The study, which surveyed 2,800 consumers in six continents, as well as ad industry professionals worldwide, states that “media companies are falling behind in meeting the growing expectations of digital savvy consumers and the advertisers looking to reach them,” and points to a “growing rift between advertisers and content owners, media distributors and agencies.”

IBM is calling on content owners to “fundamentally” change the way they deliver information to audiences. Saul Berman, IBM’s global leader for strategy and change consulting services, and co-author of the new study, states: ”To succeed—especially in the current economic environment—media companies will need to develop a new set of capabilities to support the industry’s evolving demands which include micro targeting, real-time ROI measurement and cross-platform integration. Now is the time for companies to move quickly to become more effective with their assets and build for the future.”

Beyond Advertising: Choosing a Strategic Path to the Digital Consumer cites four key trends in the media business today: consumer adoption of new distribution formats, a shift in advertising spending, digital migration of platforms and the emergence of new capabilities due to moves by new entrants and existing players.

The report notes the adoption by consumers of sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Between 2007 and 2008, the adoption of social-networking tools soared to 60 percent from 33 percent; online/portable music services more than doubled to 46 percent from 22 percent; mobile Internet data plans nearly tripled to 41 percent from 15 percent; and access to mobile music and video quadrupled to 35 percent from 7 percent.

“Media, entertainment and advertising agencies must realize consumers are open to sharing information under the right conditions,” said Bill Battino, the managing partner of the global communications sector at IBM Global Business Services and co-author of the study. “Our research shows consumers are willing to trade knowledge about their usage and preferences for content and associated targeted marketing offers. Companies that excel in permission-based advertising will take share of marketing dollars.”

Advertisers are following consumers to new platforms; the study indicates that 63 percent of global CMOs expect to increase interactive/online marketing spend while 65 percent expect to decrease traditional advertising. Agencies, content networks and distributors, the report states, are not ready to meet the demands of the digital consumer and advertiser. Eighty percent of advertising industry participants interviewed for the study expect the industry to be at least five years away from being able to deliver true cross-platform advertising (including sales, delivery, measurement and analysis).

By M. Daswani – WorldScreen

The three hour drive down was ok, a bit rainy, but nothing our group of 9 couldn’t handle.  While waiting in line to enter the parking lot though, we were hit with hail, rain, and wind gusts that must have been close to 40 m.p.h.  It was a site to see.

Inside the stadium before kickoff, the rain and wind gusts kicked up again, making this encounter with Mexico a raucous affair.  When these two teams usually meet, it’s anything but nice, this is a rivalry for the times, and this game was no exception.  From the kickoff the tackles were flying in, and fans were loving it big time.  Mexican fans are known for their loud horns and their all out fanfare.  They were dressed from head to toe in green, red, and white, and singing in unison, mostly in Spanish so I had no idea what they were saying. The American fans must have been out numbered 2/1 for the game, even though it was in Columbus, Ohio in the middle of a cold February.  But not to be outdone, the American’s came prepared with large flags, and red clothing to show their support.

The American team came to play this night, and dominated possession for large spells, although the Mexican team had one good opportunity to go ahead early in the game.  But American goal keeper Tim Howard was up to the task, making a great save off his legs.  America continued to dominate and throw balls in the danger zone, and in the 44th minute finally managed to get the ball into the back of the Mexican net.  Scoring from a corner kick, Michael Bradley roofed the ball into the net giving the American team a much deserved 1-0 home lead.

The second half was no different from the first.  The American’s dominated again, the cold windy wet weather might have had something to do with it.  But this is why games are scheduled in February in Columbus, to give the home team the upper hand.  Even though the U.S. was controlling the game, the Mexican fans never let up with incessant horn blowing and noise making.  They kept it up until the last minute of the game, when the Michael Bradley managed to score his second, and the American team’s final goal of the game, making it a well deserved 2-0 victory in this very important 2012 World Cup Qualifying game.

