Advertising Jedi vs Sith, Episode 4, The research is ON!

OK, here's the skinny. The store front and back end is getting a major rework this summer. Which puts the online side of things on the bottom of the list. Now that doesn't mean I can't do my own thing in the mean time. Down here in central Florida, there are very few types of collectibles that sell through the summer months. So at this point it seems to be best to sit back, collect more money and do some more research. For instance, I can always use more info about offline sales. There are a ton of different ways to advertise. With in, there are over a thousand ways to fail miserably and waste a lot of money quickly.

With this known, I'm going to start here, http://astore.amazon.com/todpas-20/detail/0749473401. This book should offer some great in-sight. Here's what ya get, "Presenting modern marketing communication theories and tools in an accessible and jargon-free way, this new sixth edition of Marketing Communications, has been updated to specifically focus on integrating online and offline techniques with a social media approach.  All the chapters include new mini-case studies and real-life examples to reflect the many digital developments which have occurred since the fifth edition's publication in 2011."

So to end this post I also want to include this simple fact. Any and all advertisers should always keep in mind that specific generations use totally different types of media to find what they seek these days. In today's marketing world, it is crucial to know your reach and your followers, hope this helps.

Advertising Jedi vs Sith, Episode 3, best free advertising on and offline.

As an entrepreneur, we know that change is a guarantee. So instead of attempting to explain every aspect of whats going as planned and what's not. I am simply going to post about the flow of what I'm doing in the now.  Successes, failure, trials and content. So as this series grows, I am going to let the readers give points to the Jedi or to the Sith, for each post. Because, ...hard to see, the future is.

So, for this post we'll simply check out a basic advertising rule. But first, here is what I'm doing in the now. First and for most, I'm slowly setting up a main income stream. Buying and selling, takes money right ? Not to mention, paying bill's and etc. In the mean time, I've been testing the local area with helping a few people find and sell things. Basically, by word of mouth and some free advertising. So far, one item has been sold and 2 items were sent back. Doing things this way takes time, because you have to really feel out the territory. To get a good idea of what people seek for the right price. Pending that the items can be found and re-sold at a fair price. So this conversation is a (to-be-continued), situation.

Now getting back to how I'm going about finding and selling merchandise. With free advertising online and offline. Here in good ole' Highlands County, we have news papers and little paper shopper guides (coupon booklets), etc. As I'm sure most if not all cities have them these days. These are simple and free advertising tactics which can be used online and offline for the same item. But like other free ways, they don't even closely compare to this tactic, which I will now talk about in the next paragraph.

Yes, I am talking about the number 1 free offline advertising tactic of all time. Do you know what it is ? Your most likely correct, "Word of  Mouth". With the right pitch, story-line or incentive. One person will tell someone else. And the hope is that they tell more than one person and those people tell several people, etc. Yup, basic knowledge this day and age right ? OK, so does anyone know what the online equivalency of this would be ?

I'm sure at least some of you already know. And I can say it's definitely not online classifieds or shopping guides. What I'm talking about targets the exact audience you seek, free of charge and of course, that would be, "Organic Traffic." Search engines, blogs, articles, etc. Basically the key content points of the internet, that can be fully utilized 100% free. Instead of word of mouth it becomes the word of the page. And yet it still yields the exact same result.

Well, that about sums it up for this month. If you've read this far, feel free to leave a comment and your opinion (Sith or Jedi !??!).

Advertising Jedi or Misleading Sith Series, Episode 2.

As I enter the room to speak with the Jedi council. The force becomes stronger than ever. This month my focus is the web site I hinted about last month. But, there are some changes coming that were not apart of the original plan. It seems the hosting company for the site is shutting down. As of now, the site or at least some of it still works. And is suppose to stay live into March of 2016. So as it sits, this site was named, "Kenilworth Consignments." since the link will be null and void soon, I'll just print the link, ( http://fineartsmt.acoxi.com/ ). Simply copy/ paste it in a new window or tab to check out the web site until it closes.

