When was the last time you needed something, and turned to Google Maps to get the answer? I had to visit my in-laws last week, and knew that afterwards, I was going to want to go someplace nice to eat. I’m not real familiar with the restaurants around them, so I figured I would take [ … ]

Unless, of course, you can properly staff it. I know, I know — 100 million people use twitter; 150 million tweets per day are sent; it’s a great way to interact with customers, etc. There are lots of stories about how Twitter has been used to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Additionally, a number of books [ … ]

Unless, of course, you can properly staff it. I know, I know — 100 million people use twitter; 150 million tweets per day are sent; it’s a great way to interact with customers, etc. There are lots of stories about how Twitter has been used to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Additionally, a number of books [ … ]

One of the greatest joys in building a marketing campaign is looking at the product, and trying to come up with words that truly exemplify the experience the customer will have with the product. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to return to the same well, and pull out several of the same words. There are [ … ]

Now that each has a name, and we realize the differences, we can begin to understand how to use these definitions to help clarify some of your advertising. We’ll use an imaginary flower shop, called Rosie’s, as an example. Rosie’s decides to increase its business. Rosie’s pays for print ads, email blasts, and some direct [ … ]

Do you know the difference between Owned, Paid and Earned Media? Beyond the differences, do you understand the relationships of them; as well has how to direct each one in a manner that is most useful to your organization?  Although all three are fairly obvious in hindsight, it is probably best to take a moment [ … ]

There are over 80 million people accessing the Web via their Smartphones. That audience is WAY too large to ignore. Smartphones outsell PC’s. That was true at the end of last year. The gap between the two platforms is only going to grow. Mobile Web sites reach all audiences, while apps do not. Sure, the [ … ]

After taking a good, long, honest look at your business’s online identity, you have come to the realization that it is lacking.  Maybe the look and feel is reminiscent of an Atari game.  The only emails you receive from your website are from Nigerian Princes or offers to rebuild your website.  Even though your site [ … ]

What would you consider the most basic defining character of a website? I would say that it is to share information.  The quality of the information, and the ease at getting this information from the website determines how good the website is.  Because the ease of getting to the information is what determines the usability [ … ]

What was the last small to medium sized business website that you visited online recently? Why did you visit it? Often times, when small to mid-sized businesses begin the design of their websites, these two questions don’t come up. The businesses worry about the questions of, “How are we going to present our content? What [ … ]

On the radio, I caught a little portion of a discussion regarding the idea that having an email ending with @aol.com can “Hurt your personal Brand” by making you seem outdated.  There were some facts that they were taking into consideration, such as the demographic of people currently using an @aol.com were over 40 years [ … ]

I had a discussion with a peer yesterday regarding the importance (or lack thereof) of Google Page Rank. I’m a firm believer that Page Rank us fairly useless. Here’s a blog a wrote on the topic a few months ago regarding Google Page Rank. Why? I’ll tell you why… You can’t track Page Rank. Typically, [ … ]

Have you ever launched a new marketing campaign? Many times, a campaign is conceived based directly on the sales process, and then moved into the realm of advertising. That means starting with the sales process and expanding upon it. For those not in sales, and looking for a starting place, many times we begin with [ … ]

When a social platform starts growing exponentially, good marketers take notice and move in fast. However, social media marketers, not unlike myself, have hit a major roadblock with Google+ – there are no business tools. What’s a company to do? According to Google+ Ads Lead Christian Oestlien – fittingly in a YouTube video posted on [ … ]

I’m going to tell you a marketing pitch, and see if you think it makes sense. “Take your product and walk up to the nearest house.  Bang on the door and hope someone answers.  If they do, ask them an obvious question, one that everyone would answer either positively or negatively, it really doesn’t matter [ … ]