Whilst wandering around the favorite videos of some of my newest YouTube friends, I discovered something that reminded me of some of my earliest education in psychology: the “art”, as it were, of brainwashing.

Watch the following video from the creator of a popular MLM (Multi-Level-Marketing) program and notice the unusual use of the word “prompting” at time marker [0:29].  I had never heard this term used in this way prior to watching this video:

Having never heard the term "prompting" used this way before as a noun, I was reminded how interesting it is that each unique culture creates its own terminologies in order to isolate and insulate itself from others.

The Power of a New Language

Like an “inside joke” among friends, this “creation of a new language” is a very common tactic within shrewd marketing programs, such as MLMs and cults alike.  Each group leverages the same psychological and social principles to create their fervent following.

They’ll take a very common concept and create a new term for it. Then, those who use that term "properly" are considered "insiders" reinforcing the bond between members and creating a barrier for “outsiders”.

Once someone learns this new language, they, too, can communicate with this “secret language” to others on the inside, and they now feel a heightened affinity for the group and its members.

Language Controls Behaviour

In marketing , like brainwashing, if you want to control a person’s behavior, you must first control their thought, and the creation of a new language is one inroad to that thought control.  This is why you will see new programs and books constantly being introduced with new words for the exact same things that have been around forever.

Even the big guys, like Microsoft, do this.  They come up with a slightly improved version of a technology, and give that thing a whole new name and all of its tinier parts have different names than the same tiny parts of the previous version.

In the marketing world, this brainwashing concept of relabeling things you already know with a new word or using an existing word in a slightly different way is called “branding” and “differentiation”.

From the book “Cults and New Religions Movements” by Lorne L. Dawson , I’ve found some very interesting passages on human thought control that are very applicable to this marketing concept of “new language” development.

The goal of all of this is your conversion or your remolding… You affirm that you accept and understand the ideology by beginning to talk in simple catchphrases of the group… Using the new language fosters your separation from your old conscience and belief system.

Create Your Own Cult

What is it that YOU do, in such a unique way that someone else could see your unique value through creating a new word or using an existing word differently?

Can you create a community of loyal fanatics using Social Media tools like Twitter , YouTube, and Blogs that use this new language and turn your clients into a horde of raging fanatics ?

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This type of “productization” of my knowledge is one of the goals I push my clients toward regularly (you know who you are!).  I, too, have suffered from the malaise that my most meaningful content is hard to separate myself from.

Perhaps this medium can allow me to do so.  Now, onto the meaningful SEO tips !

Search Engine Optimization Tips

Today, we’re going to learn about the most important part of SEO, the on-page content.  First, content should be written for people, and not for the search engines.  But, your content should be written in such a way that the search engines can tell what your site is actually about.

In order to do this, make sure to use the <title >, <h1 >, and <h2 > tags to contain your targeted keywords.  Also, make sure to use your keywords in your text.  Your target keyword density should be between two and four percent.

Unfortunately, there’s no “perfect” density. But, too scant a density, and the search engines won’t realize that your page is relevant.  Too high a density, and Google will penalize you for spamming.

One easy way to increase or decrease your keyword density, is replacement of pronouns.  If your density is too high, replace your keyword with a pronoun and reduce the density.  If your keyword density is too low, find your use of pronouns when referring to your keyword, and use your actual keyword in its place.

What other Internet Marketing questions can I answer?  Leave a comment and tell me your ideas for future blog posts!

What is Keyword Density?

Keyword density is simply the percentage of your text that consists of your keyword or your keyword phrase.  For example, if your keyword phrase is “internet marketing ”, and you have 100 words on your page.  A singular occurrence of “internet marketing” would be 2% of your copy.  Say it twice, and now you’re up to 4%, very close to being considered “spammy”.  A quick way to dilute your keyword density is simply to add more copy.

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Working long, long, hours in Orlando for the past 3 months or so, it wasn’t until very recently, I even spent a moment (not asleep) at the hotel.  When I did, I was studying, or programming, or something similarly productive.

If you’ve been working with me on the marketing front for any length of time, you’ve noticed I constantly mention how the most effective marketing motivator (for adults) is sex.  If you can find a way to squeeze sex into your marketing message, you’ll suddenly find customers.  To summarize, "sex sells".

