Working the Web to Win in the 21st Century

by Carl Weiss

Before the 1990’s businesses were relegated to using print, TV and radio to advertise their wares. Then along came the Internet in the latter half of the 90’s and suddenly businesses had a whole new lease on life, along with a new set of skills to hone.  Because when it comes to promoting products and services online, there is no such thing as one size fits all.  Far from it. 

Before the turn of the century webvertising was a bit simpler, due to the fact that it all came down to two things: a website and a search engine.  Back then, there weren’t any such things as blogs and social networks.  Video was something that was worse than useless, due to bandwidth considerations.  Web designers back then had to selectively choose images due to the slow loading speeds that dial-ups provided.  Too many images could cause a site to load like molasses, or even freeze the screen solid. 

Then came the development of broadband and suddenly it was a whole new ballgame.  With that ballgame came an entirely new set of rules.  Instead of relying almost exclusively on text, many sites began experimenting with podcasts and video.  With the advent of YouTube, where anyone can post and host videos galore, multimedia went from being an anomaly to being practically a requirement. 

Search engines as well began to capitalize on the multimedia nature of the Internet, with many of them adapting their search algorithms to take into considerations all the latest online offerings.  Several, most notably Google, went one step farther by developing their own brand of blog, social network and video portal.  This meant that website owners and optimizers had their hands full feeding all these additional mouths.  As a result, many sites that previously dominated the search engines were relegated to its backwaters.  It also meant that SEO was no longer SOP (standard operating procedure.)  Whether you choose to administer your web presence yourself or outsource the task, there are a number of factors you need to take into consideration if you hope to succeed.

1.      Geo-Targeting – One of the things that has changed in a big way is the ability to geographically target online ads.   Unlike in the early days of the web where global advertising coverage was the norm, today online ads can be directed to targeted regionally, state-wide or locally for both pay-per-click and organic search. 

2.      What is SEO Today? – When I hear people conversion about search engine optimization, I ask them to define the term SEO.  Before the turn of the century everything a search engine needed to determine who ranked best resided exclusively on the website.  Today, only twenty five percent of the criteria used for ranking purposes is contained on-site.  The remainder consists of everything from blogs and social networks to videos and podcasts.

The other thing that has changed in a big way is the acumen of search engine spiders.  Not only 

can the spiders read, they can understand how well your website, blogs and social posts are constructed.  They are also programmed to look at how often you post as well as how much engagement this content generates.  The only things they can’t understand are your images and videos.  This is why it is so important to make sure your alt tags are filled in and the text and tags used to wrap your videos is complete.

3.      Blogging for Business – Blogs are without a doubt one of the least understood of all web assets.  Most people treat them as a bastard stepchild of the web, not realizing that blogs can not only achieve search engine ranking on their own, but you can also sell products directly on your blog.  Add to this the fact that well-written blogs can be far more engaging than websites since they change more often than your site.  (The average website is updated quarterly, whereas the average blog is updated weekly.)  I have known clients who literally generated more traffic and sales from their blog than they did on their site, even when their site had page-1 ranking on Google, Yahoo and Bing. 

4.      How Social is your Business? – There is a big difference between having a social presence and feeding your social presence.  If you hope to turn Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and other social networks into a way to promote your business you need to understand a couple of things.  In the first place, social nets are all about telling as opposed to selling.  This means that for every attempt to display ad copy on your nets you need to deploy at least twenty pieces of information that would be of interest to your followers.  And by “information” I don’t mean ad copy.  The second factor is that social nets are all about your followers, not you.  If you provide them with useful information and prove that you are an authority in your area of expertise they will inevitably buy from you when they are ready.  However, if you rarely feed your nets or if you bombard your followers with ad copy then don’t complain that social networking doesn’t work.

5.       Do You YouTube? – YouTube is another area that most businesses do not really get.  Look at it this way; If your local TV station told you they were giving away space for free TV spots and that they were looking for programming to fill air time, you would probably bust a gut to provide them with as much video content as they would accept. Then why is it that the world’s largest superstation is not on every business owner’s radar in a big way?  Not only does YouTube stream more video than all the other TV stations on the planet combined (4 billion videos per day), but they provide free hosting and broadcast, plus they are owned by the world’s most popular search engine (Google). 

