Our marketing department is constantly putting ourselves in the mind of others. We spend endless hours thinking about what people want and what they are thinking. By trying to anticipate human behavior we can better understand the next “big thing” or what is the best move for a client. So I ask myself, “What are people thinking?” “What do people search for?”  “What does Google know?” In an effort to uncover the dirty truth I turned to Google suggested search.

Disclaimer: some of these are funny and some of it is offensive. However, it all says something about what people think and what they search for.

First I started out asking basic questions…

Who?

What?

When?

Where?

Why?

Most of these seem pretty normal and expected. I definitely laughed at “why” but I guess people are curious by nature.

Let’s take this a step further…

A major question here is who are Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Regina King dating as well as concerns about H1N1.

There are quite a few people wondering what they should do with their life.

“When will I die?” People really expect to find that on Google? Come to find out there are hundreds of quizzes ready to tell you when you will die.

“Where” seems to reflect what is happening in society now. Searches include Conan, 2010 Superbowl, the Olympics, Hati and Tiger Woods. My favorite is “where is Chuck Norris.”

“Why” is my favorite! These are such random questions. Everything from “why is my computer slow” to “why is yawning contagious” and “why are the kardashians famous”

I love these questions… Why do men have nipples? Why do people dream? Why do cats purr?

Then I thought I would see what people searched for about men…

How can you look at this and not at least smile? I am thinking this is mostly searched for by women, what do you think?

And now the women…

It seems people are just as negative about women as they are about men. Yikes.

There you have it, a look in to human behavior and what we ask when people are not around. This certainly says something about what is going on in the world, with quite a few searches in including Tiger Woods and the Olympics. It also gives an insight in to what people think about and what they take the time to research.

What do you think? Do you find this normal? Shocking? Humorous? Entertaining? Disappointing?

There is no such thing as a website overnight success. Mystery solved, blog for the week = done! Wait, I forgot to explain why! Let’s set the stage; in my experience in running a business for the past eight years there is no real overnight success in business, and even more so online. Fast growth can only come in one of a very few ways being:

1. A lot of capital.
2. An indescribable amount of man hours.
3. Really good people firing on all cylinders.

Sometimes its a combination, but its never without any of these attributes. The only overnight success in this world comes from gambling, the lottery or stealing, but I’m not taking my chance on beating Vegas, haven’t bought a lottery ticket in years, and likewise don’t feel like going to jail anytime soon. I don’t know where the average Joe stands but that is just me. Your Facebook, Myspace, Google, Amazon, Ebay or any other of the major apparently overnight online successes didn’t get their billion dollars a few days after their conception. Not to mention these ideas were unique at the time and have obliterated the competition for market share.

If you added the man hours of development and sweat equity for these gems of the Internet put together, you could circle the globe eight times. I can’t exactly prove that because the data doesn’t exists, but let me just tell you that none of these sites started out as even a reflection of what they are today. Facebook started as a crude version of Harvard “hot or not”, while Ebay was a cheap site for selling beanie babies (boy I’m glad I didn’t buy one of those) and Google is years worth of mathematical and search technology genius put together. The bottom line is you aren’t going to create a version of these sites and compete with these big dogs within the market place without a great idea and a truckload of benjamins. If you are still reading this and saying, “Duh, everyone knows that,” I will say that’s not quite true. Ok, so there isn’t an overnight success what now? A second part of this myth is that you can make money on the web with little or no investment similar to the California Gold Rush in 1849 that the money is just sitting there waiting for you.

While I will still contend that you can compete for a larger market share with less of a start-up cost of opening up a brick and mortar location, the online marketplace itself has become quite competitive. Simply put, unless you are a developer (or really good friends with one that is a pushover) the fact of the matter is that it’s probably going to take some capital and more than just a good idea to build a successful online enterprise. Driving traffic to your site is the second part of the equation and that takes an aggressive marketing campaign to get the users you need to find your site. The amount of money being put into online advertising year over year is growing by the billions. This means the marketplace is becoming more competitive, and unfortunately, to compete in a competitive market place revert to the three tools listed above.

