Microblogging can be used for more than just recapping your actions

For the longest time I wanted to know what was the big deal with microblogging sites like twitter. Do your friends and colleagues really want to know what you are doing at every moment of your life. Since I like to think of myself as a Web 2.0 enthusiast I decided to give it a try. Soon after I created an account I got bored with it. Even though I was able to update my account from my phone it was still a very tedious experience from me. Plus I really didn't see the benefit of being on twitter, because everyone was doing the same thing. Sure it gave me a bit more insight into the lives of my friends, and it allowed me to pimp my blog. It was still too overwhelming at times. It was almost like watching 100 different reality shows at once.

Well recently my opinion of twitter has changed. I realized that I was seeing the concept of microblogging from the wrong angle. Twitter allows people to give commentary in a way that they could have never before. I am noticing that people are starting to use hashtags as a way to group a collection of related topics so they form one mass conversation. Last week at OMS was my first time getting involved with using hashtags. I wanted to try it out for 2 reasons: 1. To see what the big deal with hashtags was about. 2. To see if using twitter was a good way to take notes. I was really impressed to find out that twitter makes an excellent note taking tool. Now if I want to review them all I have to do is search on the OMS hashtag #OMSSD08 and I get a transcript of whole day. It includes my notes along with everyone else who participated. This also gives me info on sessions that I didn't get to sit in on. Using hashtags is also a benefit to the organizers of the event, because they get instant feedback on how the conference is going.


I also feel that Twitter is making watching TV an interactive experience. Twitter allows everyone to become participants of the event, and give their commentary on the program. I used twitter as a tool while I watched the last 2 presidential debates. It made something that would be normally "dullsville" a rather enjoyable experience. Along with giving my own feed back I got to hear in real time what other people thought of the debate. If you are interested do a search on #tweetdebate or #vpdebate to view the commentary. Social Media Analyst Jeremiah Owyang also did a recap on the #tweetdebate experiment if you care to take a look.

The online news site, Current is taking this phenomenon to a new level by allowing people to "Hack the Debate." If you post tweets with the #current hashtag they will overlay it on their broadcast of the debate in real time. I'm curious to see how this concept will evolve over the next couple of months, or even the next year. If you have any ideas leave a comment and let me know.

Now that the wedding is behind me time to get back to blogging

Wow it really has been a while since my last post, but I have an excuse. For those who don't know me personally I got married to my sweetheart of 6 years on Aug 16th up in Malibu. So for those of you who are already married, you know what it's like when it's "crunch" time. And for those of you who are about to get married hang in there cause it's worth it!

I have to say the last 6-8 weeks before the wedding was the most stressful time of my life. There were so many little details that we had to take care of. Making sure the rooms were booked, getting gifts for the bridal party, planning the rehearsal dinner, making sure Courtney (my wife) was sane. So with all of that, and all the stuff going on at work there was no time for blogging.

I have to say even though it seemed like it came and gone in a flash, the wedding was a big hit. Everyone had a good time, and there were no major train wrecks. That is all thanks to Courtney, she did most of the planning. I just tried to be as supportive as possible and not get in the way. =oD

After the wedding we spent a week in Hawaii on the big island to un-plug and relax. Someone told me that my honeymoon would be the best vacation of my life, and they were right! After a year of planning a week in paradise it the perfect way to unwind.

So now that my second job of wedding planner support is over I can get back to the business of online marketing. Before I took my hiatus I was planning to write a 3 part series on analytics, but I just attended the Online Marketing Summit, and my head is swarming with ideas so I might have to change it up a bit.

If you were not able to attend the summit, you missed a good summit. The information was fresh, the speakers were very knowledgeable on their subject matter, and above all it was a good place to network and learn. There was some really good takeaways; one of my favorites was on the topic of social media. In the final keynote: Big Brands, Big Plans I asked if there was a measurable way to measure ROI in social media. The collective response was that with social media it shouldn't just be about ROI it should be about engaging with your users. If you get your users more engaged in your brand eventually the sale will happen. Also another good point is that social media doesn't have to just be about blogging, or being on facebook. If you have a product letting your customers rate the product and give feedback is a form if social media. Finally one of the panelist said "Don't just jump in to social media just to check something off of a list. You should use social media in a way that is aligned with your overall marketing strategy." If you want to check out some more good points from OMS check out my twitter feed. If you were at OMS please feel free to comment with your feedback.

So stay tuned because over the next few weeks Im going to be posting some good topics on analytics and paid search.

