Happy New Year; have a great 2010. Thank you so much for supporting me over the past year and reading my blog – it is much appreciated. In 2010 I have plans to expand the service I provide and to write more practical articles to help you enhance your online business. I look forward to 2010 with enthusiasm for a brand new year of excitement on the Internet. If you thought 2009 was fun online, wait until you see what 2010 will unravel via the web – touch, smell and much more besides. See you next year….!
Internet Marketing Crucial for Local Business Success
31st December 2009
For years, businesses have relied on marketing strategies like cold calling, direct mail, and yellow pages to promote their business and get new customers. These techniques are dead and do more to tarnish a business’ image than to promote it. Nobody likes to receive unsolicited sales calls; direct mail is considered a nuisance and often thrown in the trash unread; and distribution for yellow page books is at an all time low. “We are experiencing a complete shift in consumer behaviour and savvy business owners know they need to re-direct their marketing resources. They need to move to where their customers are – and today that means moving online,” says Lisa M. Francis an IT professional and Internet Marketing expert in Calgary.
There is no doubt that the Internet has become an integral part of our daily life, taking over as the number one source for news, games, communication and research. The second-largest online activity, after email, is search. People use search engine tools like Google, Yahoo, MSN to find the answer to their questions and to simply navigate through the Internet. Searching is big business, in fact it is the fastest growing marketing segment on the Internet. It explains why a company like Google rocketed from obscurity to becoming a multibillion dollar company in only 10 years.
Successful online marketing centers on having your website stand out when a searcher is looking for answers. “A strong online presence is more than simply having a website. You must be sure that your website can be found by your customers and that means it has to be picked up by the search engines”, explains Lisa M. Francis. Lisa created CalgarySEM.com, combining her technology and business experience, to help local businesses get noticed online. “If a business wants to stay competitive they must be found online”.
“There are many facets to a successful Internet Marketing campaign. It may incorporate article and video marketing, blogging, local business directories, forums, social media and pay-per-click campaigns”, says Lisa. “Your goal should be a 3 point domination including the local, natural and pay-per-click search results.”
The Internet has changed the way we do business and this has now seeped into how local businesses market. As with any great shift, some businesses will transition eagerly, while others stubbornly resist. History provides us with plenty of examples of the dangers of resisting change. The business graveyard is littered with the corpses of both giant corporations and small businesses who have refused to take advantage of the paradigm-shifting trends. Like the telephone, TV, and personal computer – the Internet is here to stay.
Lisa M. Francis is putting the finishing touches on a free e-book scheduled for distribution in February 2010. In the book she provides effective strategies small local business owners can easily implement to get immediate results online and start attracting new clients. “Internet marketing is new, but it is nothing to be afraid of. The risk is low and the benefits are huge. Those businesses who make the transition early will realize the greatest return”.
For more information or to request a copy of Lisa’s new e-book, please visit http://www.CalgarySEM.com .
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Categories: Internet Marketing News
Tags: blogging, email, internet marketing, marketing, search, social, Social media, website
Categories: Internet Marketing News
Tags: blogging, email, internet marketing, marketing, search, social, Social media, website
How SEO, Web 2.0, New Media is Changing PR
31st December 2009
There used to be a time when professional public relations consisted of typing up a news release and placing it into a fax machine. One can remember taking dozens of news releases packed neatly into elegant, clean white envelopes addressed to AP, Reuters and UPI and dropping them off at their central post office in New York, London or Paris.
“If you were smart, you would follow up with a call to the editor or newsroom to confirm that they received the news release or as they are referred to today as the PR,” says Joel Leyden, CEO of the Leyden Communications Group.
“Today, the fax is reserved only for legal documents or papers that you don’t want exposed to the open Internet. We have moved to using email to get our messages out in real time.
But email has become so over used and abused that today many editors are afraid to even look at their inboxes. That a tidal wave of spam may just engulf them and swallow up their precious deadline minutes,” said Leyden.
So how is the general and trade media being reached today.
According to the Leyden Communications Group the new and relevant media news channels are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and SEO optimized Web and news content.
