The following video was done by Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz. He has some fantastic tips on how you can help the boring pages of your site rank better. Follow SEJ on Twitter @sejournal
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Free speech is one of those topics that always sends people in a tizzy. Most would agree that censorship is a bad thing, but at the same time, it’s not right to yell “fire” in a crowded theater. Unless, of course, the theater really is on fire.
This idea is tricky enough when you’re talking about books and speeches and what people say on TV. Social media, makes it even trickier. Take Twitter. It’s a public forum where people can feel free to say whatever they want — to a point. Twitter doesn’t allow excessive spam or threats and they don’t allow you to print the contact information for your ex-girlfriend. Common sense stuff.
But what happens when people want to Tweet about controversial issues? What happens when they come down on the pro side of an issue most people would say no to? Should Twitter step in and delete offending posts?
I can hear you all shouting, “no way.” And that was Twitter’s stance last year. This year, they’re singing a slightly different tune.
Twitter has announced their ability and intention to block selected content by country. As an example, they refer to the ban on pro-Nazi content in France and Germany. Sounds like a big job. Still, they say they can do it and they’ll even notify the Tweeter with information on why they were cut off.
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I’m sure, some people will get upset about this type of censorship, but not me. Even if you bypass the rules of decent human interaction (which many do), it’s Twitter’s playground. They allow us all to come and play on their swings, but in the end, it’s their place and they can do what they want.
For the sake of doing business, Twitter does try to please all of the people all of the time. That’s obviously why they’ve decided to make this wishy-washy statement about how they “might” take down content that offends a whole nation.
I wish Twitter would take an even stronger stance and delete Tweets with inappropriate sexual content, foul language and abusive language. If people want to communicate like that in private, go for it — in an email — but I don’t see why it’s okay to put it on a public forum where everyone can see it.
What do you think? Should Twitter have the right to delete posts as they see fit? Or is this just the first step toward wholesale censorship?
View full post on Marketing Pilgrim – Internet News and Opinion
A campaign attacking Florida Governor Rick Scott is serving as the template for a new online effort with Mitt Romney in its crosshairs.
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Interested in building that killer app that will be your grand slam home run of your career? Convinced that you are absolutely certain that there are AT LEAST 5 million people out there that would give up $.99 in a heartbeat for your “awesome” app or mindless game? Well, that is great copy for someone trying to recruit developers but the reality of the app world plays out a bit differently.
That’s not to say that paid apps are dead. It’s just that they are going to be more like hitting the lottery rather than a solid business plan. According to a study by IHS Media Intelligence only about 4% of app downloads are paid for.
“Smartphone users overwhelmingly prefer free apps to paid apps, as we estimate that 96% of all smartphone apps were downloaded for free in 2011″, noted Jack Kent, senior analyst, mobile media for IHS. “In 2012, it will become increasingly difficult for app stores and developers to justify an upfront fee for their products when faced with the competition from a plethora of free content. Instead, the apps industry much fully embrace the freemium model and monetize content through in-app purchases.”
The chart below shows what IHS feels will happen as the shift of revenue from apps moves more and more toward the in-app purchase model.
Which side would you rather be on? The shrinking one or the growing one? Do you agree with this assessment?
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In a guest post on Mashable recently, Scott Forshay — a brand marketing consultant and mobile strategist often featured in the Wall Street Journal, Luxury Daily and PSFK — offers up 5 common flaws seen in brands’ mobile marketing strategies.
Many brands underestimate the power of the mobile channel in terms of contextual relevance, immediacy and many other attributes that make it one of the most effective marketing channels around. This is part of the reason we here at mobileStorm make sure every client receives a dedicated account rep to guide them through their mobile strategy to ensure they’re getting the highest ROI possible.
Read Mr. Forshay’s five commons flaws here.
View full post on mobileStorm
How true is this? In response to an article on how to promote your business without being pushy, David Morgan threw the statement, “If your product or service is really good, it should sell itself” out there. So is it true?
If your product or service is really good, will it sell itself? And if so, when?
We want passive income, passive work and pay checks that come like clockwork—I know I do. But how passive can we be in the sales process?
I see it like this: marketing is exposure. But the sales part of the process is closure. It’s the point that we decide to act on this “thing” that we now want, need and can no longer live without. And ultimately, in order for us to make the most of our customer’s experience we do have to be extremely active in both the marketing and the sales—or at least active in the plan behind the sales and marketing.
