I wrote this article for iCop's February 16, 2009 newsletter.

Authority Sites: Marketing to Passionate Customers

by Andrea Wilson

Recently I was talking to a customer stuck in the dilemma of creating 50 AdSense sites on the advice of some Internet marketing guru who didn't know my client from a doorknob.

My client couldn't afford to have me create 50 XSitePro templates, so we were trying to come up with a compromise. I offered to create a generic template he could use over and over again by changing only the title.

At some point in this conversation, I asked my client where he was going to get the massive amount of content he'd need to create all those sites.

He quoted the usual sources: Private Label Rights (PLR) Web sites, cheap articles from writers on eLance, and trying to write articles himself even though he knew nothing about the topics.

He sounded depressed when he talked about this formidable task. His voice had no energy and I could visualize him slumped in his chair, shoulders sagging.

Hoping I could steer him in a better direction, I asked him what he was passionate about and he said, of all things, boxing. He'd been an amateur boxer and had all kinds of knowledge an amateur boxer would love to learn about.

I asked him if he could write articles about boxing and he said, heck yes, he could write tons of articles. A long list of topics rolled off his tongue.

Then I asked him if he thought there were affiliate products he could sell on a boxing site and he said... sure, lots of them!

Finally, I asked him if he'd ever thought of creating an authority site about boxing. He said no, but now he could really see the possibility.

We talked for awhile about what an authority site actually is: a site created by someone with specialized knowledge about a topic of interest to a group of passionate people who routinely spend money on their passion. (This last part is vital for success.)

There are other kinds of authority sites, too, such as the ones that cater to people in pain or distress (health, relationship, financial, etc.), but my client's site was the kind that caters to "irrational passion."

I explained how, as an authority, you need to differentiate yourself from your competitors by positioning yourself as number one in your category. The secret to doing this, of course, is to create your own category!

I cautioned my client that he'd need to do his homework regarding his niche market before he jumped in with both feet. But knowing how passionate people are about amateur sports, I could only surmise that his chance of making a go of a site for amateur boxers or their fans far outweighed any chance of him ever creating 50 AdSense sites for products he new nothing about, never mind making any money from them...

And he'd have the energy to keep going with his amateur boxing site, whereas he hardly had the energy to even start the AdSense project.

We were both getting excited at this point, so I wanted to give my client more insight into starting an authority site. Here are some of the things I told him he'd need to do:

1. Learn how to market online and offline.

• find a marketing mentor you trust and respect
• build a mastermind group to hold you accountable
• write a marketing plan
• find the right software for the job and use it; do not buy every new tool that comes along
• optimize for the search engines (SEO)
• build a mailing list

2. Test, test, test

• don't get overly attached to any part of your Web site or marketing plan; keep only what works

3. Establish your authority with original content.

• write a newsletter that balances information with advertising
• write articles and publish them on a regular schedule
• offer free tips and tricks
• write a blog
• create Squidoo and other social networking pages
• publish videos to YouTube

4. Build a trustworthy site.

• personalize the site with your photo and story
• add your contact information
• join the Better Business Bureau Online, iCop, etc. and post their seals on your site
• actively gather and post testimonials

5. Hone your customer service skills.

• respond quickly to people who contact you
• give help and information generously while you have the time; later, when you're busy, this won't be as easy
• be polite and patient with customers and prospects
• frequent the forums in your niche and offer valuable advice

6. Decide what to sell.

• use surveys to find out what your customers want
• study heat maps and click overlays of your visitors' activities
• study your Google Analytics and server stats
• find the right affiliate products
• create your own products

7. Guard your time carefully and spend it wisely.

• outsource what you're not good at
• unsubscribe from hyped-up marketing emails and product launches; visit Internet marketing forums judiciously
• learn organizational skills
• do not multi-task; instead, focus, focus, focus.

None of this seemed to daunt him, so I also shared a few vital tips with him that he might not stumble across in his research. First, don't quit your day job!

Second, always publish an article to your own Web site and make sure Google has indexed it, before you publish the same article to an article directory site.

This way Google will consider your Web site the authority for that article and it will come up before the article directory site in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

This applies to YouTube videos and social networking pages as well. I have seen clients competing with themselves when their YouTube videos or Squidoo page were coming up before their Web site in the SERPs... and pushing their Web site off the first page of Google!

Third, build up your authority site without any affiliate products or AdSense on it for the first year. That way Google will give your site high marks as an informational or authority site.

This last tip is hard to undertake when the object is to make a living with your Web site, but that's why you don't quit your day job... yet!

As our conversation wound down, my client thanked me profusely for my insight and shared a happy thought.

He realized he could afford a custom, professional XSitePro template for his boxing site... no more generic template for him. And no more agonizing over where to find content for 50 AdSense sites.

When he hung up, I had a completely different picture of him... I saw him energized, bright-eyed and pacing with excitement.