Toll Free: 1-877-695-7388

GTA: (647) 699-2838

Search Engine People
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • CRO
  • Display
  • Blog
  • Why Us
  • Contact
  • Join Our Team
  • Get A Quote

Toll Free: 1-877-695-7388

GTA: (647) 699-2838

Want Great LinkBait … Provide Your Staff Small Digital Cameras!

Jeff Quipp | February 4th, 2008
Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
0 Shares

Case in point. I'm driving into work a couple of weeks ago along the northern shore of Lake Ontario, and voila. I see a phenomenon I've never seen before, and have only heard about once.

Ok I think, wheres my camera? Oh good, its here. And I snap a few shots.

Here's the result; Snow Donuts ... A Natural Weather Phenomenon

Snow Donuts

The 30 minutes it took me to snap the pictures, download them, write a quick post, load the post, and submit it to Digg and Stumbleupon, resulted in:
a) 15,000+ unique visitors to the site to which is was loaded (an acquaintance)
b) hit the buzz page of Stumbleupon ... no funny business I assure you
c) hit the Mixx homepage (someone else submitted it)
d) drove a few thousand visits from Reddit (again, someone else submitted it)
e) missed the homepage of Digg by a small amount (see Digg)
f) will result in an image link on Wikipedia on this page

On that note ... local media completely missed the boat.

Here's an example of a video captured by another amateur photographer that may have been better utilized ...

Obviously, I'm not suggesting that your staff will snap unique pictures every day, but once in a while could certainly be beneficial ... and the more people the better. Of course, they would have to be taught to look for photo opportunities that could be spun to apply to your business in some way.

It would also have to be positioned as a trade with your staff; ie. we'll provide each/some staff with a digital camera (wouldn't have to be expensive ... $100 per is likely sufficient), if they agree to carry it with them routinely, and snap photos and videos of interesting situations they encounter.

Quick Cost/Benefit Analysis:
With 10 people, I would suggest that it wouldn't be unrealistic to expect one winner photo/video per month. Social media types are ALWAYS looking for unique photos and videos! At the same time, if all the pictures taken are loaded to an on site image gallery, or perhaps even Flickr, its an opportunity to rank for thousands more long tail terms.

Costs:
Cost = (10 employees x 1 camera per @ $100/camera) / Lifetime of Camera in Months
Cost = $1000 one-time / 36
Cost = $27/month

Assumption:
Camera's lifetime = 36 months

Benefits:
Benefit (Ultra Conservative) = [SMT/month X $.01 (SMVV)] + [ST/month x $1 (STVV)]
Benefit (Ultra Conservative) = (5000 x $.01) + (200 X $1)
Benefit (Ultra Conservative) = $250/month

Assumptions:
- Social Media Traffic (SMT) = 5000 visitors per month from social media
- Social Media Value/Visit (SMVV) is worth very little, though relevant pictures will attract relevant visitors ... so lets assume $.01/visitor (very conservative)
- Search Traffic (ST) = 200 extra visitors per month from search
- Search Traffic Value/Visit (STVV) is obviously much more valuable than equivalent traffic from social media ... estimate $1/visitor

and this doesn't take into account the value of:
a) an search engine friendly Wikipedia link
b) increase in RSS subscribers
c) the links generated
and much more.

ROI:
ROI = (Benefit - Cost)/Cost X 100%
ROI = $250/mo. - $27/mo.)/$27/mo.
ROI = 826%

Other Suggestions:
Watermark your photos! Otherwise others will take your photos and will not give credit where credit is due.

Conclusion:
Where else can you get a minimum 826% ROI ... it is outstanding. What are you waiting for?

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
0 Shares
Posted in SEO

15 thoughts on “Want Great LinkBait … Provide Your Staff Small Digital Cameras!”

  1. Matt Ridout says:
    February 4, 2008 at 10:49 am

    Wow what a ROI that is!

    Great snow donuts by the way Jeff 🙂

  2. Shana Albert says:
    February 4, 2008 at 11:45 am

    What an awesome idea, Jeff!! You are brilliant…. absolutely brilliant. 🙂

  3. Jeff Quipp says:
    February 4, 2008 at 12:48 pm

    @ Matt – thanks Matt. I suspect actual ROI will be many times higher yet in most cases, but had to keep the model simple. In retrospect, it does seem like a slam dunk doesn’t it?