The Leyden Communications Group, which was established in New York in 1982 and has become a pioneer in digital PR, SEO and New Media and own and operates the United States News Agency (http://www.unitedstatesnewsagency.com) Agency and the Israel News Agency (http://www.israelnewsagency.com) recently created a group on Facebook supporting Israel’s right to defend herself against terror attacks. The room swelled to 100,000 members and TIME, CNN and FOX all took notice.
Did they email Leyden? Not exactly. Leyden’s Google Gmail account never saw any editorial inquires. Rather they tracked Joel Leyden down through Facebook!
When classic PR, advertising, marketing and branding integrates with Web 2.0, New Media and social networking the results are nothing less than dazzling.
But let’s begin with some definitions. What is PR?
“It is not the same as sales, branding or marketing,” says Leyden.
“Public relations is the activity of working with the news media to gain and or control visibility for a B2B or B2C business, crisis communications management for governmental public affairs campaign or getting the message out for a non-profit organization.”
Leyden says that public relations gains an organization or individual exposure to their markets using topics of public interest and news items that do not always demand direct payment. Common activities include event marketing, speaking at conferences and employee communication. It was something that was not tangible and thus set it apart from advertising.
But today, a news release or PR which is sent out over the Internet using one of several PR news release carriers, can be tracked. The demographics, impressions and read throughs can and our monitored. And the results can be provided to the client for fine tuning.
What is SEO or search engine optimization?
Leyden defines SEO as the means of optimizing or making Web content found by search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Bing, AOL. It takes a thorough understanding of HTML code and how the algorhythms work on each of the search engines.
For those, and that is the majority of surfers on the Net, who do not know SEO and need to get their messages out there, they usually resort to a Google Adwords campaign.
Illustrating the public’s lack of knowledge of SEO is Google’s total advertising revenues. They were 21 billion USD in 2008 . Google AdWords offers pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for both text and banner ads. The Google AdWords program includes local, national, and international distribution.
All of these elements can and are addressed by a PR SEO professional.
But how does PR integrate with Web 2.0, New Media and SEO?
“It doesn’t”, says Leyden. ” Well at least it has not fully matured as of yet. The reason is simple.
The PR professional is one who has a rich background in journalism, marketing and or sales. Journalists who earn their degrees in creative writing, understanding how to create an effective headline and how to put together sentences and facts in the most interesting manner. They are not computer programmers.”
Leyden says that that the SEO professional is usually a computer programmer who has studied computer engineering and also knows how to write. But these programmers are writing computer codes such as JAVA, HTML and FLASH. They are creating computer software applications. They are not PR professionals.
“These are two completely different disciplines,” says Leyden.
As the Internet moved into Web 2.0 becoming far more interactive with applications such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn sending and receiving information in real time, many PR professionals were forced to discover the practical use of New Media, social networking and SEO.
But how many PR professionals have actually taken the time to learn SEO, HTML code and integrate their creative nouns and adjectives with META tags and dozens of other computer programming parameters? How many PR and SEO professionals know and understand the new Google Caffeine search engine to be launched in 2010?
Very few. But yet, many claim that they offer SEO services.
So what is honest and what is not?
Where can you truly find an experienced PR professional who has a solid background in classic PR, branding, advertising and marketing with SEO and New Media skills?
“You must ask several questions,” says Leyden. ” Problem is, most companies seeking international SEO Internet marketing and PR support do not know the questions to ask.”
The Leyden Communications Group (http://www.newyorkseopr.com) and Leyden Communications Israel (http://www.israelseopr.com) provides below a list of questions for every company from New York, Tel Aviv, London, Washington and Los Angeles to Paris, Japan, India, Russia and China to ask the SEO or international Internet marketing and PR company before they sign a contract.
“First, if your target audience is in New York, London, Manchester or Los Angeles, or any native English speaking market, be certain to hire a native from that country. One whose English is at mother tongue level and understands the marketing culture of your target market. If you do hire a native speaking PR SEO professional, make certain that they have lived and worked in your target market locale for at least ten years.
Second, you want to know what experience and for how many years they have worked in PR, SEO, New Media, international marketing, conventional distribution channels, social networking, sales, marcom, viral marketing, production of brochures, advertising and public relations?
Third, what professional experience do they have in copy writing, journalism and research?
Fourth, what practical experience do they have in SEO programming?
And last but not least, how long have they been working on the Internet?
