I think social media was on the mind of people in the audience and in the overview for the conference, but it didn't come up in any session, at least the social media marketing that I know and is on the mind of most companies today. When asked what was the most important sales tool for you, each panel expert named a tool they felt was important like Salesforce, Kadient, Jigsaw, Hoovers and Marketo among others. What I was surprised about is that not one of the panel members mentioned their website as a tool for sales. In fact the website as a tool for sales never came up at all. Knowing what I know many companies get 80% of their sales from their online marketing and web leads, I felt this was a shocking discovery. The real shock is that somehow the message of a well built website from a sales and marketing perspective is not the first thing a company today ought to be looking at is what amazed me.

I question, what does it cost to hire, train, manage, and compensate one sales person? I am not saying that building a website as a tool for sales is the only thing that a company should do, but it is certainly an important thing to do right. The cost of a well built website that is built from a sales and marketing perspective would be a very cost effective way to use the Internet channel to not only support the sales team but to generate business. So why is it not done? Are companies not ready to do this? Is it they don't see a payback or are there not enough web developers that build it from a marketing and sales perspective? Either way, it should be done, and it is a must to find a company that can actually address the Internet as a channel for business and find a company who can actually build it right, put in all the analytics to measure the results correctly and know how to tweak it continually to make the website the most effective tool you can have to generate sales and position your business against your competitors.

In the end, I was glad I attended the conference, met some wonderful people, ate some delicious food and attended a break-out session in the afternoon that gave me a great take-away, that being "Harness the trigger events that turn prospects into customers" from Craig Elias who has a book called, Shift, which discusses this principal in effective selling. I also got to meet the conference guru, Gerhard Gschwandtner the Founder & CEO of Selling Power.

The first half of the presentation focuses on the changes occurring within the online buying cycle. In the past, traditional sales have followed a pattern that was supplemented with television or radio ads. On the internet consumers follow a different pattern. Gone are the days when marketers needed a sales pitch to entice a customer to purchase items or services, consumers online begin their quest at a different stage in the buying cycle. Online shoppers are already committed to a product or idea and log on to their computers to perform the next step, seeking information. This is where the changes in the online buying cycle become the most significant to marketers. Information about your product, as well as presentation, can make or break a sale online. Converting what would have been a quick glance at your homepage, landing page, or PPC ad into a purchase is a methodical process and unlike marketing techniques used offline.

The second half of the presentation discusses social media and the importance of its presence for online marketing campaigns. Social Media, Search and Digital Asset Optimization clarifies a common misconception among marketers that social media may stand alone as a marketing tool. When a proper online campaign is built and executed social media is the ultimate complement to enhance traffic, increase branding and familiarity, and attract a new audience to your product. Facebook, Twitter, and other various social media platforms are easily accessed, free or low-cost, and enormously popular among online consumers.

Knowing why consumers fulfill their needs online is only the first piece of the puzzle, running a successful online marketing campaign is a learning process, Social Media, Search and Digital Asset Optimization touches upon fundamentals relevant for both the online marketer and consumer.

The first half of the presentation offers a brief introduction to search marketing and provides statistics and numbers highlighting the value of search. 85% of internet users, when they sit down at a computer, kick off their online experience with a search of some sort. Whether they're looking for a company's home on the web, a product's Facebook page or the YouTube channel and Twitter feed of an individual they're interested in learning more about, consumers look to the search engines for direction when it comes to finding the results they're after. For those looking to benefit from search marketing and promoting their sites and products using organic search, keyword research and the incorporation of particular keywords into highly optimized copy are essential for achieving a strong standing in searches. Optimized copy doesn't just stop at the written material for your website, either: The search engines pull from multiple sources, including social networks and sharing sites, meaning that links to your Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts also rank in searches and could easily redirect users to your website.

Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears concludes with tips and tricks for financing your search marketing research, as well as the reiteration that expanding you and your company or product's presence across various social media and sharing networks is vital for the sake of monopolizing search results. Optimizing your website for improved organic search results is an essentially free endeavor, though you absolutely get what you pay for when it comes to utilizing various keyword research programs and other tools that provide you with the information you need. With these integral points in mind, a dedication to generating “buzz” about your site and a commitment to putting time into research for optimizing your website's copy, Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears is a strong introduction to the ins-and-outs of search marketing.

The first half of the presentation offers a brief introduction to search marketing and provides statistics and numbers highlighting the value of search. 85% of internet users, when they sit down at a computer, kick off their online experience with a search of some sort. Whether they're looking for a company's home on the web, a product's Facebook page or the YouTube channel and Twitter feed of an individual they're interested in learning more about, consumers look to the search engines for direction when it comes to finding the results they're after. For those looking to benefit from search marketing and promoting their sites and products using organic search, keyword research and the incorporation of particular keywords into highly optimized copy are essential for achieving a strong standing in searches. Optimized copy doesn't just stop at the written material for your website, either: The search engines pull from multiple sources, including social networks and sharing sites, meaning that links to your Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts also rank in searches and could easily redirect users to your website.

Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears concludes with tips and tricks for financing your search marketing research, as well as the reiteration that expanding you and your company or product's presence across various social media and sharing networks is vital for the sake of monopolizing search results. Optimizing your website for improved organic search results is an essentially free endeavor, though you absolutely get what you pay for when it comes to utilizing various keyword research programs and other tools that provide you with the information you need. With these integral points in mind, a dedication to generating “buzz” about your site and a commitment to putting time into research for optimizing your website's copy, Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears is a strong introduction to the ins-and-outs of search marketing.

The first half of the presentation offers a brief introduction to search marketing and provides statistics and numbers highlighting the value of search. 85% of internet users, when they sit down at a computer, kick off their online experience with a search of some sort. Whether they're looking for a company's home on the web, a product's Facebook page or the YouTube channel and Twitter feed of an individual they're interested in learning more about, consumers look to the search engines for direction when it comes to finding the results they're after. For those looking to benefit from search marketing and promoting their sites and products using organic search, keyword research and the incorporation of particular keywords into highly optimized copy are essential for achieving a strong standing in searches. Optimized copy doesn't just stop at the written material for your website, either: The search engines pull from multiple sources, including social networks and sharing sites, meaning that links to your Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts also rank in searches and could easily redirect users to your website.

Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears concludes with tips and tricks for financing your search marketing research, as well as the reiteration that expanding you and your company or product's presence across various social media and sharing networks is vital for the sake of monopolizing search results. Optimizing your website for improved organic search results is an essentially free endeavor, though you absolutely get what you pay for when it comes to utilizing various keyword research programs and other tools that provide you with the information you need. With these integral points in mind, a dedication to generating “buzz” about your site and a commitment to putting time into research for optimizing your website's copy, Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears is a strong introduction to the ins-and-outs of search marketing.

The first half of the presentation offers a brief introduction to search marketing and provides statistics and numbers highlighting the value of search. 85% of internet users, when they sit down at a computer, kick off their online experience with a search of some sort. Whether they're looking for a company's home on the web, a product's Facebook page or the YouTube channel and Twitter feed of an individual they're interested in learning more about, consumers look to the search engines for direction when it comes to finding the results they're after. For those looking to benefit from search marketing and promoting their sites and products using organic search, keyword research and the incorporation of particular keywords into highly optimized copy are essential for achieving a strong standing in searches. Optimized copy doesn't just stop at the written material for your website, either: The search engines pull from multiple sources, including social networks and sharing sites, meaning that links to your Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts also rank in searches and could easily redirect users to your website.

Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears concludes with tips and tricks for financing your search marketing research, as well as the reiteration that expanding you and your company or product's presence across various social media and sharing networks is vital for the sake of monopolizing search results. Optimizing your website for improved organic search results is an essentially free endeavor, though you absolutely get what you pay for when it comes to utilizing various keyword research programs and other tools that provide you with the information you need. With these integral points in mind, a dedication to generating “buzz” about your site and a commitment to putting time into research for optimizing your website's copy, Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears is a strong introduction to the ins-and-outs of search marketing.