Here’s why…

To be technical, sex is an "emotional motivator", along with fear, love, greed, and spirituality.  People buy because they are motivated to buy and these emotional motivators are at the core of this motivation.  For example, in the IT industry, the most successful sales reps for hardware, software, consulting, and outsourcing are women — notably, hot women.  Why?  Well, frankly it’s actually kind of sick, but to quote a notorious sicko, "It is what it is."  What I mean is, you don’t have to judge them as right or wrong, just realize that the horny old men in charge of IT dollars are simply looking for a little company.  Some of these sickos go so far as to impose "favors" in exchange for business.  Some male sales reps succeed by outsourcing the association of sex and their product by taking prospects to strip clubs, or providing for other forms of entertainment which fit that bill.  Regardless, it’s there, it’s pervasive, and it’s probably not going to go anywhere, despite my or your distaste for that reality.

Sexy Marketing

A few nights ago, I took a break and watched a little (gasp) television.  The ads I saw while flipping through the 50+ channels astounded me, not because the concept was new, but just how basal and absurd the link between the product and sex was. Regardless, they managed to squeeze a little sex appeal into an Arby’s commercial:

Now, the Arby’s spot is not as over-the-top as the Carl’s Jr commercial for the spicy BBQ burger featuring Paris Hilton from 2005:

Paris Hilton is nearly naked, writhing around in various provocative positions, covered in sudsy water which appears to be fairly cold.  At one point, Paris chomps into a token burger, but then proceeds to writhe around some more, cover herself in suds, completely bend over (I think that’s the “downward facing dog” Yoga position, if I’m not mistaken) and a few other things.  Luckily we didn’t have to actually hear her talk or anything, or have some voice-over ruin the fantasy… but what the hell does that have to do with a hamburger? Oh yeah, "It’s hot."  OMG!  That’s just sad.  However, the news around this ad created gazillions in free promotion for Carl’s Jr.  And here, 3 years after the ad was banned, it’s still virally floating around the internet.   Carl’s Jr. created a web site a few weeks after the ad was banned and the thing got so much traffic that it crashed again and again and again.  If advertising is about impressions and if impressions create customer momentum – there’s so serious momentum being generated here.

Another commercial I saw recently (can’t find it on YouTube) is for TVLand evening programming, or Nick at Night or something like that.  It features a married couple who, through perspective shots ala Austin Powers are engaged in a variety of provocative situations:

• The man opens a refrigerator, spouse in the background with two melons visible over her chest.
• The man, reclined on the sofa, hands folded behind his head, sits with a smug grin as his wife strokes a 2 liter bottle of soda, conveniently placed over his pants.
• He stands up and stretches, she tilts the bottle over a bit creating unmistakable phallic imagery.
• She goes over to the television, and leans over to form a perfect right angle, the man slightly behind (and nearer the camera than) her lifts the remote and pushes it forward toward her posterior.
• The narrator says something like, "we know what YOU want… to grab hold of your remote and watch TV with blah blah’s evening lineup."

THEIR message was actually almost related – get your spouse, go to the sofa, and relax together with our programming… maybe you’ll get lucky.

If you can find a way to harness the power of sex in your marketing, you’ll make a splash.  It doesn’t have to be vulgar, or over the top.  But, it’s amazing how powerful it can be.

Next up, "fear" — or why you need an alarm system, life insurance, baby gates, a fence around your pool, and absolutely MUST get your children’s fingerprints taken and sent to the FBI.

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After years of running an article site using ASP that I wrote from scratch (my development language of choice as the time – as there weren’t many on the market at the time), I decided to start running with one that had more of the features I was looking for already built in, rather than having to develop them all from scratch.

I’ve started dropping my old Type A habits and picking up some help here and there to get me through some of the stuff that doesn’t require my specific attention.  With all of that said, my Editor brought this article to my attention.  I was flummoxed by how horrible it was.

It was as if someone shoved a perfectly good article into a paper shredder at the same time as a thesaurus.  There is a popular product out there for randomizing your content called Content Spinner, or something like that.  This article looked like Content Spinner got ahold of it.  When I searched for the content on the page, very few actual results came back — so I’m thinking that the bulk of the articles posted in this manner were not accepted or have been deleted.  It would appear that some article marketers believe it’s more important to get links without any effort than it is to actually get links.

I’ve already deleted this flotsam from my Article Directory out of repulsion, so you won’t be able to find it there, but I found it elsewhere.  Read the article for yourself — You absolutely HAVE to read this .

http://www.allbestarticles.com/family/hobbies/extreme-basics-of-indoor-gardening.html

So…

• If you decide to run an article directory — which you may very well, even if it’s simply to drive traffic to your local business site, never ever let an article like this get on your site.  Absolutely everyone will hate you for it.  Children in Bosnia are crying because AllBestArticles.com (sic) posted that tripe.  You don’t want to make the children cry, do you?
• If you decide to give article marketing a shot, and you don’t hire me to handle it for you, absolutely make sure that you never end up with articles that look like the one above.

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