With this knowledge, I now have to adapt and overcome this simple situation. As an entrepreneur, little issues like this don't even slow me down any more. You see, I just decided to re-arrange the site before receiving the news. The company that this site represented is owned by a man named Mike Tellshow. Which Also owns other small companies. And eventually, these other companies will have an online presence by me "Troy Merriam," as well. So to keep it simple, I will create a much larger site on a better hosting program. This way, all the keywords and companies will be defined by their own niches and still be on one site.

So this months focuses are as follow, Find better hosting, create a new but simple web site, Create inner pages based on key words for each business and tie it all together with the home page. As this comes together I also have to make sure it connects to an advertising campaign I'm working on.

I am hoping this campaign goes well because it is an offline campaign. So far I have these keywords set, Antiques, Arts and Collectibles. But with in the new site I mention above, there will be many more. But, this will have to wait till the next post. I wouldn't want to give up too much info too quickly. I hope you check back in the beginning of march for my next post. Revealing I hope it is. hard to see the next post is becoming. Thanks for reading and may the force be with you.

Advertising Jedi or Misleading Sith Series, Episode 1.

In the intro post I talked about creating an advertising set up. That should focus on, online/ offline sales and advertising. Since your reading this I can assume you've figured out I have completed this goal. To accomplish this goal, here's what I did.

Step 1: I created a Facebook page, "Highlands County Fl. Buy & Sell Market." This page gathers Fb groups that buy, sell and trade with-in Highlands county Fl. Doing this helps centralize buyers and sellers over the entire area. This not only helps each individual group grow, but also puts my page in front of them.

Step 2: A Facebook group was created,"Highlands and Heartland free Advertisements." Here the group allows it's members to advertise and/ or Sell anything. While focusing on Florida's Heartland. Which is about two thirds of the state. Now, I didn't create this one. A co-worker and friend which is my dad, made this group to help out.

Step 3: I re-vamped an entire website, "Ocger's, The Force Social Network." In order to focus on a global buy sell trade market. I knew this would have to be huge. So, what a better way than to give hundreds of thousands of people a free business profile to advertise their business, sell-ables or causes. As a plus, the site is already search engine optimized, and advertised for everyone.

Since the Facebook page and group are new. I'm going to let them simmer for a little while. In the mean time I have a few tweaks to accomplish on the force site and I'm bring another web site into the mix. Yes, another website. So stay tuned, revealing, ...episode 2 will be.

Advertising Jedi or Misleading Sith Series, Intro.

In this series, "Advertising Jedi or Misleading Sith Series." I'm going to mainly use Facebook and Twitter for my marketing needs. These needs include online and offline sales and advertising. So what I have to do is create a following that targets both sale and advertising sectors.

• Online, I am focused on global sales since online orders are mainly shipped.

• Offline, I will be starting with a much smaller range such as county wide, then grow little by little.

 As a part of this introduction, here is a sneak peak. I am going to create a way to get a large amount of people to see what I want them to see. All while they are doing what they want to be doing. Also known as organic traffic. Now, yes I could use Facebook ads or Google Adsense. But where is the fun in that. Plus, that cost money. So, maybe later, but not now.

Now before I give it all away, I'm going to end this post. As I reach certain goals, I'll add them to this series as episodes. 

Which Part of You, II. Audience Know How

Hey, ya I know, it's been a while.  But my imperfections, are your gains.  before you read to far i want to make sure you've read "Which Part Of You Does......". If you haven't, you really should before continuing here.

OK, if your ready, here we go! Once you have an audience to sell to. You will want to only sell items that are compatible with your page. You shouldn't ever shock your audiences comfort zones by presenting and off the topic sell-able item.  On top of that, do not just search and pick to present.  You can build an audience all you want. But, if you sell a bad product your finished.  This little fact is why I don't like third party ads. there is no guarantee on what might pop up.

With that said, you want to know as much about a product as you can before you present it to you audience.  Not only does this help your passion growth, but it helps your content and trust-worthy-ness. Between you and your audience. Do your research. Try it out, find reviews, Check better business bureau's, anti-spamming sites, etc..   The more info you can offer your audience on each item, the quicker it will sell.

