Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Nominate Us in the Mashable Awards for Social Media... Please.
Nominate us in the 4th Annual Mashable Awards.
Submissions once a day per category till Monday, November 29, 2010
Top 5 per category will advance to finalists round starting December 1, 2010
Thank you in advance for your support!
Monday, November 22, 2010
The Importance of Blogging for Inbound Marketing
I truly cannot express the importance of blogging for your inbound marketing success.
Why? You may ask.
Let me tell you.
1.Blogging provides you with 55% more web traffic over companies that do not blog.
2.43% of B2B companies have acquired a customer from their blog.
3.57% of B2C companies have acquired a customer from their blog.
4.The more frequently you blog, the more customers you will acquire.
5.Both B2C and B2B companies that blog see a gain in twitter reach; however B2B sees a larger gain in reach.
6.Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages over companies that do not blog.
7.Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links over companies that do not blog.
8.The more pages your website has indexed, the more monthly leads you receive.
9.The more pages your website has indexed, the more chances you have to rank for keywords.
10.The more pages your website has indexed, the more chances for inbound links you will have linking to your website.
11.By 2013, 128 Million people in the US will be reading blogs on a monthly basis.
Besides the aforementioned items, you will be developing a community around your blog, sharing information, being social with your fans, and bringing a personal touch to your company.
These are such profound reasons to be blogging. If you are not blogging already, then what are you waiting for? Take the next step to your inbound marketing campaign and blog, blog, blog!
Why? You may ask.
Let me tell you.
1.Blogging provides you with 55% more web traffic over companies that do not blog.
2.43% of B2B companies have acquired a customer from their blog.
3.57% of B2C companies have acquired a customer from their blog.
4.The more frequently you blog, the more customers you will acquire.
5.Both B2C and B2B companies that blog see a gain in twitter reach; however B2B sees a larger gain in reach.
6.Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages over companies that do not blog.
7.Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links over companies that do not blog.
8.The more pages your website has indexed, the more monthly leads you receive.
9.The more pages your website has indexed, the more chances you have to rank for keywords.
10.The more pages your website has indexed, the more chances for inbound links you will have linking to your website.
11.By 2013, 128 Million people in the US will be reading blogs on a monthly basis.
Besides the aforementioned items, you will be developing a community around your blog, sharing information, being social with your fans, and bringing a personal touch to your company.
These are such profound reasons to be blogging. If you are not blogging already, then what are you waiting for? Take the next step to your inbound marketing campaign and blog, blog, blog!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Does My Local Community "Get It" When it Comes to Inbound Marketing?
Let me tell you that I have tried to get through to my local community in order to help them achieve their business goals through inbound marketing. I’m not sure how most business owners are, but I actually care about the economic situation my community may be in. However, I have a hard time getting anyone to respond to my introductions, to participate in conversations, and to connect with me on networks. Do they get it?
I feel I almost need a million dollars to do something totally drastic to get the attention of my local “peeps”. Let me provide you with some examples.
1. Have contacted over 100 businesses in my community about my services, knowing how much they are struggling, through mail, phone, social media, content, and email (I know. I know.). I have not received a single response. I am located in a resort community where business is seasonal. Things are tough in the winter. I see a lot of my local businesses are now on Facebook, which is great, but many of those accounts are abandoned because they did not know how to operate the page. Some of my local bars are even cursing up and down on their own pages. I also notice that they only have a Facebook page. There are so many other networks that could work for them. Also, social media is only a piece of a larger pie. If they wish to grow and gather leads and sales, they are going to need more than a Facebook page. With inbound marketing, they could flourish.
2. I have started a Linkedin group for my region of the country. I started the group on social media because that is the most popular topic people are seeking information on right now and I can help them use it to its maximum advantage. My group is shy. I seem to be the only person posting. No topics started, no comments, no questions, and no answers. They must be good listeners.
3. I belong to other social media networks where businesses can connect with other local businesses. My problem is that I have asked over 250 businesses in my local community to connect with me and maybe 10 of that 250 have connected with me. This is very confusing to me. I see the businesses are connected with other business members in the area, so why are they not connecting with my business? The downside of this is that I need someone to clean my chimney, inspect my chimney, fix my garage foundation, put on a roof, build a retaining wall, and cut down a tree in my yard. I tried to connect with businesses in my area that perform this work. I was looking to develop a relationship with them and give them my support and business; however, I cannot get a business to connect with me. Unfortunately, in doing this, they are missing out on not only my business, but I am sure the business of many others who were looking to do the same thing. This is so bad for their business and bad for me, a consume who can’t connect with a business.
Am I going to have to hire from out of town? Do my local businesses want more business? Are they interested in leads and generating more revenue? Why are they not responding? Do they have so many leads and revenue coming in that they don’t need anymore? Are they on there just to be on there and don’t know what to do? Did they abandon their pages? Do they get it? Is it me?
Spot says: Just lick their faces.
I feel I almost need a million dollars to do something totally drastic to get the attention of my local “peeps”. Let me provide you with some examples.
1. Have contacted over 100 businesses in my community about my services, knowing how much they are struggling, through mail, phone, social media, content, and email (I know. I know.). I have not received a single response. I am located in a resort community where business is seasonal. Things are tough in the winter. I see a lot of my local businesses are now on Facebook, which is great, but many of those accounts are abandoned because they did not know how to operate the page. Some of my local bars are even cursing up and down on their own pages. I also notice that they only have a Facebook page. There are so many other networks that could work for them. Also, social media is only a piece of a larger pie. If they wish to grow and gather leads and sales, they are going to need more than a Facebook page. With inbound marketing, they could flourish.
2. I have started a Linkedin group for my region of the country. I started the group on social media because that is the most popular topic people are seeking information on right now and I can help them use it to its maximum advantage. My group is shy. I seem to be the only person posting. No topics started, no comments, no questions, and no answers. They must be good listeners.
3. I belong to other social media networks where businesses can connect with other local businesses. My problem is that I have asked over 250 businesses in my local community to connect with me and maybe 10 of that 250 have connected with me. This is very confusing to me. I see the businesses are connected with other business members in the area, so why are they not connecting with my business? The downside of this is that I need someone to clean my chimney, inspect my chimney, fix my garage foundation, put on a roof, build a retaining wall, and cut down a tree in my yard. I tried to connect with businesses in my area that perform this work. I was looking to develop a relationship with them and give them my support and business; however, I cannot get a business to connect with me. Unfortunately, in doing this, they are missing out on not only my business, but I am sure the business of many others who were looking to do the same thing. This is so bad for their business and bad for me, a consume who can’t connect with a business.
Am I going to have to hire from out of town? Do my local businesses want more business? Are they interested in leads and generating more revenue? Why are they not responding? Do they have so many leads and revenue coming in that they don’t need anymore? Are they on there just to be on there and don’t know what to do? Did they abandon their pages? Do they get it? Is it me?
