I must admit I was one of those people who at first didn’t care less about the social media tool of Twitter and felt it was just one of many social media tools that will come and go. I was wrong. Twitter does have a purpose that supplies the demand from thee mass public, and can be complimentary fit in the overall online strategy to distribute content, and built external organic links.

Twitter is a social media tool to communicate and stay connected to the masses through short, brief updates that answer the question “what are you doing now?”? I like to think of it as an exploitation of Facebooks status feature, that taps into the psyche of human natures thirst for gossip. As a means to quickly stay up-to-date on what people are doing, its a brilliant tool to feed this thirst.

Alternatively - just watch this video on “twitter in plain english”

However, in this post I won’t go into details on how Twitter can be leveraged strategically for the overal mix of your strategy, but simply to give a high level understand how Twitter can support an organic search strategy to spread content and build those oh-so sought after external one-way organic links. Keep in mind, Twitter is not a link building tool, though externally it can be utilized indirectly as link bait. Read the rest of this entry »

Is there an area of Internet marketing or online business strategy you want to hear more about? Perhaps unique strategies in search beyond the fundamentals, or perhaps the latest strategies in email, social media or social networks? Perhaps how to approach launching your own online business start up, or build online brand affinity or how to get your message viral? You tell us what you want to see. Comment on this post, of contact us, and we’ll pick the most timely subject.

In my 11 years experience working in direct and indirect capacities with some well known national brands, I’ve seen leaders (directors, VP’s, managers, etc.) come and go. And in these foul economic times as companies start their South Beach diet to cut fat throughout the organization, the emphasis on your worth and your value to the company is essential in these times.

My hat rack shows my experience over the years as web marketing manager, entrepreneur, board director and director of Internet marketing. And working along side other management and leaders in the organizational structure, I’ve come to witness and learn first hand, common attributes, and tools that make some leaders great, and others leaders dissolve.

I’ve found great leadership does not have to be complex, whether it be a director of web marketing, media, information technology, coach and yes, even fatherhood.
All leaders in any level and capacity whom I’ve found ‘great’, are supported by the people they lead, and who all demonstrate common personal characteristics, which is one of two ingredients that lay the foundation of a great leader. (the other ingredient…..competence…more in another post).

Its a given great leadership typically comes over time, and some attributes of great leadership can be taught, and others born with. Though with a even mixture of experience, self-development and character, make good leaders great. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the top studies reported in 2008 found social media blogs influence a consumers online social behavior of their purchasing decisions far greater than social networks, as blogs that influence consumers generate a timely conversation and perceived as a greater trusted resource.

Covered by Clickz, the study conducted by JupiterResearch called “Harnessing the Power of Blogs”, looks at the evolving influence from online visitors/readers, and how they engage and interact with the blog media platform.

With the explosion of blogs (blog marketing) over the last few years, and the integration of professional, personal and industry blogs into the marketing framework of companies, more and more individuals seek blogs as their direct form of news and consumer research and informative guides. This is shown from the study where JupiterResearch noted a 300 percent growth in monthly blog readership in the past four years.

The curious question is why? Why blogs? Aside from the rich, frequent content that’s absorbed by Google and compliments a businesses search strategies to produce saturated results on the core subject matter the reader is seeking, readers find blogs more useful as a resource by using its links and multiple resources referenced in the blog. This contributes to spark or extend the conversation on the blog post/article. And the frequency blog readers flock to the web to jump into the conversation is shown with 49% of blog readers defined as someone who reads a blog at least once a month, and 71% reading more than one. And multiple blog sources reflect more opportunities for contextual and online ads, referrals in comments by readers, and any direct or indirect references within the content itself. Read the rest of this entry »

2008 is coming to a close, and you may have embarked on your first, well-overdue, search engine optimization (SEO) project for your business. Many steps were likely taken in your SEO project through the discovery phase of assessing how friendly your website architecture is for search, keyword discovery around your industry/market/brand/product/competitors, research where your visitors hang out online, the physical optimization and improvements to your site, etc. Now that your website is SEO’d for Google and others, what’s next? Read the rest of this entry »