Internet Marketing & Technology

How to find The Best Internet Marketing Consultant

mike — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:43:09 +0000

The title Search Engine Marketer is being thrown around like, a chihuahua at Michael Vick’s house. There is no set of standards by which a Search Engine Marketer is judged. There isn’t much in the way of learning material, that is up-to-date, to be considered a valuable resource or valid classes that offer some insight into the world of Search Engine Marketing. However, there is a plethora of know-it-all’s polluting the minds of the vulnerable, with corporate biased Search Marketing pipe dreams.

There is hope. Throughout the cyber universe lie an army of well educated, experienced Search Engine Marketers. Like needles in a hay-stack, they are right in front of your eyes. On the bus next to you, in a cab with you or maybe in your office. The point is that you can go to the phonebook and turn to the marketing page and find a marketing agency. Then you will need to flip to a web design section and pluck out a web design team and finally you will need a business consultant, to help recognize new revenue streams generated from the web. The aforementioned specialists’ have the combined skill set(s) needed to be a successful Internet Marketing Consultant.

Look for these skills from a Internet Marketing Consultant: (more…)

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Generating Leads Online: Back to Basics

mike — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:33:13 +0000

There is no right answer on how to generate leads online. All we can do is employ multiple methods, numerous submissions and quality web content, and ………wait. Internet Marketing has become one of the most misunderstood skill sets. There are too many chiefs and not enough indians. I recently read a piece by Joe Marchese, “…people need to stop “starting to think about ‘what’s next’ before they’ve figured out ‘what’s now,”. That statement holds the true-st in Web-site Marketing. In my opinion, search marketers’ spend too much time trying to “get over” on the search engines or out wit the competition. I believe in the ladder, but to what extent will this action of conquest marketing affect the bottom line and ROI? (more…)

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Is the Pay-Per-click Sandbox getting crowded?

mike — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:31:13 +0000

I have been on the trade show (Home and Garden Show) circuit for about 3 months now. I have heard about every type of PPC platform available. There seems to be teams of “rogue” spin-off agencies, using software and methods to develop custom PPC campaigns. While I feel that this will foster innovation, I am also inclined to believe that this will dilute the quality of the product. Too many chiefs and no Indian’s.

Who will pioneer new technology?

The answer isn’t as simple as you would think. Google will be continuing to dominate in the internet advertising arena, while Yahoo will embrace as many “flashy” media widgets and gadgets, with the most curb appeal. Invoke and prevoke are the operative terms. In order for MSN and ASK to continue, they will need to gain ground in both media and advertising arenas. The aforementioned “rogue” agencies, will be the deciding factor. There ability to manipulate marketing campaigns and use behavioral targeting to raise ROI and decrease ad budget, within each search engine, is the obvious path to “internet marketing richeousness”.

Why is this a risk?

However, there are certain “side effects”. These side effects can range from, outrageous CPC’s, Low Quality Scores or even complete demographic and keywords omissions. The importance of a great internet marketing rep is the obvious scapegoat. The account rep, from a “Big Name” print directory or the search engine provided advertising interface manager, is the business owners only synaps to the web. There are numerous fail-safes in these marketing platforms, however if not activated they will be useless. THERE IS NO “SET-IT and (more…)

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The Pittsburgh Home Show: Land of Opportunity

mike — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:07:59 +0000

Higher Images Inc. was in attendance of the Pittsburgh Home Show. The business opportunities for consumers and vendors struck like the high waters on the Mon-Wharf. The home show this year seemed to be your typical presentation of local businesses and “As Seen on TV” products. Each vendor giving it their all, the best and brightest of the sales force swarming like sharks in a frenzy.

For the most part, a company like Higher Images Inc. would seem out of place, but this is couldn’t be further from the truth. Marketing and websites are the new frontier for service industry businesses. The death of the phonebook has been the biggest contributing factor. The Internet brings opportunity for business, and the entire untapped (not tapped enough) online community is diverse in compilation and economic status.

The Internet can be compared to a trade show in a sense. Consider that the convention center is the world wide web, each booth is a website, and finally the people walking by are Internet surfers (consumers). The booth/site needs to be able to support the product or service being offered. The sales rep is a living breathing “ad” standing in the information highway (the aisle in front of the booth), if that sales rep is persuasive enough, they can generate leads.

To summarize, attending a Home and Garden Show is only as successful as you make it. If your website/booth is easy to navigate and able to convert, then you can sell any product or service anywhere. Isn’t that how it works on the Internet?