Spot says: Just lick their faces.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
- My son's teacher lost her 9 yr old son in an accident this morning before 7am to a drunk driver. Pra http://ow.ly/1a0Lm2
My son's teacher lost her 9 yr old son in an accident this morning before 7am to a drunk driver. Pray for the family. http://ow.ly/3aTAc
You know him from Monty Python, now check out his funny and educational corporate training videos. Amazingly non-boring. http://ow.ly/3aTvJ
Monday, November 15, 2010
- Social Media: Looking for a travel network? Try adventureus.com. http://ow.ly/3ab http://ow.ly/19ZxSO
Outbound Marketing average cost per lead = $332. Inbound Marketing average cost per lead = $134. 60% Lower Cost Per Lead! http://ow.ly/3ac3j
Getting found involves creating remarkable content and optimizing that content with your company's keywords. http://ow.ly/3abkM
Sunday, November 14, 2010
- - - Why brands should archive their Facebook pages http://ow.ly/38Zrs http://ow.ly/19WSJg http://ow. http://ow.ly/19YnX3ly/19YnX3
Saturday, November 13, 2010
- - Why brands should archive their Facebook pages http://ow.ly/38Zrs http://ow.ly/19WSJg http://ow.ly/19XEzC
Friday, November 12, 2010
I used these in 5th grade! That was the 80s though. Would You Pay $200,000 for an Original Apple Computer? http://ow.ly/38Zfy
Seriously Government?! Get off the high horse. IAmSpartacus: Thousands Tweet in Support of Convicted Airport Joker http://ow.ly/38YSN
You can register to attend the New Year's Eve Party at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago here. http://ow.ly/38TZJ
You can register to attend the New Year's Eve Party at The Wyn in Chicago here. Limited time early bird discount. http://ow.ly/38TPx
Tickets and Sponsorships Available for Two Extravagant New Year’s Eve Parties Planned in Chicago http://ping.fm/alk8y
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The ABCs of SEO
It's easier than learning your A-B-C's... So come on, come on, download the SEO Guide and see... You gotta pick your keywords. Come on, baby...
How FUN!
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- - $186,550 in less than 90 days from Linkedin Marketing http://ow.ly/36X6T http://ow.ly/19Tlo6 http://ow.ly/19Uz9p
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
- Don’t Drink and Facebook: New Plugin Mitigates the Fallout http://ow.ly/367vR http://ow.ly/19S8ho
Sunday, November 7, 2010
- - Google Instant Shows Positive Effect on Paid Search http://ow.ly/35wOT http://ow.ly/19Qemm http://ow.ly/19QYhF
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
- Help raise money for seniors. Fish Fry. Nov.12th, Pewaukee. All-u-can-eat fish, beer tasting, celebr http://ow.ly/19PrBp
Help raise money for seniors. Fish Fry. Nov.12th, Pewaukee. All-u-can-eat fish, beer tasting, celebrity wait staff, more! http://ow.ly/352RN
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
- - Parents, Check Your Candy, There’s Been A Recall http://ow.ly/33tdr http://ow.ly/ http://ow.ly/19N1Jp19N1Jp
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Twitter Updates Logos, Rules: Info On Logo Use, Screenshots, And Capital “T†Tweets http://ow.ly/32EMN
Deloitte: 2010 Holidays Hold Some Cheer For Retailers. Social Media Gaining Ground http://ow.ly/32BIm
Sunday, October 31, 2010
- - - Sponsorship opportunites available for both Chicago NYE parties at Wyndam and Palmer House. http http://ow.ly/19Ju42
Saturday, October 30, 2010
- - Sponsorship opportunites available for both Chicago NYE parties at Wyndam and Palmer House. http:/ http://ow.ly/19IMjP
Friday, October 29, 2010
Sponsorship opportunites available for both Chicago NYE parties at Wyndam and Palmer House. http://ow.ly/31Ele Contact me.
8th Annual New Year's Eve Soiree 2011 Chicago Wyndam! Celebrate with Yelp Chicago! Buy tickets here: http://ow.ly/31DAj
Facebook Launches ‘Friendship Pages’ To Document Relationships With Your BFFs http://ow.ly/31CCe
Thursday, October 28, 2010
How Google Instant Changes Inbound Marketing
Google instant is Google’s new search enhancement that shows the user results for their search query as they type. Google is promising to shave 2.5 seconds off each user’s search with this new upgrade
Here are some ways that Google instant will change your SEO and Inbound Marketing.
1. As users get used to seeing predictions for what they are typing in the search bar on Google, they will evolve to learn how to use more descriptive keywords in order to obtain results for exactly what they are searching for.
2. Shorter keywords are going to play the most important role. You should optimize for shorter keyword phrases and keep your copy brief as well as prominent.
3. When predictive results are shown as a Google instant user types, if the results as shown for three seconds or longer, Google counts this as an impression. You should closely monitor your PPC campaigns to see what changes are taking affect regarding your impressions.
4. There will be more competition for your shorter keyword phrases. As companies learn they would like to show up on the search results page for the first word the Google instant user types, competition for shorter keywords is going to increase. From one word to two words to three words, you will need to optimize for these keywords and monitor your competition’s changes.
5. Use Google instant to do your own keyword research. Imagine yourself as a consumer and use the new search to find your best and shortest keyword phrases. See what comes up as a result for the end user and target those keywords in your on-page and off-page SEO.
6. 68% of internet searchers click on the first page. Competition to be on the first page will increase. Watch your PPC Campaigns closely as your ads may now fall below the fold. You may need to adjust your keyword strategy. User behavior is also changing. Searchers will not be going to the second and third page as often any longer. Instead, searchers will adjust their search phrase in the Google instant search bar to bring the results they are seeking onto the first page.
7. Google instant did not include any algorithm changes. Your on-page and off-page SEO tactics will remain the same in accordance to how Google ranks your page for each item.
8. Things to watch. Things to watch that may change in the near future are: the way a user develops a search query, click patterns on the results page, and the method used to scan a page when looking for results.
9. Your longer keywords will not be the first results seen. However, when someone reaches your website from a longer keyword phrase, they will be a more qualified lead.
10. Google’s auto-complete results will gain more search volume and traffic. Again, test drive Google instant to configure your best keywords. Pay attention to the auto-complete suggestions and see how you can use those keywords to optimize your website.
Google instant is definitely one important factor to watch in the upcoming months as search patterns change. Monitor search behavior and adjust your SEO as necessary. You may wish to check your page rank on Google often until you are certain you have re-optimized your webpages to the best of your ability to align with the new Google instant and the new search behavior.
Here are some ways that Google instant will change your SEO and Inbound Marketing.
1. As users get used to seeing predictions for what they are typing in the search bar on Google, they will evolve to learn how to use more descriptive keywords in order to obtain results for exactly what they are searching for.
2. Shorter keywords are going to play the most important role. You should optimize for shorter keyword phrases and keep your copy brief as well as prominent.
3. When predictive results are shown as a Google instant user types, if the results as shown for three seconds or longer, Google counts this as an impression. You should closely monitor your PPC campaigns to see what changes are taking affect regarding your impressions.
