Archive for the ‘Web 2.0’ Category
Monday, December 21st, 2009 |
I mentioned in my last post how you can use
Twitter to get new customers simply by answering questions. But, if you
don’t know how to find tweople who are asking questions then this simple way
of getting new Customers won’t be that simple.
So, without further ado I will explain how to use Twitter Search to increase
followers and potential customers.
How to Use Twitter Search to Increase Followers and Potential Customers
*You want to find people who are talking about or asking questions about
your Niche. For this example we will use DVD Players…. as if you run a DVD
Player Business.*
- Go to Twitter Search and enter "DVD-Players" into the box (without
the quotes around it). Press enter. It will look something like:
- Read through the Realtime results for dvd-players and see if there is anybody
asking questions that you can answer. Or, perhaps just have a conversation
with one of the tweople. Remember that Twitter is not about one side talks,
but instead it Twitter
should be a conversation.
- Here are some examples of some of the tweets the tweople left and possible
replies you could leave in response to them. This will give you an idea of
how to have a conversation with them. And also how to use Twitter Search to
answer questions and as part of the customer service end of your business.
Examples of How to Use Twitter Search to Increase Followers
- Below is a really cool tweet. Yes, there isn’t a question to answer, but
I bet you could come up with something cute that would make you stand out.
Something that will cause @ladybugbows
to follow you. How about this???
Reply with something cute to get their attention like, "A family
that has their own DVD Players Stays Together".
- Here is a really great chance to make a person from Twitter into a customer….
Offer a Coupon Code:
- Straight forward questions need straight forward answers.
Just as if you were handling customer service at your place of business, answer
questions via phone calls or emails… Twitter
can be a medium that you can handle customer service as well. Answer questions
where you can and become known as a Specialist in your field.
- If you know something that others don’t know share your knowledge. This
tweeter’s DVD Player lost his power cord due to a hungry pet….. he needs
help. Can you help?
But, what if you knew something that could help? Offer the tip or suggestions….
you might even get a sale from it.
And that is pretty much it. See how easy that is and yet Twitter Search
can be super powerful way to not only increase your Twitter Followers, but to
increase your Customers.
Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Media for Small Business, Social Networking, Tips and Tutorials, Twitter, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 |
I was fortunate enough to attend the Information Architecture Session at IM
Spring Break and I’m so glad I did. This session was another brilliant one
as the panel consisted of Steve
Plunkett, Todd
Malicoat and Carolyn Shelby.
For those of you who don’t already know…. Information Architecture is the
way a website is organized to make it user-friendly as well as search-friendly. You want users
to not only easily discover the site, but be able to follow the information
on the site so they can easily get to their ultimate destination. Without the
proper information architecture you might be bringing the wrong kind of viewers
to the website. Or, you might be getting the right type of viewers, but they
can’t locate what they need once they get there. Could you imagine a viewers
frustration if this happened? Trust me…. they would never come back once they
have those kind of struggles on your site.
A bad information architecture outcome can be virtual suicide for any website,
but with the help of this amazing panel they have brought us all one step closer
to Information Architecture Nirvana. So, without further ado…. here
is what went down at the Information Architecture Session at IM Spring Break.
First up was Steve Plunkett
Steve spoke about Information Architecture and how it affected Search.
The three categories that he went into detail about was…
- Collected Data Structure
- Search Evolved: File Management – DAO ( Digital Asset Optimization )
- Conversions and Forms
Collected Data Structure
- Domain authority
- Directories, flash and filenames (see Digital Asset Optimization)
- Activity within record, references, file changes, relocations.
- Bounce rate (www/email/groups)
- Segmentation
Search Evolved: File Management & Digital Asset Optimization
Steve when into great detail talking about the fact that Search has changed.
No longer is it just about optimizing a website, but also other digital assets
such as….
- PDFs - There are 25 fields in .pdf that you can optimize for Google.
- Spreadsheets
- Feeds - RSS Segmentation
- Social profiles
- employee cost
- personality research
- Video/flash
- Podcasts
- Whitepapers
- Games/widgets
- Images
- Analytical challenges
** Steve pointed out that EVERYTHING you do points back to domain
name. Name all of your files, images, PDF’s with keywords and domain name.
Conversions and Forms
- Conversion paths - users answer questions in a form and then they land
on a page that delivers tailored content to their specific answers.
