Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
Christmas Season is about ready to come to a close. You have already missed
the cut-off to purchase items online and to receive them at your door before
Christmas. In a couple of days you will be cleaning up wrapping paper, returning
unwanted items and planning your New Years Resolutions.
But, I wanted to talk about things I learned from shopping at Twitter.
- You get honest opinions. No need for reviews…. just ask
your followers any kind of product questions and they will respond honestly.
I asked about Moon
Sand. My daughter was bugging me about it and I had no idea what is was
and whether it was something I should get her. So, I asked my Tweeps:
And, my Tweeps told me honestly how they felt.
Who needs to search for reviews and testimonials on websites when you have
pure Word of Mouth or I suppose I should say “Word of Tweets”.
- Find Awesome Deals - I previously wrote a post about using
Twitter as a Sales Channel. And, it totally is!! You can subscribe to
@Woot and @AmazonDeals
and get notified of their daily deals. eCommerce sites and businesses are
beginning to realize the importance of using Twitter as a Sales Channel. You
can follow these businesses on Twitter and cash in on the sweet deals.
- Retweets - The Power of Retweets!! You can find some truly
amazing deals just by listening to the retweets of the items that your tweeps
thought were hot deals. That is exactly how I found my father’s Holiday Gift.
Mark Hayward, who
ironically wrote about the value of retweets, had posted a retweet about
The Flip that Andy
Beal had originally sent out. Even though I follow Andy
Beal I had missed his original Tweet, so I am very thankful that Mark
sent out this retweet….
I own a Flip Ultra Series and love my Flip. It is what I use to create my
video posts. My father was so impressed with my videos that he asked to
borrow my Flip. Well, thanks to Mark’s retweet I purchased my father a Flip
for the Holidays. Check it out…
And, then I announced my purchase….
… and then the power of Twitter began. Check it out!!
I told Carolyn Shelby
that I loved my Flip and she landed up purchasing one too. Wowzer!!
- Using Twitter Search to Find Amazing Deals - I’m not sure
many people are aware of the power of Twitter Search yet. It is a fantastic
tool when used correctly. Here is a super quick tutorial. Let’s say you wanted
to see if you can find a Nintendo DS for your son on Sale. Go to Twitter
Advanced Search and enter the following information. Enter the word "Nintendo
DS" (without quotes) into the "exact phrase" box.
And, enter "sale" (without quotes) into the "Any
of these Words" box.
Click on Search. The results you should get should point you to sites and
information on how to get the Nintendo DS on Sale in Real Time.
And there ya go. Twitter helped me big time this year with Holiday Shopping.
I know it is too late to use my fabulous methods to pick up sales this Holiday
Season. But, use these tips all year long to pick up Rock’n deals for you and
your loved ones.
I wish you and your loved ones the Happiest of Holidays and a Wonderful
2009!!
Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Tips and Tutorials, Twitter, Videos, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics | 10 Comments »
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Right now SES
Chicago is going on….. the only major Search Marketing Conference and
Expo in the Midwest. I had the good fortune of being able to interview Amanda
Watlington of Searching
for Profit…. She was on the panel of the Podcast & Audio Search Optimization
session. Here is my interview with Amanda.
Q. Why Podcast? Who Should be Podcasting….. And who shouldn’t
be?
A. Podcasting allows the brand
owner/entrepreneur to extend the brand’s reach with the powerful medium
of sound. The entire media landscape is very fragmented, and interrupt advertising
is increasingly ineffective. A podcast lets the medium bring the message without
interruptions or noise. Because of the portability of podcasts, there is a unique
opportunity to develop deep brand engagement and loyalty from time-shifting
listeners downloading the podcast for at their convenience listening. We are
preconditioned to tune in our radio dials to favorite shows. Now we can essentially
tune in to our favorite podcasts, download them and listen at any time.
Almost any business can podcast, but this does not mean that everyone should.
Podcasting has been embraced by indie musicians as a means of getting a wider
audience for their music, technologists eager to stay in touch with the changes
to occur almost daily in fast-moving technology fields and by those who provide
spiritual counsel, advice and prayer. These types of podcasts dominate the directories.
There are also a wide range of podshows that feature business advice, quirky
humorists or political pundits of every type.
The most important point in deciding whether to podcast or not is to decide
whether the user will find your audio content valuable and interesting. Another
key decision point is to decide whether the podcast will be a one-off or part
of a longer series. It takes a lot of effort and preparation to develop a series
that has a broad following. Sustaining the effort at the same level of interest
is very hard. If, for a moment, you question whether you can sustain the effort,
step back and reconsider.
Q. Why is Podcast & Audio Search Optimization so important?
A. Search is the single best
tool on line for capturing potential interested listeners. In looking at search
and podcasting, I try to look across the continuum of interested parties. The
media site, an aggregator of audio content, search can be a powerful tool for
bringing in those looking for “mp3 download.” A site with a number
of features on “techno music” would want to target keywords that
included “techno music” and “download techno music.”
An artist’s site would want to expand its reach by using search keywords
that included the band’s name and the genre. Search connects the audio
and the user.
Audio search optimization is really multi-part. The site page describing the
audio will be found on search engines so it is important to do SEO on the page
to ensure its relevance for the keywords that describe the podcast content.
An RSS feed is a vital distribution mechanism for the podcast content, so this
must be optimized. Finally, the audio file itself must be optimized since the
ID3 information is useful to listeners who might want the information contained
to relocate you or to learn more about the podcast – information that
you can encode in the ID3 tags. Whether you are optimizing the podcast episode’s
landing page, the feed or the ID3 tags the goal is the same – to make
the podcast findable to users of the various types of search technologies that
provide information on audio.
Q. Is search optimization for Podcasts and Audio much different than
the search optimization one would do to a Web Page?
A. It is only different in that
you must essentially optimize three different entities, each of which has its
own tactical requirements. It is not difficult to optimize the landing page.
It is basic SEO. Optimization of the RSS feed is very slightly different in
that it requires astute attention to how the TITLE and DESCRIPTION are written.
It is also a technical implementation – not a difficult one I might note.
Optimizing the audio file similarly requires doing a few easy steps meticulously
and carefully.
Q. I noticed that most Podcasts on blogs that they also had the content
written out in readable form…. Is this a must for SEO?
A. The discussion of whether
to include a full or partial transcript is a topic often debated among audio
content optimizers. One school of thought is to put entire transcript on the
landing page and in the ID3 tags of the audio file. Another school contends
that a keyword-rich summary should suffice. In my opinion there is no really
right answer since it is often impractical to create a transcript both in terms
of time and cost, so it becomes beyond the resources available. In those cases,
a keyword-rich summary would suffice. The summary and transcript are for the
user and for search engines. The summary is the minimum level. The ideal for
both user and search engine is to include a full transcript in the page content
and in audio file. Is a full transcript a must for SEO? Not really. For a long
rambling podcast, it is possible to create a rich summary that may perform better
in search than a diffuse transcript. There is no hard fast rule.
Audio optimization is really a matter of simply remembering how the optimization
elements will be used. The key elements are the audio file, the landing page,
and the RSS feed. Attention must be paid the unique requirements of each of
these constituencies; otherwise it neither complex nor difficult.
Thank you so much for your wonderful interview, Amanda. It totally was a pleasure to interview you. Podcasting is an area I would love to try and this interview just makes me want it even more.
For the rest of you Marketers, SEO professionals, Webmasters, Business Owners
or anyone interested in Search… if you are in the Chicago area the rest of
this week SES Chicago is still going on. And, it is definitely a must attend.
Posted in Interviews, SEM, SEO, Tips and Tutorials, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics | 5 Comments »
