January 2011 Newsletter
Google News
It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory. ~W. Edwards Deming
At the end of December Google made yet another profound change to its search engine. This is evidence of the rapidity that takes place in the online world and technology in general. It is hard to adapt to this rapidly changing environment. A good reason to have a company on your side that is working to keep up with this and bring you the latest internet marketing techniques.
So what changed? Well Google has been experimenting with local search algorithms for a few months but, new policy changes carry with it the good, the bad, and ugly (I love those spaghetti westerns)
The Good – Local search has now moved to a more social, recommendation, based platform. This is a great opportunity to improve your standing with ALL the social media sites and search engines. Since Google is now focused to Citations, reviews and recommendations, the playing field is now open to local companies that know this, instead of the large directories like yellow pages. As a matter of fact directories like the yellow pages are no longer used by Google as verification of a business. Instead Google now uses 6-10 other authority sites like Yelp, Local.com, Foursquare, Digg, and others. Creating and managing a reputation online is now more important than ever since Google is trying to determine the MOST POPULAR business in the local market according to CUSTOMERS. Why is Google doing this? One word FACEBOOK.
The Bad – The bad news is many businesses don’t know about this change or the fact that, reputation, customer comments, social media, and testimonies are now the new currency for local search. Not to down play a website, but backlinks and SEO are lower factors going forward since Google is moving away from areas that can be manipulated, to areas that are directly out of a business or SEO Company’s control. This shift now makes it harder for traditional SEO to work in a local market.
The Ugly – According to Google’s policy changes, if a business does attempt to manipulate this it will send up red flags and you may find your business in the sandbox. Basically banned from Google search results for at least 6 months if not permanently. Even if you inadvertently violate the parameters set up by Google you can find yourself at the bottom of the heap in search results. For example attempting to stuff positive comments in Google places, (a tactic used by some reputation management companies) will get you tagged and flagged. This is because Google knows the IP addresses used for such comments and the servers they come from. Google is even looking at the keywords used in the comments to see if any patterns emerge that SUGGEST manipulation. What Google wants is a natural flow of genuine comments from your customers, not five guys in India adding comments to your recommendation tags. Google is even watching which categories you use to see if they match your website offerings. Bottom line; don’t try to manipulate Google they are getting very SERIOUS about this. To get a top ten listing in places now requires a pre planned set up, in advance of actually submitting to places itself. If you simple update your places and throw some positive comments in it from your computer, you will find it does nothing for your local rankings.
Bottom line is, to do this correctly now takes some level of expertise if you want to get listed correctly in the NEW local search results.
IM4B Launches 
Im4b has, after over 1 year of research, launched into Mobile marketing, we now offer a complete Mobile Success System, designed to increase any business results. This includes all components for a mobile marketing campaign that is engineered to work for your specific business with over 49 options and 14 main steps to consider. Here are some of the components of our Mobile Success System.
- A Truly Mobile Website – one that will work on ALL mobile devices see www.im4b.mobi
- A Mobile Social Venue Page – LBSM (Location based social media)
- A strategy and System building a Mobile list & text messaging (SMS)
- A Strategy and System for collecting & posting Happy Customer Reviews
- Some SEO magic for both your PC and Mobile websites
You might be asking yourself is mobile is really needed for you business. Well here are some things to consider:
Do any of your customers have a mobile phone? Maybe that sounds like a silly question but less than five years ago it was not Fact is there are more mobile phones over 5 billion than PC users 1.5 billion. The average PC user spends 2.4 hours per day in front of a PC; the average mobile user has their phone within 3 ft of them 24/7. E-mail campaigns get an average of less than 10% open rates. Mobile phones have an open rate of 95%. A mobile offer is 7.5 TIMES more likely to result in a purchase than a website offer. One mobile campaign can get more results in 30 minutes than a year of website search traffic. Mobile texts are growing at 5000% per year. If you want to know more about mobile visit our FREE report put out by Morgan Stanley at (insert link to our site)
IM4B adds Social media certification to its list of accreditations. In a move to improve the market place and raise the standards IM4B has added Social Media Consulting Accreditation. IM4B is a proud member of the Local Internet Marketing Association (LIMA) an organization that promotes high standards in SEO and other service to local business. Being a member shows our commitment to improving the industry and conducting business in an honest, professional manner.
