Category: Tech Tools
Take 5 Minutes to Understand How Google Search Works
Another Excellent Infographic Offers Content Marketers a First Baby Step to Findability
Courtesy of PPCBlog.com
If you're in business today, you have to be on the Internet. But, being there is barely a beginning.
Once you are on the Internet, it's vital that your potential customers can find you and your content by searching on Google and other search engines. That’s what SEO is all about.
Before Fretting about SEO, First Get a Clue About How Google Works from PPCBLOG’s Infographic
Read MoreGet Visual with Your Info: Advice on Illustrating Your Content
Let Infographics Help You Make Your Point Instantly
Here’s a great example of an effective infographic that illustrates social media behavior by age group, based on a Forrester Research study. With few words and relevant graphics, it enables us to absorb lots of information in a hurry.
That’s what effective infographics are all about.
I fully understand the importance of the visual component of content, but I’m not very good at conceptualizing or creating great visuals to illustrate the points that I’m trying to make.
So, I was delighted to find a wonderfully helpful—and visual—site that is putting me on the right track: CoolInfographics.com from Randy Krum. As he indicates, it’s all about getting your point across. Which, in turn, is essential to effective content marketing. You must make it obvious to your target customers why your content is relevant and important to them. On the web, you have only a few seconds to make that happen. Effective infographics can make that all-important instant connection.
If you need as much visual help as I do, you’ll love Randy’s site and his recent post with practical advice—illustrated with infographic examples, of course-- for us verbal types.
Read MoreHow the Sizzling Shift to Mobile Computing Is Changing More Marketing Rules
Get Ready to Rethink Your Content Marketing by Aiming at Millions of Buyers on the Move
For those of us who been around computing since the early days of PCs, the consumer move to mobile devices and away from desktop and even laptop computers is astonishing--and maybe a little terrifying.
In the first year of its existence, 1981, the IBM PC sold 100,000 units. Most of those buyers were geeks or leading-edge business users. Apple's iPad sold 1 million units in less than one month and 2 million units in just two months. IPad users still include geeks and business types but they're just as likely to include your six-year-old and your grandmother.
These unbelievable sales numbers represent a fundamental transformation in the way a very large segment of the population is consuming information and accessing the Internet. To get some idea of the seismic nature of this shift take a look my favorite highlights from a presentation given by Morgan Stanley at the June 2010 CM Summit in New York City:
Read MoreTop 10 Content Marketing Takeaways from CBIA Sales & Marketing Council Multi-Media Session
Bring Your Business Up to Speed with Timely Tips from SW Florida Experts
Although our Southwest Florida region comprises mostly small businesses, we are blessed with a surprising number of savvy local experts on content marketing and social media. I was delighted to take part in a recent Collier Business Industry Association (CBIA) Sales and Marketing Council session with just such a group:
- Marc Meyer, Principle at Digital Response Marketing Group
- Jim Cossetta, cofounder of 4what.com
- Paul Mussina, President, Business Technology insight
Attendees from the building industry and related companies struggle with two simultaneous challenges:
- They are suffering from our a especially steep downturn in building that limits both people and dollar resources.
- They need to transform from traditional marketing methods to content marketing and social media.
Fortunately, there is a new generation of affordable tools and techniques that can make that transformation inexpensive—and with a bit of outside help—almost painless.
Here are some practical lessons on content marketing and social media that I’d like to share from the St. Patrick’s Day session.
Read MoreWhy Apple’s iPad Will Be a Content Marketing Game Changer
A Powerful, Portable, Flexible, Connected, Social, and Cool Information and Entertainment Device for the 21st Century
The Sad Fate of the Apple Newton in the 1990s. Great idea. Unfortunate timing.
For Apple, the Newton was a tablet pc that was too early to deliver on its lofty promise in the early 90s. It failed not because the ultimate concept was wrong, but because users weren’t screaming for a mobile device and because the Newton’s capabilities were limited and disappointing to many. In many respects, the Newton was a remarkable product for its time, but it didn’t deliver enough value to captivate millions of users as its descendents the iPod and iPhone have done. Apple might have been too early with a tablet but will be will be proven right over time. Steve Jobs killed it off in 1998 when he returned after his multi-year hiatus. But the tablet concept lived on. The iPad delivers what the Newton just hinted at . This new device reflects everything Apple has learned about computing and communications as they introduced and continually improved their highly mobile products--from the Newton to the iPod, to the iPhone, and now to the iPad.The iPad in 2010 is Dressed for Success. Incredible idea. Terrific timing. Genuine Game Changer.