YouTube is much more than just a video portal.  It is a search engine, it is a social network and it is a free web TV station that can place your videos on page 1 of Google.  How cool is that?  Yet most businesses are not taking advantage of this free marketing powerhouse.  By taking advantage of it, I don’t mean having one or two videos on YouTube. What I am talking about is having dozens or even hundreds of videos on YouTube.  Better yet, why not start a channel that focuses on your business?  Don’t think that’s practical?  Think again.  We have shown all kinds of businesses from chiropractors to plumbers how 2-minute microcasts can be used to generate a following and turn their owners into rock stars.  Shooting 2-4 short videos each and every month isn’t all that complicated or costly.  All it takes is a little imagination to turn the world’s largest superstation into a business asset that’s hard to beat.

6.      Reputation Management – In years past it was all too easy for companies that produced slipshod       workmanship and poor customer service to remain below the radar to consumers.  As a result it was very difficult to judge a business’ reputation until after the fact, by which time it was too late.  With the advent of online reputation management all that has changed.  Today the emperor wears no clothes and it is simple for the public to find out how your customers perceive the quality of your company.  Whether they use Google Local, Yahoo, Angie’s List or any of the hundreds of sites dedicated to broadcasting reviews good and bad about a business, this is generally the first place that consumers go to check out a company with whom they have never done business.

That being said, many businesses have no system of encouraging satisfied customers to post positive reviews.  What this means is that for the vast majority of businesses, all there is to be found are negative reviews.  I don’t care how capable and courteous you are, as they say you can’t please everyone all the time.  So it’s a foregone conclusion that sooner or later you will rub someone the wrong way.  That someone (or even a wily competitor) can sully your reputation at the click of a mouse if you aren’t actively encouraging your best customers to submit positive reviews all the public will find are complaints.

One of the things we use to promote our business as well as those of our clients is to ask your best customers if they wouldn’t mind telling the public what they think of your services on video. By shooting a 2-3 minute interview and then cutting this down to 60-90 seconds not only will you have a powerful endorsement of your business, but while they are there you can then have them submit a positive review on Google+ that will go a long way toward helping you prove once and for all that you are the man or woman for the job.

7.      Who You Gonna Call? -  Obviously creating and distributing everything from daily social posts to weekly blogs and monthly videos takes time.  And time is something of which no business owner or manager has enough.  So outsourcing some or all of the above mentioned tasks is the path of least resistance for many businesses.  That being said, you need to be very careful who you allow to promote your business online.  While there are a number of legitimate digital marketing agencies, there are also thousands of shortcut artists that can do more harm than good. 

In past blogs, we have written about Black Hat tactics that can put your website 

between a rock and a hard place.  It isn’t at all unusual for a search engine to delist or even black ball anyone caught using black hat techniques.  While it would take more than a blog to cover them all, the biggest red flag to watch out for is anyone who claims they can get your site listed organically with Google or any other major search engine within 30 days or less.  Depending upon the competition involved with any keyword or phrase it can take anywhere from four to six months or more to produce enough compelling content to leverage page 1 on any of the major search engines.  However, the results can be well worth the effort.

In short, with the exception of pay-per-click advertising (which takes an entire skill set of its own to employ successfully), there is no shortcut to online success. The only way of leveraging the Internet in the 21^st century is to take the long view.  Just like your business, working the web to win takes time.  But it’s time well spent.

When he isn't surfing the web, Carl is Working the Web to Win, which is both a digital marketing agency in Jacksonville, Florida and a weekly online radio show on BlogTalkRadio.

Going Postal With Email

By Hector E. Cisneros

Most businesses spend tons of money generating leads and finding prospects on the internet. Internet Marketing is the norm today for any business looking to grow their customer base. But did you know that most businesses leave more money on the table because they neglect the customers they already have. Touch marketing is the best ways to make sure you stay top of mind with existing customers.  And the Internet is by far the most cost-effective method of touch marketing ever devised.  

However, providing the right level and frequency of touches can be either a godsend for generating more sales or a nightmare for scaring away your existing customers. In this episode we will explore the do's and don'ts of touch marketing and provide you with a checklist of best practices to make sure you rake in the cash while keep your hard-earned customers happy.

