Internet Image Tips

Internet Marketer - real or mud slinger?

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:18:13 -0700

Within the realm of Internet marketing many phrases are thrown around today such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM), Online Reputation Management (ORM), Pay-per-Click (PPC) and the all-encompassing and often ambiguous concept of Internet Marketing. An Internet Marketer’s responsibility is to make sure Internet Marketing is not just a “voodoo science” of random “mud against the wall” trials that do nothing but cost much. Internet Marketing can be done well, cleanly and effectively when guided by personnel that constantly work at understanding this ever-changing and often misunderstood area of marketing.

The professional marketer will have knowledge, credentials and experience in the following areas while being able to explain their actions related to the below points in a way the client understands:

* Understanding of how search engines work, their history/evolution to be able to see and especially why a drop occurs or a new “trick” will or will not work.

* Ability to analyze and research keywords and subjects to find those keywords that will bring a client the public desired.

* Well-versed in what a website must have in place to show up on keyword.

* Knowledge of what real-world or off-site factors work to increase the client's position above those of competitors (e.g. links, social media buzz, building trust in the website and more).

* Practical experience and knowledge in actions that can or will get a client banned and labeled as a spammer.

* Have accounts on social networks with an understanding and ability to promote effectively. This includes knowledge of the purpose of a particular network and the associated user-base to ascertain if a client's target public will actually be reached.

* Knowledge of what users of a social network want or will get you banned.

* Familiarity or ability to find niche social networks that produce better results for the client in reaching their public faster and more effectively. Ex. If your main target public are moms, while they are on Facebook there are social networks like Skirt, BlogHer and HotMomsClub that you would find them in larger numbers and much more targeted.

For more great tips visit Peter Shankman’s blog

Blog - same domain or separate domain?

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:57:12 -0700

This depends and each situation I evaluate it newly.

Some basic rules that I use to decide:

1. If the keywords we are trying to get listed for are high competition then put the blog on the same domain as any link you an get to a blog post will help the overall site
2. If you are working on a less competitive keyword you might want to do it separate (but if the competition is likely to increase with the popularity of the product or subject, you still want it on the same site)
3. If you are working on reputation management for a name or brand then it should be on a separate domain.
4. If you are going to use the blog only for "other" keywords than the one on the main website it can be separate though sometimes any PR you have on the main website will hep the other keywords - so this one can be a toss up.
5. If you are working on a separate O/L or branding campaign for an individual in the organization it can be separate.

I usually discuss this with the client and work out the long-term and short-term goals to help decide.

Using Surveys and Polls to Build Reputation

Tue, 9 Jun 2009 13:56:17 -0700

An easy way to get some viral word of mouth going is to create polls and promote those.

While you can and should if you have the resources get this all programmed yourself so you can have your brand all over it. There are several free tools for creating surveys if that just isn't in your budget right now. Two examples:
http://mojo.marketsurveys.com/
http://www.surveymonkey.com/

You can promote them numerous ways (always ask your friends/contacts to
spread the word):

* Facebook
* Twitter
* Myspace
* LinkedIn
* Any other social network you are involved in
* A link on your site
* A link on your blog
* Email it to your friends (and ask them to post a link to it on anything they have access to)

You can even do a series of surveys and then create a hub where all the results exist, spreading the word about your hub which is regularly updated with new survey information.

If you target these surveys around a paritcular keyword/phrase (or you group them together in hubs under related keywords) you might be able to get that to show up under that keyword.

This is a good way to get another listing under a brand or name separate from your website.

Facebook Tips You Should Know to Help Your Reputation

Wed, 20 May 2009 13:55:17 -0700

There are a few things I have been surprised to find people didn't know about Facebook that I thought I would share:

* Go through the privacy settings and make sure it is set how you want it.
* Regularly check the privacy settings to see if they have added new things you can set.
* If you want to send something private to one individual, send them an individual message, don't:
o a) write on their wall, everyone can see these or
o b) send a message to multiple recipients, everyone sees all the responses
* If someone asks to be your friend and you send them a message, you have now opened up your profile to them for 30 days whether you confirm them as a friend or not.
* You are limited to 2,000 friends, so if you are trying to build a large network for work/performances you should create a fan page which has no limit on the number of fans.

Feel free to add some more, this is by no means done, just a good start.

Paid Bloggers - held liable?

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:54:09 -0700

Paying for links is a controversial subject, something Google has tried to squash.

Paying bloggers to write reviews is a segment of this controversy.

So, it looks like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into changing some of their rules. Per a recent Wall Street Journal article:

"The Internet is becoming so rife with paid blogging that the Federal Trade Commission, which guards against false advertisements, is examining whether it should police bloggers. As it updates nearly 30-year-old advertising guidelines, the FTC is proposing that bloggers, and online marketers and companies that compensate them, be held liable for misleading claims. A decision from the commission is expected this summer. If it approves the guidelines, violations could spur investigations that in turn force bloggers to discontinue deceptive practices. If the deceptions don't stop, the FTC may require companies to repay customers."

While this is overall a great idea, I think we might have some problems in implementation:

1) the internet is worldwide (FTC can't control it all)
2) many small bloggers are going to have no idea about these rules and that they would apply to them
3) many smaller and/or mom/pop businesses will also have no idea

So, there will be honest mistakes by both of the above. How to take an industry of non-professionals and make sure they follow these rules, I don't want to be the one who has to get this enforced.

Implementation is going to be crazy and it will be very important that every PR and marketer is very aware of what is happening and tracks with the changing rules.