What are the actions I need to take to be successful online? When you start talking to someone or searching the Internet you see and hear terms like; Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, email Marketing.... the concepts, the list seems endless doesn't it? Then there is the question of what really works for my business, how can I tell if it will work or is working, how can I trust the company or the person I am asking to market my business online?

Tough questions, but you should expect real answers. There are many ways to market your business online, and the right one or combination of solutions, is dependent upon your business, your target market, your geographic focus, the level of competition for your product or services, your budget, your expectations for results and how fast those results can be realized. First, I suggest you develop a clear and concise statement of your business objective, who is your target market (demographics, key characteristics, what they want in your product or service), how would you measure success (number of leads acquired, sales made, etc.). Second, I  would see if there are indiviuals or consultants that someone you trust would recommend for your business. Third, listen to what the consultant asks and what information are they looking for you to provide. Finally, can they provide you with case studies or references?

Once you feel you have a good match, you and your consultant should work to develop an appropriate strategy that is specifically designed to meet your business objectives and your budget. And if there is a gap between what you need and what you can afford, they should be able to prioritize your options and provide you with expected results. Then you should have the information necessary to make an informed decision on how to best proceed for your business.

First, Facebook is an important tool for connecting with customers and potential customers. Second, it is also a very powerful tool to help in the realm of Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Optimization. So if you are not involved with Facebook on a personal basis, you should become a Facebook user and get your business on to Facebook (you might also find it fun to connect with old friends and share more photos and discussions with relatives).

We recommend you establish and maintain a personal account and not a business account with Facebook. This is really the only way to “connect” using features that continue to emerge. (When you choose to create a “profile” (personal) account you cannot revert back to a business account.  You do not re-sign up – Facebook simply uses your current account information) and it is important for real people to see a real you in your personal Facebook page. As a note, you can only have a single account with Facebook! 

Once you have your Facebook account setup, and you are ready with the content streams you want to have going on your Facebook from a business perspective you should connect/ link from your website.

The following guidelines will help you understand what you do do on your Facebook business page:

• Once your page is public the process starts for “ranking” in Facebook and other search results.
• You can have multiple admins but you are the ultimate boss.  
• Where are you currently listed in the business category? Categories are there to assist in relevant search results.
  
• You may create other pages as there are other categories that might be suitable for all or part of your business.
• Anyone can be a “fan” of your page (business) without your or any of your admins approval.
• The Purpose of Your Facebook Business Page: develop and maintain a stream of content from your business page administrators and a way to influence Facebook “friends” and  web connections advocating your “brand”
• Posts on your Facebook page(s) show up in the “news feeds” on the profile pages of your “fans”. The reach and long-tail of your post appears to be unlimited “brand awareness” at the very least.
• Your personal profile should be authentic since that is the nature of people wanting to connect with you personally and/or for business.
• No one is able to see who administers your page(s).  
• You administer the Business page from your personal account by the icon link at the bottom of the page.
• If you want to control what people have access to from your business page to your personal profile page, you can go to your privacy settings (in your personal account) and control who can view and what can be seen on your profile (personal) page.  We suggest setting up your friend lists now so you can immediately organize your Facebook friends in group.  You can then customize your privacy settings (groups such as; college, family, business – whatever)
• How to: From your Personal account you click on “Friends” (at the top of the page), Now you can click on friends, pages, or news feeds and create lists.
• Use the friend list filter to view news feed updates.
• Invite up to 100 “friends” to specific events.
• Send messages to a maximum of 20 “friends”

For information or ideas, please contact one of our consultants or ask a local Internet Marketing Consultant how to begin engaging on this important new business frontier!

Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet is working with members of his committee to draft new laws that may have a direct impact on every business website on the Internet. Depending upon how the bill is finally written and if the bill is passed in to law, you (the business owner) will need to take a serious look at your website and determine what information you capture and use from the visitors on your website. Specifically, Rep. Bouchter hopes to include the following:

• Collects information about your visitors, or have a third-party collect that information, for the purpose of target advertising on your website pages, then you will need to prominently disclose what information you gather and clearly state how the information is to be used, how long it is to be retained and if it is shared with third-party companies. You would be required to allow visitors to “opt-out” of the data collection process, which means you must have the ability to NOT store information if requested by the visitor.
• Shares visitor information with third-party advertising networks that allow these third-parties to place ads on websites throughout the Internet, you would specifically need to ask the visitor to “opt-in” their approval before collecting any data. This might not be required if, your website would allow visitors to review, modify and delete their individual profile or by providing a method allowing the visitor to “opt-out” of the third-party network.
• Maintains sensitive personal information on a visitor, member, patient, etc. then you would need to enable a definitive “opt-out” option for every visitor/member. These rules would specifically apply to medical, financial, legal and other “sensitive information” type websites. This would also be true of any consumer-based website that shares information with unaffiliated third-parties for commercial purposes.

So what's the bottomline? That depends upon what the final bill mandates, when it is enacted and how long a grace period is provided to allow each website to become compliant. However, it is good to have an understanding of how your website collects data, what data it collects and how it is used. You can be pro-active by ensuring that information is posted and available for visitors to your website. In the long-run, this type of bill will have an impact on Internet Marketing, however I believe consumers appreciate having the right information provided to them about what they want and don't want. So in the long-run we will continue to improve how we market, but still protect the rights of the visitor.