4. There will be more competition for your shorter keyword phrases. As companies learn they would like to show up on the search results page for the first word the Google instant user types, competition for shorter keywords is going to increase. From one word to two words to three words, you will need to optimize for these keywords and monitor your competition’s changes.
5. Use Google instant to do your own keyword research. Imagine yourself as a consumer and use the new search to find your best and shortest keyword phrases. See what comes up as a result for the end user and target those keywords in your on-page and off-page SEO.
6. 68% of internet searchers click on the first page. Competition to be on the first page will increase. Watch your PPC Campaigns closely as your ads may now fall below the fold. You may need to adjust your keyword strategy. User behavior is also changing. Searchers will not be going to the second and third page as often any longer. Instead, searchers will adjust their search phrase in the Google instant search bar to bring the results they are seeking onto the first page.
7. Google instant did not include any algorithm changes. Your on-page and off-page SEO tactics will remain the same in accordance to how Google ranks your page for each item.
8. Things to watch. Things to watch that may change in the near future are: the way a user develops a search query, click patterns on the results page, and the method used to scan a page when looking for results.
9. Your longer keywords will not be the first results seen. However, when someone reaches your website from a longer keyword phrase, they will be a more qualified lead.
10. Google’s auto-complete results will gain more search volume and traffic. Again, test drive Google instant to configure your best keywords. Pay attention to the auto-complete suggestions and see how you can use those keywords to optimize your website.
Google instant is definitely one important factor to watch in the upcoming months as search patterns change. Monitor search behavior and adjust your SEO as necessary. You may wish to check your page rank on Google often until you are certain you have re-optimized your webpages to the best of your ability to align with the new Google instant and the new search behavior.
- PayPal and Facebook Team Up to Further Monetize Social Media http://ow.ly/31bis http://ow.ly/19GSNL
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
- With Facebook and Bing's partnership on social search, do you think Bing is going to gain more popul http://ow.ly/19FHmZ
What will they think of next? iPhone App Scans Product Barcodes for Self-Checkout at Stores http://ow.ly/30hd0
Monitoring Social Media: Google, eBay, Klout, and Constant Contact Talk About Tools and Case Studies http://ow.ly/30fPl
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Social Search – Another Reason to Start Inbound Marketing
No more need to ask your friends about a restaurant after you search for one. Bing and Facebook have partnered to bring you social search. It is going to revolutionize search, again. From now on, when you search for anything on Bing, the search engine will draw information that your friends have shared on Facebook from your query.
Liked Results will be one new Bing search option. This option showcases relevant items you have searched for shared by friends on Facebook. Bing explains that when a person searches for a restaurant in say San Francisco, Bing not only shows you listings in San Francisco for restaurants, but also establishments your Facebook friends like as well. If you think it’s still not time to start your inbound marketing campaign and set up your Facebook profile, you are going to be left in the dust. Those companies on Facebook with a Facebook Fan Page being liked by a large community are going to gain a tremendous amount of leads and sales over their competitors. Now is the time.
Bing will also be featuring a Profile Search which will display Facebook profiles matching your query. Bing states users perform people searches frequently on their search engine. Remember the last time you were searching for someone and had to search through various general web searches trying to find a profile where you could connect? Well, that just got easier. Bing will display Facebook profiles most relevant to you in your search query for that particular person.
Bing has made their social feature an opt-in feature. Therefore, you will not see any of the social search results unless you give Bing permission to display them to you.
Google already has a form of this with http://search.twitter.com/. Google also allows you to see results from people you are connected to in your Google Account. Looks like right now it’s Google and Twitter vs Bing and Facebook. This is only the beginning of how social is going to and is currently revolutionizing search and marketing.
Will this option persuade you to start using Bing instead of Google? Or at least give Bing a try? What do you think about social search? I’d love to hear your comments.
*Photo direct from Bing's website "Bing Likes Facebook": http://www.discoverbing.com/facebook/?fbid=1Tup-Fl9wDY&wom=false#step-1
Liked Results will be one new Bing search option. This option showcases relevant items you have searched for shared by friends on Facebook. Bing explains that when a person searches for a restaurant in say San Francisco, Bing not only shows you listings in San Francisco for restaurants, but also establishments your Facebook friends like as well. If you think it’s still not time to start your inbound marketing campaign and set up your Facebook profile, you are going to be left in the dust. Those companies on Facebook with a Facebook Fan Page being liked by a large community are going to gain a tremendous amount of leads and sales over their competitors. Now is the time.
Bing will also be featuring a Profile Search which will display Facebook profiles matching your query. Bing states users perform people searches frequently on their search engine. Remember the last time you were searching for someone and had to search through various general web searches trying to find a profile where you could connect? Well, that just got easier. Bing will display Facebook profiles most relevant to you in your search query for that particular person.
Bing has made their social feature an opt-in feature. Therefore, you will not see any of the social search results unless you give Bing permission to display them to you.
Google already has a form of this with http://search.twitter.com/. Google also allows you to see results from people you are connected to in your Google Account. Looks like right now it’s Google and Twitter vs Bing and Facebook. This is only the beginning of how social is going to and is currently revolutionizing search and marketing.
Will this option persuade you to start using Bing instead of Google? Or at least give Bing a try? What do you think about social search? I’d love to hear your comments.
