The Lonely Marketer

I know what you’re thinking. It’s Halloween. Christmas lights aren’t even up yet and I’m suggesting you start thinking about your 2008 paid search campaign. Well, paid search is more than just ad copy tweaks and keyword research. Paid search is a component of your overall small business marketing plan. Now is the time to learn from your 2007 results and make sure that your 2008 paid search strategy is in line with your overall product marketing goals!

Head on over to Search Engine Guide and read my full post - Important Steps In 2008 Paid Search Planning.

Let me know your thoughts! How do you make sure your strategies are aligned?

There is a major shift happening in the world of marketing. Actually, it’s been happening for some time, but many industries chose to ignore it.

As calls from ad reps start coming in trying to get business for 2008, I can’t help but notice that many traditional print magazines are leading with offers related to online marketing. I’ve watched the print trade magazines shrink in size for three years, but this is the first year that the sales reps are leading with online marketing mediums and opportunities.

I guess this should be no surprise to anyone, right? BtoB recently report that:

Internet advertising revenue for the first half hit a record $9.993 billion, up 26.4% from the year-earlier period, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, which released a report Thursday.

Yet, it surprises me that “old school” magazines and reps are so quickly changing their tune. I’ve spent alot of my career in the telecommunication and data networking industry that has always been slow to evolve. There are many other similar industries. But, maybe this is a sign that they’re coming of age. How the magazines write and act are typically an extension of their audience.

BtoB also reports that the channels by which we reach our audiences online is spreading out:

Forrester said interactive spending will total $18 billion this year and jump to $24 billion next year. By 2012, it will reach $61 billion, the research firm said, driven by marketers that leverage multiple channels: e-mail, search, display advertising, online video and emerging media ad channels such as social and mobile.

Now, that is what I call a shift! It’s important to keep in mind that these stats are not just a representation of a bunch of marketers - these stats are a representation of the audiences and users that those marketers are trying to reach. We need to stay on top of that and make the shift as well.

Small business marketers need to stay aware of these statistics. Our budgets don’t allow for falling behind the times.

Okay, so I just wrote yesterday about how important it is to have original content and not just pass along other people’s opinions or writing. Well, I’m breaking the rules because I was so absolutely impressed with a blog post that I think you should check it out.

If you’re at all connected with the search engine world, you’ve probably read that Google once again adjusted how they rank websites and many sites lost PageRank. If you don’t know what PageRank is, that’s alright - I’ll do a post on it sometime, but right now I want to focus on how Robert Clough of Search Engine Guide responded to criticism of how he handles advertising and links on his site. His post, Search Engine Guide Publisher Responds to PageRank Drop, is in response to Jill Whalen’s post, Google’s Paid-link Smack in the Face. In her post she had some rather unflattering things to say about how Search Engine Guide handles advertising.

The SEO debate is a good one, but I’d rather have you focus on how Robert responds (I know not everyone in my audience does search engine optimization). As a blogger, I’ve faced criticism on this site and have plans in place to deal with negative commentary on a blog I’m working on for my company. I think company bloggers should especially take note on this one. Robert’s response could be a template for how it’s done:

• His response is controlled with no content indicating he’s about ready to head butt his monitor.

• He actually ran her post on his site which shows support for her opinions.

• He acknowledges his respect for Jill (like me, she is a contributor on SEG).

• He makes his points without diminishing Jill’s opinion which she has every right to have.

• He defends his publishing methods without sounding defensive.

• He really spells out his case with clear, concise writing.

That, my loyal readers, is how you handle criticism in blogging. Jill’s post was not bad nor was it an attack. She just happened to strongly point out some views that promoted a solid debate. If you understand SEO, their discussion is excellent. If you don’t, read it and go to school on how to communicate your opposing opinion with your audience.

Admittedly, I’m getting stingy on new blogs to which I subscribe. When I first got involved with social media, I was subscribing to anything and everything. A while back I purged and got down to a manageable amount of daily blog reading. But, more and more people are writing interesting and engaging content and I continually want to add more blogs to my reading list.

So, what am I looking for on a blog site that will urge me to subscribe? If I was starting a blog today and looking to build a subscriber base that included other established bloggers, here are some elements I would include on my site.