- Conversion reporting
- Email database
Things to Remember
- Help search engines find your site by building your website in a search
friendly data structure
- Leverage content by optimizing digital assets
- All search results are not created equal. Always keep the end in mind (conversions)
to provide value for SER
Next up is Todd Malicoat
As far as Information architecture goes Todd Malicoat gave us some awesome
tips for two different types of websites: The Blog and the eCommerce site….
Blog
- Use snippets - Instead of having the entire post on the
front page Todd suggests using just snippets. This way there is no duplicate
content on the site.
- link to your best posts - Put a section on your blog that
lists your "best of" posts.
- funnel pagerank and anchor text
- automated internal linking - Automated internal linking
keeps pages themed and helps older posts. Related Posts plugin for WP helps
to automate the improvement of building an internal link structure
- Tag clouds - Not always great to use - dupe content and
dilutes link pop
eCommerce
- Link to top selling products - home page, every page, body
- Use another word other than "Home" for the Home page….
such as the name of your product.
- French Fry Pages - These type of pages offer little value
and dilute link population (such as the privacy policy page)
- sitemaps- These work great for very large sites work well.
They help funnel the juice.
Todd explains that search engines aren’t as smart as some might think….
"Search engines are smart…but not that smart. You really want to spoon
feed them the information you want them to have."
Next up was Carolyn shelby
Carolyn talks about how to determine the best architecture model for
our needs….
- All in One - everything on the homepage
- Flat - all pages peers, every one accessible from each
- Hub and Spoke (Daisy) - useful for multiple, distinct linear
workflows
- Strict Hierarchy - lower-level pages can only be accessed
via its parent
- Multi-Dimensional Hierarchy - many way of browsing to the
same content
Content Creation - Create an outline (Yes, a real outline)
- She mentions if you don’t know how to do an outline you really
need to go back to school to learn. It is just that important.
- define the site topic
- Do keyword research - pay attention to the phraseology
that your audience uses; pay attention to most common search phrases; explore
your niche to get ideas for additional topics.
- Mingle with the peasants - interview customer service,
talk to sales people who deal with the public, read consumer reviews (online,
offline, wherever), talk to non-your-industry people about your topic. This
where you can get some of the best and clear ideas.
Some tips that Carolyn mentions…
- Remember we are not Normal - Carolyn mentions that due
to the industry we are in and the experience we have in search …. "We
are not normal…we do not search like regular people…we’ve been touched…"
So, in order to remedy this we need to think outside of the box when it comes
to Content Creation and Research.
- Check your 404 logs to see what people are typing in as
a "guess". This can help identify the terms the site’s audience
uses.
- Don’t forget the Logs - As far as Keyword Research goes
Carolyn says, "Keep track of internal site search logs. Look for clues
in access logs."
- Keyword Research Tool - She also mentions a great site
to use to get keywords is SeedKeywords.
- Don’t forget to Think outside of the Box - Carolyn even
mentions that she has even used a more nontraditional method to this that
really works. She has her daughter’s friends come over and then she asks
them, "If you were to search for "such & such"
how would you go about finding information on that?" And,
without offering them any help she watches what they enter into search to
find the information on that topic. She watches step by step how they go about
getting information on that topic. Here she gets a real clear
answer on how some people might search for a certain topic.
Carolyn did a recap of both of her IM Spring Break Sessions
on SEO 101. So, make sure to check that out.
It was another awesome session at IM Spring Break. Steve, Todd and Carolyn
gave us a bunch of really terrific information to insure our success with Information
Architecture. Remember, it is your job to make sure that when readers or users
come to your website they can quickly find the information they are looking
for. One way to lose a user forever is to make finding what they want
difficult. Follow the suggestions and tips this amazing panel gave you… and
you will be on your way to information architecture bliss.
Above image
by Dana
Lookadoo
Posted in Conferences, SEM, SEO, Tips and Tutorials, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics, Websites | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 |
If you wanted to know how to use Build a Brand Using Social Media
then this session was the one to attend. Jeff
Quipp, Brian Chappell
and Li Evans
were an amazing combo…. Together they were the perfect mixture of How-to,
tips, suggestions, visuals….. absolutely all the facts needed to give you
a good start in Branding.
Jeff Quipp discussed the How-to’s of branding by going into great detail on
what Social Media can do for Branding. Brian Chapell added his thoughts and
tips on monitoring your brand and Li Evans finished off this amazing session
on Building a Brand with video and photo sharing.
All three speakers made sure to cover everything from the most basic to more
complex. They gave us the social media recipe to whip up the best branding dish
for any company…. large or small.
Here how it all went down…
First up was Jeff Quipp
Define Your Brand - How do you want your Brand to stand out?
