Images, Status Updates, Videos Spur Most Brand Engagement

A recent study from marketing firm Perfomics shows that 33 percent of people are most likely to respond to brand offers when they are reposted by a friend. The study states that 27 percent will do so on the brand's page, 26 percent from the newsfeed, and 20 percent from a social ad.
The study also touched on some valuable information about branded content engagement. Consumers are most likely to engage with branded content containing images (44 percent). A close 40 percent of people said they are likely to engage with Status Updates and 37 percent with videos.ClickZ, July 27, 2012

Another interesting piece of information the study stated was the social media tendencies of mothers and fathers. It showed that moms are more likely to have a Facebook account than dads, although dads are significantly more likely than all other men and women, including moms, to have YouTube and Twitter accounts.
This information is based on the Perfomics Life on Demand social media survey which studied 2,000 Americans who visit a social network at least once a day about their use of social media across devices, channels and screens.

More
Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Writing for Search Engines

 Dave Davies, July 19, 2012
 Some believe that the world of search engine optimization (SEO) is changing in the post-Panda world. A belief that content has suddenly appeared on the radar as the end-all, be-all of ranking highly on the search engines is discussed on virtually every relevant site I've been to.

Here's the problem with that belief: content has always been an important factor. How content influences results may change over time or (better worded) our understanding of how to use content may evolve, but to be sure - content has always and will always be a key factor in the algorithms in one capacity or another.
If we flash back to the “Wild West days” of SEO, content keyword stuffing and keyword density targeting were all the rage. Massive sites were built, injecting regions onto pages to rank sites for a wide array of locations - and it worked. These sites ranked and why? Content.

Full story here

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Successful PPC Ads

Trying to get position online against other Milwaukee advertisers can be tricky, here are some tips to building the best ppc ad copy to beat your competitors.

So much technical work goes into your online marketing that you may get lost in the minutiae. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that creative advertising still matters.
A great example: ad copywriting, which plays a crucial factor in your company’s success. Nowhere is this more evident than in PPC advertising, where you have little time to capture the attention of a potential customer.
Stop dwelling on “audience targeting” and all of the technical settings you can use. It’s far more important to write ad copy that resonates with your customers.

Full article here

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

7 Habits of Highly Effective SEO

When I started my professional career (selling advertising), one of the most influential books that I read at the time was "7 Habits of Highly Effective People", by Stephen Covey.
It’s not much of an over-statement to say that this book changed my life.
What’s interesting to me is how many of the tenets that Mr. Covey conveyed in this book hold true in many facets of my life, and specifically with digital marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).
I speak to many prospects for SEO services, every day. Some of these believe that SEO is a one-and-done affair.
While I find instances where companies could see some solid gains by simply implementing proper title tags and correcting a few things, more often than not, proper SEO efforts need to be worked on a regular basis to realize the types of gains that can deliver really solid, long-lasting and “optimized” (optimal) results.
Every SEO company will have its own processes for performing SEO, and I’m not suggesting that what follows covers everything that goes into an ongoing SEO effort, but the key ingredients are here.
*Note: items in italics come directly from Stephen Covey’s website.

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Instead of reacting to or worrying about conditions over which they have little or no control, proactive people focus their time and energy on things they can control. The problems, challenges, and opportunities we face fall into two areas--Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence.

Proactive people focus their efforts on their Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about: health, children, problems at work. Reactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern--things over which they have little or no control: the national debt, terrorism, the weather. Gaining an awareness of the areas in which we expend our energies in is a giant step in becoming proactive.

In our world, being proactive means you can't chase an algorithm.

Full Story here


Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Microsoft revamps Office, looks to the cloud

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp unveiled a new version of its Office suite tailored for tablets and other touch screen devices, in the company's largest-ever overhaul of the workplace software it relies on for much of its profit.