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Social Medias Evolution

mike — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:57:44 +0000

This is the digital age. We have gadgets for everything we need, as well as gizmo’s for everything we want. I challenge you to remember a telephone number (without your cell or PDA). Most children today don’t and won’t ever know what Beta-vision was/is. We don’t buy Cd’s anymore we download music by the song. These are all common occurrences in the digital age. We have learned to communicate via email, VoIp, and Weblogs. We rarely these days advertise in phonebooks (print), and a dictionary has been replaced by the internet. So, why has the evolution of Social Media been so jaded. Most of those who initiated social networks had “communication and collaboration” in mind. The purpose has been served we can flawlessly converse and share everything from info to pix to videos across multiple formats and platforms. All this, the end result of a “cyber-community”, sites like MySpace & Facebook steal the headlines while hundreds of spin-off platforms emerge and crash with every mouse click. It seems we are all in need to share and talk to others, but will not pay the price for this ability. I read an article postured toward the negative aspects of Social Media innovation. The POV here was that with blogs being used more and more for SEO and less for “communication and collaboration”, we (the web user) would not receive “pure SERP’s. There is only but one reason this is happening INNOVATION!

We have learned how to manipulate these platforms for more than their one dimension of usage. We (the end user) have asked for and pushed the functionality to the edge. We are now able to make web sites are will, and see them rank in accordance to the topic of each. Is this so bad?

Some will argue yes, most will agree that this is the natural course of action (innovation). In order to advance we must take risks and go against the grain. This is how we move forward in technology. This is also why we should embrace any and all variations of social media. If you choose to use it for SEO, that’s fine (good luck) we all will benefit from the journey and lessons of the SEOer’s. If your use of social media is to communicate and collaborate than chat away, but don’t misinterpret others experiments and manipulation as abuse.

Thus, we can thank all those “social-pioneers”, for there hard work and patience. Maybe we need to better understand the mechanics of social media to tolerate those who manipulate it. “The rewards of the few will be enjoyed by the many”. Lets support the evolution and innovation of social media, for some it is an art, for others a tool, but everybody has a need that can be filled by some manipulation of social media.

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Making Law Easy Part 2: Wordpress Marketing Strategies

mike — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:18:11 +0000

There has been a great deal of hype lately about companies using Wordpress platform to create web-sites. I even mentioned a Local law firm using Wordpress for it’s web site Making Law Easy. Today I read a great post about how companies like MakingLawEasy.com can capitalize on the work of many to benefit their online marketing efforts. Most companies realize that they need to be represented on the web, but many never go about it correctly. Then there are some forward thinkers who keep an online ear to the track and use technology to their advantage. “Work smart, not hard” is the message. With Wordpress, you (companies) have freedom to do any and all “buzz-words” they hear in the web marketing industry (i.e. podcast, webcast, RSS, Video). These are the future of the web. Thats not in stone, but it’s close. Finally, I was emailed a great article about tips for using wordpressand how it can help your SEO efforts. This is a great tool for amateur marketers, because it gives you a set-it-and-forget system for optimising keywords and header tags, (the building blocks of seo). So, next time you are thinking of hiring a web designer, ask yourself how involved you CAN be and if the answer is “all-in” then wordpress is the answer. IT”S FREE

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Internet Marketings Unpredictable Future

mike — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:57:54 +0000

The recent offers made by the big four (Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL) to collaborate and merge, have sent shivers through the online marketing world. There are many questions about advertising revenues, monopoly’s and conflicting interests. One question stands out above the rest: What does this mean to search?

We have become so dependant on the internet to drive business, CPC has become the pulse of business. The days of being #1 have gone by the way side, and now a smarter, cheaper advertiser demands ROI and accountability. Tools and services we have grown accustom to, are absorbed by larger agencies and ISP providers, before we have a chance to say good-bye. Industry pioneers and elder statesmen are jumping off the bosom of big business and are driving the development of the industries futures, via start ups and spin-off. I read a recent post by Dave Morgan (formerly of AOL), he outlines many of the areas he feels will hold internet marketing’s next innovations. One in particular stands out, and that the vision of the “incumbents”. The observation that the big names are spending more time and money on competition and less resources on the “end user”, could be an early symptom of a lull in search.

Almost all stats and predictions speak of outrageous online ad spends, and continuous growth. But, aren’t we about to visit a “micro-cession”. Historically marketing has been the first expense adjusted during financial crisis. So, how do we quantify these expectation?

Some argue there just isn’t anywhere else to go from here. Or is there?

I ,like many others in the industry, are optimistic. I also have great vision of the future markets that will surface during this time of growth and change (as well as mergers). “Those who spend time trying to perfect the present, will find themselves ignorant of the future” (I think I just made that up). Have faith that internet marketing is in it’s infancy but make sure to prepare for the adolescents right around the corner.

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Making Law Easy; the online law firm

mike — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:47:00 +0000

In my never ending quest for the newest and best technologies, I recently uncovered Making Law Easy. At first glance Making Law Easy, has all the trimmings of your out-of-the box attorney services. They offer many of the conventional services that all other firms offer, but with a twist. Making Law Easy, has cut thru the red tape and hurdles associated with meeting and talking to attorney’s. Another component to the experience is the amount of information provided. There are a number of audio clips (pod-casts) available, that speak to you on any and all topics.