Where no man has gone before – these are the words from one of my favorite TV shows and movie series Star Trek. I often see our adventures in internet marketing as those of this very popular series.
Many of our adventures lead us to challenges that are a fight, pitting our innovativeness, and ingenuity against today’s business problems. It is not always easy and we often find ourselves thinking “out of the box”. Let’s look at some examples.
Not us -How can mobile apply to a manufacturing company that works through distributors and not directly with the public? On the surface it would seem that mobile marketing has no relevance to this type of business. However after a few questions we have found out that the company attends several large industry events each year that are critical to its exposure in the market place. A mobile campaign is perfect for them, having a text EVENT to XXXXX allows us to do several things prior to the show, during the show, and after the show. Prior to the show special discounts and offers encourage prospects to attend the show. During the show they can offer immediate show specials if the prospect stops by the booth, and they can generate a list of new prospects by displaying a QR code or text to message to capture new prospects. After the show, they have a fast and very responsive way to follow up and thank those for attending, offer additional support, and encourage migration to social media and the website. Know any manufacturing companies have them contact us: wkline@im4b.com
The SERVICES industry problem-. Many personal service industry providers have common problems. For example, dentists, chiropractors, beauticians, auto repair, dermatologists, lawyers, all share one common issue that affects their bottom line, Appointment cancelations. They can eat up a considerable amount of annual revenue. Since they all have time limits, an idle hour sitting around since someone cancelled an appointment is counterproductive and often not recoverable. Mobile marketing can be a great way to reduce this negative impact. Setting up a VIP mobile text group a service provider now has the option to send out a SMS message to the group offering a discount to fill the cancelation. This is a win -win situation, the service provider recovers some revenue the group member gets a discount. I know if my service providers offered this I might be inclined to avail myself of their services more often.
My Cook is sick- if you run a business you know how frustrating it can be when an employee is out sick, especially if it is critical to your businesses operation. In the past the owner or a secretary or both would now have to get on the phone and make calls to find a replacement. Mobile to the rescue, now you can text the employee group to see if anyone can cover for the sick employee. The message is fast, goes to your employee’s mobile phones and can be responded to in seconds. No more hours making calls to answering machines leaving a message hoping someone will respond.
These are just a few examples of how mobile can help a business, I am sure we will discover new worlds, new applications, as we go where no man has gone before.
December 2010 Newsletter
Happy holidays from our family to yours!
We are truly blessed with progress through the past year and very grateful to all of you as our clients. The team at IM4B is growing with the additions of Jack, Jeff and Jay to our team and poised for additional growth in 2011. With new team members, software tools, tactics and techniques we are geared up to be a big part of our clients’ growth in the New Year.
While many of us have experienced tougher times than we may like, our resolve makes us stronger & more grateful than ever. So let us celebrate the spirit of giving by giving back to our local communities in every way we can. We wish you & yours the very best through this Holiday Season & the New Year ahead.
For a very special holiday gift to your company, please view the video at the bottom of this page.
Google News
Recently Google acquired yet another company for 6 billion, Groupons. Groupons is a coupon site that ties social media into a coupon site. The driving force is that the “deal “ is not valid unless certain minimum number of customers sign up. The discounts are substantial around 50%. So interested merchants determine the volume of new customers needed to make the deal work. Customers can invite their friends to join in the deal. This is a great service for business looking to drive more local foot traffic. So here are the pros and cons from my perspective.
Pros, I believe that this type of “sale” can drive an increase in traffic, and acquiring new clients is the most expensive endeavor for any business. Additionally, Groupons does all the promotion by sending out notices to individuals that sign up to get daily notices on deals in their city. Considering other forms of advertising, this is highly targeted. The social media component is a great way to get potential customers to invite their friends. We all like to share in a deal so this helps sell out the deal quickly.
Cons- The first drawback, this is only working in about 100 cities so unless you live in a major market, chances are Groupons is not available or does not have enough merchants and customers. The second concern is that the discounts are large, this means you need to sell on volume, and if you’re not ready for volume then you may not be able to offer a deep discount and still make any profit. This is good if your business uses coupons and you want more foot traffic. Service business may find it hard to capitalize since customers do not buy on impulse but more on need. For example offering coupons for a donut shop makes sense, but a window company would not find much value since people do not buy windows on an impulse.