Also if you are going to the MarketingSherpa B-to-B Demand Gen Summit in Boston or San Francisco let me know. I will be co-presenting with ion interactive on the topic of Optimizing SEM Strategies from Keyword to Conversion. We will be talking about our success with increasing our paid search conversion rates. The whole summit looks to be a promising event, so if you have the extra time and money I encourage you to come out.

So I'll leave you with a couple of pics from my wedding & honeymoon, Enjoy!

Use Google Local to Provide added Value to Your Customers....

...and help with Search Engine Visibility.


I don't know if you are aware of this, but a top 10 listing in google is not what it used to be. Because of customized search, local, news, and image results organic results are showing up lower and lower on the page. Catfish recently wrote an article titled Why a Top 10 Listing in Google Continues to Mean Less in SEO that goes into more detail on the topic. So you are probably thinking, well what can I do to improve visibility. The answer is that it takes a combination paid, local, & organic search campaigns to remain visible on search engines these days. As a business owner you can take advantage of Google Local to assist with your local ranking. Setting up a Google Local listing is easy to do, and I will give you a basic overview to help your setup your listing.

Claim Your Business
If you have an established business most likely you are already listed on Google Local. Google pulls business listings from various different sources to populate their local directory. The first step in creating your local listing account is to claim your business. If you find your company's listing in the Google Local directory you can click on the "Add or edit your business link"



If you are unable to find your listing you can add your company to the directory by going to http://www.google.com/local/add You will need a Google account to add or claim your business listing.


Once you are logged into the system click the "Add a new listing" link. (If you claim your company from an existing listing you will skip this step)



Add Your Basic Contact Information
Populate the form with your company's basic contact information, and make sure you use a keyword rich description.


Tip
Include a keyword rich phrase along with your company name. This can help your SEO, and provide more info to potential customers. Note:Don't go overboard with this, because you run the risk of confusing your customers, and being penalized by Google for keyword stacking.



Give Value to Your Customers
After you provide your basic information you have the option of adding even more information to give value your customers. By doing this you can stand out from your competitors. You can add your office hours, payment options, photos, and YouTube videos. You can even add categories that your company fit into to help Google place you into their directory.


Validate Your Listing
Once you finish your listing Google will mail a postcard to the address that you provided with a pin number. You will use to the pin validate and activate your listing.

Adding a Google Local listing will help improve your local search visibility, but it's not a silver bullet for success. Your local listing along with constant paid and organic optimization will improve your chances driving targeted traffic to your website, and business location.

You cannot fake social media

I was watching a really good video the other day titled Social Media Mistakes of Five Big Marketers. It is a segment from Joseph Jaffe's speech at the Association of National Advertisers' Integrated Marketing Conference. Jaffe explains some blunders that some major corporations make when it comes to social media. I think the biggest nugget that I took from that segment was the idea of "No Faking." I know this may seem simple, but some big corporations are still not getting it. They think they can treat social media just like any other media; make something up so it looks "social media~ish. The problem is that it stands out like a sore thumb, and your users will hate you for it.

If I could pass anything along it would be this: Don't be afraid about losing control, and just go with the flow. People are going to say what they want to say and it may not all be good. I feel that it's better to have these negative remarks it in an arena where you have a chance to fix the problem right away; rather than hearing it second hand.

You need to be honest with yourself. If you don't think you can handle this level of translucency then social media is not right for you. In a case like this Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing you can do.

2008 American Business Award Finalist

Two of the websites that we created at Overland are Finalists for a "Stevie"! Our Deduplication Microsite is a finalist in the Product Information category, and our Tiered Data Protection Micosite is a finalist in the Writing/Content category

We will get the results on June 12th at the awards banquet. It's going to be a tough competition. We are up against companies like HP, Nikon USA, and Jack Daniels.

Wish us luck!

Behavioral Targeting & Mobile Computing May be Here Sooner Than we Think

On my flight home from Seattle I was reading the most recent issue of Mac | Life and came across an interesting article. The article was talking about the upcoming iPhone update and the different views people had of the software developer kit (SDK). Half way through the article was a little sub story on these venture capitalist and how they created an "iFund" that they would use to invest in companies that are going to "invent the future" using mobile computing in the areas of social networking, mobile payments, entertainment, health, and the enterprise. So you are probably thinking "Gary where are you going with this." Well here is the point. One of the companies that the iFund have invested in is a Seattle-based company named Pelago. They are developing a location-aware program called Whrll that helps you find places, events, & people when you are on the go.

