But that was 2007 and every year since I’ve heard that “this was going to be the year of mobile. However, the technology and devices used today are light-years beyond where they wear in 2007. In 2007 the Palm Treo was a hot phone…lol…yea I had one! Today we have iPhones, Droids, Kindles and iPads to consume mobile content with. That makes life and “selling” mobile much easier.

So, if you are curious to learn more about mobile technology and how it may be able to help your business stop by this event.

Time: June 15, 2010 from 5pm to 7pm
Location: The Club at KeyCenter
Street: 127 Public Square
City/Town: Cleveland, OH

Register by clicking here

In a later post…because I just thought about doing this as I was writing…I’ll try to compare how the minds of small businesses compare to the minds of big brands. Curious to see how the growth compares.

Social Media interest is up 12% year-over-year

The good news is that for most websites all that is needed is a little push. Here are a few quick-hit things that you can do to get your website noticed and moving up the Google rankings.

1. Get yourself listed on Google Places, formally known as the Google Local Business center. This will help your business get listed on the maps section that appears at the top of a page when something is searched in Google. There is a process to getting listed. Once you create your listing, Google will mail you a postcard to confirm your physical address. You will need that card to confirm the listing. It usually arrives within a week so be sure to keep your eyes open for it in the mail and don’t forget. You can learn more here: Google Places
2. Get Yourself listed on the Bing search engine. Same process as defined above for Google Places. You will need to create a Windows Live ID account which is kind of annoying but hey, the listing is worth it. You can learn more about the Bing local business listing service by following this link
3. Sign-up for Yelp. Yelp is a mashup of YellowPages, Bloggers and social media users. If you’ve heard of FourSquare then you can liken Yelp to that. Yelp listings help by adding another link back to your website AND by creating a listing on an actual Yelp page for you; Yelp pages usually rank pretty high in Google so having this step completed can only help you bring in more leads. To sign up for Yelp click here.
4. Check out Andrew Shotlands blog over at www.LocalSEOGuide.com everyso often. He publishes really helpful and practical advice on how small business owners can get better search engine rankings. Most of this stuff you can do yourself but Andrew can also be hired and he’s worth it. He put together a really helpful list of directories that should check out. It’s called the IYP (Internet Yellow Pages SEO Rankings Report. Go down that list and create a listing on each one for your business.
5. Get out and comment on other blogs and websites. Start by commenting on the blogs you read already. When you get the process down start looking for blogs in your industry. It’s not hard and does not take very much time. But a lot people ‘t understand why this so crucial. I personally got my site ranked on page 1 of Google for “Social Media Consultant” using this technique. But before you do this watch this video which summarizes how to do this right way.

If you own a small business and have been getting hammered on by sales guys who want to sell you every marketing program under the sun then I sincerely feel for you. You are probably getting thoroughly confused and it’s just not fair. The reason it’s not fair is because the sales guy pushing these products does not care about you – at all and simply wants to make a commission.  What’s worse is that they probably don’t have any idea as to what it even is they are selling. In the past I worked for a major media company that primarily sold advertising to small business owners. A good portion of the companies revenue (which topped out at around $950 million) was attributed to print advertising solutions; stuff like YellowPages ads and such. This company was the largest reseller of YellowPages advertising in the USA and had over 350,000 customers. Needless to say we had plenty of clients to visit with and learn from. I was brought in to train the sales people on digital products. Stuff like websites, search engine optimization and social media etc. I traveled to 16 states training and presenting and coaching these old school YellowPages sales guys on how to “pitch” (and I HATE that word) digital products.  It was a miserable failure.

Why It Was a Failure

It was a failure because these sales meetings or conferences or whatever you want to call them were not enough. They were like 10-day diet programs where you get all excited in the first three days, go out and execute and then fall back on your old ways. It was a failure because suddenly we had 350 sales guys who thought they were experts in Internet marketing now. It was a failure because they recommended stuff to small businesses that they did not need.  It was a failure because they sold something that they themselves not only had no clue about but in fact had never even had hands-on experience with. How the hell can a company sell a product through a sales channel when they do not even know what the product is? Anyway, I am starting to digress a little and need to get back on track.