Internet Marketing Tip
Looking to get your message out? Well have you considered video? Video is becoming the new online TV, but forget about doing slick TV commercials online they don’t work. So here are five tips to creating a viral video for your business
1. Keep it short – We have found that 30sec to 1 minute max is a good length for a sales, or as we call them magnet video. The objective here is simple, tell them what you have , how it can benefit them and what they need to do to find out more.
2. Make it easy- Whatever your call to action is, call us, go to our website, e-mail us, sign up, make it easy for them to take the next step.
3. Put you info in top third of video for the duration. Don’t wait till the end to give them your info, keep your website or phone on the screen throughout. We never know where they will drop off the video so don’t save info till the end.
4. Make it compelling – ok this takes some thought and creativity. Boring does not work, so if your topic is about the new widget for jet rockets, don’t go into all the technical boring stuff unless the only clients you want are rocket scientists. So how would you make it more exciting? Out of box usually works best. So a series of clips showing past rocket explosions can be very entertaining. This gets their attention then we get them to find out more.
5. Ask them to share it – don’t assume they will share your video and make it viral. You need to ask. We have even used enticements to get them motivated. A good way to do this is embed share buttons for Facebook, twitter, and other sites.
We have many more tips to share about making viral videos and other topics. Make sure you visit our site and sign up for our video series on internet marketing.
All things considered-
Internet marketing moves at a very fast pace, and what worked yesterday may not apply tomorrow. That is why having a company that is watching trends in the market is so important.
So here is what I consider to be the next most important component to marketing.
Mobile marketing! When I use that term it conjures up all kinds of misconceptions, so let’s get those out of the way first.
Mobile marketing is not all about delivering ads to iphones and smartphones, they only make up about 20% of the mobile market. While smart phones are sexy, they are not the end all. Mobile marketing is not about blasting unwanted messages to everyone or having annoying pop ups show up in your applications. Mobile marketing is not something your business can ignore. Regardless of what type of business you’re in, mobile marketing should be considered in all your marketing planning. Why because of these reasons:
1-Smart phone sales are projected to outperform global pc sales within 3 years
2- there are 4.2 mobile devices only 1.8 billion internet
3-Mobile web adoption is growing 8X faster than the equivalent point 10 yrs ago for the desktop
4-Half of new internet connections are from mobile devices
So the good news is you now know that mobile will soon overtake the pc as the device of choice for getting information. So let’s explore a couple of quick scenarios to highlight this. You’re out driving around and you spot a car you might be interested in. Whip out your mobile phone take a picture of the 2d bar code and whala, you have every bit of information about that vehicle since it rolled off the assembly line. You are in front of your favorite restaurant, as you walk in a text message shows up on your phone welcoming you and letting you know the specials available to you as a VIP Mobile member. You’re out shopping and the item your interested seems a bit expensive, snap take a picture of the QR code and you can compare prices at local retailers for that item, instant comparison shopping.
In all the above scenarios running home to use your PC is just not convenient. Since our mobile devices rarely are less than 3 feet way from us you can see how this will soon become the device of choice for information gathering and sharing. You will also start seeing a lot more QR codes and 2d bar codes ). If you want to know more , sign up for video series and we will show you how your business can benefit from the mobile explosion before your competition does.
Don’t have a site; don’t worry, why you haven’t gone online yet
Don’t have a website? Well you’re not alone, one surprising statistic, at least from my point of view, is that 46% of small business doesn’t have a website. Pinch me it is 2010, this is the 21st century, you know Buck Rodgers, moon bases, and warp travel right. Ok I understand why. When I first started doing online marketing for myself back in the stone-age (at least in Internet years) having a website was VERY expensive. I am no website designer but it was always a hassle just to get a simple site up. It sometimes took months and lots of frustration.