The revamped Office, touted by Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer on Monday as the most ambitious version so far, takes advantage of cloud computing and is designed for use with the upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

It makes use of cloud computing by storing documents and settings on the Internet by default, and is compatible with touch screens widely used in tablets. It also incorporates Skype, the video-calling service Microsoft bought for $8.5 billion in 2011.

The latest version of Office comes as Apple Inc and Google Inc make inroads into the workplace, long Microsoft's stronghold. Office is Microsoft's single-biggest profit driver.

"The Office that we'll talk about and show you today is the first round of Office that's designed from the get-go to be a service," Ballmer said at a news conference. "This is the most ambitious release of Microsoft Office that we've ever done."

Microsoft has a lot riding on the 15th version of Office. Windows is one of the world's biggest computing platforms, and the Office applications -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other tools -- are used by more than 1 billion people around the world.

The world's largest software company has been slow to adapt to a boom in mobile devices and cloud computing.

Microsoft is hoping corporate IT managers will fork over the cash to upgrade internal software just when global tech spending is looking shakier than it has in years. The 2013 picture is uncertain but budgets are expected to tighten, with Europe's economic crisis and a deceleration in the Chinese economy.
CLOUD FIRST

The company last updated Office in 2010, when it incorporated online versions for the first time. The full version of Office 15 is expected to be available in early 2013.

Cloud computing refers to a growing trend toward providing software, storage and other services from remote data centers over the Web instead of relying on software or data installed on individual PCs.

"Your modern Office thinks cloud first. That's what it means to have Office as a service," Ballmer said, adding that a preview version of the software is now available online.

Documents in the sleeker-looking Office can be marked up by writing on a touch screen with a stylus. The suite will be compatible with tablets that use Windows 8 -- due for release in October.

Screens appear less cluttered with icons and menus than in current Office applications.
Microsoft did not say whether it planned to launch versions of Office compatible with Apple's iPad or tablets running Google's Android platform.
The software package is now integrated with Skype, the voice-over-IP service that lets users collaborate on documents through video conferences.

While past versions of Office saved documents on PCs' hard drives, the new Office uses Microsoft's online "Skydrive" service for default storage. Documents can be shared on Facebook or published as blogs.

"The Windows 8 launch is right around the corner, and we have a lot to do ... In a sense, it feels to us a lot like 1995," Ballmer said, referring to Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system which was a significant step forward at the time.

"We have the most exciting, vibrant version of Windows in years," Ballmer said. He did not disclose pricing plans for the new Office.

Google has been pushing hard to persuade Office users to switch to Google Docs, an applications suite running on Google's servers and accessible on the cloud and mobile devices. Apple has also been trumpeting the ability of its iPad -- the dominant tablet in the market today -- to perform clerical duties.

"This puts them (Microsoft) even farther ahead of Apple in terms of product richness. But it still leaves the door open to competition from Google pursuing a strategy that's cross-device, cross-platform - and is free," said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester.

Shares of Microsoft rose 0.17 percent to close at $29.44 on Monday.

(Reporting by Edwin Chan and Noel Randewich; editing by Matthew Lewis and Carol Bishopric)

 Full Article



Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Paid Search Continues to grow

Milwaukee businesses are aware of how well PPC has grown as a part of everyone's online search strategy.  What they may not be aware is that it is now growing much slower then in tie past.
Paid search spend growth is relatively steady, but slowing from the impressive rates seen over the previous few quarters.
U.S. mobile paid search spend increased astronomically, while organic search visits from mobile, mobile as a percentage of total search spend, and mobile clicks and impressions all rose.

