Now I don’t know about you, but that line hits home for me in all areas of my life. There have been so many instances where I failed and wanted to give up, but little did I know that my failures were paving the way for future success.

I know how easy it is to become discouraged when things don’t go your way, but it’s important to understand that failures are essential learning experiences that will make you smarter, faster, and stronger.

Next time you create a website or a business that completely flops, think of the “wasted” time and money as an investment. Next time around, you’ll have a higher chance of succeeding. You just have to get back up and try again.

These types of articles probably aren’t the most popular. Everyone wants a get rich quick scheme where they are guaranteed profits without even lifting a finger. Sorry to burst your bubble, but this type of a dream does not exist. If you want to build financial intelligence and create a viable online business that you can be proud of, hard work and failure is definitely a prerequisite.

Below I’ll go into the process that most Internet marketers cycle through before seeing any significant success. Where are you?

1. Change your perspective
First and foremost, a shift in perspective is necessary if you’re ever going to become a resilient Internet marketer who’s in it for the long run. Rather than seeking out quick profits with useless sites, plan on investing in yourself through constant learning and new experiences. This way, bumps in the road won’t bring you down but they’ll provide new insights that lead to success.

2. Set your focus
Know what you want, what you’re good at, and what you can reasonably accomplish. Focus on the activities that bring you the most return and work at it until you’ve reached your goals. As great as Michael Jordan was, he lost focus when he tried his hand at baseball.

3. Give it all you’ve got
There’s a big difference between “failure because of lack of effort” and “failure because of other reasons”. If you’re lazy and unmotivated, you have no one to blame but yourself.

4. Fall hard
Don’t wimp out because of uncertainty. If you’re going to create a new site, work at it like it’s the next big thing. If you don’t plan on falling hard, you won’t have any big hit successes either. Michael Jordan always took the last shot in a close game. His team won or lost because of his actions, but he never backed down from pressure situations.

5. Get back up
Everyone is human and is bound to fail at some point. Get back up and try again. Success may be waiting for you.

6. Learn from your mistakes
Would you spend thousands of dollars on a college education if you were never going to use the information you learned? Of course not. In the same way, you’ve spent countless hours and resources trying something and failing. Don’t let that go to waste. Learn from your mistakes and improve for the next time around.

Many people are so afraid of failing that they are paralyzed from taking action. If you don’t fail first, you won’t see success either.

Below are some examples of the failures many Internet marketers experience before reaching their goals.

• Testing multiple affiliate offers and losing thousands of dollars before finding a profitable PPC campaign that converts
• Writing hundreds of blogs posts before finding a loyal audience that actually cares
• Submitting countless articles to Digg before finally hitting the front page
• Building thousands of links before reaching the first page in Google for a profitable and highly searched keyword
• Creating numerous niche websites before discovering one that actually makes money

The possibilities are endless. Have you failed yet? How has that helped you to find success later on? Share your stories in the comments here!

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Internet Marketing Blog - Make Money Online
Copyright © 2007 Winning the Web. All Rights Reserved.

So let’s shift our perspective a little bit by drawing parallels between the online and offline worlds. Just how big is your online audience?

Below are some of the audiences (by Feedburner RSS subscribers) of the top Internet marketing blogs - compared with real world crowds. The Internet seems a heck of a lot bigger than you thought right?

The country of Cyprus: population 855,000

Techcrunch - 865,000 subscribers

Indianapolis Speedway - 257,000 capacity

Read Write Web - 209,000 subscribers

Colosseum - 50,000 capacity

Problogger - 47,000 subscribers

Yankee Stadium - 57,545 capacity

Zen Habits - 54,000 subscribers

Fenway Park - 38,808 capacity

Copyblogger - 36,000 subscribers
Matt Cutts - 32,000 subscribers

United Center - 21,711 capacity

SEOmoz - 24,000 subscribers
John Chow - 25,000 subscribers
Search Engine Land - 25,000 subscribers

Madison Square Garden - 19,763 capacity

Shoemoney - 16,000 subscribers

Staples Center - 18,997 capacity

Dosh Dosh - 15,000 subscribers

Titanic - 3,547 capacity

UberAffiliate - 3,500 subscribers
Courtney Tuttle - 3,100 subscribers

Carnegie Hall - 2,804 capacity

Andy Beard - 2,800 subscribers
Zac Johnson - 2,700 subscribers
Small Business SEM - 2,500 subscribers
Blogstorm - 2,300 subscribers

It’s not until you visualize the masses in a real world setting that you realize the huge numbers of people represented on the Internet. How big is your online audience?