Good news is today it is easy to put up a website, if you can cut and paste and type a few sentences you can have a website. And talk about cheap, you can go to Go daddy and set one up in minutes. So why is it, so many businesses don’t have a website, and more importantly why is it, even more sales people don’t have one? You see when I Discovered this little Internet marketing secret I was able to have clients call me and my closing ratios shot through the roof. I was in Sales Nirvana; I would take calls, set appointments, and close over 80% of the deals. All, without making a cold call or pounding the pavement. I still remember when we had one of those blitz’s days and I gracefully declined not to participate in such a waste of time.
So I know why you don’t have a website!
Misconception 1 – Its expensive – well here we go, yes you can pay thousands to have a website if you want but my recommendation is don’t spend more than a thousand, also you can do it yourself for as little as 5 bucks per month, add hosting and a domain and you might spend 150 bucks per year. I would also recommend you stick with WordPress sites or set up a blog as your first website.
Misconception 2 – I don’t need one – Really, well if you think so, buts let’s look at few things, online is the new Yellow pages, as a matter of fact I am going to make a prediction here, The PRINTED yellow pages will be gone from most markets in the next three years. Here is another one, 30% of ALL searches are local, and how about this one 86% of ALL purchases start with an online search. Still don’t need a website? Ok I buy it; as a matter of fact you really don’t need a website. Here is why, you can set up social media sites as YOUR website but a word of caution here, what Facebook givith, Facebook can takeith away. Or my grandmothers one, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. There really is no excuse anymore for not having a website but, the most important thing is not the website, but the website traffic, for without targeted traffic a website is just an invisible bookmark. So the website is just a tool for capturing more leads, more customers, and more BUSINESS. I assume you want more BUSINESS.
Misconception 3 – I don’t know how to or want to maintain a website. Ok yes it is some work, but today’s technology can supply the answer. See in WordPress YOU get to maintain your site, if you can type, you can manage a website. No longer do you need to pay for a webmaster to change things, you can do it. We even have tutorials and video instructions for you to use and in time it will be as easy as sending an email. You just need to learn form an expert (hint I should insert my shameless sales pitch here) but regardless, you just need to know a few things to make a MONEY Magnet, Local dominating, kick butt, mobster website.
So if you’re a small business owner, sales person, or anyone that just wants to increase your exposure, and make more money than having a website is a great Tool to have in your marketing arsenal.
For more information about how to market yourself or business online sign up for our free video series.
How to Make a YouTube Video
Are you interested in making your own videos to upload to YouTube and to share with the rest of the internet community? If you are and if this is your first time trying to do so, you may be wondering how you can go about making your own videos. Although the process of making a YouTube video may seem like a complicated one, it isn’t necessarily. Even those with a low amount of computer knowledge are able to successfully make their own videos, many of which later end up on YouTube.
The first step in making a YouTube video is to get a video recording device. Video recording devices come in a number of different formats. For instance, it is possible to use cell phones, webcams, or traditional camcorders. If you are interested in using your cell phone to help you make a YouTube video, you will need to make sure that your cell phone has video recording capabilities. You will find that most new, modern cell phones do. For the best quality videos, you want to use traditional camcorders, particularly digital ones, but webcams are also nice low-cost alternatives.
Once you have a video recording device in your possession, you can start to make your own videos. Popular videos on YouTube include video blogs, comedy skits, how-to videos, or travel videos. You can make just about whatever type of video you want, whether it is one that is staged or just recording spur of the moment activities or conversations. When learning how to make a YouTube video, it is important to remember that YouTube doesn’t limit the number of videos you can submit, but all videos must be ten minutes or less, if you have a traditional YouTube membership account. Therefore, if you want to have videos be longer than ten minutes, you either need to upgrade your account or make your videos in different segments.
When making your YouTube video, you will want to make sure that the quality is good. For this, it is a good idea to speak directly into the camera or else use raised voices. This will help to ensure that those watching your videos on YouTube can actually understand what you are saying. It is also advised that you make sure the lighting is good. The best time to make movies is during the day. If you want to make your movies at night, whether they take place inside or outdoors, you will want to make sure that you have the appropriate amount of lighting. Nothing is worse than watching a video that is hard to see.