What is Touch Marketing?

Touch marketing is an ongoing system of correspondence that can be used to stay in touch with your customers and prospects on a regular basis. Like all of us, your prospects and customers have needs and wants.  What they don’t need or want is to be barraged with emails telling them to “Buy My Stuff.”  However, they are not averse to receiving information that provides them with value.  Using online touch marketing wisely allows you to stay in touch with them, achieve a level of rapport, familiarity, and ultimately gain their trust that can be turned into a sale when the customer or prospect is ready to buy. In the old days direct mail was the medium of choice for most marketers. Today there is a better way to reach out and touch someone

Touchy, Touchy!

There have been many studies carried out on this subject. When I was studying sales, we were always told that it took a minimum of seven contacts with a prospect before they would buy. Recently I have read that this number can be as high as 12 touches before the prospect is ready to buy. More importantly, there are other factors that affect the buying decision. For example; is the economy is slow, are the prospects flush with cash, or are they pinching every penny?  Has trust already established or is this the first time the prospect has heard of your company?  Do they have a real need or is this a discretionary purchase?  Deciding to buy something is influenced by a multitude of factors. Anything that you as a business can do to differentiate yourself, your product, your credibility as well as simplify the buying process will help move your prospect into making a buying decision.

What are the Methods a Business Needs to Use in Order to Succeed?

In the past, businesses could brand themselves and create leads. Most of these leads came from print advertising or phone solicitations. Let’s look at what the Internet revolution now provides to businesses big or small.

1.      Email Marketing

Email marketing is a superior form of direct mail marketing. It has a much lower cost, it is much faster and it can be sent in a verity of ways. This is not to say that direct mail doesn’t work 

Typical advertising mail (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

anymore, it’s just considerably more expensive. With email, you can send newsletters, email blasts, customer surveys to opt-in databases that you develop or purchase. It’s very important that you only use opt-in lists. There are severe penalties for spamming people with un-solicited email. Also, spamming is a quick way to get your domain name added to a black list which will hurt your reputation or even get your site shut down. I personally like using email newsletters. They can connect your clients and prospects to your blog, social nets and YouTube channel. You can include lots of useful information that builds your credibility and you can also add coupons and product specials on occasion to help build loyalty.

2.      Text Message Marketing

Again with text messaging you want to use op-in lists that you either buy or build. Text messaging is a great way to send text alerts like BOGOs, special sales and time limited offers. You can also create quite a buzz with contests and coupons. You can also increase the traffic to your website or business with text messaging.

3.      Social Media Marketing

The term Social Media Marketing is somewhat of an oxymoron, in that social media is not a direct form of marketing. It can contain pay per click ads and you can run contests in 

social media, but no one ever joined a social network to be sold to!  Social media is more akin to word of mouth marketing. Having said that, any business can run contests, provide product updates, offer coupons, and use customer testimonials to market their business or products.  Remember that social posts work best when customers and prospects repost your message. When you shout about how great you are it’s a commercial.  When your customers sing your praises it’s a testimonial.  Remember to post useful information. Again, focus on building trust and credibility as opposed to direct selling.

4.      Blogging

 Blogging is a great way to build your credibility. It can keep prospects and clients up to date on your changing business. Providing quality, relevant blogs is one of the best way to differentiate yourself and build your credibility. This one item will separate you from crowd. Why you might ask? Because writing quality blogs is a time consuming skill. If you don’t have the time or skill you can outsource this function and its return on investment can be as high or higher than pay per click advertising. Blogging helps with your Internet ranking, credibility, growing a following and growing your social nets. The key is to provide useful, quality, relevant infotainment in a multimedia format. You also must make sure that you grow your readership. This means you will have to invite people to read, comment and share your blogs and articles. If your articles are well written, in an evergreen fashion your blogs will also garner search ranking on their own. We have learned that creating an alliance with other bloggers can help with distribution.  Getting other bloggers to read your blog, comment on your blog and share your blog will only work if you also read, comment and share theirs as well. This can be a significant task in itself, but it can also pay huge dividends as well.