Many Businesses often wonder what Social Media can do for them. Jeff did a
really great job at explaining this in great detail.
Social Media Helps….
- Create awareness of the Brand
- Communicate the Company’s / Product’s Key Messages
- Instill trust in the brand
- Naturally propagate the crafted message(s)
He goes on to explain the 3 Steps to Branding via Social Media
- List the Key Messages
- Determine the best content formats to convey your messages
(video, audio, text)
- Craft the content - Must support the key messages you wish
to convey…. at least for branding purposes.
Some ways to do this….
- "just in time" blogging
- make the news- do something sensational!
- resource/educational posts
- the message must reflect positively on the company!!!
- Determine the best Social Media to Employ
- Test the Content
- If the Key is in getting others to carry the chosen messages forward….
test it first (if its not news)
- Refine content and retest
- Using the solicited feedback, refine the content. Retest, again soliciting
feedback.
- Network to Promote
- Get involved in the chosen social media
- start befriending others and promoting their GOOD content
- Be sure to promote good content!!!
- Seek out key influencers and particularly support their stuff.
Brian Chappell was up next
Brian immediately reminds us that "You have to make sure you know your
target audience…. otherwise you are wasting your time. Social Media is not
a salt shaker. You can’t apply social media marketing tactic onto regular strategies
to see success. Social media can not be an after thought…. has to be thought
of at the core of marketing initiatives."
You need to be creative…. there is no cookie cutter approach
to Social Media.
Brian urges us to extend our brand off of our site…. secure names elsewhere
so no one tarnishes our brand. He suggests Streko’s site CheckUserNames.com
as a good place to do this.
Must Monitor & Interact in Real time
Social Monitoring Benefits:
- Product Development
- Customer Service
- SEO / Marketing Initiatives
- Monitor your Competition
Don’t forget about SEO
Empower your customers - Let them build the ad, create your
idea and implement new product offerings.
Next up was Li Evans
Building a brand through Social Media - Through Video & Photo Sharing
I love that Li went into using Video & Photo Sharing to build a brand through
Social Media. For someone like me who is very visual I can understand the importance
of branding this way.
Li starts with, "So you have serps and links….now what?
How do you get people to remember you?"
Branding is essential. Even your avatar is important. Li reminds us that our
avatar is who we are…this is how people relate to us.
Tips
- Make sure your avatar is your brand.
- Make sure your pictures are saying things about your brand
- Start your own group and encourage people to share their pictures / videos
and join the group.
- Extend your brand and talk to the people that are part of the group.
- Bring influence of the brand into the picture.
- Don’t forget the Tags!!
- Keep your marketing consistent - ex. icon / logo on videos and photos
- Brand your Channels - w/ consistent colors
- No matter how small your company Branding Matters!!
- Don’t forget about branding even in Local.
- Optimizing is fundamental
- Research where your audience is.
**YouTube - YouTube beats Yahoo for searches. That’s pretty cool. And,
it shows us how important videos can be in Search.**
Li ends with saying that “Branding and Being Social Is Key”
So, as you can see it was another amazing session at IM Spring Break. Follow
the Branding Recipe that Jeff Quipp, Brian Chappell and Li Evans suggested and
I have no doubt you will be off to a great start with using Social Media for
Branding purposes.
Posted in Conferences, SEM, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, StumbleUpon, Tips and Tutorials, Web 2.0 | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 |
This session was amazing. It reminded me a lot like a baseball line-up. Before
you start thinking that I totally lost my mind let me explain a bit why I say
this.
First up to speak was Neal Rodriguez.
And, speak he did!!
In baseball the first player in the line-up is generally a person that is fast.
A player that has a great potential to steal bases. He gets the rest of the
line-up motivated and ready to play their hearts out. And, this is what I feel
Neal did during this session. He motivated the audience and got them ready for
the rest of the game.
Seriously, he could have been talking about cleaning the lint out of my laptop
keys and I would have listened intently to everything he said. He had me wanting
to stand up and cheer with excitement just by listening to his passion and watching
him talk about something he felt strongly about.
Social Media in the Grind ‘09
Neal explains how Social News is directory that’s unbelievable. Social News
are the stories that make you go "WTF!"
Unbelievable is part of the ingredients to the entire recipe. Stories need
to be compelling and controversial.
Assault the reader!!
Make your reader say, "Hell Yeah!"