Although there are a number of steps, like the ones mentioned above, which you can take to ensure that your YouTube videos are quality ones, there is a way that you can fix problems later on. You can do this with movie editing software. Moving editing software allows you to preview and edit your videos, should you wish to do so before uploading them to YouTube. If you have a relatively new computer, you should be able to find movie editing software already on your computer. If you are unable to find movie editing software, you should be able to get free software programs or even purchase deluxe software programs online or from one of your local media stores.
The decision as to whether or not you want to edit your videos, before sharing them on YouTube, is yours to make, but it is advised that you at least look into doing so, especially if your computer already has a movie editing program. You will want to watch your movies and see if there is anything that you would like to edit, change, or remove. If so, the time to do it is before you post your video on the YouTube website. Editing your YouTube videos or at least previewing them first is likely to improve their quality, which, in turn, will help to improve the exposure that your YouTube videos get. Many YouTube members share videos that they find interesting with those that they know and your videos may be one of them.
Marketing A Business Online
Marketing a business online: Are you one of the millions of internet users who enjoy watching free videos on YouTube? If you are, the thought of creating your own YouTube video may have crossed your mind; has it? If so, you may be wondering whether or not you should make your own YouTube video and then upload it to the YouTube website. When making your decision, it is advised that you can examine the pros and cons of doing so.
When it comes to making your own YouTube video, there are a number of cons or downsides to doing so. Perhaps, the biggest downside to making your own video and then uploading it to YouTube is that you are essentially sharing the video with the whole world. Many individuals mistakenly believe that their videos will only be seen by YouTube members, but that isn’t the truth. Any internet user, even those without a YouTube account, can view videos on YouTube. In fact, it is not uncommon for YouTube video viewers to email a YouTube video link to those that they know. Therefore, the views that your YouTube videos may get may be more than you ever expected or wanted.
Since any video that you upload to the YouTube website can be viewed by just about anyone with an internet connection, you may want to be careful with the amount of information that you disclose. For instance, if you are doing a video blog, you might not want to give your real name or at least not your full name. It is also important that you don’t mention where you live. If you want, you may want to outline the state that you reside in, but never give the city or town, especially if you disclose your name. You will want to try and refrain from giving any personal information to any YouTube member, even those who send you personal messages asking for information.
Although there are a few downsides or cons to uploading your videos to the YouTube website, there are also a number of pros or plus sides to doing so. One of those pros is ease of use. Even if you consider yourself to be unskilled with computers, you should still be able to make, upload, and share your video or videos on YouTube. In all honesty, all you need is a video recording device, like a camcorder or a webcam, and a movie editing software program, which now comes standard with most computers. Once you have your video on your computer and edited, if you wish to do so, you will just need to follow YouTube’s step-by-step uploading instructions and then your video should be ready for sharing, in as little as a few minutes.
Although a large number of internet users use YouTube videos for fun or for personal reasons, there are many others who use them for business or at least to up their exposure. You need to remember that millions of internet users watch videos on YouTube. While your YouTube video will be unlikely to get one million views, you could get quite a bit. Whether you are advertising your services, like as a website designer or an online actress, you can do so through YouTube. The only thing that you will want to do is try to not take the spam approach. If you are advertising yourself as a website designer, try taking a few videos of you making a website or use your video to explore websites that you have made. Simply adding your business information at the end of the video is a great way to get your point across, but without making your YouTube video seem as it is an advertisement.
Marketing A Business Online
If you are not already Marketing a business online, it is time to start. Although there are a few exceptions, just about every business can benefit from online marketing. There are just so many advantages to this type of marketing. First of all, it is extremely affordable to market a business online. Other advantages to marketing a business online include the ability to reach a large target audience, the ability to reach potential customers all over the world and the ability to customize the marketing for different sectors of the target audience.
The affordability of marketing a business online is one of many reasons why many business owners are turning to the Internet for advertising. Advertising online is incredibly affordable especially when you consider how many potential customers a business owner can reach with an online marketing campaign. Most methods of online advertising are quite affordable and some of them do not have any direct costs. For example, you may choose to market your business online by participating in industry forums and posting links to your website whenever it is appropriate to do so. In this case the cost of creating and maintaining the website is insignificant in comparison to the number of potential clients you could reach through online marketing. Additionally, the costs associated with posting links to your website are incidental. You could consider the cost of having access to the Internet as part of the cost but you most likely require Internet access for other reasons as well so it is completely worthwhile.