But David brings up an interesting point:
“If you produce a product or service which exceeds your customers expectations while fulfilling their needs and wants, it will basically sell itself (within reason).”
While I don’t believe that anything ever sells itself, I agree with the idea that a quality product or service can be much easier to sell. But every part of the process needs the best that we have to give.
As Gregory Berns, Psychiatrist and Author of Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How To Think Differently says:
“A person can have the greatest idea in the world…but if that person can’t convince enough other people, it doesn’t matter.’’
It’s also true of products because convincing “enough other people” is the marketing process. We just need to consider product development as the first part of the marketing process. Better products, better marketing, a better sales process leads to a better business.
So what do you think? I would love to know what you’ve learned from your own business. In the meantime, here is a quick “2-part,-I-almost-don’t-need-to-say-it,-but-I-will” marketing process/summary (and thanks, David, for your comments).
Your marketing budget may be slashed, forcing you to use non-traditional but more cost effective mediums. That’s ok, you can still get your name out there. You just have to:
Simple Website Strategy
You need a website home that is more than just a brochure online. Have an about page that sounds like there are real people behind the business. Use a blog to have personal engagement with some of your visitors.
You can also use social media to connect and have a conversation. Act like you are talking to real people—because you are. And then give them some place to go when they finish talking to you on social media. That “some place” should be your information filled website that completely relates to your product or service and your audience.
Simple Product Strategy
Create one heck of a product or service that solves a real problem. And make it simple, or as simple as possible. When developing or upgrading the product, think like the client. Feel their frustration and work to alleviate it.
If you have a hard time role playing, then talk to real clients and find out what they really hate. In this economy money is spent daily, but only when necessary. And oftentimes necessary just means irresistible. So design an irresistible product for your target audience and then market it like it matters.
Sales Photo via Shutterstock
From Small Business Trends
If Your Product is Really Good, It Should Sell Itself
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Legislators asked Google to respond to detailed questions about changes to its privacy policies.
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In what seems like a rare moment these days, analysts are saying that they actually underestimated something rather than hyping it beyond recognition. Maybe there is hope after all 
.
This time it is about mobile ad spending in the US. eMarketer writes
The US mobile advertising market is growing far faster than expected, driven by the rapid ascension of Google’s mobile search advertising business, advertisers’ growing attraction to display inventory on tablet and smartphone devices, and the growing roster of mobile ad networks such as Google’s AdMob, Apple’s iAd and Millennial Media.
The chart below offers the hope that this growth will be strong for quite some time.
So how does this spending break out? Where is this spending happening and where is it likely to continue happening? Looks like it’s search where Google holds an even more dominant position in market share (most put it at somewhere north of 90%) than they do in “traditional” search. All of the bellyaching about Google as of late may actually work to take people’s eye off of where Google’s dominance is most evident and “out of balance’: mobile search.
So what’s the takeaway here? Pay attention to mobile! It’s really that easy but at the same time it seems like the area that many marketers are least confident. Looks to me like it is WELL past the time to be talking about the year of mobile. We are now in the culture of mobile which is a much different angle to be assessing the market.
Are you hesitant to commit to mobile? Are there naysayers keeping you at bay when it comes to truly going mobile with your marketing efforts? It may be time to step up and take a stand. What do you think?
View full post on Marketing Pilgrim – Internet News and Opinion
To most PPC marketers, the Facebook paid ads program represents an ideal marketing opportunity. Finally, you aren’t limited to targeting your ads based on geographic location and time of day alone (I’m looking at you, Google Adwords!). In fact, if you wanted to run a campaign targeting 16 year old boys in San Francisco who [...]
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Community Manager is an essential, yet still uncharted territory for many companies that are expanding their presence on the social web. What should you know about the current state of this position?
Be sure to check out the rest of this report presented by Social Fresh.
For non-geeks, here’s the reference (Zero Wing video)
“Google Privacy Changes: What Do They Mean To You?” Google announced this week that it is rolling out a new, main privacy policy that covers the majority of its products. The company is consolidating over 60 privacy notices into the main privacy policy. User activities across Google web properties from Gmail to YouTube will be used to deliver customized ads. Via WebProNews.
“The FBI Wants to Monitor Social Media” The FBI is looking to develop a web application that can monitor social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, in order to gain better real-time intelligence about current or potential future security threats or situations. As with the Google combined service data collection, many people are thinking, “Weren’t they already doing this?” Via Mashable.