• Unique, Actionable Content: To be honest, I don’t care if you’ve been blogging for 5 years or 5 minutes, if I feel I’m going to leave a site having learned something new, count me in. I’m all for subscribing to someone that can teach me something.

• Let Me Share: If you have something good, let me tell others about it. Offering methods to bookmark or post on a favorite social media site is a way to let visitors know how to participate.

• A Recognizable Avatar or Logo: The part about blogging I like best is community. Whether that be through participating on a favorite social media site like Small Business Brief, Sphinn, or StumbleUpon or through frequent commenting, I like to know you’re involved and participating in the discussion.

• Frequent Content: If you go three weeks between posts, you’re not showing you’re committed to blogging. A couple posts a week is fine - it shows you enjoy what you do and are passionate. Displaying recent posts in the sidebar also gives visitors a quick snapshot about your content.

• Have a Focus: I’m typically more attracted to sites that offer a focus and make that focus clear through easily found description or images. If your intent is to write about marketing one day and your trip to the zoo the next - that’s great - just let me know your content will be varied.

• Decorate: Put a few minutes into adding images to your posts or your site. So much of social media is visual perception!

• Show Some Enthusiasm!: I personally love writing that shows a passion for a topic. Energy and enthusiasm should be easy to show in your writing if you’re truly excited about what you’re doing.

Anything else you would add?

I’ve written on this site more than a few times about Universal Search and all of its potential, but it wasn’t until just recently that I discovered a real-life small business success story. My Universal Search Success Story post over on Search Engine Guide today tells the story of Michael Dorausch of ADIO chiropractic who posted a simple, home-made video that got indexed by search engines and drove thousands of people to view the video as well as a few paying clients to his doorstep.

I love this success story because we actually get to talk about ROI on a current marketing trend. Michael’s investment was minimal - both in budget and time - yet the results yielded paying, long-term clients. It’s a true testament to the power of search engine marketing for small businesses. Check out his success story…

If you have a success story of your own, I’d love to hear about it.

My wife and I truly enjoy a nice bottle of wine. We enjoy discovering a new variety and finding that perfect bottle. But, one aspect of wine buying that always has frustrated me is the liquor store experience. How many times have you been charged with picking up a bottle of wine as a house warming gift or bringing the bottle of wine to your friend’s house for a dinner party? You step into the store and there are endless rows of bottles separated only by white/red, maybe region where originated, and price. Not a good way to buy wine.

Ugh! You decide that $10 may be too cheap for the friend’s party so you hit that $15-$30 range, but you’re only making that decision because you perceive a $20 bottle of wine to be better than a $10. Is that any way to buy wine? What a shot in the dark.

Well, I was recently in Manhattan for business and was walking down a street in SOHO when I saw a store called Bottlerockets. I fell in love instantly. Voted the best wine store in New York, this place has mastered the wine buying experience.

Need to buy wine for a gift for the boss? How about find a wine paired with a certain food or just takeout? Have an occasion that needs the perfect wine? Or, are you looking for wines selected by famous critics? Bottlerockets has organized the wines based on the consumer’s needs. Whatever your need, you’ll have a variety of options that make the experience fun, educational, and easy.

If that isn’t enough they have a wine book store and a kids nook stocked with toys to further compel the busy parent to take a few seconds and stop in.

This is how you should buy wine. I don’t know enough to walk through endless rows of bottles and select a variety that is right for my tastes or for other factors. I’ll typically go by bottles I know I like or by a price range. Bottlerockets changes that. I’d be more adventurous and focus more on the experience of a good bottle of wine rather the price.

Hats off to Bottlerockets! I wish they had a store in Minneapolis. They’re a small business that has created a buying experience focused solely on the needs of the consumer. Small business marketers can learn a thing or two from Bottlerockets.

