Ask Gina Gaudio-Graves’ … About Internet Marketing & Strategic Alliances

In my last post, I shared a story with you about one of my readers.  He’s a young guy from overseas named Koorosh.

In that post, I had a link to Koorosh’s blog.  Well, as I expected, Koorosh ended up coming to my blog and commenting on my post.

In his comment, Koorosh mentioned that he was still a bit confused about how to use a technique that I taught him.  So, I figured that I would share that with all my readers at the same time.

What Koorosh wanted to do was to be able to reach other experts through his blog.  I’ve done this very successfully over the last several months myself.

In the past, I’ve talked about other people on my blog.  People like Terry Dean, Larry Benet, and many others. 

Each time I have done this, it was with the intention of reaching those people to let them know that I am writing about them, hoping that they would then come to visit my blog as well.

Each time that I mention someone I want to reach, I add a link back to their website.  Because of HOW I link to these people’s sites’, I can be SURE that they will notice my blog as well!

What is it that I am doing that ensures that someone will notice my blog?

More importantly, can this be used by anyone?

Absolutely!  ANYONE can do this same thing to reach ANYONE they want (well, almost anyone, anyway … there’s one rule that applies!).

Here’s what I do …

Each time I mention the name of someone that I want to connect with on my blog, I add a link back to their site, using their name as the “anchor text”.

NOTE:  “Anchor Text” is a term that refers to the text that appears on the page, which can be clicked on to navigate to a link.  So if I said “Click Here To Visit My Website”, the term “Click Here” is the anchor text for the link, www.abundancegroup.com.

The link that I attach to the anchor text is critical to making this work.

You can’t just link to any website or any webpage.  In order for this to work, you must link to a specific post within the person’s WordPress blog.

You see, today, almost every expert, in almost every market, has a blog.  Most of the “gurus” are using WordPress or some private labeled version of WordPress (like Semiologic or Blog i360 for example).  Any version of WordPress will work for this technique.

What happens when you link to a specific post in someone’s WordPress blog is that you create a trackable, incoming link that appears in the person’s WordPress Dashboard.

The next time that person logs into their dashboard, they’ll see your link!

For example, Doug Hudiburg of “The Daily Marketing Ace” recently published a tip of mine for his readers.  I knew immediately that he had done this because it appeared in my dashboard:

From a technical perspective, this is called a “Trackback Link”.

What I call it, though, is an instant relationship tool!

It is VERY important that you do this properly!  You MUST link directly to a post in the person’s blog and not to the blog generally.

In other words, if I were trying to reach Doug Hudiburg, I would NOT link to http://www.dailymarketingace.com.  That wouldn’t work.

Instead, I MUST link to a specific post within his blog, i.e. http://www.dailymarketingace.com/wordpress/internet-marketing-tips/google-alerts-keep-you-in-the-know/ . 

That long link attaches to the feed for the person’s blog and makes the tracking possible.

This can help even a newbie to get noticed by a guru in their field.

How can you use this strategy in your business?

1. You can use it to get JV Partners involved in your promotion.  Set up a blog.  Fill it with really good, quality content.  After you have several entries, write a post about your JV Partner prospect, and link to an entry in their blog.   Invite them to comment on your blog.  (NOTE:  The first entry should NOT mention your JV!  It should simply be a way to start a conversation with the person!)
2. You can use it to locate people you want to interview.  Follow the same procedure as in #1.  Again, don’t make the first post linking to your expert’s blog post about the interview!  Simply use it as a way to start a conversation!
3. You can use it to reach ANYONE you want!  Simply use it as a tool to START the conversation — not ask for something you want!

If you use this technique yourself, remember “The Law of Giving”.  In other words, before you can GET something for yourself, you must first GIVE something of value.

Use your blog to add value to the person you want to reach.  Talk up their latest product WITHOUT an affiliate link, for example.  Write a killer review of their latest book or coaching program.

If you really want to be noticed by someone, then build a relationship with them!  Don’t just go begging for a favor at the start!

I personally visit every blog that tracks back to mine.  If the blogger has done a good job of adding value for their readers, I usually end up leaving a comment as well.  I’ve noticed that most experts do this as well.

Who can you reach this week?

To Your Abundant Blogging Success!

Gina Gaudio-Graves