Q2 Paid Search Spend Up But Growth Rate Slows

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Brookfield Wi Dentist Marketing tips

If you are a dentist, you might have noticed by now that the number of patients checking Yellow Pages and calling you afterwards has drastically dropped. There are a few exceptions such as places with limited access to Internet.
Instead, it has been replaced by on-line channels such as Google, Yahoo, Yelp or other specialty directories. But what happens when patients go on-line and look for a dentist? How do they select the provider of their choice and how do they book an appointment? The following dental marketing tips will help you get a better grasp of the on-line behavior of patients:

• First and foremost, you need a website! But the era of just having something up and running is over. Besides having a beautiful, informative and engaging dental website that adds value to your patients, you need to make sure it will be viewed by enough prospective patients.
• You need engaging and reliable content on your website to educate your patients, before and after their treatment.
• You need to be at the top of the search engine results. When someone looks online, they rarely go beyond first page of Google, and most of the time they select one of the first three results. You need to be among them. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a series of techniques including on-page optimization, link building, setting up the proper analytic and submission tools such as Webmaster Tools, etc that help you improve your rank in search engines. The better SEO you have, the more visitors you will have to your website.
• You need a Google Places Page. You have to build it and manage it constantly. In local searches, Google shows the results from Google Places and they are becoming more important every day.
• Build and manage your on-line listings on Yelp, Super Pages, Online Yellow Pages and other specialty directories. Patients check your reputation on-line in those channels.
• Build your reputation. You might want to ask your patients to spread the word.
• Sometimes there are negative reviews on-line; you might want to check on-line reputation management solutions.
• Engage in social media! Your patients are on Facebook; they use Twitter and LinkedIn and watch on-line videos. Be in those channels, be active and add value to them.
• Set up a blog and engage your patients with new updates on the practice, the area or the industry.
• Have an on-line newsletter and send it to your patients regularly. They deserve to be informed.
• Make videos and educational material and put them up on the internet and your YouTube Channel. You can ask Video Marketing experts to spread the word.

Being a dentist, your time is probably limited. You might need to have your front desk take care of some of these tasks or ask for professional help. The good thing about professionals is that they know their job and won’t waste your valuable time.

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Do Milwaukee buisnesses need a middleman to advertise online?

 Nice article from Searchengineland.com regarding advertising online and the different ways an SMB may use a middleman to market their business.  I have to agree with this article but disagree in the fact that he see's automation in the future.  I think that SEO, Local, and Social media is changing so rapidly that the need for constant monitoring would be required by somebody other then automation if you want to continue to be successful.
Full article here

Having worked in the local search space for a while, I am often asked how is it that SMBs are so slow in adopting self-serve systems in their online advertising. And indeed, in the age of Internet advertising, when anyone can purchase keywords on search engines, is there really a need for a middleman anymore?

by  Hanan Lifshitz

While an important function of these middlemen is to convince the local plumber or dentist to spend their hard earned money on online advertising, they also help guide the SMB owner through the planning phases of the ad campaign, explaining the various options and helping to optimize the campaign.
In this post, I will review a number of local search platforms, from the traditional to the new, and examine the complexity that is involved in advertising on them.
Print Yellow Pages, the forefathers of SMB advertising, are relatively easy to understand – in order to gain visibility, an SMB has to purchase a large ad on the first page of his category. Pretty straightforward and simple:

Online Yellow Pages have added new features to their offerings, but the concept is still mostly the same – visibility is determined by size and placement of the SMB’s ad:

Local Search Sites such as CitySearch have added yet another level of complexity with features such as performance advertising that require some additional explaining.

And then we get to what many regard as the most effective form of local online marketing – search advertising. Search Engines have opened a whole new spectrum of options that make it far more difficult to understand and manage local ad campaigns. There is constant discussion on what SMBs should do to rank better (a couple of weeks ago, David Mihm posted his second volume of Local Search Ranking Factors – 27 experts analyzed and evaluated 49 criteria). Many SMBs may think that if they appear “first” on Google Maps in a certain relevant search, their job is done… However, this is often far from true.
Take for instance the following searches, conducted a few minutes apart, and the results they generate.
Search 1: plumbing contractor los angeles

Search 2: plumbing contractors los angeles – note that “The Best Plumber I Ever Had”, #1 from the previous list, is nowhere to be found.