To Do that:
- Do your homework - Study sites that make the front page
frequently. * Di66.net *
- Reciprocity - Help your fellow socialites. The Key to any
relationship. * Source - DiggStatistics.com
*
Neal reminds us that "The More you do the better your will
get at it."
In baseball the middle of a line-up has the power hitters. These are the baseball
players that have a great chance of getting a home run. These are the players
you can count on for giving you what you came to the baseball park to see. In
this case that is David
Snyder and Todd Malicoat.
David Snyder spoke about "How not to utilize Social News and Bookmarking"
He reminds us that the keyword is "Social". Social
News & Bookmarking exist as a place to center conversations and sharing
around content. And, the end user is the most important part of this process.
How Social News and Bookmarking can be used by marketers….
- Not an end means, but a tool to increase visibility of content, and conversation
around content.
- You get what you give from Social Media
DON’T
- Hire people for pushes where you pay based on the outcome
- "Push" content without first thinking about the community
- Approach social bookmarking as a business looking to engage.
The next power hitter up to bat was Todd Mailicoat
He spoke about "How to sell social media marketing for in house
SEO’s"
- Show a Competitor
- fear
- uncertainty
- doubt
- greed
- Show the Stats
- digg
- delicious
- reddit
- stumble
- buzz propeller
- Introduce the Concept - The plan
- Show the Value
- Explain the Value of the links
- theme value
- power source
- outbound links
- unique linking domains
- placement
- age
- Explain why link baiting and viral marketing
- global link popularity
- sometimes anchor text (based on title)
- Better Rankings
- Links competitors can’t get
- Close the Concept
- Add the Bonus - lots of traffic and branding
So, as you can see this entire session was amazing….. it kept me on my toes
wanting to start the wave.. All three speakers hit the ball out of the park
and kept the audience happy and cheering for more. No doubt in my mind…. A
Win!!
Posted in Conferences, SEM, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Web 2.0 | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 6th, 2009 |
After spending four days in Florida with the IM Spring Break crowd and attending
the conference & enjoying the parties at night It didn’t take me long to
realize that this is hands down the best conference I have ever attended. And,
from reading others tweets I come to the realization that this conference is
a "must attend". In case that wasn’t enough to get you to realize
you should be totally bummed you decided not to attend the IM Spring Break Conference
here are a ton more reasons you should Kick your own Ass for not attending IM
Spring Break.
- Small conference….. big knowledge. I know small isn’t
always, the best description of something wonderful. But, trust me on this
one. What I think made this conference so amazing was the small size. I had
a chance to sit down with practically everybody and have a nice conversation.
At no time did I feel rushed to hurry a conversation so that I could find
the next one to talk to. There was plenty of time to get to everybody.
- Intimate Conversations - Due to the small size of the Conference
I was able to have some wonderful intimate conversations with not only Industry
Leaders, but the awesome guys running the whole show. That has never happened
to me…. but on the first day I shared lunch with Loren Baker and his beautiful
wife, Janna.
- The Best of the Best in our Industry speaking on Search,
Social and Internet Marketing - Loren, Dave
and Jordan
made sure to get some of the best in our industry speaking on the panels….
making sure we were learning everything from the most knowledgeable in the
field.
- The Q & A’s after with amazingly awesome top secret info…..
seriously, TOP SECRET. Only people that were there have the benefit of hearing
the information. And, even if something wasn’t covered in the Q & A’s
there was plenty of time for conversations with the speakers later. If you
are beginning to the get the feeling of kicking your desk for not attending….
I can understand.
- The food, the YUMMY food. And, I am not talking simple
meals. I’m talking about meals that knock your socks off by simply looking
at the colorful presentation. Loren, Dave and Jordan spared nothing to make
sure we ate like Kings and Queens.
- Open Bar - The attendees of IM Spring Break were offered
Open Bar every night. Do I really need to say anything else about this? I’ll
just repeat it….. Open Bar EVERY Night.
- The pool - A Gorgeous pool that many of us got to enjoy…..
whether we wanted to jump in or not. Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to
personally thank Streko
for my shoes just finally drying.
- Poker Games - Yes, we even had poker. And, even though
there were some winners and some losers from the looks of everyone participating
we enjoyed ourselves either way. I even managed to spend some money during
Poker just watching… Not sure how that happened.
- Arm Wrestling Neil Patel - At what other event could I
have a chance to kick one of the Speakers Ass’s in Arm Wrestling. I doubt
anywhere else. But, at IM Spring Break I was offered the chance to do just
that. I took Neil up on the offer to arm wrestle and I fought really hard
to beat him. Unfortunately, I totally got my ass kicked. I’m pretty scrappy,
but he must be freakishly strong for his small size. He also took $20.00 from
me from losing.