5.      Send Out Cards

Send Out Cards is a hybrid online service/direct mail service that is sold as either a standalone or MLM product. What’s neat about this product is that you can create a data base of clients and prospects online and then send them greeting cards, post cards, tri-folds, even gifts. More importantly you can create touch campaigns that you can plug a prospect into and educate them to move them through your marketing funnel. I don’t participate in their MLM program but I do love this product.

6.      YouTube

When most people think of YouTube they think viral videos. But YouTube is much more than that. It’s a social media platform, a vlog platform, (video blogs), it can be an educational medium, it can provide weekly updates and be your very own WebTV channel. Let’s face it, four out of five people would rather watch a two minute video then read two paragraphs about your product or service. What’s cool about YouTube is that its free, it has built in tools to help you create your videos and people can subscribe to your channel. You can even invite people to view your videos and videos are great content for your blogs and social nets.

Necessary Elements Needed to Build Your Audience

In last week’s blog, we talked about how a person can make pay per click pay big dividends. An 

important part of that discussion centered around what is needed on a landing page to get a prospects to cough up their contact information. We believe using landing pages is the best way to build your very own opt-in touch marketing database. Contrary to popular belief is the fact that landing pages can be on any medium. You can add contact forms on social media pages, blogs etc… and most of the media I have discussed so far includes a way to capture a prospect’s contact information. Having said that here is a short list of items that every landing page needs in oder to work while at the same time helping to build your credibility.

Landing pages with the five elements –

1.      Contact Form – Make their name and email address mandatory, but their other contact information should be optional.

2.      Offer – Give them a reason to give up their contact information. An offer can be useful information in the form of a white paper, special lists, or an eBook.

3.      Phone number – You need to list your phone number in a prominent place.

4.      Address – Don’t hide! People need to know you’re a real business with a real address.

5.      Testimonials – Testimonials are very important. Video testimonials are best, but you can use written testimonials if they are copies of the original, showing letterhead, names etc…

Common Features of Most Email Systems

Ideally you would use several of these in conjunction to improve your odds of your message being read. It will also provide a degree of  synergy and added credibility when you reach out to a prospect or client in multiple ways. Whether you use Constant contact, Mail Chimp, iContact, or some other email marketing system, you need to know the basics of what is necessary to perform this vital task. Now let’s cover some of the basic elements every email marketing system needs to have. Here is a list that every email marketing system needs to have.

Databases- All mail programs need to be able to create and store contact information. The three above will allow you to create multiple databases. Many have tiered pricing systems based on the number of contacts entered. Many also provide free trials.

Templates’ – All of the programs listed above have built-in templates for newsletters, email blasts, invitations and the like. They also will allow you to create surveys to gauge customer/prospect opinions.

Forms – All the systems mentioned above come with built-in response forms and all will allow you to create custom forms. These forms can be plugged into your landing pages, blogs etc… as an embedded code.

Scheduling – Being able to set up a date to send your marketing messages is important. Most systems have some method of performing this function. The calendar system/scheduling function is what allows you to create a touch marketing program vs just a direct email piece.

Analytics – All systems need some method of measuring your success. You need to know how may were emails were opened, how many you added to your database/s, how many dropped out and which mail pieces are the most affective. These all provide some level of analytics.

Management - Editing and managing your database and email campaigns is very important. The greater control you have over your databases the more you can utilize them as effective marketing tools. Management is often spread out among multiple functions and is not usually housed all in one place. The three programs listed all have adequate managerial functions.

Automation – You need to have automation otherwise you will have to work at using your database. Of the functions needing automation, the one that is paramount is Opt-in/out functions. You want your prospects and clients to be able to add or remove themselves from the mailing list. This keeps you legal and keep your clients and prospect happy.

I can't tell you how much money online touch marketing has saved us over the years.  But when you consider that a first class stamp currently costs forty nine cents and that we send out thousands of newsletters and invitations out every single week, then were I to suggest using the USPS to deliver them, the only thing going postal would be my partners.

Hector Cisneros is a partner, COO and Social Media Director forWorkingTheWebToWin.com, based in Jacksonville, FL. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube. He is also the co-host of Blog Talk Radio’s “Working the Web to Win,” where he and Carl Weiss make working the web to win simple for every business. Hector is a syndicated writer for EzineOnline and is an active blogger (including ghost writing). He's a published author of two books, "60 Seconds to Success"(on sale at Amazon and B&N) and "Internet Marketing for the 21st Century,"which you can get free by clicking on the link at WorkingTheWebToWin.com.

