Spending will go up while cost per lead is 62% less. That’s for starters.
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/jLslF1
Tag Archives: Marketing
Google Ups The Ante With +1
I love the wild west feel of the web. I really do. And yet I am starting to feel like the gunslinger who has to look for trouble in every town. lol
Amplify’d from www.cainbrian.com
Marketing with Google|Google is getting Social!
Google is getting social baby! Have you seen the new Google +1? The new Google +1 Button is the answer to Facebook’s Like button. What does this mean for you? Marketing with Google means you need to get social! You have to become popular if you want to get free traffic with your SEO in your attempt at Google Marketing.
Right now Google just has the +1 button, and if it becomes big (which it will), then you may risk another Google Slap if you are not on board which will directly affect your Google Marketing. Now if you are using a PPC method, go ahead and continue to pay a ridiculous amount of money just to reach your target market. We like to do things for FREE. We like to hang out on the left side of the Google page. So if you want to get Free traffic as well, then continue reading.
The Google +1 Button currently just acts as a recommendation to your network of friends. It sort of acts like a big highlighter and says, “hey, I visited this site and I like it – you should forget about all of the other search results and check this site out as well.” This specific button has not yet impacted the rankings on search results, but I guarantee that it will! It would be in your best interest if you already do your Marketing with Google to hop on board now while it is still pretty much in pre-launch.
This is the action you should take right now, create a Gmail account; set-up your Google Buzz account within your Gmail account; start to +1 all of your sites and sites that you feel would be beneficial as an association (this one maybe? lol). You also want to build your connections on Google Buzz so that others can view your +1′s. Google Buzz is similar to the social site, Twitter. It doesn’t seem as functional …yet. However, it would be a good idea to incorporate and use Google services as well so that you can soak up the benefits, especially if you want to Market using Google for Free.
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/kvhkQp
30 Best Internet Marketing and SEO Blogs You Should Follow – tripwire magazine
So much great free information!
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/haqeg7
Google’s algorithm to give consumers, retailers & publishers the blues?
Maybe this was the reason behind their stance on net neutrality…
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/bFGtn7
Time and Fear Are Artificial Constructs
This came back to me full force yesterday at a networking meeting.
The conversation centered around the failure of so many small businesses to utilize social media. There were a lot of reasons but the two most offered were time and fear.
There is absolutely no question that marketing takes time. Marketing is a strategy to make or keep a brand top of mind. It can’t be accomplished without a strategy and ongoing effort.
Many business owners believe they can’t devote time to any type of marketing because they’re so busy working. I get that. Every dentist knows when there’s no drilling there’s no billing. Still there had to be a way to get that person with the aching tooth in the door.
Every entrepreneur is an optimist. You have to be. That’s different from believing your product is so incredibly useful/innovative/time-saving/fill in the blank that people will come rushing to you. Money in hand. Screaming for your product. Without you lifting a finger to promote it.
Another comment was fear. The online world doesn’t support ongoing B2C efforts at least not for long (spam filter anyone?). The online world is C2B©. Customers are in charge here. They search for what they want when they want. If you happen to have what they want when they want it everybody wins! You’re not online? Well somebody wins just not you.
It’s scary to put yourself out there. Have you really considered what would happen if you became extremely successful? It changes your life. Maybe that’s way scarier than commiserating with others who are “doing okay, surviving, keep their heads above water”.
How do we support small business owners to get past these false reasons for not taking advantage of the opportunities of social media?
Have You Become Simply Proficient?
It’s become difficult to find anyone who thinks “No Child Left Behind” turned out well. We expected our kids to become proficient.
The payoff to the school was so important that subjects not on the proficiency tests were dropped from the syllabus. In at least one local high school in Toledo the physics class deleted the chapter on simple machines like pulleys, cranes and wheels. I didn’t know you could learn physics without that!
But, alas, it’s not on the test. Art and music? Why waste time on something so tangential to real learning?
Mark Edmundsen’s piece in the New York Times The Pink Floyd Night School is a reminder that we need to do other things than simply increase our facts base.
Are you learning more and more tactics for your particular niche? Are facts and figures your stock in trade? Is the information you’re sharing with clients findable elsewhere online?
By themselves these tasks are fine. But how are you adding to the knowledge base? That requires original thought. The ability to synthesize unrelated parts of the world. A tremendous amount of looking at things other than your specialty.
Pass the proficiency test and you’ll find clients who need your services. Get a reputation for creative problem solving using your technical skills and clients will find you.
This Is The Year Of Strategy
I had a recent conversation with a family member who was trying to figure out what to use for money on a vacation. He wants plastic because some places require it but he doesn’t believe in using credit cards to fund the trips. So he was puzzling out the best way to divide up the cash.
Reloadable credit card? That costs ~$10 to start and $6 a month. Open a bank account and use an ATM card? The minimum balance, fees and hassles made that very unattractive. Cash? That’s easiest but he’s driving not flying and out of state plates can be mighty attractive to thieves. Traveler’s checks? Not any safer than cash. Use his regular debit card from his bank? Nah, he doesn’t really want to mix the vacation money with his regular deposits.
Sigh.
This example is typical because the more the choices we have the harder it is to make one. The internet is changing so fast that I’m feeling overwhelmed. You and your clients probably are too. The challenge? When overwhelment takes place thinking stops.
You can reach a client in ways unimagineable only ten years ago: Twitter, Facebook Fan Pages, Google Buzz, Google Wave, LinkedIn, SMS, RSS, blogs. Email was around albeit utilitarian.
Here’s a great video that illustrates just how quickly reaching and touching someone has changed over the last few years.
How to decide what’s best for you? This is the year of strategy. The year you pick and choose without the pressure to be everywhere all the time. The year you may not have the option to jump on one place then jump to another and then another. Help clients develop one and you will set them, and yourself, up for long term success.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://i0.wp.com/img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png)
Accountability – It’s Not Just For Finance Experts
We seem to be moving into a new era: Accountability for everyone in the business world. No longer are we allowing advertising and marketing to take our dollars in exchange for hope.
I love internet marketing, search and social media optimization. I take the greatest pleasure in helping business owners increase their exposure →their business→their sales→their profits. If I can’t do that I am just another consultant, another person who took money in exchange for nothing.
I can’t work like that. I have a pay for performance philosophy now. I am going to start demanding it of the vendors and suppliers who work for me.
When You're A Hammer Everything's A Nail!
When planning for January and the rest of 2010 I had to really think. Google says it’s trying to get rid of SEOs and that’s my hammer.
Here’s the thing…
I love what I do. Helping business owners use the exact right words to position their online activities and attract new customers they could not have found otherwise? Empowering businesses to use the internet for sales and marketing instead of just using search to find other people’s stuff? There is no better feeling in the world! At least not for me.
Should I “re-invent” myself? Honestly I would like to just continue to be. But that’s not the world I chose. Seventy percent of all current workers are in no growth jobs (that means no wage growth either) so staying the same really means going backwards. Doesn’t sound like much of a plan for me. I prefer the chaotic, never stops changing, mad world of the web. So I guess I’ll take a deep breath instead of a breather.
My current nail is invisible websites. What else can I use my hammer for? Don’t know yet but one thing is for sure. The world is not going to slow down just to let me figure it out.
Success Trafficker 