- Beautiful Friendships - While at IM Spring Break I was
fortunate enough to build beautiful friendships that I have no doubt that
will last a lifetime.
- Free Chiropractor on Call - We can all totally use a good
back massage from time to time. And, there were plenty to go around at IM
Spring Break….. thank you Chiropractor
Mike.
- Killer DJ - At the indoor BBQ Party there was some awesome
music during the open bar and dinner. I mean, I’m talking killer music. Thanks
to Steve Plunkett
for giving up his yummy dinner to make sure to keep us totally happy until
the live band started. Proof the music rocked is in the pics my friend…
- Lots of Dancing - Steve had the music playing for 2 hours
until the live band started. Giving us 2 hours extra to dance…. and dance
they did!!
- Live Band - Yes…. Loren, Dave and Jordan spared absolutely
no expense to make sure the attendees of the conference were kept happy and
entertained the entire time. They hired a live band to get people out on the
dance floor. But, it turns out they were just the opening band for a rock
band MUCH larger….
- SEO Rock Band - This might come as a total surprise to
you, but many of the leaders in our wonderful Industry are also musically
gifted. Our very own David
Szetela and Jeff
Quipp surprised all of us by announcing that they were going to get on
stage and entertain us with The SEO Rock Band. And, they were good. No, I’m
lying….. they were freakin awesome!! Like, I’m talking about lighter waiving
and girls screaming kind of awesome. But, that wasn’t the end of it….Loren
Baker and Tony Adam
got on stage with them and were just as amazing making up their own SEO lyrics
to popular songs. It was so much fun. Still not over…. I got more. Brasco
from WebMaster Radio sang La Bamba perfectly. I mean, perfectly. Steve
Plunkett did some singing as well… as did Aaron
Chronister’s beautiful fiance, Jenny. It was an amazing night with some
of the best fun I have ever had. Many of us want to know when the SEO Rock
Band’s CD will be coming out…. it truly would be a must buy!!
… and the lead singer even had his groupies:
- Neil Patel made me Breakfast - I’m assuming that Neil
was feeling bad for hurting my ego the night before in arm wresting, but whatever
the reason he made me a toasted bagel, went out of his way to find the exact
type of cream cheese I wanted and spread it on my bagel. Thanks, Neil….
it was an awesome bagel.
- Drinking being part of a session - The wonderful Tony Adam
brought out beers for everybody during his IM Business session. He was going
through his 9 Steps to get people excited about what you are doing. And, as
he pointed out sometimes you just need to "take a break and knock
one back!!" I agree, Tony.
- Milk & Cookies - Thanks to Allyson
Fergison, aka SEOaly
we all were able to enjoy her homemade
cookies. Allyson was the very lucky winner of the free pass to IM Spring
Break. She was so excited to have won she apparently didn’t know what to do
with her pent up energy that she decided to bake like a mad woman. And, a
mad woman she was….. she came to the conference with 600 freshly back chocolate
chip cookies. Could you imagine this happening at a huge conference? No, I
don’t think so. I’m telling you… small intimate conferences is where it
is at!!
- Rock’n Keynotes - We got to hear some of the best keynotes
I have ever heard. The keynotes were from Chris
Winfield, Neil Patel
and Rae Hoffman.
Really, really great stuff…. all three were totally passionate and equally
motivating. The best combination.
- Sushi baby - I will have to admit…. I have never had
sushi. I have always been afraid to try it because of the fact it is raw fish.
But, upon being pushed to try it…. try it I did. Oh My God…. it was so
good!! I am now sushi’s biggest fan.
- Bacon Explosion - At the IM Spring Break BBQ Party the
food continued to be just as impressive as any of the other meals that the
gentlemen of IM Spring Break provided for us. This meal had a BBQ
flare. But, the highlight of the meal had got to have been the Bacon
Explosion. This dish was thought up by Aaron Chronister and loved by everyone
I spoke to that night. I can’t even describe the taste to you…. just trust
me when I say it is like no other. And, you have got to experience it for
yourself. Yep, just another reason you should be kicking your own Ass for
not going to IM Spring Break.
- Appearing on Webmaster Radio - Webmaster Radio was at the
conference the entire time and many of the attendees of IM Spring Break appeared
on Webmaster Radio being interviewed. Even I was one of the lucky ones. It
was so much fun!! I felt like a superstar.