Getting Away From It All

By Carl Weiss

Spring has sprung here in Florida, although you wouldn’t know it if you live in the Northeast.  Soon another school year will be ending and families will be looking forward to summer vacation.  Most people have already begun the hunt for things to do and places to go.  While some will opt for more traditional destinations such as theme parks, national parks, beaches and campgrounds, others are interested in finding those out of the way, off the beaten trail kind of trips that extol "The Road Less Traveled" mantra.  While travel magazines and Sunday supplements are renowned for publishing articles that give you a peek at exotic locales, when it comes to getting away from it all, nothing can put you in touch with unusual vacation destinations quite like the Web.

Where Getting Away From It All Began

Pitcairn Island – Yes, this is the south Pacific island nation started by the mutinous crew of the HMS Bounty. Today Pitcairn Island is inhabited by the 56 descendants of that ill-fated voyage.  It also has the distinction of being the least populous nation in the world.

Pitcairn Island was originally put on the map on July 3,1767 by the crew of the British sloop HMS Swallow, and was named after Midshipman Robert Pitcairn, the fifteen-year-old crew member who was the first to sight it. Fast forward twenty three years and the isolated island was chosen to be the last refuge of the six men and eleven women who purposely marooned themselves there when they chose to set fire to the Bounty.  While an act of desperation, the ploy worked, since it wasn’t until September 14, 1814 when a British flag ship landed a boarding party on the island. 

Today tourists can venture to Pitcairn for stays of up to 11 days aboard the Claymore II, which also serves as the islands supply vessel.  Private yachts are also invited to anchor in Bounty Bay.  Not exactly a tourist mecca, the island only averages visits by 25 yachts per year.  Of course, this is precisely what makes it such a terrific destination for some.  If you do arrive by yacht, a $35 landing fee per person is charged, plus a "Taxi Service” of US $50.00 is charged for the trip in and out. 

Once there, the island offers 14 choices of accommodation, including private 2 or 3 bedroom chalets or stays in the home of local islanders.  Rates range from $70-$120 per person/per day.  Additional services such as telephone, Internet access, and guided walking or bike tours can be arranged.  Fortunately for American tourists, the coin of the realm on the island is the US dollar.  For more info, visit http://www.visitpitcairn.pn/

Wet & Wild

While an excursion to a tropical island is just the ticket for some, others are looking for something a little more wet and wild.  If you are a bit more adventurous and are not afraid of the water, check out the option of checking into an underwater hotel.

Jules Undersea Lodge, Key Largo Florida – Located 30 feet below the Emerald Lagoon, Jules  

Undersea Lodge named after "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" author Jules Verne, was originally designed to be an underwater research facility.  Since 1986 when it was converted into a sub-sea lodge, accommodations for up to six paying guests at a time has been available.  While patrons do not need scuba gear to move around inside the lodge, it is a requirement for arriving and departing from the facility.

Jules' Undersea Luxury For Two

Our JUL for TWO package is $800 and includes our world famous Papa John's pizza delivery dinner. Breakfast includes coffee or tea, orange juice, and your choice of cereal. There's plenty of water, soda, and snacks as well. Dive gear is included in your package.

Check in: 2:00 PM Check out: 8:30 AM

Group Economy Packages
Group of 3-4: $350 per person
Group of 5-6: $300 per person

For more information see http://www.jul.com/Jules.html

How Low Can You Go?

If staying underwater doesn’t float your boat, there are a number of other subterranean destinations that can be had including ...touring Paris' Sewers! There is a dark underbelly to the City of Lights and you can book a tour that is like none other.  What I am talking about is a tour of Paris’ sewers.  (I am not making this up.)  If you think that visiting such places as the Louvre, the Eifel Tower and Notre Dame is so outré, for less than 5 Euros per person you too can experience the sordid history and architecture of the underbelly of Paris.  The tour spends an hour winding through the tunnels beneath the French capital as well as taking you to the heart of the system, part of which has been converted into a museum.  (You won’t find this thrill ride at the European Disney World.)  For more info go tohttp://europeforvisitors.com/paris/articles/paris-sewers-museum-exhibits.htm

Looking for a Cool Vacation Destination?