When I read that my ears popped up. It reminded me of one of the conversations that I had ad the Ad2SD event,"Myspace vs Yourspace." We were talking about behavioral targeting and how it would be awesome to be on the go and have alerts when you are near areas of interest. Or better yet know your fuel spending habits & let you know when you are near a cheap gas station. I know that this may open the door for a wide array of privacy issues. You can read my blog entry "Reality Mining: The future of marketing, or a privacy nightmare" to get my view of the topic.

I haven't had the chance to research the product yet so I don't know if the app will have those abilities, but I'm excited to see that technology is moving closer in that direction. When I get a chance to research Whrll I will post my findings. Also If anyone has any info please let me know.

5 Strategies to Improve Your Online Marketing

I was in Chicago for my company's partner summit where I led a session give our partners tips to help them improve their web marketing, and to get feedback on some upcoming web programs that we are launching. The focus group was held at 7am on day two of the summit, so we weren't expecting a large turnout. The partners that did show up really enjoyed the tips, and provided us with excellent feedback. Our product syndication program was well received. We learned that one of their major issues with the web is maintaining their website. A lot of our partners don't have an in-house web person, so any changes that come up can be a long costly process. The content syndication program will allow them to focus on what they do best, and not have worry about maintaining our product info on their websites.

Below you can view the presentation & the takeaway doc that I passed out. The partners aren't web guys, so I kept everything as high-level as possible. Even though the presentation was designed for a storage reseller the concepts can translate to any industry.

| View | Upload your own

5 Simple Strategies to Improve Your Online Marketing Results

Purchasing Fact:92% of all technical buyers go online FIRST to research a possible purchase*

*According to Forrester Research

Is your website portraying the right impression of your company? With the customer now in control of the experience, they are able to gather information without interacting with you directly. Thus, your web presence is the digital representation of your company, and a poor web presence can lower the amount of online and offline sales. Here are some simple strategies to improve your web presence and increase your conversion rates.

1. Provide Your Users With Fresh, Relevant Content
Because most users stop by your website first to do research, it should always contain fresh, relevant content. This will make an impression when the user is ready to purchase. According to a recent study by Enquiro Search Solutions on technical buyers, the number one influencer of purchase is the vendor's website. Websites that contain inaccurate or fragmented information gives an unprofessional impression of your company which can lead to missed opportunities, loss to competition, and negative impact to the bottom line.

2. Present Simple Website Usability
Poor website usability is another factor that can drive away potential sales. Make it easy for the user to find what they need quickly and effortlessly. The harder it is to use your website, the less people will want to buy from you. You can improve the usability of your site with the following tips:

1. The main navigation should be easy to use.
2. Your users should be able to find what they need in three clicks or less.
3. It should be obvious how to purchase your product.
4. Contact information should be highly visible.
5. Use layman's terms. Stay away from corporate or technical terms that might be hard for your user to understand.

3. Develop and Utilize Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
According to Marketing Sherpa, 98% of B2B buyers search in Google, so if you apply proper Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques you have a better chance of being found in search engines by potential customers. Contrary to popular belief, SEO is not a trick that you play on search engines in order to rank higher. Optimization is defined as organizing your content to provide the most relevant experience. Search Engine Optimization is not an overnight process. It takes time to prove to the search engines that your content is relevant. Here are some techniques to improve your overall SEO:

1. A unique 6-13 word page title that contains important keywords from the page content.
2. Description meta tags that match the body content.
3. Keyword phrases that users apply to search for you.
4. Link important pages throughout your site using a keyword phrase rather than a product name (ex. Disk Based Backup Solution rather than REO® 9100).
5. Stay consistent in the way pages are linked and the phrases used.

4. Increase Conversions with Landing Pages
Whatever the marketing activity might be, landing pages provide users a custom experience and keep them focused on the offer at hand. The goal of the landing page should be to convert users into customers. If you are able to get more conversions with the same amount of marketing spend, then you will deliver more net business and lower your cost per lead. This cannot be achieved by just dumping users to the homepage of your website, they will get distracted and navigate elsewhere. Here are some tips for successful landing pages:

1. Start with a clear call to action.
2. Include document downloads; white papers and case studies are preferred over product literature.*
3. Keep your lead forms short and concise. Only include the fields that are vital to helping your sales team spot qualified leads.