- Weight loss - Apparently the more you eat the more weight
you lose. It probably has something to do with the fact that you
can eat healthy even at a conference.
Okay, you still don’t believe me that this was the conference of the year???
Don’t take my word for it…. check out what Alysson Fergison had to say about
it. Her tweet totally sums up my entire post…
Just to let you know….. IM
Broadcast has other conferences coming up in the future. They mentioned
doing one in the next few months in California and another Scary SEO in October…
this time in Atlantic City. So, keep an eye
out for the next IM Broadcast Conference and sign up. Otherwise….
you are totally missing out on the best Marketing, SEO, and Social Media Conference
out there!!
Thank you to those who allowed me to use the wonderful photographs they took
during IM Spring Break. Most of the photos on this page came from either Janna
and Loren Baker at the IM
Spring Break Facebook Fan Page, Rafael
Montilla and Dana
Lookadoo’s Flickr Page. So, make sure to check out their photo pages so
you can check out the rest of the IM Spring Break pictures.
Posted in Conferences, Parties, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Web 2.0 | 11 Comments »
Friday, April 3rd, 2009 |
The first session of IM
Spring Break on Social Media day was "Creating Content for
Social Media – How to create the content and make it stick".
Kenny Hyder, Greg Finn and Brent Csutoras were on this sessions panel and what
a Rock’n job they did. It was an awesome session!!
First up was Ken of PositionTech.
He started with "Content is King. And, if your content sucks
it won’t go anywhere." And, moved on to explaining that it
takes more than just ideas. Your content needs to be compelling. To show this
Ken compared the two sites Watch
it Shred with Will
it Blend. Both of these sites have a very similar type of viral content….
Watch it Shred has videos of many different items that they put through a large
shredder to see if it will shred. Will it Blend puts many different types of
items into a blender to see if they will blend. They both started their YouTube
accounts around the same time, but Watch it Shred has 3,553 subscribers while
Will it Blend has 178,164 subscribers. Why such a huge difference? Because of
the question, "Will it Blend". And, this question
causes the viewer to wonder…. will it in fact blend? See, questions
need answers. Viewers watch to find out…. will it blend. The question is compelling.
Kenny offers some tips….
Tips to make your content sticky
- Think about what has done well.
- Be compelling - how can I intrigue my readers?
- Think about your audience
Next up was Brent Csutoras
Brent starts off talking about how Businesses often wonder how social media
pertains to them. What should I write about…. how is my product going to work
in social? How am I going to participate?
But, Brent assures us it doesn’t have to be the most extreme thing. Social
Media can apply to anything.
For a company to come up with things to write about he suggests….
Step back & Identify your:
- Social Goals - What do you ultimately want? Do you want
more links? More traffic, etc..
- Desired Keywords - what do you want to be known for? What
do you want people searching for when they find you?
- Related Keywords - loosely related terms.
Once that is done the Research begins.
Research social sites for what has worked for others or failed
for others, Check competitors and see what they are doing, and Check Search
Engines.
Some tips that Brent suggested were…
Tips
- Involve your staff - memos. Keep all informed of plans.
- Current events - watch them and use them. People love what’s going on right
now.
- Avoid "10" - Top 10 gets old fast.
- Don’t accept crap and don’t push crap either. Throw it in the trash.
Next up Gregg Finn of 10e20
who spoke about Tactics for Creating content.
Gregg starts talking about content and what makes for bad, good, great and
pants crappingly awesome content. Yes, I did say, "pants
crappingly awesome" content. You are dying to know what that means huh?
This is how Gregg defines it…
Pants Crappingly Awesome Content
- Content that stands out
- Readers Can’t stop reading it
- Takes serious man hours to create
- Extremely well written
- Great looking
- Immediately vote and IM friends about it.
Gregg then goes into some detail about the Do’s & Don’ts of Creating Content…
Do’s
- Be comprehensive. Make sure your content is inclusive.
- Be consumable - Make it so the reader doesn’t have to read
every word for them to understand it.
- Be Relevant - Make sure your message is on point, content
"fits" on your site.
- Be Niche - Quality targeted content is better than average
general content.
- Be Thorough - Make sure all spelling / grammar is on point.
Take the time to do it right.
- Be Supportive - Provide detailed media, link to sources
when necessary.
- Be Attractive - Take the time to use well designed images.
Don’t
- Don’t be overly linkbaity - Users can see when you are
trying too hard.
- Don’t be sloppy - Check with others on spelling & grammar.