*Photo direct from Bing's website "Bing Likes Facebook": http://www.discoverbing.com/facebook/?fbid=1Tup-Fl9wDY&wom=false#step-1
Have you optimized your SEO for Google instant yet? If not, watch this webinar for some tips on what to do. http://ow.ly/2ZwTW
Ready for Cross-Channel Ecommerce? Optimizing Ecommerce Experience; Trends for 2011 Download whitepaper from eMarketer. http://ow.ly/2ZwvU
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
- - - - - Interested in becoming inbound marketing certified? Classes are on my website. http://ow.l http://ow.ly/19Cfkvy/19Cfkv
Saturday, October 23, 2010
- - - - Interested in becoming inbound marketing certified? Classes are on my website. http://ow.ly/ http://ow.ly/19BvNy19BvNy
Friday, October 22, 2010
- - - Interested in becoming inbound marketing certified? Classes are on my website. http://ow.ly/2W http://ow.ly/19AKEi
Thursday, October 21, 2010
- - Interested in becoming inbound marketing certified? Classes are on my website. http://ow.ly/2Wzy http://ow.ly/19zCXh
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
- Interested in becoming inbound marketing certified? Classes are on my website. http://ow.ly/2Wzyd http://ow.ly/19yqQG
Webinar: Finding the ROI of Real-Time Engagement David Meerman Scott seeks to answer this question. http://ow.ly/2WzkQ
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
- - - Interesting.... It’s Not Just You: 71 Percent of Tweets are http://ow.ly/19uVV1
Saturday, October 16, 2010
- - Interesting.... It’s Not Just You: 71 Percent of Tweets are Ignored http://ow.ly/ http://ow.ly/19ubEE19ubEE
Friday, October 15, 2010
- Interesting.... It’s Not Just You: 71 Percent of Tweets are Ignored http://ow.ly/2U34r http://ow.ly/19tqmE
Hmmm... Sometimes it works, Sometimes is doesn't. TV Ads Perform as Well as Made-for-Web Ads - Yes and No. http://ow.ly/2U2cF
I ran across this. It's old.. What in the world! Man Arrested For Forcing Son To Wear Packers Jersey. 4 REAL? Tape? http://ow.ly/2U1AY
It's okay with me, but a little over the top. What do you think? FUN or CRAZY? In Wisconsin It's Packers Before Church http://ow.ly/2U1oO
Go Get 'Em!! Another lawsuit from Wisconsin Carry - an open carry advocacy group: http://ow.ly/2U1hF
Thursday, October 14, 2010
- Want your post on the top of Facebook's newsfeed? Here's some tips. Are you doing these or do you http://ow.ly/19siBB
Want your post on the top of Facebook's newsfeed? Here's some tips. Are you doing these or do you need an adjustement? http://ow.ly/2TIt4
Think that Facebook girl is a hottie? She just might be the Department of Homeland Security! http://ow.ly/2TIe0
Corona Light is featuring Facebook fans' photos on a 150-foot digital billboard in Manhattan's Times Square. http://ow.ly/2TIaq
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
- - - - - 8 Steps to Create Your Winning Social Media Strategy http://ow.ly/2Q3NN http://ow.ly/19ljOy http://ow.ly/19oW1i
Sunday, October 10, 2010
- - - - 8 Steps to Create Your Winning Social Media Strategy http://ow.ly/2Q3NN http://ow.ly/19ljOy ht http://ow.ly/19nTte
Saturday, October 9, 2010
- - - 8 Steps to Create Your Winning Social Media Strategy http://ow.ly/2Q3NN http://ow.ly/19ljOy http http://ow.ly/19na1n
Friday, October 8, 2010
- - 8 Steps to Create Your Winning Social Media Strategy http://ow.ly/2Q3NN http://ow.ly/19ljOy http://ow.ly/19mpmV
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Share your experience with other women. Be part of the Digital Women Project today! http://ow.ly/2Q430
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Trendrr is the latest “social media†dashboard — but it’s got your location too http://ow.ly/2Pxn1 socialmedia marketing
Women on Their Way Survey Finds Women Turn to Social Media While Traveling http://ow.ly/2Px48 socialmedia marketing
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Twitter sure is busy! View Twitter Through Other People’s Eyes With TwtRoulette http://ow.ly/2Ldll
Exclusive: Want Twitter to Help You Find More Followers? Pay Up For a “Promoted Account.†http://ow.ly/2Lcof
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Inbound Marketing Facebook Challenge - Facebook is fantastic social media tool for gaining new market share, spr... http://ow.ly/18ZHVr
The Inbound Marketing Facebook Challenge
Facebook is fantastic social media tool for gaining new market share, spreading news about your business, getting found, and developing a following. There are fabulous ways to increase your brand marketing through Facebook as well. With over 500 Million users, your possibilities are endless. Facebook Success Summit 2010 is sure to help you master Facebook marketing.
Although these are all great tools for marketers to jump for joy about, there are some challenges when it comes to marketing on Facebook. We all face our own Facebook marketing challenges and those challenges vary depending on our individual business needs. I am going to highlight the biggest Facebook marketing challenge I have encountered thus far.
How Do I Make Them Like Me? I find this to be the biggest challenge in Facebook today.
I set up a page for my business. I can search for friends. Those friends who decide to become my friend are only friends with my business page. They are not “Likes” of my fan page. There is no way to search for friends while you are logged into Facebook and have those friends “Like” your business fan page. They will always become friends of your business page instead.
I feel the friends of your business page do not even realize you have a business fan page to “Like”. Even though you may post something about your fan page on your business profile page, it is most likely overlooked. This causes businesses to double post content on both their business profile page and their business fan page in order to reach both audiences – those who are friends with the business profile page and those who are “Likes” of the business fan page. Double work. You can suggest your fan page to your friends; however, this does not seem to be very effective and those people are already friends of your profile page, so you are not reaching a new audience or gaining a new community member.
It would be more beneficial for friends to become “Likes” of your fan page. Reasoning for this is Facebook will only allow you to have 500 friends, at least last time I checked. If you reach this 500 mark, you are stuck. Your business can obtain unlimited “Likes”. That’s the catch. It would be much more sensible for your profile page friends to automatically become a “Like” of your business fan page.
And that is just hurdle number one.
Hurdle number two is trying to get friends for your business profile page. Yes, you can place your “Like” box on your website and you can compile your email addresses into a CSV File and use Facebook’s Friend Finder, but then what? Facebook doesn’t seem to be very business-friendly even though businesses are appearing on Facebook at a rapid rate. Have you tried to add a friend lately? “You cannot send this friend request unless you know Jane Doe. Facebook considers friend requests without knowing Jane Doe spam.” Or something like that.
Here we have a social networking site that does not allow you to socially network. If you add friends too fast, you are blocked from adding friends. If you add a certain amount of friends that have not responded to your friend requests, you are blocked from adding friends. (The downfall of uploading a list and having 100 people not respond to your friend request.) You cannot search out your target audience and ask them to be friends – it is considered spam to Facebook. So, businesses are supposed to network how? We aren’t allowed to do anything and this becomes a real challenge. Facebook is continuously deleting business profile pages, and personal pages for that matter.
If you are not a major brand that most of the population is familiar with, such as television shows, movies, sports, or major products, the odds of the general population searching for you are low. Facebook discourages you from searching for them. So, there’s the other catch. Stuck… again.
I feel Facebook needs to makes some changes to their policies. I have slowly started adding four friends per day in the past and have been blocked. My son’s personal profile was deleted. My orthodontist’s business page was deleted. A fan of my page my blocked. That is four instances just from my personal circle of family and friends. How many people and pages do you know that have been removed or blocked on Facebook? Check out Facebook’s help section on this topic in your spare time. It is full of people screaming, but of course, with no answer as Facebook does not have a customer service department.
Hey Facebook! Could you help us out here?
Although these are all great tools for marketers to jump for joy about, there are some challenges when it comes to marketing on Facebook. We all face our own Facebook marketing challenges and those challenges vary depending on our individual business needs. I am going to highlight the biggest Facebook marketing challenge I have encountered thus far.
How Do I Make Them Like Me? I find this to be the biggest challenge in Facebook today.
I set up a page for my business. I can search for friends. Those friends who decide to become my friend are only friends with my business page. They are not “Likes” of my fan page. There is no way to search for friends while you are logged into Facebook and have those friends “Like” your business fan page. They will always become friends of your business page instead.
I feel the friends of your business page do not even realize you have a business fan page to “Like”. Even though you may post something about your fan page on your business profile page, it is most likely overlooked. This causes businesses to double post content on both their business profile page and their business fan page in order to reach both audiences – those who are friends with the business profile page and those who are “Likes” of the business fan page. Double work. You can suggest your fan page to your friends; however, this does not seem to be very effective and those people are already friends of your profile page, so you are not reaching a new audience or gaining a new community member.