If you are looking for the ultimate in “cool”, allow me to recommend an ice hotel.  Located in such locales as Norway, Finland, Sweden, Romania and Quebec, these places are actually built from ice.  With global warming now a hot topic, this is one vacation destination that could literally have a limited shelf life.  For more information, go tohttp://www.theworldroamer.com/best-ice-hotels-in-the-world/

Icehotel, Jukkasjarvi, Sweden

The Icehotel in the Jukkasjarvi village in Sweden is THE ice hotel, being the first one in the world, opened in 1990 by Yngve Bergqvist. The hotel is opened to public every year, from December to April and more than 1,000 tons of ice and snow are used for the construction that, in the end, features rooms for around 100 guests, a bar and a church among others. And at 64,000 square feet (6,000 square meters), it is widely recognized as the largest ice hotel in the world. http://www.icehotel.com/

Looking for a Trip That’s Out of This World?

White Knight 2 - showing us the 'eye' (Photo credit: rob-the-org)

"Space Tourism" is a term that was coined to describe those lucky few who have had the financial means to pony up between $20-$40 million to spend a few fun filled months aboard the International 

Space Station.  While these seats are hard to come by, the allure of outer space  has also spawned something of a cottage industry that promises to take people to the its inky edge. This includes a venture by Sir Richard Branson, who has offered  those with $250,000 to spend a sear aboardVirgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two.  However, while deposits are being taken, at the time of publication, there still has yet to be a launch date announced. http://www.virgingalactic.com/

For those who don’t want to wait, apprentice astronauts can currently experience what it’s like to be weightless aboard G-Force One for around $5,000.  While this thrill ride won’t take you to the edge of outer space, it will provide you with the sensation of what it’s like to experience zero gravity aboard a specially modified Boeing 727.  While it ain’t exactly Buck Rogers, it can save all you wanna-be space farers more than a few bucks.

http://nogravity.com/index.cfm

While there are those of us for whom a trip to Las Vegas provides adrenalin enough to get us through another year, for those who are looking to get away from it all, the best place to start checking out exotic locales near and far is the World Wide Web.

When he isn't surfing the web, Carl is Working the Web to Win, which is both a digital marketing agency in Jacksonville, Florida and a weekly online radio show on BlogTalkRadio.

Making It Mobile

By Carl Weiss

NEWSFLASH: There are 6.8 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide.  This is surprising, considering the current world population is just a little over 7 billion men, women and children.  More surprising is the fact that mobile has jumped more than 1 billion during the past three years alone. Of that, more than one billion subscribers are now Smartphone equipped. 

http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/a

What this means to business owners and managers is that if they have yet to embrace mobile marketing, they could be missing the boat.  The problem for many is the fact that it took them nearly twenty years to learn how to add the Internet to their marketing mix.  Now many are reluctant to jump on the mobile bandwagon since they believe it will require the expenditure of yet more time, energy and money.

HTML 5 to the Rescue

While it is true that Smartphone users can and do surf the web, most websites created before 2012 rely on code that forces most people to squeeze many websites down to size in order to read them.  This is

 not only inconvenient. It usually means that most people will choose to surf elsewhere almost immediately.  What HTML 5 does is create a site that can detect and reconfigure itself to make it easier for tablet and Smartphone users to view without having to manipulate the site to make it fit their particular platform.  Better still, HTML 5 works with most browsers.  Plus, it makes embedding video on html 5 as easy as embedding images was with HTML 4.

http://janderson99.hubpages.com/hub/HTML5-is-Here-Now-HTML5-Benefits-for-Users-and-Developers

Of course, it can still be a chore for Smartphone readers to view a site if it has a lot of text.  I know I need a 12-inch tablet to make reading practical.  That’s why I still recommend that every business owner and manager spends a few bucks to create a .mobi site that uses video to showcase their business in a size that anyone can view.  Add to this the fact that there is at least one other advantage to creating a .mobi site, since many prime urls are still up for grabs that can help your business generate more traffic.