Our adventure was not over yet though.  The 3 hour drive back to Detroit proved to be an adventure in it’s self.  More rain, and wind gusts proved to be very hard driving conditions. The 3 flipped over semi-trucks should be a good enough example for you to understand just how bad it was.  As I mentioned, it should normally take 3 hours from Detroit to Columbus, but with all the slow moving traffic, rain, wind, flipped over semi’s, this return trip took close to 5 hours, and I didn’t get to bed until 3am!  Needless to say, I was back in the office at 9am the next day with posters of the game, and an American pennant for the wall.  Go USA!

Listen up Mr. PR Company and Mr. Client: times have changed. Online results are now more important than traditional media mentions. I’m not saying that you can forget about traditional PR, no don’t get me wrong. I’m saying that online mentions are easier to achieve and have way more value in terms of rankings and social media saturation.

Why?

Not long ago our blog benefited from 2 references in some important, credited online blogs.  At the same time we also got a mention in a national rag. Daily traffic surged to thousands on our site and blog, subscription to our RSS feed increased a ton, people wanted in on the newsletter and we even generated some new business.

So take a guess which source gave us the traffic? You’re right, the online blogs, not the national rag. Why? The blogs had links to our site, the rag just had our name printed.

I am sure that the rag gave us some traffic, but I really have no way in measuring this unless people are searching for that rag in Google or come out and tell me they seen us there. On the other hand, the blogs gave us a ton of traffic. I could see where the traffic came from, I knew the unique users and how long they stayed on each page, where the exited and if they signed up. People commented on the blog and sent us emails – I can directly relate this to new business.

No one clipped the rag mention and faxed or sent it to me.

As marketers we are still sales people.  I like to say that we are “artistic weirdos” that have a job to sell. We just get to play with paint and computers to do it. And in today’s economic climate we are forced to really measure our efforts. We cannot waste budgets for clients where there is no measurable result.

Older, traditional agencies that are not getting with it are comfortable with traditional public relations because, well they read those publications. But they don’t stretch far enough to get that mention online, and the most important factor: the link. They do quick submissions to the wire or online free PR sites and those get distributed and show up. But that same release is eaten and regurgitated by many sites, and that unique content in a cool press release now becomes duplicate content. Google is not very fond of duplicate content, in fact they will discredit it.

Sorry Mr. Traditional PR Firm, we have to call you out on that bluff. There is a new reality in your business. As our clients transition their budgets more online conventional branding techniques are becoming less relevant. Links and the underground economy they harness drive consumers directly to a client’s website giving them the ability to interact, reach out and most importantly- be track-able. Not to mention help with rankings in Google, Yahoo! and MSN. (Traditional Agency Tip: clients live to be found in “the Google”)

Links, Link-baiting, and backlinks are important to a marketer’s arsenal of tools online. Getting a mention in a respectable blog or media site is great, but that link back to my client’s site- I’ll fight for that! So should your PR company or staff member.

Think about how many times in the past month you were driven online or to the phone from a magazine. Now how many times have you clicked from an email or in a article online? I’m a betting man and I’d take $100 that there is no comparison.

Traditional marketing will always have its value, however marketing is all about metrics and it is links that you really want.

Is your PR company truly doing you justice? If their not- then it’s time to give us a call.

Before joining the TM team, I was a graphic designer merely playing around with the internet, unaware of the full capabilities of coding, SEO, online email campaigns, and e-commerce. I would play around on the net, designing pieces here and there, nothing serious.   Since joining TM though, I’ve learned an enormous amount about hand coding sites, SEO, and how to properly market websites.  I’ve been given the opportunity to work on sites that sell thousands of dollars worth of products a day (www.heartlandsteaks.com , www.dealersupply.com ), something I could not have imagined doing.  I’ve also been assigned the task of designing sites from start to finish, doing the original design all the way through to the full launch (ex: www.kagealan.com, .www.macombbankruptcyattorney.com ). No templates, straight hand coded, the right way! The TM way!

If you don’t know much about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), let me tell you it’s an enormous market and part of the web, and not something that can be done easily, or in a few weeks.  I personally wasn’t too interested in SEO or how it worked before joining TM. I was more concerned with how sites looked and felt.  But SEO, done the right way, can work wonders and be pleasing to look at.  It’s something we pride ourselves on!  Take this very site for instance, in only a few short months we climbed the google ladder to be one of the top rankings for “Michigan web companies” (now if that’s not a good enough example of what we can do, I don’t know what is), plus, it looks nice, wouldn’t you agree!?  Want to get your site closer to that illustrious number one ranking on google? Contact us today and let us see what we can do for you.