- Don’t be greedy - Keeps ads minimal & make sure pop-ups
are non existent
So, as you can see the "Creating Content for Social Media" session
was a huge success. The speakers rocked. And, the information I got out of it
was amazing. Wait until you hear about the other sessions…. the rest of the
Social Media Sessions at IM Spring Break were just as good as this one!!
Posted in Conferences, SEM, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Tips and Tutorials, Web 2.0 | 1 Comment »
Thursday, March 5th, 2009 |
I’ve been kind of out of the loop for a few months. I’ve been dealing with
some family issues and lowered my social media work load a bit so I could
deal with the issues. Things are beginning to get easier and I am beginning
to be able to find some breathing room. Winter was difficult and long, but
happily Spring is on its way and I totally can’t wait for it to arrive.
Spring brings new hope for me and also brings warmer weather, beautiful flowers,
leaves on the trees, fresh air and the sounds of children playing outside. April
brings May flowers. But, there is something else that April will bring to the
Search and Internet Marketing community… A conference that is one of the most
talked about, anticipated and affordable conferences in Search. Not sure what
I’m referring to??? Well, let me spell it out for you….
I - Internet Marketing - Three
days of Internet Marketing focused education and networking in beautiful Florida.
Sounds good to me.
M - Money - This Search
Conference is only $370, but is packed with 3 days of awesome sessions and
great parties. At this cost it’s a steal!!
S - Social Media and SEO Days.
A day will be spent on each. And the Speakers on those days Rock. Speakers include
Kenny Hyder, Greg
Finn, Brent Csutoras,
Reg Saddler, Todd
Mailcoat, Neal Rodriguez,
Li Evans,
Jeff Quipp,
Brian Chappell,
Carolyn Shelby, Wil
Reynolds, Rhea Drysdale,
Steve
Plunkett and Rae Hoffman.
Day 1 Moderator - Jordan
Kasteler and Day 2 Moderator – Loren
Baker. I told you they rocked, didn’t I?!
P - Poker Tournament - There
is a Poker Tournament on the first night. You never know how that will turn
out, but you know it will be a good time!!
R - Rhea Drysdale - She will
be speaking during SEO day and I’m totally looking forward to this. Not just
because I’m hoping that she will appear as SheRa,
but also because I was lucky enough to meet Rhea a few months back and I think she’s wonderful, but have yet to hear her speak. So, I can’t wait for that.
I - Information - You can count
on learning plenty of new and useful information from the speakers who happen
to be some of the best-of-the-best in our industry.
N - Networking - Oh, Yeah!! This
conference will have tons of chances to network with the speakers, monitors
and other colleagues in our field. This conference is small, only a few hundred
attendees, that makes the chances you will be able to spend some time with the
speakers quite likely.
G - Goals - They have two main
Goals with their events. 1. be the best value in Internet Marketing
conferences and events; 2. to provide the best education and
networking mix available in an Internet Marketing conference. Sounds great to
me.
B - Beerlympics - Okay, I’ll
admit it….. I have no idea what this actually is, but I’m dying to find out.
I have no doubt that the Beerlympics will be one of the highlights of the entire
event.
R - Rae Hoffman - I have yet
to have heard Rae Hoffman speak nor have I been fortunate enough to meet her
at any other conference. But, I love her blog and I’m hoping to get to meet
her at this event. Not only is she speaking at this conference she is also doing
the Keynote on day 3.
E - Entire Event - Hello?! Have
you not been paying attention?? Check out what I mentioned thus far….. This
event ROCKS!!
A - Affiliate Marketing Day -
Affiliate Marketing Day is day 3 of this conference and it is sure to be a great
day of sessions!! Check out the speakers…. Michael
Streko, Aaron Chronister,
Rae Hoffman, Frank
Watson, Brandy Eddings,
David Szetela,
Chris Hart , Pamela
Lund and Tony Adam.
Moderator – David
Snyder
C - Community - Many of the attendees
are part of the online communities that you frequent on a daily basis. This
is your chance to network with these members face-to-face. And, meet other members
of the community that you have yet got a chance to get to know online. This
is a great way to build up your friends in the online community…. by meeting
them face-to-face.
K - Keynotes - 3 Amazing Keynotes
by impressive members of the Search and Internet Marketing Community.
I-M S-P-R-I-N-G B-R-E-A-K
So, if you haven’t figured it out already….. I am talking about the
IM Spring Break Conference coming up next Month. It takes place from
April 2-4 in beautiful Boca Raton, Florida. Like I mentioned earlier the cost
is so reasonable at $370 for the entire 3 day conference. And, if you use the
code SEO when booking the hotel it will only cost you $119.00 per night. Totally an awesome
price.