There’s an App for That

Some businesses have embraced mobile marketing in a big way by having mobile apps created that not only allow them to get a jump on the mobile craze, but also allows them to do some pretty sophisticated things online.  Whereas in the past many businesses relied upon radio and TV ads to generate a buzz about their products and services, today it is all too easy for someone to change stations or filter their TV viewing to eliminate all those annoying 4-minute commercial breaks. (Darn TiVo.)

This is where mobile apps are changing the way in which businesses engage their customers.  Offering everything from interactive coupons and contests to games and built-in customer appreciation programs, many businesses are capitalizing on the public’s infatuation with Smartphones by developing apps designed to interact with customers and prospects. 

·         Unlike standard email, a text message is more likely to be read right away. 

·         Using push technology an app can deliver relevant information to individual prospects.

·         Apps can also take advantage of GPS technology to geotarget customers.

Of course the downside is that it can be fairly pricey to develop a sophisticated app from 

English: Myurbanspot.com is an online mobile coupon app to find local businesses in the area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

scratch.  This makes many apps unapproachable for smaller businesses.  There is also the added factor that taking an app to market can take months.  Even once in the marketplace you are forced to compete with millions of other apps.

“It's no accident or surprise that more than 2 million cumulative apps are in the Apple App Store and the Google Play store. While creating an app has been a great gateway into mobile, and still is a valuable tool to deliver content, reach is limited by the number of people who download and use the app.”

http://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/article/230843/How-to-ensure-a-symbiotic-mobile-marketing-strategy

Before you plunk down a wad of cash to develop an app for your business, you need to consider several factors, including:

1.      What is the app going to do for your business to give you an edge over the competition?

2.      How big is your anticipated audience?

3.      How long of a shelf life will your app have?

4.      How are you planning on distributing your app?

5.      Is there a third-party app available that can do a similar job?

English: Graph showing global smartphone market share for Q2 2011 When updating this graph, please check its usage and update the captions and refs in articles which link to it. Thanks. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With two million apps on the shelf it is highly probable that someone has already come to market with

 an app that can do the same or similar job.  Why pay retail when you can access many of the same benefits for pennies on the dollar through a developer?

Speaking of old-school marketing, mobile can enhance virtually every form of print marketing you currently employ.  Have a business card or brochure?  Add a QR code.  Spending money on a newspaper or magazine ad?  Add a QR code.  Quick Response codes allow you to send any prospect with a Smartphone to a website or video.  When you consider the fact that a QR code takes up less than one square inch of space, not adding one to every print ad is tantamount to throwing money away. 

Far from being reluctant to add mobile marketing to your current marketing mix, once you consider all of the benefits that mobile has to offer, you will soon wonder how you ever lived without it.

Carl Weiss is CEO of Working the Web to Win, a digital marketing agency in Jacksonville, Florida.  You can interface with Carl every Tuesday at 4pm Eastern when he airs his radio show on Blog Talk Radio.

Does Internet Ranking Really Matter Any More?

By Carl Weiss

Having been in the business of working the web for the past 19 years, I can still remember a time when search engine ranking was the be-all end-all of internet marketing.  Before the year 2000 it was possible to generate a page one ranking on a number of search engines with names such as Lycos, Alta Vista, LookSmart, Infoseek, Hot Bot, Excite and more in as little as 24-hours.  Better still was the fact that everything you needed to make the grade online before the turn of the century resided on your website.  No blogging, social networking or video required.

English: a chart to describe the search engine market (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Back then while Google was part of the scheme of things, they were a small part, not having yet become the 800 lb gorilla in the room that they are today.  In 2000 Yahoo was the big kid on the block commanding more than 40% of the search market.  (Today that figure is down to around 12%.) While many of the lesser known search engines didn’t exactly dominate the Internet, a number of them could boast significant traffic.  What this meant was that no single entity had a stranglehold on the market. 

Fast forward to 2014 with Google controlling 80% of search and the rules have changed.  Now instead of taking 24-48 hours to produce a page one organic search, it isn’t unusual for it to take 3-6 months to get on page one.  And getting there is no longer an injection of on-site SEO.  It’s now a process involving daily social network feeds, weekly blogs and monthly videos all of which need to be as organized and optimized as your website.  What this also means is that there is no longer any quick fix that will enable you to generate prime search engine results.  Add to this the fact that no sooner do you get a bead on what Google wants when they up and change the rules.  The result of this is that one day you are on page one and the next you find yourself on page twenty one. Sound familiar?