It would be more beneficial for friends to become “Likes” of your fan page. Reasoning for this is Facebook will only allow you to have 500 friends, at least last time I checked. If you reach this 500 mark, you are stuck. Your business can obtain unlimited “Likes”. That’s the catch. It would be much more sensible for your profile page friends to automatically become a “Like” of your business fan page.
And that is just hurdle number one.
Hurdle number two is trying to get friends for your business profile page. Yes, you can place your “Like” box on your website and you can compile your email addresses into a CSV File and use Facebook’s Friend Finder, but then what? Facebook doesn’t seem to be very business-friendly even though businesses are appearing on Facebook at a rapid rate. Have you tried to add a friend lately? “You cannot send this friend request unless you know Jane Doe. Facebook considers friend requests without knowing Jane Doe spam.” Or something like that.
Here we have a social networking site that does not allow you to socially network. If you add friends too fast, you are blocked from adding friends. If you add a certain amount of friends that have not responded to your friend requests, you are blocked from adding friends. (The downfall of uploading a list and having 100 people not respond to your friend request.) You cannot search out your target audience and ask them to be friends – it is considered spam to Facebook. So, businesses are supposed to network how? We aren’t allowed to do anything and this becomes a real challenge. Facebook is continuously deleting business profile pages, and personal pages for that matter.
If you are not a major brand that most of the population is familiar with, such as television shows, movies, sports, or major products, the odds of the general population searching for you are low. Facebook discourages you from searching for them. So, there’s the other catch. Stuck… again.
I feel Facebook needs to makes some changes to their policies. I have slowly started adding four friends per day in the past and have been blocked. My son’s personal profile was deleted. My orthodontist’s business page was deleted. A fan of my page my blocked. That is four instances just from my personal circle of family and friends. How many people and pages do you know that have been removed or blocked on Facebook? Check out Facebook’s help section on this topic in your spare time. It is full of people screaming, but of course, with no answer as Facebook does not have a customer service department.
Hey Facebook! Could you help us out here?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
- - - - - - - Move over, Shrek, 4 Japan's aquatic ogre-What r they talking about? This fish looks like http://ow.ly/18WrZg
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
- - - - - - Move over, Shrek, 4 Japan's aquatic ogre-What r they talking about? This fish looks like J http://ow.ly/18VrCR
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
- - - - - Move over, Shrek, 4 Japan's aquatic ogre-What r they talking about? This fish looks like JAY http://ow.ly/18Uqiv
Monday, September 6, 2010
- - - - Move over, Shrek, 4 Japan's aquatic ogre-What r they talking about? This fish looks like JAY L http://ow.ly/18TrM4
Sunday, September 5, 2010
- - - Move over, Shrek, 4 Japan's aquatic ogre-What r they talking about? This fish looks like JAY LEN http://ow.ly/18SD1T
Saturday, September 4, 2010
- - Move over, Shrek, 4 Japan's aquatic ogre-What r they talking about? This fish looks like JAY LENO http://ow.ly/18RZfG
Friday, September 3, 2010
- Move over, Shrek, 4 Japan's aquatic ogre-What r they talking about? This fish looks like JAY LENO & http://ow.ly/18RiGL
Move over, Shrek, 4 Japan's aquatic ogre-What r they talking about? This fish looks like JAY LENO & Nothing Like SHREK!!? http://ow.ly/2za7D
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Google Realtime Search - Get Up-to-the-Minute Updates from Social Media, News, and More http://ow.ly/2wrpC
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
New Year's Eve Sponsorships Available at Wyndam or Palmer House Chicago. Expecting 3500 Attendees. Get info here: http://ow.ly/2ve9z
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
If anyone has anything they would like to donate for this benefit, please let me know. Thank you. http://ow.ly/i/39k1
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
"Like" my facebook page. If you do it, you'll be cool. http://ow.ly/2nItf - You could friend me also at http://ow.ly/2nIrQ .
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
New Year's Eve Party Sponsorships available. Palmer House & Wyndam events with pre and post parties. http://ow.ly/2kDqI
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Dark Roast Media integrates Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes into its social game http://ow.ly/2hTgz
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Inbound Marketing - Where is it Headed?
We all know we should be doing inbound marketing. We all know inbound marketing has a proven success rate. But, do we know where inbound marketing is headed?
There are so many trends and so many changes taking place each day, it is hard to keep on track with your inbound marketing plan. What is trending and growing in inbound marketing today? What projections are there about what is going to explode in the future? What aspects of inbound marketing should I be concentrating the most on?
Fear no more! I have put together a compilation of charts, graphs, and stats relating to inbound marketing practices that will help you answer these questions. You will see the latest growth rates are as well as growth rates for the future.
Get your inbound marketing plan on track for the future and have valid stats to show for it.
You can download the presentation here:
The Future IS Inbound Marketing
There are so many trends and so many changes taking place each day, it is hard to keep on track with your inbound marketing plan. What is trending and growing in inbound marketing today? What projections are there about what is going to explode in the future? What aspects of inbound marketing should I be concentrating the most on?
Fear no more! I have put together a compilation of charts, graphs, and stats relating to inbound marketing practices that will help you answer these questions. You will see the latest growth rates are as well as growth rates for the future.
Get your inbound marketing plan on track for the future and have valid stats to show for it.
You can download the presentation here:
The Future IS Inbound Marketing
Friday, July 9, 2010
The Value of a Tweet
What do you think about magazine, newspaper, and other media charging their advertising clients money to tweet to their audience? Do you think that is playing nice or do you think they should be just following their clients and retweeting for free? I understand they couldn’t do that if their clients are not on twitter to follow.
I seen one that is charging $500 for one tweet to their approximately 13,000 subscribers. $500 for one tweet? How many of those 13,000 subscribers are actually logged onto Twitter in the next 20 minutes to see that tweet? Twitter moves so fast you need to scroll down a couple pages just to see what was tweeted in the last hour. Is this worth the value?
I understand why they are adding this to their mix. Social media is great promotion and has value. I feel like they are taking advantage of their unknowing clients by offering one tweet. Their clients who are not on Twitter will not understand that only a small portion of that number will probably even see that tweet. Maybe if they were tweeting several times during the month or so many tweets each week for four weeks – this may have a more significant value. What are your thoughts on this?
I seen one that is charging $500 for one tweet to their approximately 13,000 subscribers. $500 for one tweet? How many of those 13,000 subscribers are actually logged onto Twitter in the next 20 minutes to see that tweet? Twitter moves so fast you need to scroll down a couple pages just to see what was tweeted in the last hour. Is this worth the value?
I understand why they are adding this to their mix. Social media is great promotion and has value. I feel like they are taking advantage of their unknowing clients by offering one tweet. Their clients who are not on Twitter will not understand that only a small portion of that number will probably even see that tweet. Maybe if they were tweeting several times during the month or so many tweets each week for four weeks – this may have a more significant value. What are your thoughts on this?
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Social Media…Expert?
I answered a discussion on LinkedIn today, and it got me thinking… I think this is something I want to blog about. The ever growing list of social media experts out there. I know that last one is not a complete sentence.