Just some of things I’ve learned over the last year:
•    Some PHP
•    Some CSS
•    Basic SEO
•    Database import/export
•    Blog install and skinning
•    Forum install and skinning

Things I hope to learn in the upcoming year:
•    More in depth SEO
•    Javascript (tough one)
•    How do deal with database issues
•    How to deal with server issues
•    How to install and skin a “store”

I might not be on the same level as some of our other developers here, but I hope to be one day.

Need some examples of our stellar work? Visit our case studies and see what our current customers have to say.

I welcome your comments, your suggestions and insights. Since this will be posted on our blog, it is very simple to go to the end of the post and make your voice be heard. And if I forget to say later, “Thank You for commenting.”

Our Extended Family
First off, TM had a weird year in business. There have been ups, downs, and despite the economy, we are stable and continue to grow. There have been many new friends that have joined our family and many that continue to stay. Thank you for your trust and confidence in my team. I hope we continue to deliver the value you pay for. Thank you for acknowledging our invoices and making them a priority in your receivables each month.

2008 Recap
On new year’s eve in 2007, I told loved ones that “2008 will be great.” Looking back on the roller coaster that it was, I have been careful with my words as of late to not jinx 2009. (if you believe in that stuff…)
Internet 2008 brought us many good things. Online politically charged queries ranged across more than forty categories in AOL’s annual lists of top internet, mobile and video searches. Celebrity news, headlines and pop culture news continued to captivate the online audience; emerging mobile devices bumped activity for social applications like MySpace and Facebook, as well as sharing videos downloaded via apps for the iPhone. No matter how you look at it, your online audience is crucial to any business both large and small. Our new president elect, Barrak Obama, was responsible for at least ½ of all online political ad spending. Search engine marketing (SEM) and direct placement of ads were near $8 million dollars with new “social networks” like FaceBook, MySpace and BlackPlanet seeing a large chunk. So what does this tell us? Reaching out and connecting with consumers on the web was important and successful. Obama’s camp bet on the hope that voters, young and old, would be online to listen and give opinion. Guess what? He was right.

Twitter took storm as the newest, coolest, little thing to do that you could never understand what it was used for other than to waste time. Their company received another round of VC funding mid year after receiving tremendous growing pains, server outages and national attention. During the debates, you probably even got wind of live Twitter chats posted on certain cable station broadcasts.

Corporate America took a stab at Twitter and some early adopters received great press and praise from their followers for embracing social media. Some got into Twitter to find out what the rave was all about and learned a hard lesson.

Online Marketing continued to become popular with major companies, driving up online ad expenses over 2007. Many traditional marketing exec’s were starting to learn about “pay-per-click” and how driving people to your website from Google, Yahoo! and MSN (does anyone really use Live or MSN anymore?) was cool, “new” and interactive! (Notice the sarcasm. I repeat this because a marketing exec from a large firm actually said this to me. Ugh.)

Businesses large and small were taking a dip in the online marketing pool and seeing that it is not just a simple task to select a few words and pay $2.00 per click to establish a new $100k piece of business. They learned that the visitor who clicked needed to then come to a website and convert. That is when the real game began and many realized that their cool 1997 Geocities free site was not cutting the cake.

YouTube is still cool (even when now owned by Google) and business is learning of ways to use a new video-to-web camera to captivate an audience while establishing good natural online rankings. Take a gander at FLAME Furnace (our customer) who records small segments that are consumer friendly and places them on YouTube. They talk about how to check your furnace filter and prep your AC for winter in about a minute or so. Simple, small and useful. No sales approach; just a video to help the average consumer from the heating and cooling experts. And they work. In fact, their videos are viewed every day on Flame Furnace YouTube channel and their website. In my opinion, with the right plan and approach, this can become a great marketing tool that converts. Give it a try.

