Love and Lost Contest
This is how it works…
Share with us your best (and worst) Valentines stories
Your response will be needed by February 11th
_Post your Response
1. Blog (www.MarketingColab.com)
2. Twitter (www.Twitter.com/MarketingColab)
3. Facebook (find our Facebook page under Marketing Collaborative)
4. Email (info@MarketingColab.com)
The finest response will win
FLOWERS, CHOCOLATE, BALLOONS AND A CHEESY STUFFED ANIMAL DELIVERED ON FEBRUARY 12TH
Rocky’s? Rockies! – I see what you did there.
When my wife and I moved to the eternally sunny state of Colorado, a few precious familiarities gently ushered us into life now much closer to mountains. One, the price of beef was reliably steady, and my cholesterol barely noticed the difference. Two, the American Furniture Warehouse was nearby, and a thirty dollar end-table has never been far from my grasp. Three, the commercials on televisions for local businesses are as terrible as they’ve ever been, and their fodder for over-dinner laughter remains consistent.
Of particular focus (for this short piece) is that of Rocky’s Autos. While I’ve only been a citizen near the mile-high city for roughly four years now, I believe Rocky’s Autos holds in the public group-think a cypher that I’m still yet unable to decode. The Sawaya Law Firm is of similar stock (we’ll leave Hank Azar and Dealin’ Doug in their own bizarre corners for this writing). According to the quickly covered statistics in their commercials, Rocky’s Autos is quite the happening place to buy a used automobile in Colorado, and judging by the frequency of the commercials on television – this may hold a grain or two of truth. Rocky’s Autos is apparently also haunted by an attractive blond named Audra, a police officer, and a mildly rotund high-energy gentlemen (I believe his name is Shaggy) who – on the payroll or not – find joy in spreading the Rocky’s gospel. As far as the commercials tell me, these three wander the car lots at Rocky’s looking with squinted eyes into the sun, hungry, and without aim. Occasionally, from the benefactions of Rocky’s consumer base, a video camera is summoned, and with smiles and renewed purpose the hijinks then ensue.
My point is more of a question, a “royal” question to be floated out into the heat and vapor. Why do these businesses, in the year of our Lord two thousand and ten, spend a great deal (or a partial deal) on television commercials – then clearly neglect such investment their web presence? Surely they understand that the great majority of the populace, when looking to investigate future patronage, use the world-wide-web before visiting said establishment? Before I submitted my body to the expensive torture known as “the dentist” – I did two things: I ate a cheeseburger, and then I used the internet to research local dentists. While the cheeseburger was irrelevant (though tasty) – I chose the dentist that had the best looking, easiest to navigate – and most importantly, the best information at hand on their site.
Rocky’s Autos does indeed have a website, however the Flash intro, the table-based code, poor navigation, and ill-rendered graphical treatment / layout all betray that this site has been sitting here unattended on the web since the late nineties.
Strike that. In the effort of fairness, the Wayback Machine actually says the site hasn’t changed since at least 2003, going on seven years ago.
However, Rocky’s Autos, now that I’ve lambasted you and your good works, call us. We’ll help you with your sorely needed makeover, and render your digital eyesore into something painted with magnificence.
Also, don’t tell my wife I have a crush on Audra.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Becoming one of the “Cool Kids”
Search Engine Optimization is a curious thing for most folks. It conjures up thoughts of powerful search formulas, convoluted algorithms, and beating the search engines at their own game. But here’s the comforting news: SEO doesn’t have to be a confusing matter.
Take this story from a real estate agent client who hired an SEO provider to increase her traffic and search engine ranking.
Our estate agent client was promised top positioning on all major search engines for a mere $200 a month – an unusually low price. After an uneventful four month period with no traffic increase to her website, she requested a status report from the SEO marketing firm. Within that four month period, only 5 incoming links had been placed (a good rule of thumb is to shoot for 10-15 links a week). To make matters worse, her site was being paired with websites completely unrelated to her industry: a cookie manufacturer’s site, two limousine company websites, a fabric manufacturer, and a ballroom dancing site.
After requesting more information about why her incoming links were so unrelated to her real estate industry, she received the following response:
“It is not done to get you traffic from people visiting these websites. It is not there to tell the search engines where you are located or what it is that you do. All of that has to do with your keywords and phrases. It does not matter that the site does not do the same thing you do or that the PR (page rank) is different from yours. It is done to make the search engines return to your site more; that is the plan. It is truly as simple as that.”