If I burst anyone’s bubble I apologize. This doesn’t mean its impossible, its simply a matter of uncovering the fact that the web isn’t the haven for no cost, next million dollar ideas, those simply don’t exist anywhere. The web still remains a great place to invest one’s ingenuity, desire, and output of great ideas, this will remain true for long years to come. It just takes more work than the average bear might think to get there.

You heard it first here, lifeBLUE investigative reporters have uncovered the facts, fiction, and scandals behind the widely known “Cyber Monday.” Ok, I admit that is a bit dramatic, lifeBLUE doesn’t really have any investigative reporters. However their are definitely some interesting facts surrounding this special day.

Cyber Monday begins…
The term was coined in 2005 by shop.org basing their assessment that this was the largest online shopping day of the year by stating that their research showed 77% of online retailers reported a significant increase in sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2004. You could scour the Internet for thousands of inflated references about the biggest shopping day. Cyber Monday has been widely criticized as a marketing gimmick designed to feed off of Black Friday. I can’t complain, it works so why not jump on the band wagon and promote your website to get a few extra sales? In the end, it benefits both consumers and retailers to take advantage of the discounts offered. More grounded statistics show that the largest online shopping days are actually somewhere between the 5th and 15th of December with the actual number one day being December 12th. This makes more sense because there is no way I am ever going to have any money to spend on Cyber Monday when my significant other has blown my next three months of pay on the Friday before. I don’t know about you but I’m just coming out of my tryptophan stupor on Monday and the only thing I am doing online is crying about the red numbers on my checking account balance.

The bottom line…
1. As stated before critics want to dog on Cyber Marketing as a marketing gimmick, so is Black Friday, but its just had more years to solidify its presence. In the end, it doesn’t hurt anyone and if anything actually benefits the consumers (that can afford some more shopping) and retailers alike. So what if its not the biggest shopping day of the year, no one is going to be able to coin the term or planning a marketing campaign for “Black Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday depending on if its a leap year December 12th”.
2. Retail purchasing, both online and offline, is through the roof in the month of December, go figure.
3. Just my 2 cents for something that might be a better conglomerated marketing gimmick for major online retailers is to solidify the day that packages can be guaranteed by the 24th. That might be a bigger job to accomplish than my paycheck, but if this was a widely known fact and shared by all retailers I bet it could give “Cyber Monday” a run for its money.

It’s almost 2010, only five more years until we are in the time equivalent of Back to the Future Part II with hover boards, flying cars, and food hydrators. One thing they did not highlight in BTTF II is the Web. So let’s get back to the fact that it is 2010, and lets face it, if you don’t have a website as a business you are hurting for dozens if not thousands of potential leads. So where does your website stand on the chronological equivalent of keeping up with the times?

• Business w/ No Website = Beginning of Time
• Business w/ Just a basic website = Early 20th Century
• Business w/ a Website that works for them (aka a web marketing tool) = 2010 and beyond.

What is a website that works FOR you? Let’s first change our nomenclature. A website that works for you is a web marketing tool or web application, a website that doesn’t is just a website. So now let’s talk about web applications. How does one make a website become a web marketing tool? This actually takes quite a bit of intellectual thought, especially for some businesses that don’t have the capabilities to sell their product online, or so they think. My goal today is to provide some thought provoking questions so one can assess where a particular business might stand on the pillar of web application or just a website.

1. Can the product or service be purchased directly online?

If yes, then great, this is now the easiest path to make your web application work for you. If not currently today, is their a way for you to? I have had the luxury and the opportunity to work with a few clients that were looking for creative ways to turn their product into an online sales mechanism…and it does work! The hard part is now your ability to direct traffic. This is certainly an effort that takes a lot of ground work to get started, but once you build a solid foundation through some good PPC and Search Engine Marketing (SEM), the rewards will be online sales while you are counting sheep. PPC and SEM are about 983 blog posts themselves to try and educate even the average savvy user. With that being said you have 3 options: hire a professional (hey, lifeBLUE does that), do it yourself (not a bad way to get started when you are cash conscious, but very time consuming), or don’t do it all and just let your site sit there in the vast junkyard of ROI-less websites (I may be biased but I don’t recommend the last one).