Reaching a large target audience is another very worthwhile reason for marketing a business online. You may have spent a great deal of time and energy doing market research and determine who your target audience is. You may have also spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the best way to reach this audience. This is a very sound marketing principle but as it applies to marketing on local television, radio and print media it only allows you to reach a limited audience. However, when you take your marketing to the Internet you automatically drastically increase your potential target audience because you now have the ability to reach members of your target audience around the world.
This ability to reach customers around the world is another major advantage to marketing a business online. Regardless of where you live and operate your business, you have the ability to reach those who have an interest in the products you sell or the services you provide no matter where they live. This makes it possible for you to do business with customers around the world.
Likewise the fact that the Internet is available 24 hours a day is also very beneficial to those who choose to market their products or services online. Shopping for products and services in person can be very difficult especially for individuals who work long hours or those who work unusual hours. These working conditions make it difficult for these individuals to do business and make purchases of products and services they need during regular business hours. However, business owners who have an online presence are much more convenient because unlike stores and calling centers, the website never closes. This convenience gives potential customers the ability to view products and services, compare these products and services to the ones offered by competitors and make a purchase at any hour of any day.
If you are a business owner who is reading this article and you do not already have a strong online presence, you need to immediately start learning more about the world of Internet marketing. This is so important because if your competitors are marketing online, you may find they are gaining a steady advantage and are becoming more appealing to potential customers. Before too many of your potential customers become loyal customers of the competition it is time to start figuring out how you can market your business online and keep up with the competition.
Using a Website to Market Your Business
Using a Website to Market Your Business
There are many different ways to advertise your business on the Internet. Placing banner ads, orchestrating an email marketing campaign and tactfully mentioning your business on industry related forums and message boards are just a few of the popular options for Internet marketing. Another Internet marketing strategy involves creating and advertising a website to promote your business. You can use your website to market your business in a number of ways. Some of these ways include providing more information about your business and the products or services you offer, letting potential customers know how to reach you and even selling your products and services via the website. This article will highlight the advantages of using a website to market your business and will outline some of the ways the website can be useful.
One great advantage to using a website to market your business on the Internet is that you can place descriptions and photos of the products or services your business offers. This is important because many consumers use the Internet when researching products and services. Having an online presence gives your business an advantage over the competition because consumers are much more likely to select your products or services over the products and services offered by your competitors who do not advertise online.
Another advantage to using a website to market your business is you can use the website to not only market but also sell your products directly. Again this can give you an edge over the direct competition. Consumers who use the Internet to research products and services are often very anxious to make their purchases and they would be more inclined to select a retailer or service providers who offer the opportunity to purchase products or services online over a retailer or service provider who only allows for purchase in a store or via phone.
Still another advantage to using a website to market your business is the ability to reach a large, worldwide audience. The Internet essentially knows no boundaries and advertising on a website means the business owner can reach competitors around the world instead of being limited to their general location. Advertising via other medium such as television, radio and the print media is somewhat limited and may only reach potential customers in a relatively small geographic area.
Another advantage to using a website to market your business is the Internet is available 24 hours a day around the world. This essentially offers you a storefront which is open 24 hours a day. While your competitors may be limited to their regular business hours, your website will enable you to reach your customers at any hour of the day. This is especially important for reaching potential customers in other time zones and for reach customers in your own area who are simply too busy to shop for products or services like the ones you offer during regular business hours. Many potential customers work long hours and appreciate the ability to research and shop online after hours.
One final advantage to using a website to market your business is you can actually generate a profit from your website in other ways than through sales to customers. You can also use your website to generate income by selling advertising space to other business owners who are marketing their own products and services on the Internet. However, care should be taken when advertising on your website. First of all you should not sell advertising space to direct competitors. This is important because this may cause you to lose potential business if potential customers opt to purchase product or services from competitors who advertise on your website. An ideal advertiser is one who offers products and services which do not directly compete with your own products or services but would be of interest to your potential customers. You should also take care not to place too many advertisements on your website. This is important because too many advertisements may detract from your business and may cause you to lose potential customers. Using a website to market your business is a must in today’s internet society.
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