Search 3: cheap plumber los angeles

Search 4: emergency plumbing los angeles, ca – and here is “The Best Plumber I Ever Had” again…

There are many more possible searches in this category and it is very likely that each of them will yield different results. Small, seemingly insignificant variations of a keyword (e.g. from singular to plural) or a geographic modifier (adding “ca”) can change the content of the 10 pack. This inherent complexity has bred a whole new class of companies like ReachLocal, Yodle and Webvisible, that help SMBs effectively manage such campaigns.
Looking at the development in the local advertising industry, from print to online, and even within the online world, it is clear that if anything, local search advertising services are getting more complicated. It is ironic that the question of whether mediators are still required in this industry has intensified in parallel to the ever growing complexity of online advertising. A complexity that for now, for the majority of SMB owners, can be overcome only with the help of… a middleman.
Being a big believer in self-serve, I predict that one day these complicated ad services will also be automated into systems that mask their complexity and enable users (SMBs) to simply enter their needs and budget and get the right solution. However, that will take some time and until then, the middleman will remain a critical component of this eco-system.

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

US Newspapers are hit by downturn in online advertising

Milwaukee companies looking to advertise on the internet should follow the national trend.  Deal with an internet marketing specialist.  Newspapers were able to sell ads in their newspapers for two reasons, reach and timely content.  In the past getting the news every 12 to 24 hours was quite fast, and readership was huge.  Everybody got the newspaper.  Not anymore.  With Social networks, blogs, online news, and website news services.  Do you really read the newspaper?  I know the local newspaper in Milwaukee has online versions of their paper, but do people really go to it when the news they are looking for is usually right on their homepages?  Or being updated on twitter in real time?

  To make matters worse they decided to charge you for the content after something like 20 page views per month.  Really?  The newspapers have become the middleman when it comes to delivering the news and delivering ads to customers.  The internet is available to everybody, the content and distribution on Yahoo and Google is available to anybody who advertises on Google, Yahoo and Bing.  You don't need to pay for all the overhead required, or sign a long term contract.  Shop around, you will be surprised to find out how inexpensive it is if you work with the right people.
Here is a great article showing how online advertising revenue is dropping for newspapers at a time when overall online advertising is booming.

Posted by

Roy Greenslade 

As if the news for the US newspaper industry couldn't get much worse, it now appears that online advertising is vanishing.
According to the Newspaper Association of America, digital advertising revenue in the first quarter at newspapers rose just 1% from a year ago. That's the fifth consecutive quarter that growth has declined.
This troubling trend comes against a background of US newspapers fleeing print to go online and the imposition of paywalls by many publishers.
Publishing executives and analysts believe that a flood of excess advertising space, the rise of electronic advertising exchanges that sell ads at cut-rate prices and the weak US economy are all contributing to the slowdown.

Click Here for full article


Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Stress Even Hurts Your Teeth!

Stress getting to you?  Well I'm what's considered a tooth grinder.  Here is a nice article about this issue to my fellow SEO marketers who I am sure are doing a bit of tooth grinding too.
Full story.


Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Google & Ecommerce: 10 Things Business Owners Need to Know Before July 

Mary Weinstein, June 29, 2012

 Fifty percent of Google Product Search traffic will be switching to paid Google Shopping by July 28. Online merchants who aren’t ready for the switch will face some serious repercussions. Below we break it down and present all the latest and greatest updates ecommerce business owners need to know about Google and Ecommerce to stay ahead of the changes.

1. Google Shopping is Google’s new paid option for merchants who wish to list products on Google’s product pages.

According to IgnitionOne, between 5 and 10 percent of search traffic for retailers comes from Google Product Search. Google Product Search, Google’s current free product listing program, will gradually be replaced by Product Listing Ads (PLAs) and ultimately Google Shopping.

