Starting Your Presentation with a Question?

Which of the following is the more compelling question?

• How do you get quality traffic to come to your site?
• How do you get ranked #1 at Yahoo for "insert-search-term-here"?

I ask this because I have two teleconferences scheduled this week, with two entirely different companies. Both companies told me that they want me to talk about SEO, or search engine optimization.

My problem: SEO is old news. It's passe. It's not particularly effective, and I don't think it's what either of these potential clients REALLY want.

They really WANT high quality traffic to come to their sites. Somewhere, somehow, someone told them that the Answer (with a Capital A) was SEO.

So, I can do as promised: I can talk about SEO. And I can talk about how it's an idea whose time has come...and gone. I think the "Ask About the Real, Underlying Question" approach can elevate the message and lead to a more fulfilling conclusion....while still meeting the basic premise upon which I was invited to talk!

What do you think? Feel free to hit the "Comment" button below and let me know...

PS - Here's the podcast that explains my thinking. It's just under nine minutes long. ¶ 4/18/2005 10:30:00 AM