What I Learned

My point is that a lot of small business owners have had Internet stuff pushed on them because a company hired a guy like me to train their enormous sales force and then unleashed that sales force upon a territory with a quota that needed to be met at the end of the month. I must have gone on 200 sales calls in that 9 month period and witnessed some of the worst recommendations ever. I had to smooth over all of these imperfections with couth and courtesy to the sales person but I really just wanted to kick them in the tail and say thanks for the time to business owner and get the heck out of there; my stomach used to hurt so bad when I’d get an order in from one of the guys I trained that was for a $30,000 a year website and SEO program that I knew for a fact we could not deliver upon. What I learned was that most of these “small business advertising companies” was focused on was a revenue goal or IPO or merger to pay back shareholders. They did not care about the quality of service, the relationships they had with their customers or even their own reputation.

My Advice for Small Business

I have some real advice for a small business – take it easy…seriously. You don’t really need all of this crap that everyone is trying to sell you. Sure, you will need it eventually but just like when you bought your first house or car and passed on all of the fancy options so you could stay within budget so should be your approach to Internet marketing. Twitter, Facebook, SEO, website design are a growing part of the marketing mix, no question. However, approaching these marketing channels in sequence is of greater importance than simply participating. You’ll simply get burned out if you try to do it all.  As a small business owner myself my approach has always been slow and steady. Start with a small budget and then ratchet up as needed. Apply the revenue earned from one marketing initiative towards the next and so on. Basically, your marketing program should be funding itself.  Don’t get hoodwinked by anyone trying to sell the local lead holy grail. Everyone thinks they have it figured out, I know but the reality is that once you sign that SLA you become just another number and sales figure.  I’ve seen it first hand and have helped dozens of ticked-off business owners rebound with something more realistic.

Here Are a Few Tips

1. If you don’t have a website yet, start there. Don’t do it yourself either – those days are long gone and you will make costly errors that will hurt your credibility with Google and other search engines who will be the largest referral source for your business.  Avoid paying a bloated agency too. Unless you are a really successful business and can afford $15-30,000 for a website then any agency you ask to help you will probably way too expensive.  We always recommend using WordPress for a website development tool. WordPress is free and there are a plethora or WordPress freelancers out there that can help you get started. Check out websites like www.Odesk.com, www.Elance.com and www.Guru.com to connect with freelancers. We can also help you if you need us to, just contact us to start the conversation.
2. Avoid throwing money on PPC or Pay-Per-Click campaigns. Most pay-per-click campaigns are not only a waste of money but are also a huge waste of time. Any “advertising company” you might be considering buying through is probably marking up the PPC campaigns cost by at least 25% and passing the expense off to you. So take my advice and invest that money in a better website. Or take your significant on a vacation…
3. Do create a blog or content marketing strategy. Content marketing is pretty much just the act of creating content, regularly. Search engines love fresh content and the more niche your small business is the more likely your content will get ranked. At a local level, the more specific and focused your content can be on your region and specific products and services the better. Write press releases, articles and blogs whenever you can. There are tons of free press release services that you can use to issue a press release too. Just do a Google search for “free press release” and follow the trail. We can help with this too f you need us.

In closing, try to resist the urge to take the bait and buy every marketing product you come across. Rather, pick one or two that will work well for you and stick with them for a few months. When you start to get comfortable and feel good about the performance of that approach move onto something else.

Just don’t trust that sales guy!

This is in response to an inevitable transition towards membership based retail where members will pay a fee to have access to the brands they are so loyal too. The Thrillist purchase of JackThreads.com further proves that strong retail brands will always need content to sell. Also advocates the evidence that is mentioned by the like of marketing great Seth Godin who directs more brands and people to start building Tribes or risk being whisked away by the masses.

Article Snippet:

Grandview Heights online retail company hopes to grow quickly after its purchase by Thrillist.com, a New York publisher of online newsletters on lifestyle topics.

The deal gives JackThreads.com access to Thrillist’s nearly 2 million customers, while Thrillist gets an opportunity to merge content with commerce.

JackThreads wants to “tighten the tribe and make it more exclusive … and they’re a little ahead of the curve with that marketing approach,” Murphy said.