2. Can your website obtain leads directly online?

Whether you are consumer direct or B2B, is it feasible for visitors to submit their information to you via some type of contact form, chat system, or call back function? This is probably the category where most businesses go wrong. You have seen the sites w/ Home, About, Services, Contact Us. There is nothing wrong with the actual navigation per se, short, direct…sweet. However, most websites don’t use dynamic contact and multiple connection points to integrate their website into a working web application. A few things you should think about and/or check for in this category:

• How often are you updating your content and is it relevant? Or does it just look like the site was built 3 years ago and the HTML dust is so thick you can barely see your monitor? Having a tool that allows you to keep your content fresh and current gives users the satisfaction that there actually is a man behind the curtain and serves as credibility. News updates, blog posts, or any other ideas that give chronological relevancy to your business is key. Make sure your content is attractive and shows the value of conducting business with you. Think of it as if you had 30 seconds to gain someone’s attention (and its not even that long) what would you say knowing you would not have any opportunity for a rebuttal?
• How are you attracting potential leads? Does your site have conversion points on every page that funnel your traffic to the desired goal? Are you using a variety of methods such as short forms, live person technology, brochure requests, call requests, and a plethora of other metrics to ensure that you have done everything possible to attract their attention and give them the opportunity to do business with you? The answers to these questions speak for themselves.

3. Your company doesn’t sell directly to end customers and there aren’t really leads to be attracted online.

This category is a catchall that regardless of what category, a business can gain some benefit from these ideas. At the LB we occasionally come across a business that only has 2 or 3 large clients and aren’t necessarily seeking new business but would welcome it if the right client came along. Regardless there are many ways to make your website work for you that is not necessarily sales or web based, or even if it is, you can still profit by providing value added services by making it a web application. You can save costs, man/woman hours, and headaches by using a variety or all of just a handful of the following ideas:

• Online support system for current clients.
• Login functions where clients can manage their account information and communicate w/ customer service.
• A way for clients to login and obtain information only suitable for clients.
• Create a network for your customer base to communicate and interact with each other (Very good for niche
  industries).
• A login control where customers can actually manage their product, shipments, and other details.
• I could go on and on…have more ideas, call us or comment!

Hopefully this post has electrified some light bulbs or at least gave you some thinking material for your next restroom break. The bottom line is that everyone with a website or a web application has the opportunity to expand their product, service, lead generation, or value added services online, the possibilities are limitless.

Before social network sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter became household names around the world, it was good old-fashioned email that connected us all. Instead of the quick 140-character Twitter update or Facebook status update, you’d type a few paragraphs about your week or your day and send to a group of your closest friends via email. Then the Reply All option was used over and over and everybody was officially updated and connected. In the business world, the growth of email marketing exploded as companies realized the instantaneous messaging to customers, prospects and the general public was incredibly cost-effective compared to the magazine or TV ad they had previously purchased. It was also a new way to segment and target specific audiences with very personal and meaningful messages.

Email marketing continues today as a very important piece to most businesses’ marketing arsenal – if used the right way.

However, the landscape has changed a bit with the popularity of the social media sites mentioned above. And it’s changing email marketing from a “direct response” and “top-down communication” tool to more of an engagement and sharable piece of communication between companies and the public.

Before, with traditional tactics, companies PUSHED the message on their customers, and then with the growth of search marketing, paid search and blogging companies were PULLING their customers into the message. Now, by engaging and sharing information across networks, those PUSH and PULL tactics should change to into more of a CONVERSATION participant.

By building email marketing pieces with “Forward to a Friend” options and Facebook Share buttons and/or Twitter links, companies can make it easy for their audience to pass it on. So, instead of ending up buried in the inbox of one person, they have the ability to forward it to their circle of friends and contacts because the message is compelling and engaging – not just an advertisement or promotion.

Some tips to remember:

• Brands were once defined in a board room of people wearing expensive suits – today brands are shaped and molded in the marketplace through social dialogue.
• The corporate executives don’t have as much control as in the past with their brands unless they are deeply involved in that dialogue.
• Instead of focus groups and surveys, social media and email marketing strategies allow for immediate and constant 24/7 insight into what people think about your brand or products. The web never sleeps and thoughts and opinions can spread faster than ever because of it.
• By making your message worthy enough to share amongst friends and contacts, companies can show their relevancy to the times and build trust between them and their customers.
• The long newsletter style is a thing of the past now that the social dialogue is the accepted way of the world. Write your message similar to how we talk to each other.
• Continuously monitor what’s being said about your brand and your competitors – don’t end up surprised.
• And finally, when using the Shared Links and Icons that come with Facebook, LinkedIn and Digg, place those pieces prominently on your email messages. This can be tested over time to find the most effective location and stick with it.