Regular maintenance on your company website is quickly becoming popular and fruitful for sales. We have seen a steady increase over the past year. Many of our friends want to update their site because they are getting feedback from their customers online. I.E. it’s working for them, so they are seeing the value in investing ad dollars that show a positive return on investment. Search engines, like Google, love new content and appreciate relevancy on your website too. It’s easy for them to index and place in their directory while you help to provide them useful info for their users. (plus you get ranked! Everyone wants to be ranked in Google!) Cool concept that works and is a major win-win.

Email your customer base. Get them the message. With postage rates increasing and advertising budgets being slashed (they are always the first to go aren’t they?- why!%#*?!) hitting people in their inbox is very cost effective. Plus, you get immediate feedback. And did I mention it is green?

Mobile web usage is increasing with the introduction of the faster iPhone, new BlackBerry and other smart phones. Google released their G-phone with T-Mobile and opened the Android operating system to developers around the world to create applications for it.  Apple also made it easier for developers as well to create and release apps that users can grab from iTunes. So what does this all mean? Those of us that gobbled up the .MOBI domains a few years back may see some low hanging fruit to grab soon. Google announced that they are making a focus on mobile marketing and added an option for AdWords users to buy mobile ads for browsers using Google search on their phone. Cameras are a standard now (and almost never allowed in government courts or strip clubs- gulp!) and take high resolution pictures that you can send to another phone, and email or post to the web. They even have applications for Twitter so you can chat with your followers 24/7.

Point blank: mobile search and marketing will be bigger than ever in the next 2 years. Get on board.  Get your website styled so it displays correctly or offers an alternative style sheet to quickly download to your customers’ phone. They’ll expect it.

In closing, my prediction is that your website traffic will increase this coming year. With the state of the economy, we are already seeing that Black Friday was red (for the first time in many years) and cyber Monday still had an increase. It’s easy to get information online in your tight-whites at 11pm on a Sunday and tell that company that “I’m interested, please give me a call this week.” Get prepared and allocate a portion of your marketing budget to your website and online marketing. The results are immediate and success can be tracked quickly.

Traditional Ad Agencies
Here is my open statement to traditional advertising agencies: “evolve or partner – please choose one.” We get a lot of referral business from traditional ad firms across the country and we are grateful for that business (here is a recent site for the Village of Hinsdale in IL).  I am happy to deliver a product or campaign that shows true value that they can pass on to their customers. However, know when to say when. Know that you cannot be an outlet for all kinds of media, especially if you are not familiar with how they work or what they cost. Gone are the times of a standard 15% markup for media placement. Learn about the web, about web design and development and understand what it takes to successfully scope, plan, design, launch and execute an online campaign. Yes, we do realize that traditional media will never go away. We are not trying to replace you as a business either. We are simply filling the gap of services that customers want.

Please understand and embrace “now media” and invest in learning about how it actually works, potential pitfalls and the results they can achieve. You can make revenue with online development and advertising, but please teach your account reps (continuously educate them, not a one-time effort) to know what they are selling, what they promise and what they can really deliver.

Just because your creative team is highly skilled in Photoshop does not mean they should be building websites with their auto-slice to web functions. Just because you can design a brochure or a logo does not give you the license to design, publish and optimize a website.  Websites were written with hand code way before Dreamweaver and are still today. It’s still the cleanest, most effective and best way. Also, SEO is not just about meta tags.

If learning about internet development and marketing is not in your budget, then consider establishing a true partnership with a digital agency like us to fill that void. If you continue to resell media that is improperly placed, scope ideas that you have no intelligence on and throw darts at the board with a blindfold on, you will continue to tarnish all agencies with your ignorance and arrogance. Our digital agency spends too much time turning its wheels for you to scope the unknown, execute garbage plans and put out fires. We promise that this will stop in 2009, for we cannot simply be a part of the injustice of your need for revenue.

We understand that you have employees with families and need to make continuous revenue to run your business. You can.  You just need to invest some time and money to learn and understand what you need to do, selling and fulfilling online advertising and marketing. Do your customers some justice in 2009. Be honest and it will feel better.