Making Law Easy, has finally married two arch nemisis’, Law and Technology, forming a virtual law firm. This marriage is the brain child of Delta Law Group. There are many questions that come to mind when I say “virtual law firm”.(I think of GoTo Meeting’s ,with my attorney that never really resulted in more than a faceless chat line).

How would I know that the attorney I connected to was even an attorney and not just a customer service rep manning inbound calls?

What if all this audio and video was just smoke and mirrors trying to swindle me out of my money?

Well, let me be the first to vouch for the authenticity of the services and information provided, I met with the catalyst behind this idea (he will remain anonymous), and was given the first class tour of the site, now, and a vision of the future.

We all know the complexities associated with working with attorney’s, they never are in their office, they very rarely have time to talk let alone meet and finally they nickel and dime-ing for services “we the consumer” never understand. With that said you now begin to see the beauty of Making Law Easy.

A combination of informative tutorials and one-on-one virtual attorney meeting’s, can and will change the perception of conventional lawyers, and save time and money for both parties. A paradigm shift is about to occur and “old school” law done in back rooms and over tee times, will now be done in instant messages and VoIp meetings. Some will fight this change but many will embrace it. The next time you find yourself in need of legal help look ni further than MakingLawEasy.com and sample law in the 22nd century.

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Landing Pages and Conversion Friendly Web Sites

mike — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:53:08 +0000

I have saturated my recent writings with feeble attempts to prove, to the higher up’s, the power of the blog with regards to SERP’s. I wrote about a local auto dealer having problems with slanderous reviews and then about national orthotic chain experiencing buyer remorse, to no avail. I did get ranked well, but not enough to make a difference.

Now, I have a new pet peeve to discuss, layout and design of landing pages and web sites. The latest trend is to make a page “conversion friendly”. As a business owner I need to insure that my site will be able to serve it’s purpose, SALES! But, at what cost are we making these pages “conversion friendly”?

At first glance you might disagree with the direction of my thoughts but stay with me. I know that a page/site needs to be able to sell, what about looks? The first thing we used to do was to judge a site on appearance. Nowadays, business owners have learned that looks don’t sell online. Lets go back to the conversion points. Does a site have to lose it’s curb appeal in order to convert business?

The answer is NO! NO! NO!

I am an internet marketer first, but I am also a consumer and do have certain expectations of those businesses and services I patronize. When you shop do you buy generic foods? They are competitively priced, but look at the package,bland and plain. Now, move down the aisle there is the same product by a different manufacturer, higher priced, but a more flashy package and presentation. Many shoppers buy status as well as price.

Back to the web site, will consumer buy from a site that is lower cost and visibly stale, or will the consumer choose the aesthetics over price?

I think you can see where this is going. Many businesses, in an attempt to cut cost will also cut creativity. This will impact the bottom line the same way that the generic brand is passed up for the name brand.

The addition of conversion points on site(s)/pages doesn’t mean you have abandoned all creativity. There are many ways to incorporate the conversions and looks.

First, start at the top of your page/site, use a header that portrays who you are and what you do. Once you have chosen that focal point you can go back and implement the tools needed to convert.

Second, use multi media (audio;video) if you have a commercial add it to your site to make it more interactive, and if you have recorded a radio spot use it. The testimonials page doesn’t have to be all words, record a client or customers testimonial. By using multi media formats on your site/page you reinforce, that original formats presentation. When you use a video or audio testimonial you immediately tap into the “trust” factor. Let technology into your site don’t fight it.

Third, this maybe the most important. Use your owncontent, do not surf the phone book looking at what your competitors do and add that to your service list. Believe it or not originality is always the best. If you have a vision, share it with your web designer. How many cookie cutter web site do you see everyday? They all seem to look like the next site and the one you saw before that one. BE ORIGINAL. Web designers know how to make a site that sells, but they don’t know that you have a vision of a completely unconventional look or feel.

In conclusion, the next time you patrolling the online aisles take a look at how many site follow the same format/layout. Take a look at how many web designers cared more about function and less about presentation.

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Micks Dodge:Micks Dodge fights back

mike — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:13:49 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a local company receiving alot of negative reviews. Most of these reviews are well ranked and rom my perspective are bogus. I tried what I thought would be a great method to “displace” the negative reviews, it worked. My guinea pig article that I wrote has climbed the internet ladder and when you Google “dodge online reviews” my article ranks 1st.

So, with my new found toy I will try to continue this displacement. Micks Dodge is not the worst service department, and certainly can’t be held accountable for their cars quality either. Micks Dodge doesn’t assemble the cars they merely service them. Finally, Micks Dodge needs to amp up their overall web presence and start to defend themselves against the onslot of competitors and unrealistic (cheap) clientele.

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