Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

There are a lot of different ways to say the same thing. Anyone who has performed keyword research knows that people search for a lot of the same things using very different phrases and terminology. For example, if you’re looking to build your online business, you could search for: internet marketing, website marketing, online marketing, website promotion, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, SEO, and a dozen other variations.

Or if you’re a physician looking to manage health records online, you could search for: EHR, EMR, electronic health records, electronic medical records, medical software, personal health records, practice management software, and so on. One of the problems many business owners and SEOs come up against is how to optimize their site for each of these variations that all potentially mean the same thing.

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Operating an online business has a lot of advantages over brick and mortar shops. But, contrary to what many believe, being online is not the holy grail of business success. Brick and mortar stores have been successful, to varying degrees, for millennia. Comparatively, the web is barely a twinkly in Al Gore’s eye.

Unfortunately, many would-be business owners plunge ahead in this new marketplace as if it were some magic beans that will suddenly grow into a giant money tree. To be fair… for some, it has. But for the most part, these online business successes are rooted in the old-school business brick and mortar business philosophies. What has changed are the methods of marketing and advertising used to generate new and repeat business.

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A few months ago a long-time client of mine was launching a new site. They wanted us on board to manage the SEO efforts of the new site, so we had been actively engaged through the design/development process. As they got closer to a launch date, the client wanted to to get a handle on what their expectations should be.

Understanding expectations for business growth is important for any business owner. If you don’t have some idea of what to expect, you’re kinda flying blind. You can’t plan, budget, or hire, unless you have an idea of what’s coming down the way.

Setting client expectations isn’t easy. We live in a sales oriented world and people want to hear how you’re going to bring them vast sums of wealth with the magical arts of SEO. Unfortunately, it’s never that easy.

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Your competition should play an important role in your research before you move forward with any SEO, PPC, or online marketing campaign. In fact, it’s generally a good idea to do a fair amount of competitive research before you build a website or even decide what industry or niche to focus your efforts on.

Competitor knowledge isn’t the most important aspect of building a successful online business. You still have to be a good manager, know your product or service, and be able to sell, sell, sell! But, gaining competitive knowledge early on can help you guide your online marketing efforts into the most effective direction.

Do You Know What I Know?

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A few months ago I exited my local Wal-Mart and found a “gift” wedged between my driver side mirror and the door of my Dodge Dakota pick-up truck. It was a small gray box with a business card sticking out. The card was from Marc Caviglia of Don Weir’s Reno Dodge. What was the gift? A mini tool-box for my truck:

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Over the past ten years or so the Internet has busted the doors of “free stuff” wide open. More and more we are able to get cool things for absolutely no charge. Blogging platforms such as wordpress are free. WordPress addons are free. Many iPhone apps are free. Blogs and newspapers provide free content online. You can download TV shows and songs for free (legally or not.) And you can connect with your friends for free via IM, MySpace, facebook, twitter, and a host of other free social networking platforms. I could go on.

The era of “there’s no such thing as a free ride” is coming to an end. So many things are free now days I often wonder how anybody makes money anymore, especially competitors trying to sell what someone else gives away.

But free works. This has been true long before the web was invented.

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When was the last time you ran a search for your own, or your company name on Google? If you’re interested in how you rank amongst your peers, you might find it interesting to check it out. Do you monitor your reputation?

Searching a name as uncommon as Stoney deGeyter, you may not be surprised to find him in all of the top ten results, but each and every one of the top one hundred results are either articles Stoney has written himself or are about him. I stopped checking after page 10.

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Unlike many in our industry I’m not against what some consider annoying forms of advertising and marketing. I don’t have a problem with cold calling, I don’t think all unsolicited emails are spam and I don’t think there is anything wrong with direct mail.

Many of these things are frowned upon in the SEO industry, and I understand why. It’s because there has been an abundance of “SEO” companies that engage in these methods, perform crappy service and ultimately rip people off. Every industry has its thieves. The ones in the SEO world have created a black mark that makes the entire industry look bad and has caused many in our industry to frown on legitimate forms of advertising.

Before I go any further, let me state I’m not for blind cold calling or email spamming. Good marketing via direct mail is highly targeted, not just sent to random addresses. The same holds true for cold calling and email marketing. Good and proper marketing rules must be followed if you want your business to succeed long term.

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Speed Dating Networking
Have you ever speed dated? I’ve been married long enough that I’ve not ever had the opportunityneed to attend a speed dating meeting, yet I’ve seen it on TV. (wow I feel like I just almost made a bad quote, “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.”)

Last Night I attended Charity Speed Networking as part of Small Business Marketing: Unleashed and it was FUN. Honestly, if I were single, I may seriously consider speed dating if I was looking for someone with common interests.

Do you know how this works? Well let me tell you. We had one long row of tables, and along one side we had the “movers” and on the other side, the non moves. We were given three minutes to talk to the person across the table from us, and then the movers got up and moved down one seat to talk with the next person.

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Buying software is so 1999. I mean seriously, who wants to buck up and spend upwards of $500 on an office suite when you have bills to pay and lattes to drink. Plus, with everyone’s exciting New Year’s resolutions in full swing, saving money may be even more appealing. Enter the world of free web-based software and open source software. This list is obviously not comprehensive, nor authoritative, however, these ten programs are the ones I found most useful during 2007.

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