But that's not all that will do for you. It will also grow your audience and enhance the word of mouth advertising. Trust is a major key factor in any form of advertising.  When people find that they just purchase exactly what you told them they would get, they will talk about it. Simply because and unfortunately, it doesn't happen very often.

Now you know a little more about selling your content.  Next, lets take that a push it over the top.  Let's really get your audience involved. You'll want to read these notes.

take a break, use the bathroom or whatever you need to do because you'll want to put your full attention on this list. And plenty of thought into it.

1: You will want to save some content to tease your audience with, using comment wall posting. Post content but not the punch line, get them guessing.

2: Ask them about pieces of content that you have found. Good, bad, thoughts ?  (Note: if you do this before presenting the product, use pieces of content that won't give away the product. "Like clues.")

3: Don't be afraid to challenge your audience.  Kinda of like reverse polarity, if a feed back is good, throw a question back that connects to a negative factor. And the reverse. If it's bad challenge it with something good.  Doing this makes people think. If you really believe in your product it will simply re-assure them that it's just that good. But, of course it can have a bad out come. In a way, that would be a good thing, maybe you need to re-evaluate that product. Or you will quickly provide a positive answer that nullifies the negative result.

4: You should always approach your audience in a humble manner. Confidence is important but so is humility. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. No one is perfect and you want your audience to see your mistakes. Not necessarily all of them but at least enough to remind them that you are only human and that your not better then they are, but the same as they are.

5: Give credit, where credit is due. There will be times when an audience member may make a suggestion that really makes sense. Set up a post for gratitude or do some special for the member. This can be inspiring to you and your audience. You never know, so never be afraid to accept help from members. Just keep it limited. You don't want them getting greedy, lol.

To sum it up, be interactive and get creative !

Which part of you does your content come from ?

All who have checked in over the past year, know that I haven't posted in a while. I think it's needless to say, that I'm not the best blogger, lol.


For over the past year I've been doing crash course, after crash course on web site designing and game coding. You see, setting up all these networks. Keeping them busy. Attracting and keeping audiences is more than a full time job. Not to mention the ever on going search for a better way to make money. 

Now, since it's been over a year since my last post, I am going to spill one of the biggest and may be one of the most important rules of making money online. I'm willing to bet, like my self, most of you that read this are not any good at just doing one thing all day, every day.  Me, myself am a serious multi-tasker's.  As I'm sure most of you have noticed, lol.  So here's the thing,  You've have to pick one social network that you enjoy.  And work just the one network on and off every day.  Every chance you get, because the more you are involved, the more your audience will pick up on that factor and become more involved as well. 

For instance, A call center for example.  Let's say your making a call to support of company, "A". Through out this call you find your self talking to computers. Pushing buttons, having to start over and even when you finally get a real person. The person sounds like a computer. 

Next, Let's try company, "B".  Lets say you once again call support. Now this company, has a real person pick up the phone, from the start of the conversation, through the end. Even if you need to be switched to a different call center.  They talk to you like a human and sometimes even find your self having a short off the wall conversation with them.

I don't know about you but, I'd take company, "B", any day, over company, "A". Not only is it more personal, but it's simpler and faster. You don't have to wait for options or figure out which option is closest to your needs.  So on and so forth. Basically, people love to interact with people more than with computers. But, interacting with computers is up there on the list as well. Which is what makes social networking so strong.  You get the best of both worlds in one dose. Which brings me to this point. Interact with your audience. Keep them involved and always coming back for more. 

Pay attention, this is the best key-phrase of this post, "Word of Mouth". From the days of old through today, this has been and will continue to be the biggest and best advertising ability you will ever use.  Because social networks make it easy. Everyone knows about content these days. But what is not said very much, is how to post it.  Any one can slap lucrative content on their pages, feeds, posts or pins.  But the search engines will see it as just that and so will people. It might be a good read, but is it worth sharing ? 