“McDonald’s Twitter Campaign Goes Horribly Wrong #McDStories” From McDonald’s PR: While #meetthefarmers was used for the majority of the day and successful in raising awareness of the Supplier Stories campaign, #mcdstories did not go as planned. We quickly pulled #mcdstories and it was promoted for less than two hours. Via Business Insider.
“Twitter Now Able To Censor Tweets, If Required By Law, On A Country-By-Country Basis” From Twitter: Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it up in the rest of the world. Danny Sullivan compares Twitter’s approach towards censorship to Google, which you might find interesting. Via Marketing Land.
“The Top 51 stats for Generation Y marketers” How can marketers tap into this gadget-savvy, brand-aware demographic? The following statistics, taken from four recent reports listed below, provide an insight into the complex world of 13-24 year-olds. Via The Next Web.
“5 marketing Tips for Putting Customers First” The digital world of today offers many choices to customers, which means that marketing professionals have a tough job ahead of them. We must not only ensure that our messaging is on target, but also work with our internal team to make sure that our promises can be delivered. Via i Media Connection.
“10 Essential YouTube Tips and Tricks” YouTube is currently getting over 3 billion views each day. This article provides some great tips for getting more out of your YouTube experience including, improved search and better viewing options. Via Mashable.
“10 Ways to Impress Your Industry’s Influencers” Often times your press releases are in the hands of influencers within the industry. This article provides some great tips on identifying who these people are, buttering them up, and following their lead. Via Ragan.
Brian Larson – “MarketingSherpa Research Shows the Avg B2B Deal on the Decline”
We know that B2B sales cycles are longer. The rebuttal from B2B’s has always been ‘the size of our sales are far greater’. What if that changed? With B2B deal sizes diminishing, do B2B’s need to focus on increasing sales volume or developing new ways to demonstrate value and win back larger sales? Or both? The answers to these questions are sure to influence online marketing strategies. Via Marketing Sherpa.
Ken Horst – “Social media for the complex sale: Where should you start?”
While most B2B companies are heavily invested in their social channels today; many are finding that for at least Facebook and Twitter, these may not be the best channels for companies with a longer sales cycle. The good news is that in this post, the author lists 10 other social media outlets that B2B marketers could use to help prime the pump for those longer sales cycle products and services. Via SmartBlog.
Emily Conley – “Google Announces Privacy Changes Across Products; Users Can’t Opt Out”
Google released an announcement on Jan. 24th stating that the company plans to follow users’ activities across the majority of its sites, including YouTube, Gmail and Google search. With no opt-out option, as of March 1st all logged in Google users will be sharing data that will enable Google to create more complete user portraits. The change opens new debate around privacy and competitive practices. Via Washington Post.
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Researchers scanned every QR Code, Microsoft Tag, BEE Tag, JagTag, and the like in the top 100 magazines last year.
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See Part 1: How to Get Hired at a Top SEO Angency. Next in our series of finding what top SEO agencies are looking for when hiring, we ask our panel of experts “What skills are most people you interview lacking?” Here is what they had to say. Ash Buckles Google + | Twitter [...]
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Coca-Cola’s polar bears will react to game action in real-time, while second-half ad will reflect who’s up.
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Google continues to make changes in different areas of their business. Apparently, how that business is defined is causing pains for Wall Street types which is rather amusing, but I digress.
The latest adjustment comes in how average search position is calculate. From the Google Webmaster Central blog we get an example of just how this is being done.
Let’s say Nick searched for [bacon] and URLs from your site appeared in positions 3, 6, and 12. Jane also searched for [bacon] and URLs from your site appeared in positions 5 and 9. Previously, we would have averaged all these positions together and shown an Average Position of 7. Going forward, we’ll only average the highest position your site appeared in for each search (3 for Nick’s search and 5 for Jane’s search), for an Average Position of 4.
We anticipate that this new method of calculation will more accurately match your expectations about how a link’s position in Google Search results should be reported.
Check out the updated Top Search Queries data in the Your site on the web section of Webmaster Tools.
The critical point to note as well is that this not impact historical data, it will be moving forward only.
Admittedly, there’s not much to see here but for folks like the readers we love here at Marketing Pilgrim, it all matters, right?
View full post on Marketing Pilgrim – Internet News and Opinion
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