Join us on 2/10/2010, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Location: Online (log on information provided after registration)

Cost:  $10 for members/$20 for guests

Join us on February 10 as we review and explore fundamental ways of improving how your business is found online. Guiding us through the basics of search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) is speaker and Web expert, Laura Powers, who will share ideas for promoting your online presence through various tool and techniques. As an experienced Web designer and marketing strategist, she has transformed her own business via social media outreach and planning, and offers her clients the “secret formula” for improving the odds of being found online in search results.

What You Will Learn

    * The definitions and differences between SEO and SEM
    * Formulas for using “organic” SEO to increase the chances of your business being found in search results
    * How to get started with SEM and what to measure
    * How to pair SEO and SEM with your overall marketing plan to meet your business goals and objectives

Register here!

If your company has employees, even just one employee, you would be well advised to have an employee manual that discusses office behavior, dress code and employer expectations, among other things. The policies outlined in the manual help both employer and employee maneuver within set guidelines for behavior while at work.

As new media grows and outlets for expression and promotion migrate from home use to corporate use, employers and employees need rules to govern online discussions and information sharing. Your employee handbook needs to include a section on social media policy.

For example, if an employee manual does not include a section on the use of foul language in the office, when an employee uses language that may offend others, there is no existing baseline to measure use of any language while at work. The policy has to be written to be enforced before the behavior arises. And so, don't rely on the honor system when it comes to letting company employees engage in social media. Behavior, language, usage frequency and expectations need to be outlined and articulated in advance.

For more on this topic, read Social Media Meets the Employee Handbook at Portfolio.com.

Now that the holidays are behind us, and our wallets are strapped due to the mountain of credit card debt from the holidays – it’s time to look ahead and focus our efforts at the core so we can “ramp up” for the next coming months.

Below are some tips for getting back in shape and preparing for what's ahead in 2010.

 

Back to basics

1. Invest in a great business seminar. Pick a really great, over-the-top one that you want to go to and plan your year around that one. Try to find one with a topic that will interest you and a place where you can surround yourself with good industry connections. You will come out of it feeling refresh and ready to tackle the new trends at hand.

 

2. Organize your workspace. Sounds simple enough, but taking the time to archive files, eliminate clutter, and actually physically clean your space will keep your mind at ease and will allow you to plan and focus on the next few months, which brings us to the next step.

 

3. Set business and personal goals for 2010. You can use your boring old business calendar, or try something new like a project management or task-based system. There are so many free Web tools out there, why not try one? We like using Basecamp's Project Path. Check it out!

Recently, the New York Times introduced a product for small business to create their own online ad banners with their online tool offered at their site. The tool also allows the business to schedule their own run dates for the ad online.

The service is geared for businesses with an online display advertising budget under $10,000 with campaigns offered as low as $50.

The self-service advertising area of the NYTimes web site, found here, provides Nielson rating break downs of the audience by a number of variables including age, household income, education level and occupation, among other things.

The advertiser can also target sections of the paper, such as Science, Health or Sports within a designated geography internationally or down to a major city.

Could this be the future of banner advertising online? Not having to use a Media Buyer or Publication Sales Rep needed certainly saves extra costs and time, but I'm wary of having all business owners being able to publish their own. Ads require focus on strategy, design and messaging, as well as guidelines which consumers may not be aware of. Click here for some advertising guidelines from the FTC.

Yahoo is offering a new real-time search engine. The service is called OneRiot and allows users to type in a keyword or keyword phrase and find information from recent updates to the Web via Twitter, blogs, pictures, etc. Finding up-to-the-minute information on a subject on the Web has not always been so easy. Currently, search engines archive results in a variety of different ways, such as by popularity, through paid advertising, SEO, etc. OneRiot  surpasses those rankings, and has even developed a new technology for filtering the stream with SPAM material, so users aren't overwhelmed with unrelated search results.

A similar startup called Collecta, which uses an open-source technology called XMPP, is also marking their spot in this new market. According to CEO Gerry Campbell, "People who want to see events as they're unfolding and get that insight into their life as it's happening will definitely want to use us." This technology is able to set them apart from other search engines out there.

For more information, check out these links below:

OneRiot - www.oneriot.com/

Collecta - collecta.com/

Article source: Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2009. "Filling Niche in Real-Time Search" by Tomio Geron.

A few weeks ago, Google announced Sidewiki, a browser feature that allows consumers to comment on any web site using a sidebar in the browser. This is a shift further away from brands maintaining control of their corporate image.