Everywhere I look, I see Social Media Expert labeled as someone’s profession. Call me out wrong, but how can anyone be an expert on this subject? Social media is constantly changing and growing. It’s changing every day. Every day we learn something new from it. Since we are all learning, how can anyone be an expert? I, myself, have branched out to form my own social media marketing agency, but I could never call myself an expert. I have listened to all the webinars, attended all the seminars and several conferences, even studied to become certified, but I do not consider myself an expert by any means. I feel that would be a total misconception and I think most people would call me out on it as well. I think my potential customers might even be leery of the term.
I also notice tons of current marketing agencies out there adding social media to their mix. Do they know how to leverage social media? I do not know and cannot say. But I have this gut feeling that many are throwing it into the mix because it is rapidly becoming more popular and they feel they need to offer it. Do they have any training or experience with it? It’s right there on the home page: “Now offering social media”. This gets me thinking even more. Does the customer want a marketing agency that recently added social media to its many other services or do they want someone who specializes in just social media? That’s another ongoing question that has been in the back of my mind for some time.
While I’m on the subject, another thing I have noted is the increasing job postings for a social media manager. Now, on the job postings, companies are requiring the new social media manager to have a Bachelor’s Degree. Why? I can say with great probability that the majority of marketers out there did not receive lessons in social media while they were obtaining their degrees. It’s only been around for the last few years. Maybe a recent grad… That really makes no sense to me. Do the companies who are hiring the social media manager even know what they are looking for?
Questions… Questions…
Maybe someone can enlighten me.
Everywhere I look, I see Social Media Expert labeled as someone’s profession. Call me out wrong, but how can anyone be an expert on this subject? Social media is constantly changing and growing. It’s changing every day. Every day we learn something new from it. Since we are all learning, how can anyone be an expert? I, myself, have branched out to form my own social media marketing agency, but I could never call myself an expert. I have listened to all the webinars, attended all the seminars and several conferences, even studied to become certified, but I do not consider myself an expert by any means. I feel that would be a total misconception and I think most people would call me out on it as well. I think my potential customers might even be leery of the term.
I also notice tons of current marketing agencies out there adding social media to their mix. Do they know how to leverage social media? I do not know and cannot say. But I have this gut feeling that many are throwing it into the mix because it is rapidly becoming more popular and they feel they need to offer it. Do they have any training or experience with it? It’s right there on the home page: “Now offering social media”. This gets me thinking even more. Does the customer want a marketing agency that recently added social media to its many other services or do they want someone who specializes in just social media? That’s another ongoing question that has been in the back of my mind for some time.
While I’m on the subject, another thing I have noted is the increasing job postings for a social media manager. Now, on the job postings, companies are requiring the new social media manager to have a Bachelor’s Degree. Why? I can say with great probability that the majority of marketers out there did not receive lessons in social media while they were obtaining their degrees. It’s only been around for the last few years. Maybe a recent grad… That really makes no sense to me. Do the companies who are hiring the social media manager even know what they are looking for?
Questions… Questions…
Maybe someone can enlighten me.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
- - - Last Day to enter Cabinet Vac Father's Day Contest. http://ping.fm/5eClh http://ow.ly/17HMur ht http://ow.ly/17J0zw
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Were You Fooled Today?
For those not familiar with what is going on: HubSpot sent out a message today that their IMU was shut down due to due to a cease and decist order from an attorney and to click to save Hubspot IMU. I clicked and it made me join Captain Inbound's ning group who says he's the only one not hit with the cease order and he's trying to keep his identity a secret but Hubspot would be sending secret codes we needed to figure out so they didn't get caught and we could help stop the cease order and get them back up and running.
Well, I checked out the lawyer. Whois directory says her website was created in April 2010. Phone number unlisted. No address on cease letter they put up. It's a one page website. The Marketing company who hired the lawyer - same thing - cruddy site, whois directory says website created in Apr 2010. No letter can make them stop either. Only a judge.
Within the hour I had figured them out. A few select of us as well. I felt bad because they probably planned this staged shutdown for a long time and we called them out on it in an hour.
Hubspot has a page up that you can find saying that they not in any trouble and it's game they are playing to make us all secret agents and come together as a community because their research shows that when you play a game with someone, you become closer to them and develop a better relationship. Of course, some people are upset because they wasted their time and they were duped.
But just for one moment, besides their excuse to use it as a community building exercise, think of all the twitters, etc. they are getting from this publicity stunt. Twitter is already flooded with people tweeting about the shutdown and it's not even true. All their secret missions where to talk about hubspot, sign up for hubspot, become a Facebook fan of Hubspot, etc. Clues were given in their book that you have to buy. They are generating a tremendous outdoor of SEO from twitter and Facebook, etc. right now.
I find this to be absolutely brilliant marketing. They took email addresses to sign up and help Hubspot (lead generation). They asked you to tweet to your followers to help Hubspot (social media promotion and gathered more lead generation). The blog spots, the Facebook Fans, and on and on.... Another lesson for the day. If you create remarkable content, you will create SEO and social media promotion.
This also gave them the opportunity to take all people affiliated and immediately start their own community... fast.
Any other feedback on what happened today?
Subscribe to my eNewsletter for more information on Social Media.
Well, I checked out the lawyer. Whois directory says her website was created in April 2010. Phone number unlisted. No address on cease letter they put up. It's a one page website. The Marketing company who hired the lawyer - same thing - cruddy site, whois directory says website created in Apr 2010. No letter can make them stop either. Only a judge.
Within the hour I had figured them out. A few select of us as well. I felt bad because they probably planned this staged shutdown for a long time and we called them out on it in an hour.
Hubspot has a page up that you can find saying that they not in any trouble and it's game they are playing to make us all secret agents and come together as a community because their research shows that when you play a game with someone, you become closer to them and develop a better relationship. Of course, some people are upset because they wasted their time and they were duped.
But just for one moment, besides their excuse to use it as a community building exercise, think of all the twitters, etc. they are getting from this publicity stunt. Twitter is already flooded with people tweeting about the shutdown and it's not even true. All their secret missions where to talk about hubspot, sign up for hubspot, become a Facebook fan of Hubspot, etc. Clues were given in their book that you have to buy. They are generating a tremendous outdoor of SEO from twitter and Facebook, etc. right now.
I find this to be absolutely brilliant marketing. They took email addresses to sign up and help Hubspot (lead generation). They asked you to tweet to your followers to help Hubspot (social media promotion and gathered more lead generation). The blog spots, the Facebook Fans, and on and on.... Another lesson for the day. If you create remarkable content, you will create SEO and social media promotion.
This also gave them the opportunity to take all people affiliated and immediately start their own community... fast.
Any other feedback on what happened today?
Subscribe to my eNewsletter for more information on Social Media.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
How to use Facebook for your business:
• Apply keywords to your profile for Search Engine Optimization
• Link to your blog in posts for other viewers to read
• Connect to your twitter and other accounts and feed timely updates to your connections
• Brand management – You can display your portrait or logo on your pages
• You can search and see company profiles
• Ability to build and maintain a meaningful network
• Join groups and gain insight and knowledge. You can also use groups to find new connections, ask for help, ask questions, and find resources
• Ask and answer questions. You can showcase your knowledge and expertise by answering questions.
