AttentionMax

Brands: Beware Of Slimy SEO Middlemen Meddling Through Social Media

Max Kalehoff — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:12:04 +0000

If it’s your job to promote and protect your brand reputation, then you should beware of slimy SEO middlemen that meddle in social media and customer relationships.

Most brand managers are aware of the risks of engaging in “black hat” and “gray hat” SEO tactics. These methods attempt to attract search traffic in a deceitful manner that violates search engines’ terms of service. Such tactics include keyword stuffing, hidden text and links, link farming and blog comment spam, among other. They can get you blackballed by the search engines, making you invisible to many of your potential online customers.

But there’s a new threat emerging: SEO middlemen that participate in social media and blogger relations for the sole purpose of boosting search-engine traffic. Many of these efforts are backfiring. Let me share a recent personal example:

An account executive from an established SEO agency contacted me last week on my personal blog. He indicated his agency was representing a major furniture brand, for which I’ll spare public ridicule. I give this account exec credit for fully disclosing his client relationship, but the accolades end there. He did his homework on me, as indicated by his compliments and thoughtful references to my alma mater, various posts on my site, and short family videos I’ve published. But his intimate patronization was nothing more than fake flattery. And the hard pitch that followed made his interaction entirely unpleasant and unwelcome.

I’ll paraphrase this huckster’s pitch: “I noticed one of your posts has a link to our client. In an effort to assist with our online marketing efforts, would it be possible to modify this link to a new URL that will aid our SEO optimization efforts? Please let me know if this is possible. It would be a great help to us. Thank you for considering this request and please continue to provide marketing insight on your blog, as well as comical videos and stories of you and your family’s adventures!”

This request made me uneasy because it was completely tied to a self-serving SEO agenda and nothing else. Instead of spraying untruthful admiration and greedily requesting value beyond my generous public advocacy, this agency exec should’ve recognized me as a brand promoter and let his client know that I’m a potential fan to start a more meaningful relationship with.

But no, the SEO middleman with the narrow agenda had to get in the way of a fruitful customer relationship and potential long-term opportunity. As a result, I probably will never advocate or do business with him or his client again. This sort of of commercial engagement is nothing more than spam.

Brands: beware of slimy SEO middlemen that meddle in social media and customer relationships. Middlemen are not an excuse for bad deeds. Nor are they a buffer from the consequences.

This also was my latest column in MediaPost.

(Photo Credit: freejay3)

Child Online Safety And Responsibility

Max Kalehoff — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:10:08 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

I had a good meeting yesterday with the child-safety product group from Symantec, the Internet security software company. They shared an aggregation of research that underscores the naivety of too many children when they use the Internet (i.e., giving out their passwords, or succombing to phishing sites). Symantic also mined their own database of child Internet search queries, tracked through Symantec’s security software, and found that “sex” and “porn” were among the most prevalent queries (top five). Their research also underscored the child-online safety challenges of parents, including digital ignorance, a lack of visibility and control, and simple tools and methods in which to ensure safety and teach responsibility.

As you’d expect, that’s where Symantec’s family protection software comes in. OnlineFamily.Norton (www.onlinefamily.norton.com) is a free Web service that gives parents a flexible way to view and control child Internet usage among Windows and Mac computers in their household. While parental control is an obvious feature, I liked the Symantec team’s philosophy of using the system to drive discussion, education and responsibility. We’re going to test the software in our family, where our oldest child is three and quickly becoming computer literate.

I’ll report on our experience in a month or so. In the meantime, a few thoughts come to mind. First, child-safety software quickly needs to extend to mobile and gaming devices, where a growing percentage of Web usage is taking place. Second, child-safety protection software needs to be marketed to kids, not just parents. The natural reaction for a kid is to reject control. But what if child-protection software became attractive to kids as well — through various incentives and direct benefits? What if kids were the ones to introduce the software into their families if their parents already have not?

(This post was written and uploaded from my Blackberry.)

Child Discipline

Max Kalehoff — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:03:27 +0000

Who enforces discipline on the children in your household? That’s a tough issue, at once critical to child development, safety and family sanity. It’s something every parent can relate to, though each family case and approach is unique. That’s why we dedicated our last Cast of Dads podcast to this important yet challenging subject.

Download Episode 12: Discipline

Topics we tackled:

Who is the softy in the house?
Who is the enforcer?
When siblings begin helping with the parenting
Teaching to respect adults balanced with not trusting strangers
Friends known as “aunts” & “uncles”
Naughty Steps, Dunce Caps and time out
Losing control and raised voices
Extreme discipline
To Spank or not to Spank?

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the show and have them subscribe to either our direct feed or via iTunes. Also, please leave us a review in iTunes!

Cast of Dads is a group of podcasting and blogging dads who gather to gab about fatherhood. The cast of dads includes C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, who collectively represent 13 kids from the youngest of babies to full grown adults. Each of them brings a unique perspective to being a father.

