Have you seen this man? If so, report him to the police immediately. He’s taken over my website for his own financial gain without paying me a cent. That can’t be legal, right?
Developing a website for your new business is becoming more common than buying business cards, and is often the first step before selling your first widget. But doing so can be expensive and in the end, yield no better results than that unopened box of cards with your name on them sitting next to you right now.
As simple “business card” websites (yes, the industry really does call it that) become more prevalent, fighting for traffic, legitimacy, and hopefully a sale seems like an exercise in futility for all except those with deep pockets. And then to recoup your expenses, you jack up your prices, making the sale that much more difficult.
Luckily, the Web of 2010 still has a place for pirates and bandits, willing to think outside the box and take measures into their own hands. After all, why build your own website when you can hijack someone else’s for free?
- Locate your Target
The magic formula here is pretty much the same as stealing (or business, in general) – minimum risk, maximum reward. In our case, risk is the competition, and reward is the target audience. I use this same formula when targeting keywords for SEO – find the keywords that are searched the most, but have the lowest number of results (organic) or cost (PPC). In our scenario, you can use some services such as Alexa to find out approximately how popular a site is, and then eyeball the site to see how easy it is to steal (see step 2). Of course, your target doesn’t have to be a website. It can be a mailing list or LinkedIn/Facebook/Yahoo!/Google group (abide by list/group rules and nettiquette for long-term results). - Be the expert
You chose your field because you can do it better than most people. Who cares if the newspaper doesn’t call you (yet) for your opinion on the story. Even if you know 5% more than the average Joe, you’re an expert in their eyes (that’s all that qualifies me to write articles like these). But it’s not enough to know more, you have to show it. Most sites, just like this one, allow visitors to submit comments on articles, if not complete articles or other content. Since content helps with search engine exposure, sites take a “the more, the merrier” approach. Be the first to submit a comment, and reply first to other visitors’ comments, even before the original author. Submit testimonials with your name attached. Make sure that your name, e-mail, and/or URL are easily accessible. Any visitor to your newly stolen site could be a potential client, so make sure they know how to reach you.
And tell Yonatan that I’m coming for him…
Zvi,
I don’t get this. I have read it several times and am at a loss as to what it means.
Yonatan
Hmm, I don’t think I was drunk when I wrote this. In response to Yonatan, apparently my attempt at humor and applause for what he’s been doing on JobShuk was lost.
The point is that anyone can take advantage of a popular site by being an active participant on that site, and reap the rewards of business leads.
Zvi, correct me if I’m wrong.
I believe the article explains:
* How to promote your business without having to invest in your own website, or
* If you do have a website, how to promote your business on platforms other than your website, or
* If your website is not getting enough traffic, because business card websites (I believe these are called mini-sites?) are grabbing the top search results spots (as mini-sites usually do), how to get traffic anyway
In all cases, the solution is to locate an existing site with good traffic and which allows you to promote yourself through articles, profiles, by commenting on articles, etc.
I think Zvi called this “stealing”, because you don’t have to invest in building and developing the site yourself – not because anything unethical is happening. Also, the word “stealing” makes for a real eye-catching article title 🙂
Yonatan, you are an example of a person who VERY successfully performed the described actions and achieved the desired result.
Victoria
Barbara,
You see how good Yonatan is; you give him credit even when I write the article 😉
On most sites (not JobShuk!) links in comments are tagged to not give them any Google/SEO power, so we can ignore that.
Being the first to comment, or the first to respond to a comment/question makes you seem like you are the author, or moderator of the site or page, and hence an expert on the subject.
To receive our weekly newsletter and site updates, click the ‘Join Now’ link on the top-right corner of any page (and you can post a profile for your Bulgarian property investment company with Google-readable links).
I REALLY appreciate the feedback and the article though I must admit I was confused at first! It was my wife who first looked at the article and said, “You’ve been accused of taking advantage of JobShuk I think!”
I now fully understand the intention of the article and the humor.
When I first joined Job Shuk, I instantly saw the capacity it had as both a forum for self-promotion and as a community to share ideas.
Thanks Zvi for the wonderful feedback, compliments and again, for the wonderful opportunity you are providing us to develop and expand our businesses!
With gratitude and wishes for a Chag Sameach,
Yoni!