It’s “Now” media, not “New” media
I keep hearing the term “New Media” over and over again. For our friends that are genuinely interested to make an effort to dive in to online marketing and advertising, we have no problem educating you.  It’s no longer new media. It is “Now Media”. Internet, online marketing and websites are not a new concept. They are just becoming more adaptive and integrated in everyday life. So please understand (ah-hum Mr. Traditional Ad Agency) that you need to Edit > Cut and replace that term with “Now Media.”

“SEO” as a common word
Wikipedia states: SEO, or search engine optimization “is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it “ranks,” the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.

Did you understand this? SEO is not SEM (search engine marketing, commonly known as the placement of media, keywords in websites and directories in a CPM cost per million, CPC cost per click or CPA cost per acquisition model). SEO is so commonly becoming the new “buzz” word with our friends. Please take some time to ask us more questions about SEO and what it means to your business. It is not a one-time effort and is a continuous, ongoing balance of analytical tracking, benchmarking, testing, design and development that helps to achieve and reach new goals. Please do not use the word SEO in your arsenal of hip, new cool marketing terms unless you truly understand what it stands for.

Get what you pay for
We receive request to quote on development and online marketing every day. They come in via phone, from our website and through the front door. Please understand that we are not a team of freelancers that have a 98% profit margin. TM is composed of a number of individuals who have been designing websites, writing software and planning or executing marketing campaigns for a number of years. We have taken the time to learn, spent the money to learn the hard way and never make promises that we cannot deliver on. We are in the office during normal business hours, answer the phone and can speak intelligently at your technical level. We care about the projects we work on and want all of our friends to be successful.

If you are looking to have something done for minimum wage rates, please refer to Craigslist. Post your job at a local college or talk to others who are resourceful. Look online. There are many freelance job board sites where they will bid on your business. However, please understand that this is not TM. While we do not look down upon freelancing and third-world wages, we know our value.  We know the product that we will deliver and we know that we will be here in another 5 years. We also suspect that you will come back to us after your nephew in college cannot finish your project or that freelancer that was awesome is now AWOL. Age old saying is true today: You get what you pay for (Dean, our Project Manager also did a great post earlier this year titled “Pretty costs extra lady“).

Economic Stability
The economy is very interesting right now. We are entering a time that we have not seen (nor have I lived through) in decades. Over 15 years ago, I worked in Engineering Graphics at JTE (Jeep Truck Engineering) in Detroit, MI and thought I was home free. I had a plush corporate job earning a great wage, job security, and with hopes of a pension in 30 years. I was living the working man’s dream. Then, after 3 years, I was disgusted and bored. Frustration grew daily that all these flagpole sitters were simply afraid of me, my knowledge and determination to excel. They were scared that I would make them look bad and potentially threaten their job, health care and pension. Heck, it was them that barley showed up and sat at a desk for 20+ years pushing paper and attending meetings. It was owed to them. They earned it. I had seen with my own two eyes how automobiles were really engineered and manufactured. I learned that closed door “top-secret” vehicle build areas were a great place for Poker at 2 pm daily. I learned about a few bars that had a burger, fries and beer from 11-3 Monday – Friday, and that I could suck down 4-5 beers in an hour before returning to work. Then, one day, I sat and thought about what I was becoming and how it was disgusting. How much that my father made out to be “the American Dream” was really a farce and a telltale of our future. So I split to go do my own thing.

Welp, here we are folks.

This week we learn if Congress will give 15 billion dollars as a loan to the big 3 of Detroit. They cannot sell cars, Wall St. is to blame and everyone has a house, houses that are worth negative 50-90% value from 3 years ago. Ah, America, the beautiful.

This has forced me to take note and realize that our friends need us now more than ever. If the auto industry fails and bleeds more and more in to 2009, we know that the trickle-down effect will touch each and every one of us. Please know that my team is committed to do what it takes to make every dollar you spend with us in 2009 show return on investment. Communicate your concerns, your needs and we promise to help through this tough economic time.