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Internet Marketing Blog - Make Money Online
Copyright © 2007 Winning the Web. All Rights Reserved.

• enabled companies to take their businesses online and reach a wider audience of targeted potential customers without cost.
• helped writers and publishers to reach out to people who are interested in a specific subject matter.
• increased the bottom line for countless companies.

Whether you like it or not, SEO works. I don’t necessarily agree with some of the black hat tactics and the spam, but a profitable marketing method will always be exploited by the bad apples.

Shoemoney recently published an article stating that there is no future in SEO. Here’s a quote:

“My honest answer is there is no future in SEO. From my experiences I am seeing Google SERPS results strongly influenced by Google Toolbar data, Google User history, and Google Analytics data. Google’s combination of SEO and social voting via toolbar/history/analytics will continue to sway more in the realm of social voting. I feel this technology will only get better. I don’t think anyone can argue that core SEO has gotten less valuable over the years and I see that trend continuing.”

Usually I just roll my eyes when I see baseless arguments against SEO, but this one is actually pretty interesting and I would have to agree with many of the points. It’s true that search engines (especially Google) are preparing for the future. They are buying up relevant tools and sites to get a better picture of the online landscape and thus offer higher quality and more relevant search results. It’s my firm belief that analytics, social media votes, and user behavior will all be incorporated into search engine algorithms in the near future. What works most effectively now probably will be obsolete in the next 3 or 4 years. To read more on the subject, Chris Copeland describes the last days of SEO.

However, none of this means that SEO as an industry is dying. Certain tactics may be dying but the industry itself is growing and booming. The Internet has always been about change and adaptation and shifts in search engine algorithms are no different. Systems can always be hacked no matter how secure and people will always be able to think up new ways to gain an advantage.

Seriously, if prisoners can escape Alcatraz and the Titanic can sink, I’m pretty sure an SEO can manipulate Google’s “perfect” search algorithm. The fact is that we’re all human and nothing in this world is perfect. Search engines will get more advanced but if anything I think that will legitimize the field of SEO (or whatever it’s called in the future) and cut off all the newbies who don’t know what they’re doing. Real professional experts with real world experience will rise to the top and create a better name for the field.

You can see the shifts already. Many of the top SEO’s now are getting heavily involved with social media, reputation management, and digital asset optimization. On-page factors and link building may become less important in the future, but that doesn’t mean the SEO industry is dying.

Search engines may have matured, but so have SEO’s!

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Internet Marketing Blog - Make Money Online
Copyright © 2007 Winning the Web. All Rights Reserved.

Would you use it?

The word may not come to you as a surprise. In fact you may already be using it. What’s this key word I speak of?

Free is everywhere - free wireless, free trial software, free schwag, buy one get one free, free prizes, free country, free, free, free. Some may say it’s overused, but it’s used because it works. Would companies really continue to market “free stuff” if they constantly lost money? As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch and this case is no different. “Free” is an extremely effective marketing method that sparks interest, builds a customer base, and ultimately helps to promote other more expensive products.

The concept of free has a strange effect on people that causes us to act in irrational ways. For example, after seeing a promotion on SlickDeals for a free ice cream cone at Ben & Jerry’s (probably worth $3), a friend and I drove over 5 miles out of the way to get our fill. The gas used to get there was probably worth more than than the ice cream. Similarly, last Halloween I dressed up as a tin man burrito wrapped in aluminum foil to get a free burrito at Chipotle Mexican Grill. Maybe it was a little embarrassing but hey, it’s free food.

I can’t be the only crazy one here… Do any of you have similar experiences? All of this goes to show you the extent to which people are willing to go to get something “free”.

In terms of marketing your business or website, “free” is an extremely powerful tool that has many benefits. Giving something away may limit revenue and profits now, but in the long term it is sure to pay off.

Below I’ll go into the 5 benefits and advantages of using “free” to market your site.

1. Free is a great attention grabber
I’ll go out on a limb and say that no text on a page gets the attention of people more than the word “free” (other than “sex”). It’s just human nature. People love free stuff and any mention of the word is bound to get more eyeballs and more clicks especially in headlines and in PPC ad copy.