The new iPad dwarfs the old Newton: It’s colorful, connected, powerful, packed with storage, easy to use, larger, thinner, and just a bit heavier.10 Ways to Win with Online Video
Stand Out from the Marketing Crowd
Thanks to Lou Bortone, video marketing guru for this guest post
In an over-crowded and hyper-competitive marketplace, video marketing can help you break through the clutter and deliver your message in a powerful and memorable way. Thanks to YouTube, and inexpensive, easy-to-use camera options like webcams, Flip Video cameras and iPhones, online video is now well within the grasp of just about anyone.
However, just because creating video is more accessible than ever, that doesn’t mean we all know how or where to use it. As with any marketing tool, you’ve got to start with your goals for video. Your video marketing objectives may include greater visibility, enhanced credibility or expert status, higher search engine rankings, increased brand awareness or all of the above!
By beginning with the end in mind, you can decide on how best to use your video to achieve your objectives. To give you some ideas for diving in, here are ten great ways to use online video:
Read MoreYes! You Can Afford to Do The Research That Lets You Understand Your Customers
How to Get Started on Cheap and Powerful Customer Studies
Unless you understand your customers, you risk painful marketing missteps.
Because we know that effective content marketing depends on a thorough understanding of your customers, regular research should be a core component of your content marketing strategy.
Of course, it's possible to do way too much research. That's when you wind up with the paralysis by analysis situation. But, most small to midsize companies suffer from too little research and too much gut feel. That's when some very bad decisions get made.
The good news is that even very small companies with tiny budgets can now conduct high quality research that would have been affordable only for multimillion dollar companies just five or 10 years ago
Although it is possible to spend vast amounts of money on research conducted by high profile research organizations, it is much easier than you might think to conduct valuable research on your own. Today, numerous online tools make it simple to create and deploy research studies--and that even provide guaranteed numbers of recipients.
How to Get Started on Your All-Important Customer Research
Read More6 Secrets to Making Online Video Work for Small Business
Kathy Saenz of Neighborhood America Shares What It Takes to Make Video an Effective Content Marketing Tool
Even a micro business can use video effectively to communicate with its customers online.
But, as we amateur carpenters know, you can wind up with a mess instead of a masterpiece unless you understand how to use a potentially powerful tool well. In that spirit we’re happy to can share with you six terrific tips for using video successfully from talented Southwest Florida professional, Kathy Saenz.
We recently caught up with Kathy, who is Neighborhood America's corporate communications manager, for a brief interview on the best ways to communicate with video. Kathy's unique background as a university trained former TV producer and reporter taught her what it takes to tell great stories in our short attention span world. She has been able to help Neighborhood America add video communications to their core marketing capabilities. When it comes to using video effectively, Kathy and her company really get it.
Here Are Kathy's 6 Secrets to Video Success for Small Business:
Read MoreThe Best Way to Promote Your Offline Business to Online Prospects
Use Free Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Directories to Bring Your Business Front and Center on Local Web Searches
(Guest post by WordPress fanatic and small business web consultant Don Campbell)
If your business is an "offline" business with a physical storefront, the most effective way to improve your search rankings in Google is to list your business in the free local business directories from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. Once you are listed in these directories, you have a chance to get listed in the "Google 10-Pack" - which is an invaluable way to get the word out about your business when people type in search terms in your local area.
In fact, if you don't claim your Google Local Business Center profile, in some cases it can be scooped up by others who want to capitalize on the listings!
Read MoreMake Your Content Both Timeless and Timely by Integrating Your Website and Your Blog
The best small business solution is to eliminate a separate blog and website.
Unfortunately, typical small companies often misunderstand the power of a business blog--and cannot envision how it can and should be the driving force behind your online presence. Your best bet is to leverage the power of blogging software to create an online presence which is, at once, timeless and timely.
Most of us began with a website that contains static content that was never intended to change much over time. Your static website will be an essential source of product, service, and company data to the majority of buyers that now relying on the Internet as their primary repository of information for potential purchases. Your static website is a vital beginning. But, it's only a beginning.
To compete for the attention of both search engines and buyers, you will need to add more and more dynamic content over time. That's where a business blog comes into play. If you already have a blog--or are considering one--you probably think of it as a completely separate entity with limited functionality. That may be true for large organizations. But, for a small business, your blog should be the engine behind a full fledged website that delivers much more clout than your old-fashioned static version.
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