*According to Marketing Sherpa

5. Use Web Analytics to Measure Your Site's Effectiveness
Web Analytics are essential for measuring the success of your web marketing and refining your process. With analytics, you are able to determine which keywords customers use to find your site, what pages customers find valuable, and what online campaigns are successful. There is a variety of web analytic solutions on the market, but if cost is an issue, consider starting with Google Analytics; their solution is free, and easy to use. Web analytics can be a little overwhelming, but it is important to remember to measure what matters. Measure metrics that are going to help improve business. High web traffic may look good on paper, but it doesn't mean anything if your site has low conversion rates. Every company has a different set of metrics that they find valuable, so it is important to sit with your team and decide which metrics are important to your business, and which metrics should be omitted.

What I learned from a 9 year old

My flight back from Chicago was on Southwest, and if you have ever flown on Southwest you know how hard it can be to get a good seat. Well it was a packed flight, and this Mother was having a hard time finding a seat for her and her three boys. After some shuffling around the oldest son sat between my colleague and me, and the lady and the other two boys were able to get a row to themselves.

I thought that the little guy might feel awkward sitting between two strangers, but I was wrong. On the four hour trip home he told us story after story of his various adventures, and different things that he have learned over the years. I have to say if you pay attention you can really learn a lot from kids. Kids have so much imagination, and to them nothing is impossible. While we were looking through a magazine the little guy looked over at me and said "Did you know big-foot lives in South America?" Not really knowing what to say I said "Oh really?" He said "Yeah, I have never seen him, but Im sure he looks like a big gorilla." They are also willing to give anything a shot, and work at it till they get the hang of it. In one of the stories the little guy told me about some of his favorite Wii games. He said that he is not that good at Super Smash Bros, but he likes to play it anyway, because one day he will get better. Finally kids are so curious, and love to learn. The little guy had no problem asking questions. He asked me about my job, if I liked my job, what sports I liked to play, if I went to college, if college was hard, if I had any kids, and the list goes on.

Kids aspire to be just like us, but I think we should try to be more like them.

I survived the San Diego Mud Run

Last Sunday I ran the 5k San Diego Mud Run. Since I got back into shape I thought it would be something cool to try. Looking at all the past photos everyone looked like they were having a blast getting all muddy and such. So after some pressure from my mom - who was also participating in the mud run - I signed up. Besides how hard could running 3.1 miles though the mud be?... I'll tell you, that run was one of the most challenging experiences that I have ever had to face.

The course was a 5k adventure through mud, over walls, and over a large hill. Half way though as I looked up at the huge incline that I still had to tackle, I thought to myself "Gary, what did you get yourself into?!?" But I kept pressing though, and did rather well. My goal was to finish the course in 40 minutes, and I ended up finishing in 34:30. I ranked 33 in my age class, and 180 overall. Not too bad for my first mud run.

I worked so hard over the last year to loose weight and get back into shape; So to be able to run a 5k event through the mud is big deal for me. If this was a year prior I think I would have killed myself trying. Come to think of it I don't think I would have given it any thought.

I do have to give a big thanks to my iPod. Since I didn't run with a team my iPod was there to keep me motivated. I don't know about you, but running is BORING, and I needed something to keep my mind off of the heat, and my pounding heart. Everyone said I would be sorry for bringing it along, but my little armband did it's job and kept the iPod dry. I had songs like Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" that helped me keep a good pace. I also had the motivational songs like "My Hero" from the Foo Fighters that helped me over the hill.

If you are considering doing an event like the mud run, I say go for it. The feeling you get when you cross the finish line is a feeling like no other. If you were at the mud run, or did something similar I would love to share experiences.

Here are some photos of the event

I'm Almost there!


My niece wanted to join the fun


My mom, my niece, and myself

The American Gangster is the Ideal Marketer

So this post goes out to my buddy Steve. He kept pushing me to watch The American Gangster. He wanted me to watch it not just because it was a good gangster movie, but because it was all about marketing. He knew I would like it so much that he bought it for me for my birthday. So I finally got around to watching it, and I have to say he was right I LOVED it. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe did an awesome job. This movie is up there with Blow, and Scarface.

My friend Steve was right about the marketing as well. Unless you are a marketing geek like myself you might have got lost in the gangster theme and not had paid any attention to the marketing undertone. Denzel's character was the ultimate marketer. He wasn't like the typical gangster/drug dealer. Brand awareness, and customer loyalty was everything. He did the opposite of all his competitors; he made sure that they had the highest quality product at the fraction of the price. He made sure his brand "Blue Magic" stood for high quality. At one point in the movie he found out that someone was impersonating his brand with a lower quality product. He put a stop to that, because it was bringing down the brand.

We should all strive to be like Frank Lucas...
Let me rephrase that; we should all model our business practices after Frank Lucas. He said to run a TRUE business it takes honesty, integrity, hard work, and dedication.