Make a Change
Long ago, I realized how lucky I really am. I have a great family; own a successful digital agency and new start (LinkXL.com). Have a nice house in a great neighborhood and live a modest life. I’m pretty lucky.
At times, I too get caught up in the rigmarole of everyday life and lose focus of the big picture. I too, tend to forget that there are others that are not as fortunate as I have been.

This is why I founded a great little 501(c)(3) non-profit charity called Recycling for Charities. RFC, as it is called, helps to protect the environment and benefits consumer and charities across the USA. We take in old working and non working cell phones, PDA’s, iPods, pagers, digital cameras and other wireless electronics to be properly recycled or environmentally disposed of. We have vendors that will abide by our guidelines and buy these items from us. Consumers, schools, churches and organizations donate these items to us, chose a charity to benefit and we make sure they get financial compensation for each item. Donors also get a tax deduction. It’s very win-win and only feels better each day I’m involved.

To date, we have received over 100,000 items and donated over a quarter million to over 650 charities across the USA. We’ve provided funds to help spay and neuter animals, build homes for the homeless, help fund marching band instruments and buy tools to help clean rivers. RFC has done a lot and we only plan to invest more to make it a stronger outlet to help charities raise funds while cleaning up the environment. So I say in 2009, make a change and give a little back. Get in where you fit in. It feels very good and enriches your life.

My 2009 Wish List
Getting near the end of my manifesto (sorry, I hope I didn’t bore you) I wanted to close with a list of my personal and business wants and goals for 2009. They are not in any particular order, and if you feel I left any out, please let me know.

Business List
- New flat screen TV’s for our conference room and development meeting rooms. (completed with a Black Friday Meijer sale)
- Cable TV or DishNetwork so our employees can listen to news and soccer games during work.
- New computer upgrades and dual monitors for all. New chairs for all. We sit for hours on end and these are our trade tools. My team deserves the best to perform the best for our friends.
- New long regulation Texas Hold’Em poker table an 8 chairs for Friday’s at 5
- Decrease receivables over 120 days by 50%
- Increase organic traffic to our website by 50%
- Encourage and welcome our friends to become more actively involved in their online marketing and development campaigns
- Move entire office to Google Accounts or another client for calendars and email
- New coffee machine and wider variety of coffee selection for development office
- Quarter year internal audits and revision of internal and client development processes
- Monthly team building field trips outside of the office
- Add an additional software developer and graphic designer to staff
- Hire a great the right sales person
- Adopt summer agency hours
- Spend more dedicated time to internal projects and company website properties
- Increase office productivity to 90% efficiency of hours
- Allocate more reserve capital for employee bonuses and payroll
My Personal List
- Eat healthy, become more active and trim off excess pounds
- Read a book a month and blog about what I learned
- Understand and try Cricket out
- Increase my bowling average by 25
- Walk my dogs daily or every other day
- Kick the puffer habit once and for all
- Become more involved in business networking
- Focus and market my personal website projects
- Take 2 vacations (out of the USA)
- Schedule in daily exercise
- Work under 40 hours a week
- Learn fluent Spanish
- Attend 4 industry trade shows and training sessions
- Diversify my financial portfolio
- Audit and liquidate unused domain properties
- Find the right building to purchase
- Remove “dead weight” associates from my life

Thanks for listening and I hope there was something of value that you can take out of this. Remember, I am wanting your comments, suggestions and ideas.

Oh, one more thing. We normally close down for a week or so during Christmas to after New Year’s day. (although someone is always available to speak with) We’ve done this for years and plan to do it again this year. Many people have said to me “Wow, you give that much time off? How do you afford to do so? Things must be good eh?” Well, the truth is that we need this time off. We cannot afford not to.

My team busts their butts all year and quite frankly, society teaches us to work more and consume more: repeat. European’s have been known for and are referred to again and again with the amount of time that they take of from their work every year. We like this concept and are working towards making it happen at TM. Little by little, we’ll get there.

All of us here at Trademark truly wish you and your loved ones a happy holiday and prosperous new year. Thank you for the continuing patronage and business. We look forward to walking beside you in 2009.

