All Entries in the "Business Sense" Category
Using Twitter For Customer Service? Absolutely!
During an unfortunate power loss to the HostGator offices yesterday and unable to provide online and phone support to their customers, the web hosting company very cleverly utilized Twitter not only to keep their customers up to date as to the status of the problem but also to interact with their questions and concerns.
Productivity Tips for Busy Search Marketers
I am a very busy search marketer. Besides running a full service search marketing agency, I write for 7 blogs on a regular basis, manage 3 directories, follow a little over 100 blogs in my RSS reader, am very active on Twitter, am active discovering and bookmarking content on StumbleUpon, Reddit, Mixx, Sphinn and various other social news and bookmarking sites, respond to all RFPs and am still the liaison for all our clients (a full time job in and of itself). So how do I maintain this rigorous daily schedule while not losing my sanity in the process? Here are a few tips that help me to stay productive.
Many Small Businesses Still Not Getting Search
Danny Sullivan has a great write-up in Search Engine Land relaying his experiences in searching for small businesses and coming up frustrated. He had assumed that every business owner, large or small, must understand by now the importance of appearing before these customers in search. However as he recently sought out local businesses to help with his needs after a recent move, Danny was reminded of just how far behind some companies remain.
Has The BBB Outlived Their Usefulness?
I came across a story posted at Search Engine Land pointing out that Google has an “unsatisfactory” record with The Better Business Bureau. How can a company
voted “top global brand” in 2008 at the same time have an unsatisfactory record with the BBB? Apparently because out of 331 complaints filed against the search giant over the past three years, 2 were listed as unresolved. that’s right – just 2! Despite this, Google continues to lead the way in search and nothing on the horizon seems to be able to change that.
Search Marketing & Surviving A Recession – SMX Advanced
Many expect a recession to hit and no one knows how search will weather it. This session looks at strategies and tactics for those who want to prepare in advance for a worse case scenario. In this session which is being moderated by Jeffrey K. Rohrs of ExactTarget and Jessica Bowman of SEM In House (Q&A moderating), we will hear from Andrew Beckman of Location3 Media, Dave Davies of Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning, Russ Mann of Covario and Jon Miller of Marketo as they discuss what they are currently facing with the so-called recession and what steps they are taking for clients to help them continue to get the most out of their search marketing efforts.
Creating Value In Your SEM Businesses – SMX Advanced
Hanging out your shingle is not building a business. Creating value that others will recognize and ultimately pay to own (read “buy”) takes vision, planning and execution. In this session, you’ll hear case studies from SEM business executives who have conceptualized and implemented strategies and tactics that make their companies intrinsically valuable.
Money For What? Search Marketing Payment Models – SMX Advanced
At one time the model was simple — agencies got 15%. But that’s not the case with search engine optimization or paid search advertising. Digital media and measurable ROI spawned a school of new services and nearly as many pricing models, such as retainers, billable hours, pay-for-performance, keyword management fees, percentage of media spend. But with so many options on the table, which pricing model works best?
IncrediMail Provides Valuable Lesson Why Placing All Eggs in One Basket is a Bad Idea
IncrediMail, an Israeli based a company that develops software to customize e-mails, has provided business owners an incredible lesson as to why you should not place all your eggs in one basket. This occurred last week when they discovered that their AdSense privileges had been banned. This resulted in their stock dropping over 45% to a new year low. While IncrediMail does claim to generate revenue by selling software products, offering subscriptions to their content database, and by selling paid advertising on their Web site and e-mail client, they did admit that search revenues powered by Google’s AdSense program made a significant contribution to their results in 2006 and 2007.
Why I Don’t Use GMail (and Other 3rd Party Email Services)
This is one of the reasons why I don’t use GMAIL – Google Accidentally Bans Hundreds of Users from Gmail. Barry Schwartz reports on a Google Groups thread where many users have complained that their Gmail accounts were all of a sudden disabled. The problem began late on December 5th. The following day, Gmail Guide replied saying that this was an error on Google’s side and they are fixing it.
Track Copyright Infringement With Attributor – Like CopySentry on Steroids!
I have written before that we use CopySentry to find and monitor occurrences of copy theft and infringement regarding content on our site. Today, I discovered a story on TechCrunch about a company called Attributor which offers a service very similar to CopySentry but with many added features. Attributor, which is a startup in Redwood City, California, says it can monitor the Web for copied content no matter where it may be, help publishers and media companies track it all, and provide them more options about how to handle it. I am already intrigued.