Ha ha ha, I just did a play on words. Get it? NET-working, you know the Internet? Anyone… (crickets – chirp- chirp – chirp)? Tough crowd. Anyhow, the subject of this particular blog is taking the age old practice of networking and deciphering how you can/should/better not ever do with a website to make it your networking clone. That way you can make contacts while you sleep, which is a beautiful thing.

I stole a few tips from a previous article, so like any good writer I will give this writer their due credit. However, we will take their networking tips and turn them into web related information.

#1 - Select a few key associations or organizations and participate actively. This is certainly a big one. There are good times and bad times to promote other websites. I probably wouldn’t advise posting a link to a direct competitor’s website, but if you have a valued-added way to do this then I am all for it (your price is lower, see here kind of thing). Likewise, don’t let your site become a highway of billboards 70 miles long for everything from baseball to knitting associations. I am also going to say this: DO NOT EVER DO RANDOM LINK EXCHANGES or link exchanges period for that matter. There is no real long term value and in the end if someone comes to you with this offer you are going to get the short end of the stick! The key here is to create a “network” of associations, groups or companies that are directly related to your product or service and are widely known as the experts of the field you are in (if you are not). It’s okay to send people away from your site, if you are giving them good information. I promise they will come back to you. With this handful of great websites, find out how you can cross promote each other by adding content about what they do and likewise if they can reciprocate it’s a win/win situation.

#2 - Get to events early and plan to stay late. - Hmmm… I got nothing. Good news is your website is up 24/7. What a party animal!

#3 - Greet people you’ve met in the past. If you know there is another website that you can benefit from a networking partnership with, then “ask and ye shall receive.” If not keep asking and keep “greeting”, so to speak, until you can find the magic button that is a mutually value added relationship between the two websites. Now it goes without saying there is a fine line of persistence and pestering, but if you know you can provide value then it’s just a matter of getting it to the right person and/or seeing it through your eyes. Back up your reasoning with facts, data, pictures, stats, etc and just make sure you are always conveying the value of your proposition. Likewise don’t be cliché and send a poorly written email request. Find a way to get on the phone with someone, the right someone.

#4 - Follow up on leads. Always, always, always follow up with leads from your website. There is nothing worse than someone begging you for help and just ignoring them. It is likely that 50% of your web leads will not be looking for the exact service/price you are offering. If you have a good network and are good at what you do, then you can refer this potential customer to somewhere that can better assist them. Someday that lead might be looking for your services again and can now afford your prices. If you helped them when they were nothing, I promise you they are going to use you later.

#5 - Be generous about sharing business tips, referrals and leads with non-competitors. If someone is good enough to be part of your website network then they should be good enough for you to confidently send them any potential leads (see#4). If they are not then see #1. Its basically the ole’ scratch your back you scratch mine sort of thing. Its just good business.

Well I hope this has been beneficial for you. Always remember to stay on top of your networking and your NETworking duties.

Emails can easily be ignored, probably even easier than fast forwarding though commercials while trying to catch up on your 100 hours of DVR back log. However the power of email marketing cannot be ignored if there is a perceived value in its content or purpose. Informative, beneficial, concise, simple but useful, are just a few of the adjectives that should describe what you are or should be sending out to your consumer base.

Here are a few powerful reasons what and/or why you should be effectively using an email marketing campaign.

Targetization - Yes, that is a made up word similar to George Bush’s “strategery”. But that doesn’t detract from its effectiveness. Not only can you simply target your respective customer base but you can segment your market into different demographics whether it be age, sex, interest, etc. Most quality email campaign service providers, such as Constant Contact or Campaign Monitor, allow you to create different mailing lists. Thus you can customize different campaigns to the needs of those various demographics.