• Create your own group targeting your audience
• Point fans/friends to your blog or contest
• Discuss topics and participate in discussions
• Place a call to action on your page
• Highlight events you are attending or events you are hosting
• Engage your audience with relevant and valuable information
• Use for establishing credibility, lead generation, PR, events, reputation, crisis management, customer relations, knowledge, and thought leadership
• Post pictures of your products or team members
• Post pictures of customers/client showing satisfaction from your company product or service
• Post and comment frequently
• Showcase your company’s sponsorships – post pictures of banners, t-shirts, etc.
• Know your target audience and find them where they are
• Be clear on your objective
• Monitor and participate in comments on your wall
• Find unique ways to encourage people to like your page or be friends with your company
• Use videos if you have them. Show videos from your team speaking about your product or service. Show videos of your product being used or displayed.
• Do not hard sell
• Do not censor comments
• Do not spam
• Do not post false information on your page
• If you have a page as a company, make sure your real name and photo are also displayed somewhere as well
Follow this list to help expand your reach and grow your connections with Social Media Marketing.
• Link to your blog in posts for other viewers to read
• Connect to your twitter and other accounts and feed timely updates to your connections
• Brand management – You can display your portrait or logo on your pages
• You can search and see company profiles
• Ability to build and maintain a meaningful network
• Join groups and gain insight and knowledge. You can also use groups to find new connections, ask for help, ask questions, and find resources
• Ask and answer questions. You can showcase your knowledge and expertise by answering questions.
• Create your own group targeting your audience
• Point fans/friends to your blog or contest
• Discuss topics and participate in discussions
• Place a call to action on your page
• Highlight events you are attending or events you are hosting
• Engage your audience with relevant and valuable information
• Use for establishing credibility, lead generation, PR, events, reputation, crisis management, customer relations, knowledge, and thought leadership
• Post pictures of your products or team members
• Post pictures of customers/client showing satisfaction from your company product or service
• Post and comment frequently
• Showcase your company’s sponsorships – post pictures of banners, t-shirts, etc.
• Know your target audience and find them where they are
• Be clear on your objective
• Monitor and participate in comments on your wall
• Find unique ways to encourage people to like your page or be friends with your company
• Use videos if you have them. Show videos from your team speaking about your product or service. Show videos of your product being used or displayed.
• Do not hard sell
• Do not censor comments
• Do not spam
• Do not post false information on your page
• If you have a page as a company, make sure your real name and photo are also displayed somewhere as well
Follow this list to help expand your reach and grow your connections with Social Media Marketing.
Monday, May 24, 2010
The benefits of LinkedIn for Social Media Marketing
• Apply keywords to your profile for Search Engine Optimization
• Install apps on your profile, such as your blog for other users to read
• Connect to your twitter account and feed timely updates to your connections
• Brand management – you can see who is viewing you. You can display your portrait or logo on your pages. Questions you have answered will appear on your profile.
• You can search and see company profiles
• Ability to build and maintain a meaningful network
• Join groups and gain insight and knowledge from your professional network. You can also use groups to find new connections, ask for help, ask questions, and find resources
• Get recommended to help enhance yourself as a service provider or read recommendations if you are seeking one
• Distribute polls for valuable marketing feedback
• Ask and answer questions. You can showcase your knowledge and expertise by answering questions.
• Install apps on your profile, such as your blog for other users to read
• Connect to your twitter account and feed timely updates to your connections
• Brand management – you can see who is viewing you. You can display your portrait or logo on your pages. Questions you have answered will appear on your profile.
• You can search and see company profiles
• Ability to build and maintain a meaningful network
• Join groups and gain insight and knowledge from your professional network. You can also use groups to find new connections, ask for help, ask questions, and find resources
• Get recommended to help enhance yourself as a service provider or read recommendations if you are seeking one
• Distribute polls for valuable marketing feedback
• Ask and answer questions. You can showcase your knowledge and expertise by answering questions.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
- Seen the cool Cabinet Vac yet? Enter to win one for Father's Day for Dad on their Facebook Page. htt http://ow.ly/17tqRu
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Seen the cool Cabinet Vac yet? Enter to win one for Father's Day for Dad on their Facebook Page. http://ow.ly/1OiF0
Thursday, May 20, 2010
- - - - Poll - Please, take my poll regarding outsourcing social media.http://ping.fm/2IIMu http://ow. http://ow.ly/17rBhply/17rBhp
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Why SEO is important to your marketing plan
With over 14 billion internet searches performed each month, your business’s internet presence is of highest priority. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is most effective for online conversions, reducing marketing spend, and increasing sales. SEO is the process of allowing search engines to find your site, index it, categorize it, and rank it.
Important factors in SEO are adding new content often, having your site organized logically, placing keywords in content and in external text links, and the quantity of quality sites linking to your site. The most important factors are: keywords and links. Implementing a strategic SEO plan will allow you to reduce costs on pay per click advertising as well. Your site will rank high enough to be placed in the top organic sites of Google’s page rank system. Organic listings have a 60% - 70% click through rate.
Some ways to check for good keywords are to read your site content thoroughly and jot down the most commonly used phrases. You can also check your competitor’s site and see what keywords they are using to drive traffic to their website. Some keyword research tools you can use to help you are: Google insight, Wordtracker, and SEM Rush.
The best positions to place your keywords are in your title tags, headings, paragraph titles, body copy, link urls, image alt tags, and meta tags. These are the places the search engines deem most important in finding relevant information on your site and indexing it correctly. You should allow approximately two concepts per page and each page should have its own keywords, unique page title, and unique meta description.
To help you with external links, find directories to list in and link your blog. You can use Yahoo explorer api to see who’s linking to your competitors and what keywords they are using. Some other link analysis tools are Linkscape and Buzzstream. Also, be sure to link consistently site wide. Links will build traffic to your website and they let the search engines know that your site is important. Always use keywords in links and try to vary the keywords.
Be sure to use all your social media applications as well. Create them with keyword rich content and relevant links using your keyword variations. Social media networks are a tremendous tool that can create multiple links to your website and improve your search engine rankings.
Apply these techniques and soon you will be reducing your overall marketing costs and increasing your online conversions.
Important factors in SEO are adding new content often, having your site organized logically, placing keywords in content and in external text links, and the quantity of quality sites linking to your site. The most important factors are: keywords and links. Implementing a strategic SEO plan will allow you to reduce costs on pay per click advertising as well. Your site will rank high enough to be placed in the top organic sites of Google’s page rank system. Organic listings have a 60% - 70% click through rate.
Some ways to check for good keywords are to read your site content thoroughly and jot down the most commonly used phrases. You can also check your competitor’s site and see what keywords they are using to drive traffic to their website. Some keyword research tools you can use to help you are: Google insight, Wordtracker, and SEM Rush.