2. Strong demand and search frequency for “free”
Not only does “free” get attention, but people actually want and are looking for free stuff. For example, below are some of the top keywords that show huge amounts of search frequency for different variations of “free” (as reported by Keyword Discovery).

free - 693,332
free games - 457,020
free music downloads - 448,566
free ringtones - 361,683
free myspace layouts - 236,159
free credit report - 189,147
free stuff - 137,581
free samples - 129,042
free people search - 128,812
free ecards - 97,933

3. Build buzz - more viral exposure
A free product or service is likely to generate a ton of buzz in the online world. Take for example, free ice cream day at Ben & Jerry’s. The promotion is advertised mainly online and yet there are always lines that stretch out the door. It might be something as simple as a free $3 ice cream cone, but people still get excited about these things and tell all of their friends.

4. People are more likely to try something new if it’s free
If you have a relatively new site or product, giving something away for free is a great way to get your foot in the door. People are much more likely to try something they’ve never heard of if it doesn’t cost them anything. Why would someone buy from you if they’re unsure of what you have to offer? Free samples and trials alleviate this problem.

5. Use “free” to upsell other content
Finally, free content or free samples give your potential customers a taste of what you have to offer. If they like what they see then they are more likely to buy from you at a premium. For example, the folks over at SEOmoz have great free content on their SEO blog and use it to sell premium articles, videos, and services. If you have a high quality product, this funnel model works phenomenally well.

Now that you know the benefits of “free”, it’s time you take action and start implementing. Offer something for free - product samples, articles, ebooks, scripts, plugins, blog templates, newsletters, or even your RSS feed. It can be anything really, but remember that it’s all in the presentation. You want to create something with a high perception of value and then market it as free through the use of prominent headlines, banners, buttons, and ad copy.

Everyone loves free stuff and it’s time you take advantage. What do you offer for free on your sites? Are you marketing it properly to catch people’s attention? Leave a comment with your thoughts here.

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Internet Marketing Blog - Make Money Online
Copyright © 2007 Winning the Web. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve always had an interest for the Internet, from my first chat room on AOL to this very blog where I discuss some of my online projects. However, the fact of the matter is that everything I know in the realm of SEO and Internet marketing was self taught on my own time. No classroom teacher ever taught me anything on the subject. In fact, I’d be surprised if they know what any of this stuff means.

I graduated last year from Northwestern University with a degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences. While the field helped me to develop an analytical mind and good business sense, it didn’t really guide me towards the kind of work I wanted to do online. Don’t get me wrong. I learned a ton in college and don’t regret any of it. I think I gained a comprehensive education that has helped to shape me into be the person I am today. However, I was always itching to get online - and university life never satisfied me in that way.

The problem with teaching courses about Internet marketing, SEO, and online business in general is that everything is so fast-changing. The curriculum would constantly have to be changed and degrees would quickly become obsolete. While the laws of physics stay relatively constant, Google’s search algorithm changes in a matter of days.

I don’t blame schools for ignoring the Internet industry, but that doesn’t solve the problem at all. Online marketing is a booming industry that needs attention in the education system. I was lucky enough to stumble upon it independently, but most students will go through college oblivious to a career online.

Looking back, there are 5 college majors that I think would be beneficial for anyone looking to pursue a career online - either for a company or as an entrepreneur. Obviously these don’t directly relate to Internet marketing but I think the knowledge and experience gained in these fields can help set a solid foundation for the industry.

1. Computer Science / Programming
There have been countless occasions where I would think of new website ideas, only to be set back by my own programming limitations. I started off college as a Computer Science major but later decided that it wasn’t for me. It takes a special someone to become a superstar coder, but if you have the opportunity, I definitely recommend you get some programming experience. The Internet runs on a variety of technologies - the more you know, the easier it will be for you to excel.

2. Business / Marketing
Obviously a career in Internet marketing requires an in depth understanding of business and general marketing concepts. While I did learn a lot of things through trial and error and good old fashioned experience, classroom learning on the subject provides a solid foundation and great background information for further progress. If you have no interest in programming, a business or marketing degree is probably the next best thing.

3. Engineering / Math
I don’t know about you, but I hate math (I break the Asian stereotype I know). Nevertheless, a math or engineering degree will help you to develop an analytical mind that is instrumental for constructing complex online systems - say for example building a little search engine called Google.

4. Writing
Blogs have really taken off over the past couple of years and quality content is what separates the successful sites from the failures. An ability to write creatively and quickly while clearly conveying messages is a tremendous asset to have online. A writing degree in college isn’t considered the most lucrative in terms of job prospects, but it’s definitely an important skill for independent webmasters.