You see, those that have sent me or posted positive comments about my writing have all said similar positive things. Enjoyment and waiting for the next post or email. Personally, I don't get it. I just say what i have to say and that's it, lol.  But I have been putting thought into it and this is what I got.

1: When you type a post or email. Type it as if it's coming out of your mouth. They want to read you just as much as your content. This gives your info a special and personal touch, that can only come from you. You do have to be careful of political correctness, depending on you content of course. But, I'll be the first to admit I'm no where near perfect.

2: Try to respond with their names, when commenting or replying. This creates a sense of connection between 2 or more people and adds  a level of comfort with your site and/ or page.

3: As you present your content you want to do it in a way that is easy to remember, possibly even catchy and easy to understand. Basically, the more connected they feel to you or your page, the more likely they are to talk about you and your content.

4: Here is a real secret that I should charge for. But here it is free to you. Most people that post content are using it to advertise or make money, one way or the other. Most of the time that's how it reads. It may be interactive and fun. But, most are missing this one single ingredient. This ingredient is, "Personalized Passion". Top companies have workers that are very passionate about their jobs. And as you can tell it works well.  This ingredient is a major key in what makes building online incomes so difficult.  In order to get a foot-hold in your chosen area of online money making or networking, you will have to find a passion in your self, that you can personally, be passionate about with all the content your posting, commenting and/ or emailing.

I think this post is long enough. So to sum it all up, Get personal with your Audience and content. Not only is it good for you and them, but it's also good for your wallet.  Plus you'll find your self having more fun with it as well, which will keep you and your audience more engaged on the one network as well.

Take note that you should continue to post on your other networks as well. But, you'll want to try to direct them to your favorite network. Use teaser content posting and bragging about the activity at your favorite page.  Until next time, get passionate ! 

Ocger is definitely my Rome of Network's

 It's a real pain having enough knowledge to know what your doing, but not enough to be able to make it all work as it is typed. Guess you could say, "When it comes to PHP and MYSQL, my knowledge is in between a novice and expert. " I am so close to being at a professional level, it's irritating.

With Ocger, I have nearly written two thirds of the site. But there is one thing that keeps holding me back.  This would be the registration/ log in coding. No matter how close i get, a new error pops up. So I do believe it's time to set Ocger to the side for a few months and re-learn those specific area's of PHP and MYSQL.

Simply put, I've been at this for so long I'm in need of a break as is. But not to worry, I plan on finally officially launching Ocger in July 2016.  As the say, "Rome wasn't built in a day." 

Troy's newest project, Ocger

Hi everyone, once again I have access to the internet and now that the economy is getting better I am ready to go another round creating income. My blogs being spread so thin in timing is going to make this more difficult than it was before. But this time it really doesn't matter because soon I'll be operating, advertising and networking with a totally new web site called, Ocger.com.

Basically the plan here is to take social gaming and networking to new heights. To re-imagine  and re-invent social gaming, not to mention leveling the playing field for a lot of players. This is something we'll get into deeper as the web site starts to come to life.

So for now, we'll stick with the marketing side of ocger.com. As in what we are doing and how we are doing things in the way of marketing, advertising and branding. For instance, we've placed several post on Twitter, Google plus, Facebook and Blog spot. Doing this gets the attention of Search engines. And by connecting this to my past posts, blogs and The Force Social Network. Ocger will automatically be represented as a keyword the search engines will want. This is the first step in branding our newest domain.

Now that Ocger.com is out there, it's time for the next step. Articles, these are very important step when you want to brand a domain or virtual store name. Articles also help build reputation and web site traffic. So I am now off to write some articles. This will probably take a few weeks and my next post won't be till after those are written and submitted.  Thanks for reading and staying connected.

Tapping into search enigines free and easy SEO.

OK I'm going to try and make this short and simple. Here's a few tips on how to find easy hot spots in search criteria for more views of your link. And hopefully more views to your site or page. so here's 2 examples to help you get the idea. Just another way to enhance your seo, "Search Engine Optimization."