Check out the IM
Spring Break Sessions….. they sound wonderful, don’t they?!
So what are you waiting for? Go buy your tickets now for IM
Spring Break!! Hope to see you there.
Posted in Conferences, Parties, SEM, SEO, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Sphinn, Tips and Tutorials, Web 2.0 | 7 Comments »
Thursday, January 15th, 2009 |
I have been a huge fan of Jonathan
Fields as a blogger for a while now…. his posts are motivating, inspirational
while still being informative. He speaks lovingly of his beautiful daughter
and his wonderful wife. Without having yet met Jonathan I know he is a great
person. When he asked me to review his book, Career
Renegade, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. And, I have to say… I
was not disappointed.
Jonathan’s first chapter blew me away. I knew he was a lawyer before he was
a blogger… and I knew he was into Yoga too. But, what I didn’t realize is
that all the adventures Jonathan had been on before he landed where he is today.
He begins his book explaining how he was once a very stressed out lawyer…
working way too many hours and missing his family. And, like many people who
work way too many hours and live a very stressed out life…. he got very sick.
This was Jonathan’s wake up call. This is when he began a quest for something
more. Not more money…. more life.
Jonathan did get there and he is loving life. And, in his book Career
Renegade he shows you the steps to take to get there too.
Some people don’t know what their passion is. They’ve worked so hard professionally
that they can’t even think about what it is they love doing. Jonathan understands
that and even has a section of questions to answer to help you determine what
it is you will love doing on a daily basis. For many, this part is simple….
for others it might be a little more difficult. But, he lays the questions out
beautifully….with a bit of thought this section should be no problem.
Throughout the book you will see motivating true life stories from some amazing
business professionals…. people who have left powerful full-time jobs to do
something they love. People like, Brian Clark of Copy
Blogger, John Jantsch of Duct
Tape Marketing, Liz Strauss of Succesful-Blog,
Anita Campbell of SmalBizTrends,
Leo Babauta of ZenHabits,
and many others. True stories of their travels…. each coming up successful.
I found the stories to be very motivating and an exciting part of the book.
I love Jonathan’s Gap theory. He shows you how to look for gaps or limitations
in things…. the gaps are where your niche should be. This is where there is
a need for something such as a product or service. Jonathan says,
"Sometimes those gaps are in the way gear is being provided; other times,
they revolve around limitations in selections; and sometimes, you’ll even
find a gap where either no product yet exists or what does exist can be greatly
improved upon. Exploiting these gaps and bundling them with service or community
often provides fertile ground for economic opportunity…."
He doesn’t stop there. He takes you right from discovering your niche to what
you should do next. From prototypes to business plans to market research all
the way to marketing your company and your product. He explains every process
from beginning to end… at no part did I feel that the reader was left to figure
it out themselves. He gives you the tools, the resources and the confidence
to do it. He motivates you to want to get started right away.
He even takes you through the steps of gaining knowledge, building a following
and gaining authority. In great detail Jonathan explains many methods of Social
Media activities that will create the buzz needed to get the word out about
your product. He shows you that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to do
this… through certain social media activities you will be able to spread the
word without spending a ton of money. He talks about social media activities
such as:
- Blogging
- Guest posts on popular blogs
- microblogging
- social networking
- social bookmarking
Jonathan goes into quite a bit of detail on each and offers tons of websites,
books and other resources so that you can get all the information you need to
have great success.
He also understands how difficult it can be sometimes to get your inner circle
to understand why you are doing this. Because Jonathan has gone through this
himself he knows that sometimes people will question your reasoning behind making
a major change like this. Changing careers can be scary for all involved and
Jonathan gets that. In this book he goes through 4 steps to help this process
be easier for you. He calls it "Prepare Your Pitch"
and he helps you do just that. He goes into great detail with the following
steps…
- Identifying the problem
- Point to research and examples
- Present your Solution
- Anticipate and respond to objections
Career Renegade is a must read. It is chock full of amazing
information for anyone unhappy in their career. If you are looking for the steps
needed to make the change to something you love then this book is for you!!
His detail to everything is perfect and he writes it in such a way that is easy
to read even for someone that doesn’t have much business and computer experience.
This is what a good book looks like after I read it. Not too pretty, huh?! But, proof that I loved it!!
Buy a copy of Career Renegade
today…. you won’t be disappointed!!
Posted in Reviews, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics | 3 Comments »
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 »