5. Design
Likewise, there is always a demand for good design online. If you’re the artsy type and want to take your work to the web, an art or design degree might not be a bad idea. If you need inspiration, David Airey is a logo designer who does very well for himself selling design services online.

Do what you love to do
Finally and above all, find something that you are passionate about and genuinely love to do. If you go the programming route only because it has the most potential, you may find yourself hating life and rethinking your career later on. Save yourself the trouble and agony and study something that you are actually interested in.

Ultimately, it’s not really about what you study in college that will set your paths online. If you have the drive and the motivation to learn Internet marketing on your own, no college degree will matter. The ones listed above are merely just some suggestions that will help you to develop the background and the skills that are useful for Internet marketers to have.

Internet marketers, what did you study in college or what are your planning on majoring in? Vote in the poll and leave a comment. I’d love to see the results.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

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Internet Marketing Blog - Make Money Online
Copyright © 2007 Winning the Web. All Rights Reserved.

Will Your Website Pass a Google Review?
Do you have a strong brand that forces Google to include your site in its index? As the search engines look to purge the web of thin affiliate sites and spam, it’s becomingly increasingly important to send the right signals that show you have a quality site.

7 Habits Of Incredibly Effective Bloggers
Effective bloggers are usually habitual people who stick to set guidelines that work. This includes having something to say, projecting personality, posting regularly, engaging other bloggers, optimizing, and using RSS. If you want to see greater results from your blogging, check to see if you’re sticking to these essential habits.

Five Effective Copywriting Tactics for Affiliate Marketing
You might think that affiliate marketing is only effective when tied to PPC advertising. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. Bloggers can easily find success in affiliate marketing by using the following tools: endorsements, reviews, tutorials, bonuses, and articles. If you’re currently not utilizing any of these methods to make money online, you should definitely consider doing so.

A Secret to Blogging Success - Build Upon What You Build
Darren Rowse brings up some excellent points here. So many times we as bloggers get caught up in thinking up ideas that we never actually get to the implementation phase. It’s important to assess what we have and to build upon that rather than wishing for something unreasonable. Build upon what you have and then build upon what you build. It’s a slow process in blogging but it definitely pays off.

SEO Career Advice from an Out-of-Work SEO
Matt McGee is an SEO for Marchex who recently got laid off. Here he provides some tips for getting a job in the search marketing industry. Definitely worth the read if you plan on getting involved in search with another company or agency.

I Answered 163 Affiliate Marketing Questions
Paul Bourque aka Uber Affiliate has been great about being open with his affiliate marketing strategies and developing relationships with his readers. He recently answered 163 questions from his readers. Some of the information here is fluff, but there are also a lot of good nuggets too.

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Internet Marketing Blog - Make Money Online
Copyright © 2007 Winning the Web. All Rights Reserved.

Below is the Market Leverage team decked out in Winning the Web t-shirts.

For more Market Leverage t-shirt shots, see the following:
Market Leverage Staff - ShoeMoney Shirt Spotting - Shoemoney
ProBlogger T-Shirt Models - Problogger
Money “Reigns” at Market Leverage - Zac Johnson
MarketLeverage Really Understands Leverage! - Amit Mehta of Super Affiliate Mindset
MarketLeverage is Dressed for Success - Shawn Collins of Affiliate Tip

I really like what Market Leverage is doing here because they are establishing relationships with the key players in the affiliate marketing space. Not only do they get loads of viral exposure but they get links and reviews for free from influential people who actually promote their network. Beats the ROI of traditional online advertising any day.

I mentioned in a previous post that gift giving is an effective way to establish relationships and buy links. Market Leverage is a perfect example of this. Now if only I had received one of those sweet gift packages…

I’ve personally never used Market Leverage before but these nice gestures have motivated to look more into what their affiliate network has to offer. Thanks to Debby Banning for hooking me up.

Are you signed up with Market Leverage? What are you overall thoughts? I’d love to hear from you.

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Internet Marketing Blog - Make Money Online
Copyright © 2007 Winning the Web. All Rights Reserved.

For those of you that don’t know, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a format used to deliver updated content from websites via feeds. The main benefit of RSS is that it enables people to stay connected with their favorite websites without having to visit them. All they have to do is subscribe to the feeds using a feed reader like Google Reader. Updated posts and articles are then delivered in real time. It’s actually a very powerful tool that benefits everyone involved - marketers, bloggers, site owners, and end users.