How many friends do they have on Facebook or followers on Twitter? Are they really into social networking?
An international PR and Internet marketing professional must wear many hats to succeed.
The Internet SEO professional must be an experienced international marketing or PR person – one who understands how to penetrate and motivate a market outside of their own locale without the Internet.
They need to understand the basics of international marketing, branding, distribution and sales channels in order for them to integrate the digital world with the classic print, broadcast media and sales markets.
The PR SEO professional must be an accomplished, creative and professional writer who can write for both the reader and the search engine.”
Leyden says that this news article is an example of how one can write for both the reader and the Google and Yahoo search engines. The English may suffer a bit as the writer finds a creative balance between getting your attention and the eyes of the search engines. But what is more important?
“The search engine!,” says Leyden.
“For if your customers in the UK, France, Jordan, Spain, Turkey, Germany, Brazil, Japan and South Korea do not find your Website, then having a Website with the best of conventional copy writing and FLASH will find itself lost in cyberspace.”
Can you find a Webmaster, Internet graphic design, Internet programmer, professional Internet marketing, international PR guru and professional journalist and or copywriter all in one person?
“Many will say yes just to take your money,” says Leyden.
“You will be lucky to find a team with each one of these professionals in no more than perhaps a dozen international Internet PR SEO marketing companies – most of them based in the US. And being limited by knowing only the US market.”
What then would be the real acid test for securing a professional PR SEO – search engine optimization Web promotion marketing company?
Leyden suggests to simply perform a search on Google for “New York SEO PR”, “London SEO PR” or “Israel SEO PR”.
“Perform a search for the market you are seeking to penetrate with the key words SEO PR. Ignore the paid for, sponsored Google Adwords results. In fact, if the PR SEO company is relying solely on Google Adwords and does not have a top five organic position listing on Google, then you know that they are not for you.
If they cannot promote themselves on the Web, how can they promote your good and or services?”
“Google Adwords are a very powerful advertising tool used by PR SEO New Media and social networking international Internet marketing companies in New York, London and Tel Aviv, but they are not a substitute for having your commercial Website, blogs and news content stand on its own digital legs,” says Leyden.
“Adwords are not a substitute for getting out optimized news stories on Google News and PR news releases into the many corners of the Net. Adwords do not substitute for New Media – that is the creation of blogs, professional rooms and forums in Facebook, Google and Yahoo groups and the creation of videos on YouTube.”
“The real PR professional of 2010 will know how to break through the noise and place your message in the face of your potential clients – either at home or at the office by bouncing optimized Web and news content off New Media and social networking media channels,” says Leyden.
“We have gone from the fax machine to Facebook in less than ten years. The PR professional who has adapted to this media revolution will increase your visibility, media control and ROI.”
The Leyden Communications Internet Digital PR, Marketing and SEO Group wishes you and your families a healthy, happy, peaceful and prosperous new year.
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Categories: Internet Marketing News
Tags: email, facebook, internet marketing, marketing, search, social, twitter, website
Categories: Internet Marketing News
Tags: email, facebook, internet marketing, marketing, search, social, twitter, website
Top Trends in 2010 for Strategic Social Network Use
29th December 2009
Beyond Search, http://www.arnoldit.com/wordpress, a Web log focused on news, research and analysis about online search and content processing, has released its list of the top 10 social network trends to come in 2010.
According to Patricia Roberts, an advisor to Beyond Search: “Social networks will have far reaching impacts on hiring, competitive intelligence, governance and marketing. The buzz about networks like Twitter and Facebook, and the lack of standardized, robust metrics make it difficult to discern the true implications of social communications in business.”
A list of the top 50 social search systems appeared in the Dec. 23, 2009, story Preliminary List of Beyond Search Evaluated Social Search Systems posted at http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2009/12/23/preliminary-list-of-beyond-search-evaluated-social-search-systems/ .
The Beyond Search team conducted a web survey of business professionals, interviewed more than 30 business writers, and compiled supplementary research in October and November 2009 provided a wealth of data about the implications of social networks for organizations and professionals. The Beyond Search team analyzed the information access systems focused on social networks and distilled its research into the top ten trends unleashed leading into 2010.