The first half of the presentation offers a brief introduction to search marketing and provides statistics and numbers highlighting the value of search. 85% of internet users, when they sit down at a computer, kick off their online experience with a search of some sort. Whether they're looking for a company's home on the web, a product's Facebook page or the YouTube channel and Twitter feed of an individual they're interested in learning more about, consumers look to the search engines for direction when it comes to finding the results they're after. For those looking to benefit from search marketing and promoting their sites and products using organic search, keyword research and the incorporation of particular keywords into highly optimized copy are essential for achieving a strong standing in searches. Optimized copy doesn't just stop at the written material for your website, either: The search engines pull from multiple sources, including social networks and sharing sites, meaning that links to your Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts also rank in searches and could easily redirect users to your website.

Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears concludes with tips and tricks for financing your search marketing research, as well as the reiteration that expanding you and your company or product's presence across various social media and sharing networks is vital for the sake of monopolizing search results. Optimizing your website for improved organic search results is an essentially free endeavor, though you absolutely get what you pay for when it comes to utilizing various keyword research programs and other tools that provide you with the information you need. With these integral points in mind, a dedication to generating “buzz” about your site and a commitment to putting time into research for optimizing your website's copy, Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears is a strong introduction to the ins-and-outs of search marketing.

The first half of the presentation offers a brief introduction to search marketing and provides statistics and numbers highlighting the value of search. 85% of internet users, when they sit down at a computer, kick off their online experience with a search of some sort. Whether they're looking for a company's home on the web, a product's Facebook page or the YouTube channel and Twitter feed of an individual they're interested in learning more about, consumers look to the search engines for direction when it comes to finding the results they're after. For those looking to benefit from search marketing and promoting their sites and products using organic search, keyword research and the incorporation of particular keywords into highly optimized copy are essential for achieving a strong standing in searches. Optimized copy doesn't just stop at the written material for your website, either: The search engines pull from multiple sources, including social networks and sharing sites, meaning that links to your Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts also rank in searches and could easily redirect users to your website.

Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears concludes with tips and tricks for financing your search marketing research, as well as the reiteration that expanding you and your company or product's presence across various social media and sharing networks is vital for the sake of monopolizing search results. Optimizing your website for improved organic search results is an essentially free endeavor, though you absolutely get what you pay for when it comes to utilizing various keyword research programs and other tools that provide you with the information you need. With these integral points in mind, a dedication to generating “buzz” about your site and a commitment to putting time into research for optimizing your website's copy, Deep Understanding of Search Often Falls on Deaf Ears is a strong introduction to the ins-and-outs of search marketing.

Twitter and Blogging for Business continues on and provides a rundown on the benefits of blogging: Businesses can publish content regarding their products or mission while inspiring interaction with consumers on blogs, and blogs are assets to businesses when used for direct communication, brand building, search engine marketing and reputation management. Given that tweeting and blogging both encourage customer participation while working to solidify a business’ branding strategies and promotional outreach online, it’s a given that when Twitter and blogs pair up the results are extremely beneficial for a business. Twitter and Blogging for Business concludes with this point, that tweeting and blogging together make for effective internet marketing tools that generate buzz for any kind of business while improving and building upon a business’ presence online.

Twitter and Blogging for Business continues on and provides a rundown on the benefits of blogging: Businesses can publish content regarding their products or mission while inspiring interaction with consumers on blogs, and blogs are assets to businesses when used for direct communication, brand building, search engine marketing and reputation management. Given that tweeting and blogging both encourage customer participation while working to solidify a business’ branding strategies and promotional outreach online, it’s a given that when Twitter and blogs pair up the results are extremely beneficial for a business. Twitter and Blogging for Business concludes with this point, that tweeting and blogging together make for effective internet marketing tools that generate buzz for any kind of business while improving and building upon a business’ presence online.