While it isn’t truly as simple as that, it is still easy to get quantifiable results from an SEO campaign. Our SEO guru, Toby, says that there are a few basic truths that everyone should be aware of when it comes to SEO marketing. One is that search engines act as a school counselor, in order to be one of the “cool kids”, you need to have inbound links to your website from similarly related industries. Not only do these links give search engines a barometer of a site’s popularity, they aid in determining the topic and relevance of a site in relation to its targeted keywords.
Creating backlinks to dubious websites in unrelated industries, such as a cookie manufacturer linking to a real estate site, is a perfect way to cast yourself as the “bad kid”. And once you’re tagged by the search engines as a bad cookie? Well, good luck moving over to the good side.
To make sure you’re receiving truly unparalleled SEO results, make sure you’re playing on the right team by checking your detailed SEO monthly reports for the following:
- SERP(*) results showing all targeted keywords and their page rank on each search engine.
- Requested Links – Marketing Colab typically goes after 10-15 links per week on average. Gaining more than this usually tips of search engines and is viewed as “un-natural”.
- Active Links – This list should grow over time.
- Links should all be related in some way to your industry.
- Number of monthly visitors – These numbers should also be growing consistenly over time.
- The paths from which your website traffic is coming.
With a little know-how and the right tools, SEO doesn’t have to be a small business’s marketing nightmare. It can be as simple as finding the right links.
* Taken from Wikipedia- A search engine results page (SERP), is the listing of web pages returned by a search engine in response to a keyword query. The results normally include a list of web pages with titles, a link to the page, and a short description showing where the keywords have matched content within the page. A SERP may refer to a single page of links returned, or to the set of all links returned for a search query).
Get Comfortable with your Nakedness by Blogging
The vast majority of us have had the dream when we were children (or adults) where you go to school, and something just feels terribly wrong. Then it hits you. You look downward, only to find that out that, yes, you’re naked – stripped of your clothes and your dignity.
Dream experts have long said that this dream is the effect of feeling exposed in real life.
I find that many small business owners feel that same feeling of being exposed when I suggest that they blog about their business. When I tell them, “create content on your site to keep your website fresh and updated, show that you are an expert in your field, et cetera”, I immediately elicit blank stares and horrified looks – as if they’ve envisioned a big red “F” on the top of their upcoming article.
The phrase “write a blog for your business,” immediately strips them of their clothes, causing them to feel naked. Is it the act of writing, or is it the time it takes to blog that causes one to feel so exposed?
If you have a business you need to blog.
“Why” many small business owners ask me, “is it necessary to write about my company?” The answer is simple. Blogs are a great marketing tool. All business relationships start with one essential ingredient – trust. Blogging will help potential clients see you differently, which will increase their confidence in your services. This is because blogs are informal. Readers should never feel like they are being sold. They should feel that you are giving them useful information, tips, and resources that they need and want. Blogging = Leads = Sales.
Blogs are also an inexpensive way to promote your company name and help it gain an Internet presence. It’s an economical way to advertise your services, because it allows you to orchestrate your own PR campaign, or even become your own news anchor.
If you have an active search engine optimization (SEO) campaign, blogging can help your website rank higher because search engines love new and updated information. Content that is constantly changing, or dynamic versus static, will always have a higher rank. Be strategic about this process with the right content and keywords (an article about this topic is forthcoming!). The important thing to remember is to think about whom your ideal client is, and what will attract that person to your business.
Give people the opportunity to post comments. Your responses will show your personality, and how engaged you are (I often find the comments more interesting than the article itself). Be personable in your reply and let your audience see your character.
Writing a good blog that features good, consistent content will ensure that you are found online. And once that’s done, there’ll be no end to the success it can give you.
So, get comfortable with your nakedness and start blogging!
Onward!
How can the User Experience Community support the future of sustainability?
At the height of the industrial revolution, Fredrick Taylor developed a method of detailing time-motion studies in labor workers. He improved efficiency by reducing each task to the least amount of necessary movements. Henry Ford, committed to manufacturing a reliable and affordable automobile, implemented “Taylorism’ into the production of the Model-T. This changed increased production drastically while reducing manufacturing costs from $780 per car to $360, making it possible for the average American to afford a Model-T automobile.
So what does this have to do with the User Experience Community? We can learn much from Taylor’s theories. Three underlying principles are to be considered. Each a basic element of any sustainable product, and ones that User Experience Designers embrace:
- Breaking down tasks to the individual elements
- Eliminating anything unnecessary
- Developing, implementing and testing
By executing these ideas into digital, physical and environmental interactions, User Experience Designers can encourage our community to stop designing from necessity. Using this model, successful and easy-to-use design will emerge while enhancing creativity. Sustainable products will materialize, because excess, or the “unnecessary” will be eliminated.