1. Virtual organizations will replace traditional business organization models.
2. Marketing via social networks will displace direct mail and slower, more expensive ways to build brands and identify prospects
3. Governance of social networking will place significant stress on professional interaction. The shift from local communication to diffused communication will stress confidentiality and security procedures set up to handle a 20th century approach to business.
4. Hiring will shift from the traditional hierarchical relationship to an organic, fluid distributed approach.
5. Control of information and organizational “secrets” will become difficult, if not impossible to control, without escalating friction between professionals and the organization itself.
6. Prohibitions against the use of social networks on company time will increase the likelihood of work arounds, undermining mandated policies.
7. Corporations will continue to invest increasing resources in social media, almost always at the expense of traditional media, despite the lack of clear direction and metrics to determine return on investment figures.
8. The lack of robust, standardized metrics for social media will make it difficult for organizations to establish and understand the true value proposition of their social media efforts.
9. 2010 becomes the turning point for the use of social network tools in healthcare. We expect increase use for healthcare education and public health alerts.
10. Social network technology will displace more expensive, traditional methods in business processes from recruitment to direct marketing.
The strategic use of social network systems and tools will have a significant impact on marketing, security, public relations, recruitment, and management systems. “The meaning of a social network is changing and fast”, said John Lack, MBA, an advisor to Beyond Search. “The implications for business and knowledge workers are not well understood.”
In January 2010, Arnold IT will create a new Web log focused on strategic social network tools, systems and applications. A full description of the new service will appear in the Beyond Search Web log at http://www.arnoldit.com/wordpress.
About Arnold Information Technology and Beyond Search
Arnold Information Technology is an organization specializing in electronic publishing, marketing via electronic media, online system engineering and database design. President Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his office in Kentucky. He works with colleagues worldwide on a wide range of online and content-related projects. Beyond Search is the research arm of AIT. The company’s Web site is http://arnoldit.com, and the Beyond Search blog is at http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/.
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Categories: Social Media News
Tags: blog, facebook, marketing, search, social, Social media, social network, twitter, wordpress
Categories: Social Media News
Tags: blog, facebook, marketing, search, social, Social media, social network, twitter, wordpress
Social networking is a waste of time
28th December 2009
Small business owners believe social media usage is a complete waste of time. That’s the conclusion from a study completed by Ad-Ology, a marketing research organisation. For each question asked, over half of the 1,000 respondents said that social media was “not beneficial”. And in some surprising data, the research revealed that three-quarters of small businesses have yet to use YouTube and more than two-thirds don’t use LinkedIn. In other words, in spite of all the mass media coverage, social media is largely being ignored by small businesses.
The evidence, however, is very much against these Luddite businesses. Research shows that the most profitable businesses during the recession are those which have put considerable effort into social media. In fact, the businesses that are doing worst are those which are ignoring social media. Naturally, the correlation between social media use and profitability does not actually signal a cause and effect relationship. Probably, what it suggests, is that the companies engaging with social media have several common features which make them more profitable.
They are likely to be quick to change and adapt to new circumstances, willing to try new things and to experiment, and well-informed and educated on technology. Sadly, these are things which most small businesses do not share. The Ad-Ology study actually confirms this; it shows that the two reasons why small businesses are not using social media are “our customers aren’t using it” and “because we don’t have the time to learn about it”. In other words, “the old ways we know and which we don’t have to learn any more about are OK”. That’s what the stagecoach operators said when the railways were introduced; whatever happened to them?
Back in the days of Dick Turpin, the stagecoach operators could also have said about the railways that “our customers aren’t using them”. But just because your customers are not using something does not mean it is a technology that you should not learn about. This new research suggests a massive “head in sand” attitude on social media – and that spells potential disaster for small businesses.
People are inevitably social and it is therefore no wonder that social networks and other social technologies are expanding at exponential rates. Small businesses may say their customers don’t use social media, but it is almost certain they will. Hence, those small businesses that are currently learning and experimenting will be ahead of the game when more people start to use social networks and experience social media.
If you haven’t set any New Year Resolutions yet, may be just one of them should be to start learning about and using social media in your business. If you do that, you will be ahead of your competitors and probably have a more profitable year ahead.
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Categories: Social
Tags: marketing, small business, social, Social media
Categories: Social
Tags: marketing, small business, social, Social media
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