Are you using RSS? I suggest you subscribe to the Winning the Web RSS feed and get started.

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Internet Marketing Blog - Make Money Online
Copyright © 2007 Winning the Web. All Rights Reserved.

If you’re promoting a website these days and really want it to take off, you absolutely need to utilize social proof. Prove that your site is worthy by showing off your users and your popularity. It’s generally human nature to follow the crowd so the bigger your following, the more people will pay attention and follow you as a result. A site with strong social aspects will usually have an exponential growth model that spreads virally.

I know it sounds unfair. The popular get even more popular and the unknown sink deeper into obscurity. However, there’s an optimal way of playing your cards at both ends of the spectrum. Whether you have an active well-known site or a site that you just started yesterday, this guide will help you to maximize your traffic and get people paying attention to you and talking about your site.

If you’ve got it, flaunt it!

A popular site with an active community can always take advantage of social proof to strengthen authority and increase the perception of value. If you have the goods, why not flaunt it and maximize the benefits? People are much more likely to trust a site that is trusted by others but first you have to give them signs that clearly show this status. What do I mean by this? See some of the examples below.

A highly visible Feedburner subscriber count

Can you really miss the subscriber count here? Andy Beard has a great blog on niche marketing that you cannot miss out on. The high subscriber count only backs up this claim. There’s no need for excessive self promotional copy because the social proof is right there. You can obtain the Feed Count Wordpress plugin to achieve a similar effect for your own blog.

High number of comments on posts

Comments are a great way to interact with readers on your blog. Not only that, but they are great for showing that you have quality content that stirs up questions, feedback, and controversy. In every post you write, you want to focus on increasing your comment count and getting your readers to voice their own opinions.

Members & Users online now

An active site with a bustling community will motivate users to sign up and get involved in the conversations taking place. This is an absolute must for membership sites, forums, and other online communities.

Pages & languages

A huge site like Wikipedia can boast about the number of articles and all of the different languages it offers. Pretty tough to compete with that.

Rankings

A high ranking on sites like Alexa and Technorati can help to solidify an authority position.

Badges

Is your site included in an exclusive group of top sites? For example, Lee Odden of Top Rank frequently updates his BIG LIST of the best Internet marketing blogs.

Traffic stats

Traffic stats are more common on pages selling advertising, but they can also be used to show the popularity of a site.  Stuff White People Like is a great example of this.  In just a few months, the humorous blog managed to gather over 25 million visits.  That’s just insane.

Social media votes

Social media votes can easily be placed on a page to encourage voting and to display the article’s popularity with users of various sites like Sphinn, StumbleUpon, and Digg.

Interviews
Interviews, if you can get them, show authority status about a certain topic.  I was lucky enough to do some of the interviews shown below.
Interview with Gyutae Park - Bernard Griffiths
Interview with Gyutae Park of Winning the Web - Blog Herald
Shooting Money Out Of Your Other End To Gain…? - Bloggin Ads

But what if I’ve got nothing?

If you have a new site that just launched or a site that isn’t on par to where you’d like it to be, there are 2 options you can take in regards to optimizing social proof.

1. Hide it
If you can’t back yourself up with the items listed above, then don’t use them at all. So many times I see new sites displaying poor statistics that are sure to turn off visitors and give off a bad first impression.  You won’t have the numbers or the social proof off the bat.  In that case, it’s better to focus on your content so that you can develop the following that will help you gain popularity.  Never display a Feedburner subscriber count less than 100.

2. Fake it
I don’t really recommend going this route because it’s stressful to put up a front and be fake and it’s easy for people to figure you out and tarnish your reputation.  Some of the ways sites can “fake it” include inflating Feedburner subscribers, leaving fake comments and forum threads, manipulating rankings and traffic stats, and buying social media votes.  Faking might help to get a site off the ground (especially a forum site), but in the long run quality sites with real followers will always win out.

Are you using social proof to promote your sites?  If so, which have you had the most success with?  Sometimes, all you need is a small statistic to get people to notice you and get excited about what you have to offer.

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Internet Marketing Blog - Make Money Online
Copyright © 2007 Winning the Web. All Rights Reserved.

So why not just invest your resources to go the less risky “ethical” route? This way you can build a site with potential long term value without constantly looking over your shoulder for penalties and copycats. In the end, authority sites will rule the web.