Who Keeps Changing the Channel?

Love it or hate it, the Internet is a game.  Play it well and you will be rewarded.  Play it poorly and you might as well not play at all.  The problem is that in this game the rules not only keep changing, they aren’t even posted.  That can make it hard to determine a winning strategy.  While Google posts information including videos that purport to tell us mere mortals what they want in terms of content, their explanations are more than a little vague.  The reason they (and all other search engine operators) do this is to keep anyone from being able dominate search. 

If you read about any of Google’s recent updates that sported adorable names like Panda and Penguin and Hummingbird then you know that their aftermath was anything but cute and fluffy.  That’s because when it comes to updates, the search engines aren’t simply trying to improve their search algorithms, they are also out to shake out the rug to eliminate anyone who is trying to cheat the system in order to beat the system.

Got Game?

In 2000 it was common for professional optimizers to game the system by using black hat techniques such as link farms and keyword stuffing to make their client’s sites seem more valuable to the search engine spiders.  Of course back then the spiders weren’t all that savvy and it was relatively simple to trick them.  Today the spiders are much smarter, being able not only to read text but to understand its meaning.  This means that they can determine how well your posts and blogs are constructed.  They can even figure out if you are plagiarizing other written material (which is why auto-blogging can be so dangerous to your ranking).  Worst still, once the spiders determine that your site is not playing by the rules, not only are they ready, willing and able to relegate your site to the backwaters of the web, but they can also blacklist your site so that you will find it nearly impossible to climb back out of the hole you have dug.

Being a professional digital marketing consultant I have known clients that have come to us seeking help once they realized that their site had become blacklisted.  While we  were able to help some of them rectify the situation, we literally had to tell others that they were going to have to start from scratch.  So what I tell everyone who asks my advice is that you need to be very careful with whom you allow to promote your business online.  If anyone comes to you and states that they can generate a page one organic result on Google in days or weeks, run do not walk to the nearest exit.  These black hatters are going to do more harm than good in the long run, which is the only thing that matters online nowadays. 

If you want to make the Internet part of your business marketing scheme, then you need to do the work.  Or, you need to decide how much of the work you would care to do then farm out the remainder.  Either way, if you want to create a rock solid pate one presence on the search engines you are going to have to take the long view and commit to creating content, content and more content every day of the week, 52 weeks of the year.

There’s More Than One Way to Skin a Search Engine

Not that there aren’t a few shortcuts to getting onto page one that do not ruffle Google’s feathers.  Here are a few that you can take to the bank:

1.      Press Releases – Online press releases are an excellent way to get your business featured on page one of Google in a hurry.  Just don’t expect to stay on page one for more than a few days.  When it comes to search, old news isn’t considered good news. 

2.      Optimized Blogs – Particularly if you use Blogger (owned by Google) to write article optimized blogs at least once per week, it is quite possible that your blog could find its way to page one in as little as 24 hours.  Like press releases, expect this position to quickly erode.

3.      Video SEO – Have you ever done a Google search only to find a thumbnail image that led to a YouTube video?  This is another example of cross-platform SEO in action.  Since Google owns YouTube, a properly optimized video can sometimes wind up on page one of the world’s most popular search engine.

Not only are blogs and videos a great way to jump onto page one of Google, but they can also generate 

Image via CrunchBase

a following of their own.  In fact, there are some enterprising people who make a comfortable living by publishing either blogs or YouTube videos.  Even if your videos don’t generate millions of hits per month, having hundreds or even several thousand motivated followers hanging on your every word can be a great way to generate results online. I can tell you from personal experience that we have had several clients generate more conversions from their blogs than they did from their page one search engine listings.  The reason is that on the search engines you are one of the herd.  On your blog you are the star.

So when it comes to putting search engine ranking into its proper perspective what you have to do is ask yourself one question, “Are you ready to do what it takes to play this game to win?”

When it comes to playing to win, Carl Weiss co-wrote the book on the subject.  He is also co-host of the weekly web radio show of the same name as well as the YouTube series.