Twitter and Blogging for Business continues on and provides a rundown on the benefits of blogging: Businesses can publish content regarding their products or mission while inspiring interaction with consumers on blogs, and blogs are assets to businesses when used for direct communication, brand building, search engine marketing and reputation management. Given that tweeting and blogging both encourage customer participation while working to solidify a business’ branding strategies and promotional outreach online, it’s a given that when Twitter and blogs pair up the results are extremely beneficial for a business. Twitter and Blogging for Business concludes with this point, that tweeting and blogging together make for effective internet marketing tools that generate buzz for any kind of business while improving and building upon a business’ presence online.

Twitter and Blogging for Business continues on and provides a rundown on the benefits of blogging: Businesses can publish content regarding their products or mission while inspiring interaction with consumers on blogs, and blogs are assets to businesses when used for direct communication, brand building, search engine marketing and reputation management. Given that tweeting and blogging both encourage customer participation while working to solidify a business’ branding strategies and promotional outreach online, it’s a given that when Twitter and blogs pair up the results are extremely beneficial for a business. Twitter and Blogging for Business concludes with this point, that tweeting and blogging together make for effective internet marketing tools that generate buzz for any kind of business while improving and building upon a business’ presence online.

Twitter and Blogging for Business continues on and provides a rundown on the benefits of blogging: Businesses can publish content regarding their products or mission while inspiring interaction with consumers on blogs, and blogs are assets to businesses when used for direct communication, brand building, search engine marketing and reputation management. Given that tweeting and blogging both encourage customer participation while working to solidify a business’ branding strategies and promotional outreach online, it’s a given that when Twitter and blogs pair up the results are extremely beneficial for a business. Twitter and Blogging for Business concludes with this point, that tweeting and blogging together make for effective internet marketing tools that generate buzz for any kind of business while improving and building upon a business’ presence online.

Enter: Bit.ly. Unlike other link-shortening sites, there’s now a new option that enables viewers to see the statistics and clicks to the link in question that’s as simple as typing in an extra character. After you shorten your link using Bit.ly, all you need to do is add a plus sign (“+”) to the end of your URL: For example, instead of leaving your Bit.ly link as “http://bit.ly/14d7yE”, you would type “http://bit.ly/14d7yE+” in order to see all the tabulated statistics regarding the traffic your link has seen.

This helpful hint was provided by Danny Dover in his talk, “Make SEO Tools Work For You” at the SEOmoz 2009 PRO Training Series in Seattle. For more helpful SEO and search marketing-related tips and tricks, SEOmoz is a proven dependable resource and forum for online marketing professionals.

Enter: Bit.ly. Unlike other link-shortening sites, there’s now a new option that enables viewers to see the statistics and clicks to the link in question that’s as simple as typing in an extra character. After you shorten your link using Bit.ly, all you need to do is add a plus sign (“+”) to the end of your URL: For example, instead of leaving your Bit.ly link as “http://bit.ly/14d7yE”, you would type “http://bit.ly/14d7yE+” in order to see all the tabulated statistics regarding the traffic your link has seen.

This helpful hint was provided by Danny Dover in his talk, “Make SEO Tools Work For You” at the SEOmoz 2009 PRO Training Series in Seattle. For more helpful SEO and search marketing-related tips and tricks, SEOmoz is a proven dependable resource and forum for online marketing professionals.

Enter: Bit.ly. Unlike other link-shortening sites, there’s now a new option that enables viewers to see the statistics and clicks to the link in question that’s as simple as typing in an extra character. After you shorten your link using Bit.ly, all you need to do is add a plus sign (“+”) to the end of your URL: For example, instead of leaving your Bit.ly link as “http://bit.ly/14d7yE”, you would type “http://bit.ly/14d7yE+” in order to see all the tabulated statistics regarding the traffic your link has seen.

This helpful hint was provided by Danny Dover in his talk, “Make SEO Tools Work For You” at the SEOmoz 2009 PRO Training Series in Seattle. For more helpful SEO and search marketing-related tips and tricks, SEOmoz is a proven dependable resource and forum for online marketing professionals.

