed to cause your seed to bear fruit, although activity does not always equal productivity.

Action is the food and drink, which will nourish your success. Your life is filled of unlimited possibilities; if you focus your activities on cultivating success, success will flourish. If you want to succeed in any area of your life, you must nourish that area daily through your actions.

Investors would never invest in your idea no matter how big and convincing it might be until you have actually done something with it.

Think big and start with what you have. Nourish that idea daily. The bounty of success is within your grasp, you need only to reach out and take it. Don’t be one of those people that busy themselves with activity in order to keep their minds off the unfulfilling aspects of their lives. Take time daily to develop yourself.

I guess I have answered all questions. Oh! I forgot to tell you who bought the Rolls Royce. Hmm! who was it again? Check it out at http://lindaikeji.blogspot.com

I would be happy to read your comments and answer all questions you might have.

                                                                                        

                                                                                                      Sadiq Daniel