1. I searched the phrase, "join face book." And of course I used inbox dollars and earned a penny, lol. Inbox dollars uses yahoo search for anyone that wonders. So the first thing i looked for was the number on position. The word link says, "sign up for face book."  In case you didn't noticed, it's different than the original search. Which is good. This automatically tells me to use "Sign up," instead of "join." So I want to make sure to have that on my site description and on the home page of the force social network. And in signatures for forum post's and when I tweet on twitter.  

2. Opposite factor, again I'll use the force social network. When someone is searching for what you offer, How do they go about it.  Well if I want to find a social network to join or sign up for, I would enter, "join a social network," and i found join this, join that. And I also found that linkedin ended up on the second page. So I'd say this key phrase is to common.

 So let's try this. Well I'm not finding anything good with the yahoo search, so I switched to my google search option. And I went with, "types of social networks." And again I found the number one spot different. This word link States, "list of social networking websites." But the key word, "type," starts in third position on down. So there is two automatic thoughts. Either my original key phrase is growing in popularity or its not the best phrase but still good enough to make first page. If it's growing we might get lucky and hit a spot on the first page. Either way I would definitely use it in at least a couple twitter post and a few temp forum post signatures.

So much for being short, lol. but for those that wonder the reason i suggest twitter and forums is because twitter has it's own search engine that searches twitter posts. And Forums are a quick and easy way to get more links back to your site or page. Plus some will show up in search engines. which will help boost your page or site.  Also note, that the easiest way to tell how many views a search results gets, is to look at how many adsense ads there are on the right side of the page. This also works with yahoo. Well, Hope it helps, enjoy!

The New Web Site?

Hi Troy Merriam here, in my last post I mentioned something about building a web site. I've built a few web sites over the years but nothing quite like this one. It's a bit different from my normal way of doing things, but with a few pushes from good friends. I decided to give it a shot. But before we get to that, there a couple things I want you to know. See with this new site. I'm going to have to market it. Or advertise it to say, and I mean a lot. Which means you as the reader gets the advantage. Best of luck and i hope this will help.

Oh, Guess you might want to know about the web site. Well, it's not just a web site and its not a forum. Okay I'll quit stalling, Here's the link, " The Force Social Network, " Click here. Yes, it is a social network. But not just any social network. It's, the social network called force. I decided on the name force for many reason's but the reason I want you to know up front is that I created this network for the people. Not for me, or a company but the social network members. See, here the member will be able to force the social network into doing things their way. To personalize it, So to speak.

Well, since it is a network, I will also be adding it to my networking blog next. So if you want more info you will be able to find it by clicking here. Or you can just head over to the social network force, Sign up and see for your self. either way, I am just thankful that you have read this far.

Happy Holidays and Bloging Basics, Seo Special

Happy Holidays to Everyone, I hope Your Christmas was Full of Joy and Your New Years Day has been just as splendid. And yes it is New Years day here as well. I've been real busy here lately with the holidays and I've also been working on a new web site. Which will be revealed Soon. But not today. Today I am going to share some basic blogging tips to help your readers and follower find you easier. For the advanced or seasoned blogger these tips are known but that doesn't mean they don't need to said.

 Hundreds of Thousands of people if not more post blogs every day, and here's some basics for you. First up is your

Adding Content, my Amazon Xbox mini site.

have been thinking about and working on the content issue with my Amazon mini sites. And here's what I came up with. As I said in my last post mini sites are great Seo tactics when they offer info. well the only way i can get around this at this time is reversing the order. And this is how. I just wrote a post about my Xbox mini site, Click here.  At my Online incomes Blog. Check it out, it's a good example of content presentation. And you'll notice that I Attached a word link to the mini site, which automatically attaches it to the content. So this way there are at least 2 ways that the Xbox  Mini site can get close or to the top 10 results in search engines. Hope this helps, enjoy.

Mini Sites Equal Good Seo

Hi, here's another post for ya on Seo and how mini sites can help. Search engines love mini sites that are packed with info. And there fast and easy to make. So connecting these with ads and /or products makes it easier to get what you want closer to the first page in search engines. In which is the only thing that might cause an issue with my a-store site's. (Which I just wrote a post on it at my online income blog,click here.) But all in all mini sites are a great and simple way to back your seo, branding and marketing. Hope this helps, enjoy!