Click here for the full article

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Window Replacement Milwaukee

 Many Milwaukee window replacement companies are looking online to find customers.  Out are the newspaper and yellowpages, work of mouth is still great but social marketing is now the new word of mouth.  So finding a way to be found by local customers online is extremely important.  Besides SEO and SEM, Social marketing is beginning to take hold.  If you don't know how to do this and you trust your internet advertising to newspaper and yellowpage companies, your not helping your effort.  Here is a great article from windowanddoor.com about social marketing online.  Look back at my blog regarding other ways to get found online

John G. Swanson
October 4, 2011
THE TALK... | Sales & Marketing

An electronic newsletter came to me yesterday from Abe Gaskins at MGM Industries.  He is an active blogger and the Tennessee vinyl window maker's website is filled with his wisdom on a variety of topics. This week he talks about search engine optimization and blogging and how it can translate into leads.  He says it's working for MGM and its dealer customers and he encourages his company's dealers to start doing it too.

Survey Results as 10/10/2011 :

When it comes to the internet and social media--

My company is active, but hasn't seen a lot of results.				44%
My company's activity is limited, but it doesn't seem to have an impact.				32%
My company is active and benefiting as a result.				15%
My company's activity is limited, and it is hurting us.				9%

I know many dealers and manufacturers are definitely out there on the internet doing the same thing.  I also know many are not.  Sure, most have a website, but blogging, tweeting, Facebook, etc., are not high on the priority list.  Are you like Abe?  Active and seeing the results?  Or are you focused on other things?  Is lack of internet activity hurting you?  With this week's poll, I thought I would see what's happening out there in the industry.
Of course, Id' like to hear from you too.  Post a comment and tell us what you're doing online.  What's working? What isn't?  There's some great stuff out there by the way, like the latest video from Mathews Brothers. Sometimes it's educational, sometimes it's humorous, and we'd like to share more, so send us the links too.

click here for Full article

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Milwaukee Pay Per Click customers here are 3 Ways PPC Averages Lie

 Thinking about advertising online using PPC?  Here is an article you need to read before you decide.

3 Ways PPC Averages Lie

Melissa Mackey, July 3, 2012

News organizations love to report averages. For example, in 2002 the CDC released data about the average height and weight of American adults. According to their data, the average adult woman is 5'4" and weighs 163 pounds.
Now think about all the adult women you know. Are they all 5'4"? Do they all weigh 163 pounds? Of course they don’t!

Averages are a necessary evil when it comes to reporting numbers. Averages help us spot trends.
For example, the CDC data comes from a study that shows that Americans have gotten taller and fatter over the past 40 years. It’s a red flag for the health care community, and one that tells them that action is needed to reverse the trend.
The same thing goes for PPC. If your average cost per conversion keeps inching up month after month, it’s probably time to dig in and find out why. It could mean that increased competition is pushing up your bids – but it could also mean that your website is no longer converting as well as it once did, and it’s time for a refresh.

Click here for the full article


Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Window Company advertising trends

 New advertising trends for advertising online for window companies in Milwaukee are taking shape.  Companies selling windows and doors across the nation are finding new ways to attract new customers.  Are companies in Milwaukee following suit?  Out are the old traditional print media, Yellowpages, newspapers, and so forth.  It is internet advertising.  I like to call it web presence.  People are looking for you online in a variety of ways.  Your job is to be where they are looking for you.  Social media like Facebook, and Twitter, Search engines like Yahoo, Google, and Bing, and Display advertising on relevant websites and articles.  Here is a nice article to help you on your journey. 

John G. Swanson
January 1, 2012
FEATURE ARTICLE | Operations, Sales & Marketing
Windowanddoor.com

 Websites are the norm, social media has many fans and mobile technologies are gaining traction among manufacturers, distributors and dealers of windows and doors. Those findings come from a series of questions included as part of Window & Door's 2012 Industry Pulse study, asking about the electronic tools and media companies using to conduct business and/or communicate with customers and prospects.