Now don’t get me wrong. Blackhat SEO’s, PPC affiliates, arbitragers, and spammers are not stupid. In fact, some of the stuff they come up with are simply genius. They are able to take advantage of a flawed system and make insane amounts of money in a short period of time. It’s not likely to last forever, but you can’t really blame them either.

I don’t know about you, but I gain personal satisfaction from building my sites and I would not enjoy a business model where:

• no one benefits except for my pocket book
• my sites are commodities that are at the mercy of rule enforcers
• questionable ethics are involved

Yes, quick cash can be made and this is often a stepping stone many marketers use to fund their larger projects. However, the ultimate long term goal should always be to create authority sites.

In this article, I’ll outline some of the methods that I’ve used and seen others use to establish authority status. Which of these are you using?

Own a niche
First and foremost, find something that you’re good at. People can smell BS from a mile away so you really have to know your stuff and be an expert if you want to be perceived as an authority. Everyone has something that they are good at and enjoy. It’s just a matter of developing skills and marketing them effectively with a unique angle. For example, I have an engineering background and work as an SEO. I really do enjoy what I do and am continually looking to build myself as an Internet marketing authority through this blog.

First impressions are more important than you think
What you know is important, but most people won’t give you a chance if you present yourself poorly. Be sure that you have a relevant and targeted domain name and your site design is clean and professional. Like it or not, presentation counts.

Prove it
Signs of authority can go a long way. Were you featured in a major publication in your niche? Do you have certain credentials that make you special? Use what you have to prove to your audience that you’re worthy to be followed. For example, Shoemoney posted up his $100,000 Adsense check and look where that got him today.

Create an industry guide
There are tons of blogs covering a wide array of topics - almost to the point where there is too much disorganized information online. In most cases, people want a comprehensive guide to an industry without having to wade through countless pages of useless clutter. Solution? Create an easy to follow industry guide, even if it’s just links to other pages, and people will swarm to your site and link back to your guide.

Paul Bourque over at UberAffiliate created an affiliate marketing guide (probably the best I’ve seen) that continually brings him traffic and new subscribers.

Build tools or new useful features
Another way to differentiate yourself from the crowd is to create a useful tool that will benefit your users. This can be anything really - from Wordpress plugins to financial calculators to Flash quizzes. Patrick Altoft of BlogStorm launched his SEO blog based off of a link analysis tool that gained huge popularity. In fact, he was able to attain 10,000 links in just 3 weeks.

Create a list of other resources
A list of useful resources is also a great way to gain authority and network with other players in your niche. Mark of 45n5 has a top 100 make money online blogs list that continually brings traffic to Winning the Web. I’m sure it’s working quite well for him in building authority.

Write posts that build off of your expertise
Aside from publishing the industry guide, frequently writing articles on the latest news and developments will cement your status as a leading authority. Aaron Wall, for example, constantly puts out quality content related to SEO on his blog. Not only does this help sales of his SEO training program but it further establishes him as guru who knows his stuff.

Use confident language & take a stance
If you don’t take a stance on a matter and talk with confidence, people are not likely to listen to you or take you seriously. Don’t be afraid to be controversial and to take a firm stance in what you believe in. People respect that, even if they disagree with your message. He’s offensive to most SEO’s but Jason Calacanis has done a tremendous job in stirring up controversy in the online space.

Be visible on other authoritative sites
Buy links, advertising, and blog reviews, leave comments, and guest post. Being highly visible on an already authoritative site related to your own will help push up your status as well.

Make friends with the top people in your industry
Who you know and who promotes you can definitely make the difference between seeing success and falling flat on your face. Develop your contact list and exchange emails/IMs, meet up with the people you connect with online at conferences, and take pictures. Being an authority by association helps you to catapult your own work. SEO John Andrews goes as far as to say that modern SEO is all about knowing Googler Matt Cutts.

Use Q&A sites, forums, social media to attract new visitors
There are many platforms outside of your own sites to demonstrate your expertise and attract new visitors. Answer questions on Q&A sites and forums and use social media to become engraved in your community. For instance, Maki of DoshDosh does an excellent job promoting his site via social media.

Authority is something that is built up over time by executing a carefully planned and thought out process. It really boils down to helping others with problems that they have and developing trust with users.

What are you doing to improve your authority online? Can you think of any other methods we can add to the list here?