Do I have you thirsty for more wine talk? I did a little searching and found some more wine marketing discussions:

• Marketing Gone Awry, or Wine as Crass Commodity
  
• Wine-in-a-can ! Who the hell dared!!
• Another Great Wine From Chile!
• Newly discovered Wine blog + Clever Sub-Zero Wine Marketing
• Wine Marketing in the Consumer Content Era
• Wine Marketing Gets Innovative

There are some things you just have to take a step back and appreciate. One of them is Fall in Minnesota. The clean crisp air, bursting leaf colors, kids jumping into leaf piles, apple orchards, and football. Perfect!

This seems to be the week of new site announcements! Along with the Small Business Brief which launched last week, I’ve also had a first peak at a new site called Gooruze which launched earlier this week.

The new site is a very feature-rich community for online marketers. Along with the popular voting and friending features found on similar sites, Gooruze also includes blogging, article, and forum platforms. It really gives you every option you can imagine to spread your knowledge and tap into that of others.

You can also create your own profile and incorporate your blogs feed by mentioning a custom URL like PatrickSchaber.gooruze.com.

So far, I’m pretty impressed with the functionality. But like many other social sites, you get out of it what you put in. Hopefully, many people will have the time to add their content and expertise making Gooruze a success!

I’m happy and excited to announce that along with the Lonely Marketer, I’ll also now be writing articles over at the Search Engine Guide. I can’t think of a better place to do a little more writing on a topic I very much enjoy - small business marketing!

But, no worries - articles and commentary will still be frequent as usual on the Lonely Marketer!

My first article went up today and is focused on a Beginner’s Guide to Google Adwords Settings. A quick excerpt:

Have you ever wondered what all those setting are in your Google AdWords campaign? Well, don’t feel bad if you don’t. I’ve come across more than a few people who have campaigns up and running that haven’t gone through and made sure they understood the nitty-gritty details of their paid search campaign. I can’t think of a better way for small business marketers to throw away advertising dollars. Let’s take a look at a few of those settings that play a large role in your campaigns success.

Check out the full post on Search Engine Guide.

I was using Google Maps recently to map out my trek from my hotel in Manhattan to the site of an upcoming conference I’m attending. It’s about 8 blocks and Google Maps pinpointed the exact streets I should take. Perfect! But wait, could Google Street View offer even more detail about what I might see on my walk?

My hotel is in a part of Midtown Manhattan in which I have not stayed before so I was curious to see what was around my hotel. So, I click on street view, grab the little Google Street View person icon and drag it to my hotel. Bingo, I have a 360 degree of what is around my hotel. In fact, I decided to take a virtual stroll of the immediate neighborhood. Ah, perfect - a local pub that might be nice after a long conference day. Oooh…a couple restaurants on the block…I’ll have to check those out.

Wait! What is happening here? Have I already picked out some destinations in which to visit based on my virtual map view? Absolutely. So, what does this mean for local businesses? Is there opportunity in Google Street View to market your local storefront?

To get more background Google has a nice, creative page and video up describing Google Street View. But, here is a screen shot from my virtual stroll:

Wow, that is fantastic! I’m standing in the middle of a Manhattan street and not getting run down by taxis! I just click on the arrows and I can walk right up the street or even turn onto another street. I can spin all around to see what is around me.

Okay, now that I’m over that new toy feeling, let’s ponder for a second what this means for store fronts in Google street view or even office space in high rises. In my virtual walk, I tended to zoom in on store fronts that were brighter, unique and grabbed my attention. That’s how I found my pub. I even zoomed in on an office building window that looked like it had something written on it - but, the zoom in got blurry and I couldn’t read it.

What I’m getting at is that the optimizing for search engines just got - sort of - physical. Are we to the point where you not only have to optimize your site for local search but also optimize your store front for virtual map results? If this becomes common, there is a good chance you could affect your business positively by grabbing the attention of people like me who are planning trips and will soon be walking down your street.

Now, before you go and paint bright colors on your windows know that I have no idea how often Google updates these images. I’m not 100% sure of this, but I believe they are taken by trucks with cameras mounted on them that drive the streets to gather images. I’m sure that will not be an occurence that happens often.

But, you can make sure you’ve taken the necessary steps to show up in local results for people that search for such things as restaurants near a geographical location. I did that search as well. Google found the restaurants within a few blocks and I virtually walked right up and looked in the window. I have some very appealing places to check out!