For more information, check these articles out:

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-technology/20090907/US.TEC.Internet.Privacy.Glance/

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-technology/20090907/US.TEC.Internet.Privacy/

Is building a website that actually works for your business hard work? That depends on a number of variables, and the first one starts with you, the business decision maker. A website, when properly designed as a foundation for a well conceived Internet Marketing Strategy is a very effective tool. Whereas a website that is simply pulled together by someone who knows a little about the Internet, or has a history of blogging or using Facebook to communicate with friends, and worst only a little about your business may be a detriment to your business. Why, because the Internet is about content. Not just any content, but the content that the consumer (for you that target customer) is specifically looking for to solve a problem, provide a needed vacation, or simply enjoy as intersecting information. So, the first big question is, do you have a plan? If not, that is probably the best place to start working to create a successful business website. This is where you should look to begin the proper aspects of a true Internet Marketing Strategy.

So, you may be getting a sense of my philosophy in successful Internet Marketing, and that is, "it's all about the right content, managed in the right way". That means, your website needs to be designed to provide the right information, in the best manner for those individuals who are looking for what you offer. Once you have the right website, with the right information and the proper structure, you need to now get the Internet to pay attention to your website. This means, we need to plant the seeds in the right spots to grow a trail directly to your website, kind of like the concept Hansel and Gretel wanted to use to find their way back to the cottage. Only unlike Hansel and Gretel, we'll use tools and techniques that should have a lasting impression on the Internet. The second big question is, do you really know what your customers are looking for and what words they use to find that content (funny, but most people seem to think they do, but many times I find this to be very deceiving for the business decision makers). This aspect of Internet Marketing is what most people will refer to as Search Engine Optimization or Search Engine Marketing.

Finally, we want to work hard to either create or find the proper community of interest (you know, where the people you want to attract are congregating to discuss topics of interest to them, and hopefully your business). Now, if you do know where these communities are on the web, don't go immediately marching in the room (metaphorically speaking of course) and start advertising or talking about your products or services or specials, or other business topics. Frankly, people are most likely going to turn you off if you do. The best way to connect is to participate and become recognized as an expert. Once you get there, people will start asking your opinion and you can share with them this great company you know that will get them exactly what they want. The third big question, can you listen to what your customers are telling you? If you do, you just might achieve some great results. As a hint, this is where SMO or social media optimization can help, and the Social Velocity Evaluation can be a fantastic tool to see where and what possibilities exist in the social media.

So is building that website hardwork? Building the right can be, and that is why you should either hire a competent professional or contract with a consultant to help guide your business on a successful journey. Remember, this is not a single event. Launching your website, or updating your website is just a single step. What you really need is to keep your website improving its abilities, just as you like your employees to improve in their capabilities. After all, when your employees improve, doesn't your business grow also? Will, just consider your website as another employee who can provide your business tremendous value if you take the time and make the right investments to help it grow to its full potential. So the final question today, do you treat your website just like any other employee?

So, I am again asked this question, "do I really need to Twitter to market online? My clients are older and don't use Twitter." Well, the simple fact is, it is a best practice to be an active participant on Twitter and other social media channels and to be honest with you, it is not something that I have fully jumped in to myself. However, we are getting involved and we are helping clients get  involved in a manner that is best for helping their business succeed online.

I am telling clients today that the Internet is about content. Not just any content, but the content that interests their target audience. Just like you and me, your target audience is not looking for offers and products and other things we have to say. What they are looking for is what interests them or helps them solve problems. So, when using Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Stumbleupon, etc. what you are trying to do is provide answers and content for their questions or problems.

As an example, you can see the blog that we are helping one client develop, www.commercialsigncrafters.com and visit his blog. In setting up the blog we also are helping him to set up a Twitter account, Facebook business account, Digg account and so on. It all needs to be tied together properly in order to be of most value to what you are trying to accomplish. Namely, helping the search engines discover you and your business and becoming recognized as a real expert in your field or provider of outstanding product, or whatever distinguishing characteristic helps you achieve your business objectives.

Then again, this is only scratching the surface of the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SMO (Social Media Optimization) process.

I traveled to New Orleans last week and again am amazed by the devastation and the rebuilding caused by Hurricane Katrina almost 4 years ago exactly. While I enjoyed many aspects of the city, I realized how much taking responsibility for rebuilding New Orleans is like managing your business online. If you don't do anything and wait for everyone to help, you will be in the same situation 4 years from now as you are today; wishing and hoping for more business from your online sales and marketing tool. However, if you take control you can expect to see significant progress and accomplishments in 4 years (and it does not have to be just you or your business team).

First, as we all agree, you should have a business goal and targets that you are expecting to achieve. You should have a budget and make sure to include an expected cost per lead or cost per sale budget.  Once you have these in place, you can either work to educate yourself or your team to manage the strategy or hire a professional to help guide you and provide the necessary expertise and resources to achieve success.

It does not always take lots of money to be successful, but it does take tenacity and a plan. Without either  of these items you may be wishing for the same things in 4 years as you do today.

So, with all the buzz words that keep growing on the Internet, in marketing, and with the kids, it is hard to keep up with what is real and what is not; what is important and what is not. Now, most of you know about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how this is one of the primary marketing tools good online websites have used to promote their business and increase the opportunity to sell. You have also most likely started to become aware of the concept, if not the name, for the social networking that is taking place throughout the Internet. This social aspect of the web, and how to shape it to increase your business, is called SMO (or spelled out, Social Media Optimization).

At the moment there are many businesses looking to develop and implement a better way to use the power of both SEO and SMO to improve the performance of your website. One of these concepts, that is beginning to provide some real opportunity, is the concept of social velocity. With social velocity we are looking for the most effective combination of the 4Cs (Content, Connections, Community and Conversion) to find the right community and their community of interest that provides your business with the best opportunity to attract and convert new customers. Presently, members of our office are involved in an extensive training and testing program to understand and implement this exciting new marketing concept. Stay tuned as we learn the key elements over the next few weeks.