What Does This Mean for How We Relate to Brands?
With Google Sidewiki, consumers can comment on what they like and dislike about your products/services on every page of a company's web site. Competitors can link to their web sites and describe the benefits of their offerings over yours. Every page of a company's site becomes a social network... welcome or not.

How Does This Change How We Do Business?
Companies are no longer in control of their web site. By embracing comments, both negative and positive, companies can use this feedback as they would surveys, improving their products and services and responding to feedback. With a policy in place and resources dedicated to managing and monitoring the corporate site, this can impact businesses in a very positive way.

Evolving Media

Let's face it, most web sites built 10 years ago didn't look so great. For the most part, content was not organized well, navigation was confusing to the user and graphics were unsophisticated. Today, there is a higher standard to which designers and developers build websites and, because of that, web site design, useability, and functionality has improved immensely.

Web sites have changed how we communicate, find information and share information with one another. Advancing from static pages and scripts, our online environment has become a publishing avenue from which content in blogs, message boards, social networks, chats, and forums are all interlinked together.

Appearances

A web site is a portal. Properly created, it gives the user an "experience" of a product, service or company. Here are few good examples of before-and-afters for some popular web sites. No doubt, you'll recognize most of them as they appear today and get a chuckle out of seeing their original appearance.

 

A Look Ahead

As Web development continues to grow and improve, we have a lot of exciting options to look forward to in time. We can assume the Web will remain a competitive landscape. New applications, publishing tools, and technology are being developed every day. The momentum of this online collaboration will ultimately lead us to more dynamic and more useful online experiences.

Cutting Edge Sites of the Future... Today

Visit these two sites to get a glimpse into the world wide web of the future.

Spectra - Visual Newsreader  Want to take reading the news online to a new level? Try the Spectra Visual Newsreader, it might be your new friend. I find it a little overwhelming.

Moma - Design and the Elastic Mind  Explore galleries of art beyond the simple click of a mouse with this interactive site designed for the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit in 2008.

Whether it’s the prickly-shaped gourds and pumpkins lined upon bales of hay, or the deep maroons and auburns of the leaves as they start to turn, there’s no denying – fall is here!

 

For many of us, it’s time to get back to business and find opportunities with the change in season. As the holidays approach, remember these basics:

Reach out to customers – The holidays offer a special opportunities for outreach to clients and customers.

Holiday catalogs and cards are a great opportunity to show off your products,drive foot traffic into your stores, and remind everyone of your offerings..

 

Cook up special offers and promotions for the holidays – Especially important for this holiday season, offering special discounts can help boost sales.

 

Indulge the senses – Chocolate, candy, and gifts can be powerful promotional tools. Don't underestimate the big power of a small token of appreciation.

Take it a step further and throw a holiday bash. Invite vendors, past and current clients, and prospects. Face-to-face contact and casual conversations can help solidify connections.

Now's the time to start thinking strategically about what you're company will say during the holidays. What are you thinking of saying? Let us know!

If you have the time and inclination to manage and review your web site's search engine rankings and want to try to optimize your site, start here:

http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2009/07/the-30-free-seo-tools-you-must-know.html

SEOptimise has compiled a list of free tools that are really useful.

HG Marketing uses most of these tools for client sites and research already, but you can take advantage of them as well.

Post a comment and let us know if you do!

Marketing, social media, and public relations are blogged about every hour of every day. To keep up with opinions, advice and trending topics in these arenas, we follow many sites including other blogs. Below is a list of blogs we frequent most. Enjoy!

Scobleizer: Exploring the 2010 Web
- Author and blogger Robert Scoble explores a variety of topics on Web publishing for business through his blog. He is the author of a great book called "Naked Conversations."

Chris Brogan: Community and Social Media
- Chris Brogan's blog advises businesses, organizations, and individuals on how to use socialmedia and social networks to build relationships and deliver value.

The PR Lawyer
- The team at Furia Rubel Communications provides professional service providers, attorneys,legal marketers, public relations specialists and others with tons ofuseful PR information to assist with strategic marketing and publicrelations campaigns.

The Steve Rubel Lifestream
- Steve Rubel is SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital. This blog helps clients identify emerging technologies and trends that can be applied in marketing communications programs.

How To Change The World
- Guy Kawasaki has written many books on sales and marketing and uses this blog to show how online publishing can be a useful tool for business growth and other initiatives.

Greg Verdino: Marketing, Media, Technology & Trends
- Greg Verdino, Chief Strategy Officer at marketing consultancy crayon LLC, discusses trends in media and marketing,along withchanges being brought on by disruptive technologies, new businessimperatives and the rise of the empowered consumer.

PR Squared
- Todd Defren discusses web 2.0 in the public relations arena. He frequently speaks across the country on social media.