The best positions to place your keywords are in your title tags, headings, paragraph titles, body copy, link urls, image alt tags, and meta tags. These are the places the search engines deem most important in finding relevant information on your site and indexing it correctly. You should allow approximately two concepts per page and each page should have its own keywords, unique page title, and unique meta description.
To help you with external links, find directories to list in and link your blog. You can use Yahoo explorer api to see who’s linking to your competitors and what keywords they are using. Some other link analysis tools are Linkscape and Buzzstream. Also, be sure to link consistently site wide. Links will build traffic to your website and they let the search engines know that your site is important. Always use keywords in links and try to vary the keywords.
Be sure to use all your social media applications as well. Create them with keyword rich content and relevant links using your keyword variations. Social media networks are a tremendous tool that can create multiple links to your website and improve your search engine rankings.
Apply these techniques and soon you will be reducing your overall marketing costs and increasing your online conversions.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
How to Blog Effectively for Business - First, make sure you have all components of your blog in place: header, side... http://ow.ly/17o4JT
How to Blog Effectively for Business
First, make sure you have all components of your blog in place: header, sidebar, content, and enable comments. Your side bar should have information that is value to your readers and will create interaction. This includes links to your own website and a possible blogroll that is relevant to your topic that will provide more information valuable to your readers. Comments need to be enabled in order for you to interact with your readers and will also allow your readers to leave feedback on your blog. Your header should create a visual tone of your company's blog. The most important piece of information that I can give you is to create value content for your readers. This will keep your readers coming back and your readers will in turn, promote your blog. If you are blogging for a company, do not only post information relating to your organization. You should always post information that is appealing to your target audience.
There are several different layouts to choose from when creating your blog. Two column layout: post column and sidebar, two column layout: sidebar and post column, three column layout: sidebar, post column, sidebar, three column: post column, sidebar, sidebar. Which you choose is up to you, however you need to make sure your content is clean, readable, and easily navigated. You do not want your readers to get lost in your blog. The blog needs to be organized extremely well.
Here are some questions to ask yourself: How many people will be blogging? Am I comfortable editing the template? Will I host on my own site or on a blogging site? Will I subscribe to a free or paid service? Do I have the time to blog? Do I have people to blog? Can I commit to this blog from here on out with no expiration date? Do I have happy, passionate bloggers? These questions will help you decide how you begin your blogging practice and how you set up your future blog site.
The three best practices that I incorporate into my blog are: sidebar information, valuable posts for readers, enabling comments. Here, in the near future, I will have my sidebar information up to par for my readers so they can also read on to other sites with valuable content for them. All future blogs will create valuable content for my readers with topics they may be interested in with regards to blogging and social media. I have enabled comments on my blog for reader feedback so that I may interact with my readers and gather their opinions on topics and my posts themselves.
There are several different layouts to choose from when creating your blog. Two column layout: post column and sidebar, two column layout: sidebar and post column, three column layout: sidebar, post column, sidebar, three column: post column, sidebar, sidebar. Which you choose is up to you, however you need to make sure your content is clean, readable, and easily navigated. You do not want your readers to get lost in your blog. The blog needs to be organized extremely well.
Here are some questions to ask yourself: How many people will be blogging? Am I comfortable editing the template? Will I host on my own site or on a blogging site? Will I subscribe to a free or paid service? Do I have the time to blog? Do I have people to blog? Can I commit to this blog from here on out with no expiration date? Do I have happy, passionate bloggers? These questions will help you decide how you begin your blogging practice and how you set up your future blog site.
The three best practices that I incorporate into my blog are: sidebar information, valuable posts for readers, enabling comments. Here, in the near future, I will have my sidebar information up to par for my readers so they can also read on to other sites with valuable content for them. All future blogs will create valuable content for my readers with topics they may be interested in with regards to blogging and social media. I have enabled comments on my blog for reader feedback so that I may interact with my readers and gather their opinions on topics and my posts themselves.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Where do you stand on the new Facebook issue?
Facebook overcame google this week for the most weekly US traffic. But with all the privacy issues they are dealing with overcoming the web, what will become of Facebook? One of the top Google searches this week was "How do I delete my Facebook account". Subscribers are in an uproar over the way Facebook has spread their information across the world wide web. But, there is one group of people who are not upset about this change: marketers. What has recently happened is a marketers dream. And sharing information across all social media channels, including Facebook with new apps has never been easier causing a lot of time saving. So, how do you feel about this issue? Has Facebook gone overboard? Are you going to be deleting your Facebook account?
Friday, May 7, 2010
Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing is mandatory in today's marketing world. Conversations with your audience is essential. The 2.0 web world is full of social interaction, including informational sites, reviews, and discussions. Making a personal connection with your target market through your business is key. Customers will then look at you as a person and not just a business. You will be able to develop a relationship based on a personal connection and trust.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Trust eMedia
Trust eMedia is a Social Media Marketing studio located in Southeastern Wisconsin. President, Tracy Terry, noticed a need for Social Media Marketing for many area businesses. As an experienced marketer, Ms. Terry is sure to make the most of this promising business.
After attending several events and seminars over the last few years, Ms. Terry noticed that all the Social Media Marketing workshops were the most full. "Everyone wants to know about it. It is constantly changing. Social Media is changing fast than marketers can learn how to use it," stated Tracy Terry. Seems that among the hundreds in attendance for each seminar she attended, less than 1/3 were actually using social media. Tracy Terry stated, "Most marketers did not know how to get started or they just do not have the time. Social Media is very time consuming, but is extremely beneficial."
Thus, Trust eMedia was formed. Not only does Trust eMedia offer Social Media Marketing packages, but Ms. Terry has also brought into the business her expertise in other areas as well, such as: radio negotiations and ad copy, graphic design, digital design, enewsletters, press release writing and distribution, powerpoint presentations, logo design, and email marketing campaigns. With an already established contact list, businesses are sure to receive the most from Trust eMedia.
For those businesses who know they need to jump on board before they miss the boat, but just do not have the time or the start up knowledge, call on Trust eMedia for all your Social Media Marketing needs. Visit http://www.trustemedia.com/.
After attending several events and seminars over the last few years, Ms. Terry noticed that all the Social Media Marketing workshops were the most full. "Everyone wants to know about it. It is constantly changing. Social Media is changing fast than marketers can learn how to use it," stated Tracy Terry. Seems that among the hundreds in attendance for each seminar she attended, less than 1/3 were actually using social media. Tracy Terry stated, "Most marketers did not know how to get started or they just do not have the time. Social Media is very time consuming, but is extremely beneficial."
Thus, Trust eMedia was formed. Not only does Trust eMedia offer Social Media Marketing packages, but Ms. Terry has also brought into the business her expertise in other areas as well, such as: radio negotiations and ad copy, graphic design, digital design, enewsletters, press release writing and distribution, powerpoint presentations, logo design, and email marketing campaigns. With an already established contact list, businesses are sure to receive the most from Trust eMedia.
For those businesses who know they need to jump on board before they miss the boat, but just do not have the time or the start up knowledge, call on Trust eMedia for all your Social Media Marketing needs. Visit http://www.trustemedia.com/.
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