Click here for the full article

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Twitter Cuts Off LinkedIn

As of June 29, users can no longer post updates to LinkedIn from popular microblogging site Twitter. The change marks the end of a two-year partnership between the two social media sites and is the result of Twitter’s clamping down on developers who use their API.   Miranda Miller Search engine watch

Click here for the full story

Head of Content Ryan Roslansky explained on the LinkedIn blog, “Consistent with Twitter’s evolving platform efforts, Tweets will no longer be displayed on LinkedIn starting later today. We know many of you value Twitter as an additional way to broadcast professional content beyond your LinkedIn connections. Moving forward, you will still be able to share your updates with your Twitter audience by posting them on LinkedIn.”
Just prior to the LinkedIn post going live, Twitter’s Director of Product Michael Sippey announced the change on the Developer blog, in a post called “Delivering Consistent Twitter Experience.” In his announcement, he wrote:

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

Should Your Small Business Advertise on Facebook?

 Conflicting reports have shown Facebook ads to be both an effective and ineffective means for businesses to target their advertising dollars. But despite those dueling findings, small businesses may not want to automatically write off advertising on Facebook, especially if it is done correctly and expectations are managed.   ~ BusinessNewsDaily

click here for the full article 

 A report by Reuters/Ipsos which found that 80% of people said comments and advertisements on Facebook had not led them to make a purchase. On the other hand, a comScore report — which was co-sponsored by Facebook — showed that the ads did help purchases, sometimes as much as 38% over those not exposed to Facebook ads. Despite the different opinions in both those studies, they are both right… in a way.

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers. Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.

How to Advertise for Your Plumbing Business In Milwaukee

Plumbing contractors in Milwaukee and surrounding areas are looking to find new ways for people to find them.  Out, or on its way out is Yellow Pages, Newspapers and other traditional media.  With the internet exploding as the go to media for pretty much anything, Plumbers need to find a way to get themselves a better representation so they are found better by local customers.  Still, some traditional media needs to be done to be found.   Here are a few good ideas

The plumbing industry is fairly saturated in a large number of geographic markets, but the target market of plumbing businesses — anyone with a home, apartment complex or office — is so vast that there is always room for new entrants. You can gain a foothold in the plumbing industry by applying innovative, cost-efficient advertising techniques to make your company stand out from established competitors, and by offering first-class customer service.
 by David Ingram, Demand Media

Step 1

Create an eye-catching logo and slogan. A good deal of plumbers do not utilize these time-honored advertising techniques, and those who do can gain a competitive advantage in picking up new clients. Consumers may subconsciously associate businesses with logos and slogans with higher quality and reliability, while associating others with a generic brand image.

Step 2

Use your personal and business vehicles as advertising media. Paint your logo, slogan and contact information on the sides and rear of your vehicles. Use as few words as possible when advertising this way, and make sure that passers-by and other motorists can clearly read your contact information from a reasonable distance to maximize its effectiveness.

Step 3

Pass out service brochures and promotions to apartment and office complexes. Try to secure as many partnerships with apartments and offices as possible, as this can lead to long-term growth opportunities. Offer price discounts to these large customers in return for frequent business.

Step 4

Send promotions via mail to homes in your area. Direct mail campaigns can be most effective when the advertising message has a high degree of relevance to a large number of recipients. In the case of plumbing services, virtually every home in your community is a potential client, making direct mail a highly effective technique.

Step 5

Invest extra money into searchable advertising media. Pay extra for premium listings on search engines, and foot the bill for quarter- or half-page color advertisements in local telephone books and business directories. Place advertisements in local newspapers and general-editorial community magazines as well. Think “wide, local reach” when choosing advertising outlets. Remember that your target market consists of every single home, office and apartment complex in your area.

Step 6

Place coupons in community business publications. Take advantage of opportunities to place promotions in coupon books sold by direct marketing companies and youth organizations, such as sports teams and Scout troops. Place promotions in coupon-circulars as well to increase your advertising exposure and take advantage of the circular's established delivery system.

Full article

Disclaimer: The postings of opinions on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my clients or publishers.Jim is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He works with local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Feel Free to call him at (414)699-5444 to schedule a Free Consultation.