The Lonely Marketer

The announcement of the new Local PlusBox by Google Adwords which places geographical information in the top paid search location changes the PPC strategy for those using more local targeting. The new expandable feature allows advertisers to bid to the top spot in an effort to have the opportunity to display such valuable information as a map, address, driving instructions, and phone number, in addition to the location name that appears beneath the last line of the paid search ad.

You can read the rest of my thoughts on this new feature in my article - AdWords Local PlusBox A Great Addition - over at Search Engine Guide.

Many bloggers preach about the benefits of blogging for business, personal fulfillment, networking, social media participation, etc. The list could go on and on and I 100% agree with all of them. The satisfaction and personal/business gain can be incredible. But, one thing you should know once you jump into the world of blogging is that there are times when you should step away from the keyboard. Here are a few:

• You’re tired
• You’re happy hour went a few drinks too long
• Writer’s block has set in
• Experiencing a period of high stress
• No inspiration
• You’re angry, sad, or just plain grumpy
• No topic grabs your interest
• You’re trying to squeeze in too little time to produce quality work
• You’re watching the kids and trying to write a post
• Your passion is taking a day off

Remember, no post is better than a low-quality post. Your readers and community are subscribed to you because they value the message you deliver. When that message is compromised for any reason, it may be time to take a day or two off.

I’ve been excited and proud for the opportunity to write this post for about the last year. The time has finally arrived and I’m very excited to announce that there is a new book on the market called The Road Warrior’s Guide To Sales Management. No, I am not the author, but I happen to know the author pretty well - he’s my Dad.

Tom Schaber should be slowing down after decades of hard work, but instead he’s pumping out a new book and turning away more business than he can handle from his successful sales management consulting business. His new book is a down-to-earth, practical guide to sales management that is derived from over 25 years of managing sales organizations.

From the back cover:

The Road Warrior’s Guide to Sales Management provides owners and sales managers with a simple business approach covering:

• The optimal time for a company to hire its first sales representative or to add more salespeople
• Where to find sales professionals
• Interview tips to eliminate the sales duds
• Goal setting that really works
• How to avoid long, boring sales meetings
• How to fire a salesperson and not get sued
• And more on compensation, creating sales territories, and developing salespeople’s skills

For $17.00 this is a no-brainer for the small business owner or sales manager. I’m not just saying that and pushing this because I’m related to the author - I honestly think this is a great resource for small business. From front cover to back cover the book is filled with straight talk and practical advice. I’m proud of the author and proud to be able to tell you about it.

Tom blogs about sales management at Total Sales Manager and his book can be purchased through:

• Amazon
• Bookhouse Fulfillment

(FYI…these links are not affiliate links and I don’t make any money on the sale of this book)

Admittedly, I never looked at paid search as a tool to give your brand more exposure. I simply looked at it like many others - clicks and conversions. But, over the last few years, I’ve come to realize that PPC can be about branding. Here is an actual conversation with a trade show attendee at a recent show…

You can read the rest of my Using Paid Search For Branding on Search Engine Guide!

As a social media fan examples like this are so much fun to see, but imagine if you’d never ventured into Facebook or LinkedIn? How would you feel about seeing it creep in everywhere? Would you feel anxiety that you’re missing the boat or would you look at it as a fad that will soon die out?

I’ve long subscribed to a newsletter called the Pragmatic Marketing Update which focuses on information geared towards the technology product manager and marketer. Until recently I wouldn’t have considered the newsletter innovative in any way. It simply provided some good information that is relative to my career. Then, I saw this recently in the corner of the newsletter:

Obviously, this caught my eye. Pragmatic Marketing jumped into the realm of social media with a prominent LinkedIn and Facebook profile. I’d guess that most people that read this blog or other similar blogs are familiar with these social media sites and probably aren’t that surprised to see it. At last check, their Facebook site had close to 400 members. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like their using it for much more than allowing members to post job openings.

But, what about the Pragmatic Marketing subscriber that doesn’t engage in social media? What do they think of that? They’re seeing sites like these creep into their everyday life more and more.

A recent article on the MediaWeek website also highlighted a similar trend in their article Is Social Media Killing the Campaign Microsite? The article focused on the new method of companies not waiting for customers to come to their campaign landing page or microsite but rather jumping out and engaging the customers where they’re hanging out. From the article:

The growth of social media is causing marketers to realize they cannot expect consumers to always seek them out. Web widgets and video-sharing tools make it easy for any user to take content that formerly might have lived only on a brand site with them wherever they go. And social media sites help them share that content with friends.

Sprite Sips is an example of a Facebook campaign that is aimed at taking the Sprite marketing message to a popular social media site. It looks like the marketing campaign got off to a great start, but has since tailed off. Regardless, kudos to them for realizing that people probably weren’t going to seek out the Sprite website to see their latest campaign.

My belief is that social media campaigns such as the ones I’ve listed above are creeping further and further into people’s lives. I believe the more touchpoints people have with these types of marketing, the more likely they’ll be to jump in and figure out what this is all about.

The small business marketer should be looking at social media marketing tactics for 2008!

What are your thoughts? Do you think people not currently involved in social media will start to get into the action or will they think this is all one big fad?