    @ Shana – thanks Shana! You know its just one of those things. I missed some unbelievable opportunities in the past (cover of time material), and thought “never again”. Then, delving into social media, follow you and others, and seeing the power of images. You were a part of this process Shana!

  4. Sutocu says:
    February 4, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    Makes perfect sense. You just gotta hope the employees don’t figure the high ROI out and ask for extra pay!

  5. Tanner Christensen says:
    February 4, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    I completely agree with Shana on this one: you are brilliant.

    Thank you for sharing your idea with us Jeff, really, thank you!

  6. evisibility says:
    February 4, 2008 at 3:22 pm

    What an awesome post, this is such a great idea. There are so many creative people within Internet marketing companies and this is the way that you can really tap into the creativity. Plus this is a good image builder.

  7. Elizabeth Able says:
    February 4, 2008 at 4:01 pm

    Share enjoying life –> build community, get traffic.
    Have I missed anything?

  8. SearchBuzz says:
    February 4, 2008 at 4:25 pm

    Hey Jeff – very funny you posted this.

    I was just thinking about the same thing while spending the weekend in San Fran two weeks ago.

    I never leave home without my camera and in this short 2 1/2 day trip, I must have captured 2 or 3 really great ‘linkbait’ worthy pictures!

    Good stuff — 🙂

    -mike b.

  9. Utah SEO says:
    February 4, 2008 at 7:42 pm

    So it really can rain doughnuts. 🙂

    I’m going to pitch cameras to my boss with this post. Wish me luck.

  10. Kyle says:
    February 5, 2008 at 12:45 pm

    Great post! Another way to think creatively.

  11. Carolyn says:
    February 6, 2008 at 8:34 pm

    Anyone have suggestions for the handiest little camera that takes both video and stills? Great idea…can’t wait to dive in! There are so many wonderful green business and green living ideas out here now!

  12. Arnie says:
    February 8, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    I was at a SEMPO meeting last night and we discussed a very similar concept using the new Flip video cam.

    You might enjoy my post “Thou Shalt Still Enjoy Good Linkbait”…
    http://www.linkbuildingbestpractices.com/link-bait/enjoy-good-linkbait

  13. Busby SEO Challenge says:
    June 23, 2008 at 8:40 am

    Creative. No more to say other than that.
    And I can’t imagine if we pay 100 people to take a photograph and post it in blog, how much we will earn $$ 😀

Comments are closed.

Recent Posts

  • Maximizing Your E-Commerce Sales:
    A CRO Audit Guide
  • Movin’ On Up! Why Migrating to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Should be a Priority
  • A Year in Review: The Digital Marketing Trends That Defined 2021
  • The Basics of Video Marketing
  • Just How Much Do Google Reviews Impact Your SEO Ranking?

Categories

  • Analytics & ROI Analysis
  • Company News
  • Content
  • Conversion Optimization
  • CRO
  • Display Advertising/RTB
  • Email Marketing
  • En Español
  • En Français
  • Inbound Marketing
  • Lead Nurture & Marketing Automation
  • Local Search
  • Marketing
  • Mobile
  • Partnership Marketing
  • PPC
  • PR
  • SEO
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Web Design

Additional Posts

How Search Really Works: The Keyword Density Myth

February 1st, 2008 | by Ruud Hein

SEO and The Hesitant Webmaster Syndrome

January 31st, 2008 | by Dev Basu

Rumour Has It The Sky Is Falling…

January 31st, 2008 | by Shane

LET'S TALK

Need more information or want to get in touch?

Get in touch!
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Display
  • Blog
  • Why Us
  • Join Our Team
  • Contact Us
  • Local SEO
  • Small Business SEO
  • Enterprise SEO
  • International SEO

LOCATION

1305 Pickering Parkway,
5th Floor Pickering, L1V 3P2

PHONE

Toll Free: 1-877-695-7388
Greater Toronto Area: (647) 699-2838

Social

© Search Engine People Inc. 2023 – Canada’s Top Digital Agency
© SEP 2023 – A Search Engine People Company | Privacy Policy

Search Engine People