Instead of continually seeking new and innovative “sustainable” solutions, we have an opportunity to learn from history- considering the success of the Ford Company and Fredrick Taylor to move our ideas and profession forward. Design can truly become sustainable, accessible, affordable easy to use, and most importantly well designed. Sounds like the Model-T doesn’t it?
Responses to “Deep Thought” contest
Here are a couple of responses to our contest this month which is to complete an old Maltese saying,
“He who goes to bed hungry…”
1. …wakes-up with no pillow
2. …isn’t married
3. …hasn’t eaten
4. …hasn’t hired Marketing Collaborative (must say, we like that one!)
…Keep the responses coming to win $50 big ones!
DEEP THOUGHT
This is how it works…
all you have to do is complete this sentence from an old Maltese saying- “HE WHO GOES TO BED HUNGRY…”
Your “Deep Thought” will be needed by November 29th (winner will be announced on November 30th)
Post your Response by…
1. Blogging “it”-
2. Twittering “it”- (www.Twitter.com/MarketingColab)
3. Facebooking “it”- (find our Facebook page under Marketing Collaborative)
4. Emailing “it”- (info@MarketingColab.com)
The finest response will win $50
Pumpkin Carving Contest WINNERS!
Happy Post Halloween Weekend!
Matt & Candice won the pumpkin carving contest with the amazing Cheshire Cat carving! …How long did that take you? …We were in AWE!
We couldn’t resist naming a runner-up- which goes to Jan for the “stitched-up” carving! …Great job Jan (Jan is 11 years old and thought he deserved something!)
All submissions were AWESOME, and look forward to next years contest!
Really Good Tips for Writing Blog Content
These tips were generated for Boulder Business Professionals-www.boulderbuisnessprofessionals.com
We thought we would share!
Don’t Do It
- DON’T BE AGGRESSIVE- No one likes to be sold! Throw that “used car” sales approach out the window!
- DON’T’ FORCE AN ARTICLE-This will show-up in your writing.
Do It…
- SHOW PASSION- Be passionate about what you are writing about. Passion will make your writing more interesting. Plus, readers will detect the excitement, which will persuade them to read on.
- SHARE USEFUL INFORMATION- Posts should help people solve thier problems. Share good practical tips.
- SHOW THE REAL YOU- be personable.
- REMEMBER YOUR READER- You are not writing for yourself, but for your target audience.
- SPEAK YOUR MIND- People like it when others have something unique to say. So, write good original content.
- KEEP IT PRECISE- The attention span of a reader is short, so make your post easy to scan. Don’t write a dissertation, or something that takes a lot of concentration to read. Keep the blog precise. Don’t write about (5) topics in one article.
- HEADLINES- Write catchy, captivating headlines. Keep the headlines to 50 characters or less. Make sure keywords are inserted into the headline title.
- IMAGES- Provide something visual. We all like to look at images.
- BRANDING- Include your logo or photograph.
- CONTACT INFO- Blogs are great way to promote your website, include a link. If you want people to call you, include a phone #. If you want them to email you, include an email address.
- WORD COUNT- Keep the article to 250-300 words. If you have more to say, stick to around 1000 words.
- KEYWORDS- Include keywords in the body of your copy. The keywords should not occupy more than 3-7% of the total word count.
- GENERATE KEYWORDS- by using Google’s keyword tool.
- TAGS- include keywords in the tag section of the article (when posting, most blogs will ask for this)
- GIVE CREDIT- when quoting form other sources (like the majority of these tips were taken from problogger.com—great tips on that site!)
- EMAIL- send an email with your article and link to the blog. This is a great way to keep in-touch with existing clients.
- STOCKPILING- Create a stockpile of posts, so you can update your blog on a regular basis.
- NOTEBOOK- Keep one to jot down article ideas. Talking with your clients will often give you good ideas.
- ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE!
A Little Nuts About Halloween
OK-
We love Halloween at Marketing Collaborative! So, we thought we would have a community PUMPKIN CARVING contest. Do you have the SKILLS? Then show us what you can do!
Contact us! We will deliver a pumpkin right to your door.
Did you say prizes? Yep! How about an iPod Shuffle or $65 gift card.
Just post your photos to our Facebook wall- you’ll have to become our “FAN!”
…Happy Carving!