Enter: Bit.ly. Unlike other link-shortening sites, there’s now a new option that enables viewers to see the statistics and clicks to the link in question that’s as simple as typing in an extra character. After you shorten your link using Bit.ly, all you need to do is add a plus sign (“+”) to the end of your URL: For example, instead of leaving your Bit.ly link as “http://bit.ly/14d7yE”, you would type “http://bit.ly/14d7yE+” in order to see all the tabulated statistics regarding the traffic your link has seen.

This helpful hint was provided by Danny Dover in his talk, “Make SEO Tools Work For You” at the SEOmoz 2009 PRO Training Series in Seattle. For more helpful SEO and search marketing-related tips and tricks, SEOmoz is a proven dependable resource and forum for online marketing professionals.

Enter: Bit.ly. Unlike other link-shortening sites, there’s now a new option that enables viewers to see the statistics and clicks to the link in question that’s as simple as typing in an extra character. After you shorten your link using Bit.ly, all you need to do is add a plus sign (“+”) to the end of your URL: For example, instead of leaving your Bit.ly link as “http://bit.ly/14d7yE”, you would type “http://bit.ly/14d7yE+” in order to see all the tabulated statistics regarding the traffic your link has seen.

This helpful hint was provided by Danny Dover in his talk, “Make SEO Tools Work For You” at the SEOmoz 2009 PRO Training Series in Seattle. For more helpful SEO and search marketing-related tips and tricks, SEOmoz is a proven dependable resource and forum for online marketing professionals.

The rest of the series continues on to define, distinguish and explain other aspects of Internet Marketing: Whether it’s putting the different areas of search marketing in plain English or defining Twitter’s lingo, these videos take you through each and every Internet Marketing tool and strategy to make the Internet’s available resources benefit your growing business. “Using Internet Marketing to Build Your Business” can be watched in its entirety on our YouTube Channel. The series, which consists of twelve videos, has accompanying slides with valuable information. Just press “Play” for an engaging, interesting and valuable glimpse at the basics behind the tools of the trade of Internet Marketing.

Social Networking - More Than Setting Up a Profile

Social networking on the Web is a time-consuming activity and requires hard work that must be done on a daily basis. Unfortunately, many businesses, online marketers and even large corporations are getting involved with social networking with the mistaken notion that it’s free, quick and easy. They often do not understand that being successful in social networking is a lot more than establishing a social networking profile at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Social networking requires nurturing and managing profiles on a daily basis and getting deeply involved in continuing conversations, listening, generating content, friending, adding, tweeting and commenting, to encourage interaction and engagement with the people in the community using the communication channels provided by the social network platform.

What Is Required To Be Successful With Social Networking

If you are a small business or organization already involved in social networking and are struggling with the grueling task of keeping your profiles fresh, you’re not alone. A recent study by Michael Stelzer ‘How Marketers are Using Social Media to Grow their Businesses’, 64% of the respondents said they are using social networking for five hours or more each week, with 39% using it 10 or more hours weekly and 9.6% spending more than 20 hours each week with social networking. Those working for a company are twice as likely as small business owners to be committing 20+ hours a week to social networking. Those who said social networking helped them generate leads and close business have been active in social networking for years and/or are investing more than 16 hours a week in it.

The longterm ROI of social networking, with the appropriate time commitment and necessary skills, can be huge. Although social networking activities can drive qualified traffic to web sites that can convert to leads and sales, the main strength is not direct response marketing. The primary benefit of this tactic is building brand visibility and brand awareness, so the effect on revenue is longterm.

Is Social Networking For You?

With social networking being so time intensive the barriers to entry are getting higher for small businesses with one business owner or a few employees. It is therefore, a critical decision for small businesses to decide whether they want to put their scarce resources in social networking to generate business down the road. Social networking is a constant moving target that will continue to offer new online marketing opportunities so the future of small business and social networking will be interesting to watch.