Awesome Job Opportunity: Marketing Manager At Clickable

Max Kalehoff — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:57:18 +0000

If you read this blog, you know that I work as the vice president of marketing at Clickable, an exciting New York startup. Our purpose is to help businesses survive and thrive by simplifying online advertising success. It’s an awesome place to work because we passionately believe in our purpose, and have an incredibly talented team working hard to change the world. We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re accomplishing big milestones and growing quickly. We’re looking to hire a new marketing manager to join the team and help us get there faster. You can apply on our site.

Marketing Manager

Clickable (www.clickable.com) is an online solution that makes search advertising simple, instant and profitable. We’re an innovative and venture-financed technology start-up, based in New York City. We were featured by TechCrunch 40 and awarded Newcomer of the Year by AlwaysOn.

We are looking for a dynamic, versatile marketing manager to drive customer acquisition, customer engagement and brand reputation through a mix of marketing strategies. This role has responsibility for Web site and email marketing, events, lead nurturing, marketing collateral and industry relations. It requires deep expertise in search marketing and online advertising, as well as persistence and a positive attitude. The ideal candidate is passionate about online advertising and design.

The position is based in New York and reports to the VP, Marketing, with cross-functional leadership responsibilities.

Responsibilities

Manage the Clickable Web site to drive customer acquisition and engagement, including technical maintenance, updates, design, SEO strategies and CRM integration.
Manage the Web site’s editorial strategy and publishing schedule, including forums, blogs and article contributions.
Implement lead nurturing, email and drip marketing campaigns that drive acquisition and loyalty.
Manage online and offline events, including Webcasts and live industry events.
Manage development of marketing collateral, including sales sheets, brochures, advertisements, presentations and online ad copy.
Assist with PR, including awards entries and conference speaking pitches.
Contribute to overall corporate marketing and product strategy.

Qualifications

5+ years experience marketing online technology or advertising solutions, or software as a service (SaaS).
Deep knowledge of search marketing and online advertising is a must, as well as strong proficiency in CRM systems, Web publishing systems, email marketing, social media and design.
Strong record in product marketing, marketing communications and project management.
Ability to prioritize and multitask in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
Ability to lead cross-functional teams from different departments and time zones.
Excellent analytic, strategic, conceptual and communication (writing and presenting) skills.
Bachelor’s degree; MBA or other advanced degree a plus.

About Clickable, Inc.

Clickable is a platform that makes online advertising simple, instant and profitable. It empowers beginners through professionals to maximize their advertising investment. Clickable makes you more efficient, effective, and confident. That’s why customers often say: “Clickable is like having a trusted advisor by your side ensuring success.” To learn more, visit www.clickable.com

Apply for this position

Competition In The Cable And Broadband Business

Max Kalehoff — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:08:19 +0000

According to Reuters, Cablevision’s 3 million New York-area customers lost broadcast signals of local station WABC-TV in the early hours of Sunday because the cable operator and the TV network were unable to come to terms. This corporate PR battle is is being played out amidst the highly anticipated Oscars award show, depriving those 3 million New York-area customers of Hollywood cultural enrichment.

My household used to be a Cablevision customer, but we switched to Verizon FiOS two years ago for faster broadband and to support competition in our neighborhood. According to Wikipedia, “Verizon FiOS is a bundled communications (Internet, telephone, and TV) service, operating over a fiber-optic communications network, that is presently offered in some areas of the United States…it has attracted consumer and media attention…as the first major U.S. carrier to offer fiber to the home/premises.” Verizon is taking advantage of this Cablevision-ABC feud to lure more customers, as evidenced by the following letter received a few hours prior to this posting:

From: Verizon Member Services
Date: Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 5:05 PM
Subject: Important message for NY and NJ Verizon FiOS customers about their Channel 7 programming
To: maxkalehoff@

To our Loyal Customers,

Verizon would like to reassure our loyal customers that Cablevision’s battle with ABC, and the loss of Channel 7 on Cablevision’s line up as of midnight last night, will in no way impact your Verizon FiOS service.

Do you have friends and neighbors who have lost their Channel 7 programming with Cablevision and who will be upset about missing the Oscars and other great shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost and so much more. If you do, then we would like to invite you to register in our Share The Network Refer-a-Friend program. As a registered member of our Verizon Share The Network program, your benefits would allow you to earn a $50 Reward Card for every customer you refer who orders one of our packages containing 2 or 3 of our Services (voice, broadband and/or TV) and a $25 Reward Card for a single product referral.

We are standing by and ready to help them move over to Verizon FiOS with a special incentive. Use your Share The Network membership to earn your rewards as a result of all your referrals!!!

Thank you for making the right choice of Verizon FiOS!

As a FiOS customer, I recommend the product based on the merit of my satisfaction versus the competition, not the aforementioned incentives. I’ve also been impressed by the growing number of Verizon employees who actively listen, acknowledge and take action to improve the customer experience.

Still, I underscore there are a lot of opportunities to provide a much better cable, broadband and wireless offering. We’ve begun to experience the benefits of greater competition in cable, broadband and wireless services, but there’s a long way to go.

(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)