I’m an avid commercial watcher. I believe we can learn so much by watching commercials, looking at ads in magazines, and paying attention to other offline advertising. What works offline and why? You can’t apply those same principles online, but by adjusting them to the online environment, the lessons you can learn are amazing. I also believe that just about anything in life can refer back to SEO and your online business if you really think about it.

For example, I was watching a show the other day, and the commercials were all centered on women achievers. One woman was a rock climber. This fascinated me, because I recently had a student who’s a rock climber. Rock climbing is a hobby for this woman on TV, who has a high-powered job in corporate America.

But what stuck out in the commercial was one statement she said. She said that rock climbing made her a better communicator. When you rock climb, you have to communicate absolutely everything you’re doing with your partner(s). If you don’t, you could die. Can’t put it any more bluntly than that.

The communication skills she’s learned have spilled over to her personal and business life. She’s a better communicator at work now and in her personal life.

Who would have thought that rock climbing helps build better communication skills? You rock climbers know this, but the average person doesn’t.

So let’s think about this for a minute. Who needs better communication skills?

Couples with marital problems or relationship building in general;

Companies to boost communication skills;

Family counseling;

Introverted people who need to learn how to come out of their shell;

People who need to face their fears head on;

People with addictions who need something else in their lives to fill the gap left by the absence left by drugs or alcohol.

Rock climbing Web sites could create content on each of these different areas and pull in targeted traffic.

Now, let’s think about other sites. What needs do your products and services fulfill that you may not have thought to discuss on your site? What benefits do your products or services provide that users or potential users really don’t know? Create pages of content around those benefits.

I would have never thought that rock climbing provides the extra advantage of building communication skills. Would you? Rock climbing Web sites need to capitalize on this valuable information by writing content centered around the topic.

Other site owners need to keep their eyes and ears open to needs that your services or products are fulfilling that you haven’t considered. What “surprises” can you promote on your site?

Robin