The Shameless Self-Promoter Keller Hawthorne (1/3)

Chances are that if you have not heard of Keller Hawthorne already you soon will.

She is the young and energetic founder of the internet business blog FresheVenture.com, and she is grabbing the attention of some of the top bloggers in the business.

I stumbled across her website while doing some blog walking a few weeks back.  I was trying to find information on how to set up my blog and how to drive traffic to it. Her blog post, Shameless Self-Promotion: Confidence Can Grow Your Internet Business! caught my attention.

Instead of the normal hype, she openly shared her experiences providing very useful strategies that someone new to blogging, like myself, could implement.  There is something about her writing style that I feel I should warn you about.

The Shameless, but Humble Self-Promoter

Keller is not afraid to break the 500 to 700 word rule for blog length; in fact, she ignores that rule altogether (something we share in common).  Despite being an expert self-promoter, through her writing style and her podcasts she comes across as very humble and relatable.

Her years of trial and errors on her way to success with internet marketing and ecommerce have given her a confidence to openly share her experiences, both good and bad, with her readers.  A great example of this can be seen in 100 Post Recap #1: The Best, The Worst, and The Surprising!

Why Should I Care as a Small Business Owner?

The landscape of the internet has grown exponentially over the past decade.  If you want your small business to have a presence in the land that Google rules then you will need to engage in internet marketing and social media.

The best, and the quickest, way to do this is with a blog; unless you have unlimited funds.  Keller has many great tips on how to set up your blog on a budget that small business owners can afford.

Getting your blog or website noticed is where Keller really shines though.  She has accomplished something very rare in today’s competitive blogosphere which has generated a buzz and caught the attention of top bloggers like Yaro Starak and John Chow.

She explains it in PODCAST: How I Got a Google PageRank of 6 Within 7 Weeks of Launching My Blog! She currently has a higher PageRank than both Yaro and John, and while PageRank isn’t everything, it still means quite a bit to advertisers and helps in search engine rankings for your keywords

Marketing Your Online Real Estate – Your Website Design

The two most important features of your website is how it looks followed by how easy it is to navigate.  My only complaint about Keller’s website is that it is hard to find the older posts that she has made; otherwise, her site is very easy to navigate with links at both the top and bottom of the page.

Keller has many great posts on internet marketing, and it is obvious that she understands that old real estate adage of “location, location, location” as it applies to the real estate of web pages in the online world.

You can listen to her talk about it in PODCAST: Designing Your Website with a Marketing Perspective: Support Your Call to Action.

Notice that her call to action is prominently displayed at the top of the screen and in strategic locations throughout the site, and that she saves the prime “above the fold” area to promote herself.

Also, she squeezes every possible pixel out of her pages without making it too cluttered.  A great example of this is at the bottom of the page in her very fat footer.

Develop Great Content for Your Small Business Website

It doesn’t matter much if you have the best looking website that is super easy to navigate if you don’t have great content to put in it.  Content is definitely key to attracting a following and keeping them coming back.

Original Content

Your content must be original.  Keller understands that what makes her blog valuable is that it is unique.  It is not just another internet marketing website, and Google has shown her the love with a great PageRank because of it.

Regular and Consistent Updates

In the past five months, she has produced 100 posts for an average of 20 per month or 1 post every 1.5 days.  That’s pretty consistent. She also rotates posts in and out of her front page to keep it fresh.

Multiple Mediums

Focused Message

Aren’t the More Experienced Bloggers Better Resources?

Part 2 examines how Keller drives traffic to her website with on-page marketing.

Part 3 examines how Keller drives traffic to her website with off-page marketing.

DISCLOSURE: This is not a paid review – there is absolutely no compensation of any kind associated with this post.  The owner of the website was not made aware of the contents of this post prior to it being posted on my blog.  Unless disclosed elsewhere in the post, no notification of the post was provided to the owner of the website prior to it being posted on my blog.  All logos or images from the website were used without prior permission and will be removed from the post upon request of copyright owner.

Related posts:

1. The Shameless Self-Promoter Keller Hawthorne (3/3)
2. The Shameless Self-Promoter Keller Hawthorne (2/3)