The full article in the Columbus Dispatch can be viewed here: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2010/05/24/jackthreads.html

Got me to thinking about how we can all do something similar. Not trying to rip off the idea, but, then again, maybe I am…LOL. Bottom line, this approach could be used with brands that cater to Parents, Boomers, the unemployed…anybody. Everyday people Google phrases like “How to behave in a job interview?” and “How do I get my toddler to eat breakfast?” – what’s stopping you/me from thinking outside of the box like Converse did and trying something fun.

I think social media can also play a larger factor in this. One twist I am thinking about trying is running an Adwords campaign that links back to specific Twitter handles. Like @BabySleepBetter or something…then we could begin the conversation and dialog from there AND I would also gain a follower – allowing me to continue the conversation with you at a later date if you so chose. Only drawback would be the that person clicking on the ad would need to have or sign-up for a Twitter account. Details…LOL. Side-note, was actually blown away that Converse does not own @converse on Twitter – some one else does and they are squatting on it.

Below is the video that Converse put out explaining how they arrived at this idea. Check it out and be well.

Converse Domaination from Ross Martin on Vimeo.

MADISON, WI — (Marketwire) — 05/18/10 – Networked Insights, the leading social media analytics company, has launched SocialSenseTV, a new analytical listening platform tailored specifically to the television industry. This new offering acts as a complementary data source to traditional ratings metrics by examining social media conversations to help provide insight that leads to more targeted buying and more effective selling.

“A critical metric to gauge the value and potential of a TV program is found through social listening analytics,” said Sean Finnegan, president and chief digital officer at Starcom MediaVest Group. “With this new approach, we can assess a show’s trends, buzz factor and sentiments from user updates, references and communities.”

SocialSenseTV analyzes social media conversations to help track the online buzz around TV programming by tracking themes specific to celebrities and shows. The platform builds upon Networked Insight’s current SocialSense product which provides a focused look at the conversations and interactions happening online. This new television-specific offering is tailored for the TV industry through a highly targeted virtual community identified by Networked Insights’ team of analysts and client services professionals. Through this process of selecting sites that will capture the right conversations from the right people, SocialSenseTV ensures rich veins of conversation around TV are found.

“TV programming has changed significantly in recent years as content and conversation shifts online — media decision makers are realizing they need to tailor the ways they are measuring and analyzing audiences to fit this new world order,” said Dan Neely, founder and CEO of Networked Insights. “Online conversations represent a better understanding of the audience so it’s essential to capture the social chatter about given shows. We’re bridging the gap between old and new ways to measure audiences to help not only track ripple effects but also demonstrate how media buyers and sellers can use engagement to assess and create value.”

Also available today is Networked Insights free SocialSense TV report which includes social ratings to help inform TV upfront decisions. Access the full report here: http://networkedinsights.com/socialsensetv/report/.

Networked Insights will also begin offering SocialSenseTV custom reports featuring specialized research to address questions for a specific television show, campaign or product. The company’s in-house analysts and extensive agency partnerships are available to provide information and insights that traditional research methods have yet to deliver to the television industry.

About Networked Insights

Networked Insights fuels insights by evaluating, interpreting and discovering meaning from the millions of authentic conversations on the social web. SocialSense, the company’s social media listening platform, analyzes the chatter from the individuals and sites that matter most to a brand — sorting the important news from the trivial, thus helping advertisers and marketers make better strategic and tactical decisions. Unlike monitoring software, SocialSense shows its customers what’s hot, what’s new and what’s changed — without reading every post.

Founded in 2006, Networked Insights is a privately held company based in Madison, Wis., with offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. More information about Networked Insights can be found at http://www.networkedinsights.com.

Networked Insights technology diagrams and photo of CEO Dan Neely are available at http://networkedinsights.com/news/media

The intent of this post is to serve as a hub for the activities that I am planning, which I will update from the comments section. I also encourage people visiting this post to leave a comment with a link or resource that might be helpful for future readers.

I’d also like to use this post as a place to set-up meetings for coffee or cocktails with people that want to meet and discuss business opportunities. If you want to learn more about me visit the following page to view our company culture video.

Looking forward to connecting soon. Be well.

The listings are only $99 a year so they are very affordable. There are also other ways to advertise on the website and you can contact the owners of the website to find out about those.