Enjoy!

and for our Spanish Friends…

and for our Jewish Friends…

On Tuesday, Gannett said it would be laying off 3,000 employees, or roughly 10% of its total work force of about 32,000. Not only are big companies like McClatchy and Tribune cutting, but their smaller competitors are also swinging the axe with abandon.

Although Gannett declined to give specific figures, Robert Dickey, the president of Gannett’s beleaguered newspaper division, explained that “the fiscal crisis is deepening and the economy is getting worse. Gannett’s revenues continue to be severely impacted by this downturn, and our local operations are suffering.”

Make Your Bed, Now Sleep in it
Here’s one reason – their traditional media sales people don’t understand internet and how to sell it to be effective for the advertiser. Their rates are artificially inflated with extremely high CPM’s and include limitations of calls to action and landing URL and click tracking capability that is exterior to the paper online.

My agency, TM, places media for a number of clients. In 2009 our strategy is to do many negotiations of clients for their traditional advertising so they get more bang for their buck. What we have learned is that many are getting screwed with unrealistic prices from their salespeople to place online media. Our knowledge is power to get them better placement and lower rates. Many times there are a few places we can place the media in the same online locations- eliminating a sales person.

This is across the board, and I don’t see much getting better. Honestly, this may be a good wake-up call for the media giants. They need to know that advertisers want value, and their sales agents need to be properly trained to sell – not just a product- but also forthcoming to show value.

Our clients are becoming smarter to online advertising value. Not that they are dumb, but have never been properly introduced to online advertising, conversion tracking and analytics. Now that they are seeing the metrics and control that they potentially have, they are making more savvy considerations when placing their ad dollars online.

Hail to change in Detroit and traditional media.

From: MediaPost

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

The Ball was held at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, right underneath the large plane at the entrance, to my surprise.   News celebrities walked throughout the museum that were attending the event, and a silent auction was held, which included signed Detroit Sports memorabilia which raised even more money for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald Houses.  After a tasty surf and turf dinner, there was a live auction which included many dining and sports events around the Detroit Metro and Ann Arbor areas.  There was even a trip to Ireland up for auction!   After the auction the Museum was open for the attendee’s enjoyment, to take their drinks and browse the cars and other items.

The ball raised much-needed funds to contribute to the excellent work that each of the Ronald McDonald Houses do  providing a positive environment for families who have to come far from home, to seek treatment for their children who are ill.

Looking at our work, you might think that all we do is SEO and Web Development, but at the same time we make sure to go out and see our clients,  get involved in their activities, and give back to the community.

But in recent months some of the Internet company’s executives have been pushing for the company to overcome its aversion to paid advertising. That has created some conflict within Google, which is maturing and looking to reinvigorate its slowing growth.

An episode around the Olympics earlier this year illustrates the tensions. Some Google employees were considering a plan to sell airtime during the NBC broadcast to other advertisers and to take out a spot to promote a Google product as well, according to people familiar with the matter.

The idea didn’t get past Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who felt a splashy television ad wouldn’t fit with Google’s image, these people said. A Google spokesman declined to comment.

But there are signs that the internal debate is causing Google to shake-off of its reluctance to advertise. The search giant has recently held discussions with several Madison Avenue agencies, including Wieden + Kennedy and the boutique firm Taxi New York, about new efforts to promote some products, according to people familiar with the matter.

In August, Google launched an advertising effort in Japan that included outdoor and online ads created by Wieden + Kennedy, which is best known for its Nike “Just do it” campaign.

The effort, dubbed “100 Things You Can Do With Google,” was designed to promote the Google brand and several products such as Google Maps and Gmail.

Google is beginning to “break with its relatively low-key history” around marketing, says Greg Sterling, an Internet analyst with market-research firm Sterling Market Intelligence. “They’re definitely doing more things that look like traditional marketing.”

Google’s own marketing staff, which is decentralized by product groups, is also trying new approaches, such as projecting massive images on buildings in New York to promote its custom homepage service.

And the company has started slapping its brand on products, like the G1 cellphone that runs its software. Google and T-Mobile USA are launching an online, outdoor and TV ad campaign to promote the device, which hits stores this month.