Ckecking basic Seo in my Social Networks

Hi, over the past several days including this past weekend, I've been checking and double checking the Seo basics on all my Social network profiles. Such as key wording for my profile descriptions, Tags or labels Etc. And as I mention  before, I also check for Duplicate Content. Duplicate content being a sentence or phrase found more than once on the same web site in which the wording is in the exact same order.  these key area's are very important. Because with out any of these three area's you could lose out on a multitude of search engine spots. And possibly  not be presented in them at all. Especially the duplicate content, search engines frown on this big time and it is most likely that you'll be excluded in their search results. That's it for now, hope this helps and don't forget to check my other two blogs for updates, Enjoy!

Project Simplify is Complete.

Would you say this blog is much simpler ? Easier to read, follow and find things ? I hope so, Lol. Here's what I did. I removed Some adsense, because too many ads are just irritating and clogging. I changed the template to a simpler left to right view. Having no distractions on the left side helps when reading. I Also moved the archives to the bottom of the post. Doing this allows me to present more info about the Archives with out Cluttering the blog. I Also Edited the " Html, " Pad or word link area for a more simple look.  Which you will notice that I created another blog, "Troy M's Online Income : (click here to view)," for all my incomes. So now there not Scattered all over this Blog. They are now all in one simplified Blog. And last but not least I also took a minute to adjust the Seo wording in the Blog description. If you read it, You'll notice that the same words are in the description as the title. But, you do not want to use the exact same sentence. Google will frown on this big time. This is something even i will double and triple check and fix if necessary. And that about sums it up. Hope this post Helps, enjoy.

Troy M. 's SEO - Social Networking's Project Simplify

Project Simplify is under way. As you can see I've already made quite a difference adjusting my Social networking blog for better SEO standards. The twitter feed, Gone. And the checkers games is gone as well. But don't worry, they are still available to read and /or play. See, I created a new blog called, "Troy M.'s Social Networks". Specifically for my social networks like face book, etc... And you can find them by clicking here or by clicking on the word link next to the page rank button on the right. So as I'm sure you've figured out, This is the new home for the twitter feed and the checkers game, Why ?  Head over and Find Out. ;-)  Seven hours into the changes and it's getting there. Thanks for reading and hope it helps.

SEO Tips, My Blog is too Cramped.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to one and all. And I know my blog has been off Que this past week and I apologize. But i have been brain storming and searching for quicker incomes. The nickle and dimes sites help more in a long term sense but wont pay the bills. And I have also been thinking about my Blog and it's SEO. The number one thing you need to know about Seo is to keep it simple, especially in blogging. One or two key words. So I think it's time for me to Spread out a little. Not only will it help with my Seo, But it will give me more Ad Space and linking privileges. So at this time, this is number one priority. Thanks for reading And remember to check in, in a couple days for more updates tips and tricks.

better Keywords

For a few days now I've been brain storming for better keywords for my description here, and for my amazon promo's. The key in this is to finding like words that are easier to optimize with search engines. For faster first page ranking.  And of Course words that attract the proper attention to the places I want them to go and spend money. So instead of buying programs for key word efficiency, I have been doing this the free way. Takes more time, but for me, it works just as well. So here in the coming days, I will be sharing how to do this efficiently. Maybe even Sunday, depends on what i find.

Reliable Income and social networking ?

  For the past two days I have been Searching for higher incomes online that I Feel safe about adding to my Social networks. And I'll be the first to admit that this it a tough task indeed. Eagerly Seeking Something along the lines of social media platform. Anyone can apply to work for the usual social networks like Face Book, Twitter and such. But that's not what I seek. I'm searching for web sites that will allow me to decide how much to charge or accept offers of payment of service. This way I have more control of how much I can earn with out sacrificing too much time. As I am Doing with a Couple of the companies I am working with now.

  So far I have actually found one company that seems to be legit. Won't know for sure till I give it a test run. This companies name is