Personalization - Most effective marketing strategies today given the rise of social media are about personalization. Have your email campaigns be more than a few lines of text from a do-not-reply@dontevertalktous.com address that people cannot identify with. Whether it is from your CEO, PR Manager or someone else within your company, give it personification and a direct message. This will only increase the effectiveness and likewise show that there is a person behind the curtain and not just a sterile company.

Consistency - Whether its annual (not recommended), weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. You need to do it consistently. If its an information based email campaign, then consistency is even more important so readers can begin to look forward when they will receive your interesting piece of email magic. Sales/Ad campaigns need to be done regularly but are not quite as necessary to be on a rigid schedule.

Action - Any effective email should involve some type of action. Even if you are just providing information what is the call to action to get someone to take the next step. Depending upon your type of business this can either be subtle or very obvious.

As a final thought always remember that no one wants to be sold therefore you must always show value in what you are sending to people. Determine what your “email value” is and stick to or find ways to tweak until you see the ROI you are looking for. Always remember that it will never be perfect.

While Twitter is still in its infancy stage, it has already made quite a splash in the media and within the social marketing community. Let’s face it, when the President of the United States is sending oval office tweets, well then, it’s been officially cemented in the American socioplex. It’s now estimated that over 14 million in the US are Twitterers (according to Nielsen Online). But what does this mean to you? Here are the top 5 reasons Twitter will change the way some companies do business as we know it.

1. New, faster way to collect consumer data
   Previously it was time consuming, often difficult and extremely expensive to gather consumer data. Large corporations will pay thousands, even millions, for market research and it is very effective in determining how the public views your product as well as the competition and much more. With Twitter, a company can get real time opinions and feedback from its consumers. For example, when Apple came out with the new iPhone in June 2009 people flocked to Twitter to share their thoughts about the new product. It was impossible not to notice it while on Twitter that day. When Firefox released its latest upgrade people looked to Twitter to voice how they felt about it. It has been reported that companies, such as Apple, Ford and Southwest Airlines, are among some of the corporations following and gathering consumer data from Twitter and listening to what the public is saying, their gripes and concerns. I boldly ask, why not make use of this free, real-time information? While you may not be a household brand, it can still be an effective way to communicate to the public – but more importantly, to let them communicate to you.
2. Unlike Most Social Media, It Actually Helps TV and Print
   Media outlets such as CBS News, TIME and NBC News are on Twitter and are not afraid to use it. CNN has over 1.5 million followers, which ranks third among all the people or companies who use Twitter. It’s undeniable that people have access to news faster. It’s only been eight years since 9/11 and you can probably remember how the story developed over the course of 24, 48 and 72 hours – just imagine the coverage of that fateful day if onlookers and people inside the towers had Twitter at their fingertips. Not long ago, however, with the growth of the web and social networks were on display during the massacre at Virginia Tech which took much less time to reach the masses. Twitter has provided an outlet for TV and print to grab more viewers and provide information faster. Normally social media takes away from traditional media, as people are watching less TV and reading fewer newspapers and magazines while devoting their energy and time to their Facebook wall and profile.
3. Extreme Local Marketing
   If used correctly, Twitter can be utilized as a wonderful marketing tool. Before, it would take a hefty advertising budget and creative genius for a local business to grab the attention of potential consumers. Twitter has changed all that. Now a local business can target people living in their area to alert them of special offers, merchandise, sales and upcoming events. Where traditional marketing might have cost hundreds or thousands, marketing on Twitter is completely free. In the future, I would not be surprised if Twitter users followed local businesses to find the best deal on an oil change or the cheapest movie tickets.
4. A New Way To Drive Traffic To A Blog
   In business, if your company has a blog, it is important to post interesting and insightful content but without an audience to notice and read the content, your efforts are futile. Twitter provides a free way to drive more traffic to your site. Quickly post a link to the latest blog entry, which will alert your followers new content has been posted to your blog.
5. New Ways To Get Quick Data
   Twitter gets information to people fast. Now that people have Twitter on their mobile devices, they can get information faster than ever before.

Twitter began as a social media tool and is quickly gaining speed as an absolute marketing weapon to compete in the marketplace. If used properly and creatively companies can tap into information they only dreamed of before. How is Twitter helping your business?