The company last year hired Andy Berndt, a former co-president of WPP Group’s Ogilvy & Mather in New York, to help evolve its strategy. As managing director of a new group called Google Creative Lab, Mr. Berndt’s job is to find new ways to promote Google products while keeping its brand consistent.

His team is involved in everything from marketing Google’s 10th birthday with a $10 million contest to launching its new Web browser Chrome with a comic book.

Google’s new approach is still in its early stages, and how much it will ultimately involve traditional advertising remains unclear. Messrs. Brin and Page remain cautious and have pushed back against some ideas they believe are inconsistent with the company’s image, say people familiar with the matter.

The new efforts are significant for Google which has relied very little on paid advertising in the past. Despite its size and rapid growth, Google’s offline ad spending has remained steady at about $20 million annually in recent years, according to research firm TNS Media Intelligence.

The company has long promoted its search and search-ad products through word of mouth, public relations and behind-the-scenes distribution deals with software companies. The company’s marketing teams also cross-promoted services like Gmail and Google Book Search with search ads and through its corporate blog.

But Google is realizing its approach needs to evolve as it matures and starts tapping new areas, such as software for mobile phones and business software, for growth. The company’s revenue growth slowed to 39% in its second quarter, down from 58% a year ago.

In many cases, it has struggled to grow the new offerings. What’s more, these areas are crowded with competitors who rely heavily on advertising, like Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc.

Some new products require working with partners that advertise regularly and are pulling Google in to join them. For the upcoming G1 cellphone, T-Mobile will lead the TV efforts while Google will lead the online efforts, according to a T-Mobile spokesman, who said the companies collaborated on the “creative and execution” for the ads. Both companies declined to say how much they are investing in the effort.

Branding experts say it’s important Google takes the ad plunge. People “still default to Google as only search,” says Rita Rodriguez, chief executive of the U.S. division of Brand Union, a unit of WPP Group.

from Wall Street Journal – 10-3-08

There may be some SEO agencies that are dishonest and scam people, but if you know what to look for when selecting an digital agency, you don’t have to worry about picking on of those.  Of course, knowing a bit about SEO will always help you choose, but even if you don’t here are some things to look for when deciding on the right SEO agency.

-    If they promise they can get your site to rank number one, it might not be the right agency for you.  Be aware that no one can promise number one rankings in the search engines. No one can control how Google, Yahoo! and MSN rank webpages.

-    Be wise and get referrals from anyone you know on several SEO agencies.  Knowing other people who have done business in a specific agency is a great start.

-    If you don’t know anyone who has done business with an SEO agency, you should go to online forums to find people who know agencies that are reputable and get their clients results.

-    For extra information on the agency, you should look for their company in the search engines.  Don’t judge the business by everything you read; unless there is a lot of negative information on the business.

-    When you have finally narrowed your SEO agencies down, you can ask them for examples of sites they have optimized.  If they refuse to show you some examples, then something isn’t right. No artist can have an art show with bare walls and expect to be paid.

-    Take a look at each agency’s site to see how well their site is optimized.  If they can’t do a good job on their own site, you should not employ them to do yours.

-    Ask each agency what keywords they rank for.  If they don’t rank high for those keywords, they aren’t very good at what they do.

-    Ask them if automated submissions are used, because you want to stay away from agencies that use them.  These automated submissions can get your site banned from search engines.

-    Ask the agency if Black Hat SEO elements are used.  Before you ask, search for Black Hat techniques online so you will be familiar with them.  You don’t want an agency using these techniques; they can also get your site banned.

-    Ask where relevant backlinks are gathered.  Where back links come from can make a difference.  Your site can get penalized if the backlinks are coming from link farms.  Be sure this isn’t the case.

-    Sitting down to have a meeting with people in the agency can help you get an impression of the type of people you could possibly be working with.  What are your gut instincts telling you?

-    Just because one agency’s services cost more, it doesn’t mean that you will get better quality service from them.

-    On the opposite end of the above statement; if an agency charges way below what every other agency is charging, chances are they are leaving many regular SEO techniques out of their work.

-    Ask each agency if they have regular maintenance subscription services.  An agency that offers regular SEO maintenance after the main optimization will probably be a good team to work with.