Westchester Digital Summit 2013

I'll be attending the 2013 Westchester Digital Summit in White Plains, NY on May 14, 2013. Really looking forward to meeting some of the most innovative minds in the digital economy today. They'll be celebrities, global digital marketers, geniuses, and some of the most compelling personalities changing the way our culture interacts with businesses online.

The coolest thing about this event is that I'll be reconnecting with the producer after twenty years. Should be an awesome time! The list of speakers and panelists for this years Westchester Digital Summit 2013 include:

Producer:
Christopher Dessi - CEO, Silverback Social

Key Note Speaker:
Gary Vaynerchuck - New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author and self-trained wine and social media expert.

World Class Speakers:
David Kiddler - Creator and Author at The Startup Playbook
David Guy - CEO, LoudDoor
Dan Merrits - CEO, F#
Avi Savar - Founder, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer , BIG FUEL
Rick Burns - Product Marketing Director, HubSpot
Kevin Ranford - CMO, Poppin
Brandon Steiner -  Founder & Chairman ,Steiner Sports Memorabilia

World Class Panelists:
Cory Cole - Iconix Brand Group
Adam Feigen - Manager External Communications, Heineken USA
Dari Alexander - News Anchor & Author ,Fox News
Ed Butowski - Managing Partner ,Chapwood Investments
Jeff Pearlman - NY Times Best Selling Author ,Sports Illustrated
Mike Edelhart - CEO ,The Pivot Conference
Michael DiLorenzo - Vice President of Social Media, Rue La La
Alex Zhardanovsky - Co-Founder , PetFlow.com

To learn more visit http://www.westchesterdigitalsummit.com

Cyberbullying - It's Bound To Happen To YOU!

What is Cyberbullying?  Wikipedia defines it as the use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner. As it has become more common in society, particularly among young people, legislation and awareness campaigns have arisen to combat it.

Cyberbullying may not be happening to you ... YET!  But eventually, especially if you piss off the wrong person, it will.  For me it just happened to be my former employer and eventual competitor.  You can read about it here when you have time:

Internet Slander - How Competitors, Customers, And Disgruntled Employees Use The Internet As A Weapon Against Brands - Part 3.

For you, maybe it's only happening on a small scale. Perhaps you've had a few minor disagreements on Facebook. Maybe some of your posts prompted someone to lash out at you. Guess it's really no big deal since Facebook posts are commonly debated.  But what happens when a "hater" starts posting negative content about you outside the Facebook ecosystem - blogs, newsletters, complaint sites? It's called world wide transparency!

Here is a fact. Search engines love content from these sources. Whether true, false, fact or fiction, Google indexes this type content in top search results.  If you ignore it, not grab hold of it, dismiss the opportunity to set the story straight, you could potentially be harming yourself without ever knowing it. Like I've said before, you have a responsibility to uphold your personal reputation just as you would your company's brand reputation.  Why do you think customer service departments were created in the first place!  To deal with all the "haters and complainers."

This morning on GoodDay New York, my long time buddy and Social Media Expert, Chris Dessi, discusses how society is "moving to a world of much more transparency" and "instead of being a victim to the social media that's happening around you, you now have the ability to curate your own content and create your own digital personal brand identity."

Ecommerce Sales Top a Trillion Bucks in 2012

The latest eMarketer study is in! And for the first time in history, global ecommerce sales surpass the trillion dollar mark.  Most of the growth continues to be fueled by North America and Asia-Pacific, increasing 13.9% and 33% year over year respectively.

"The rapid growth in Asia-Pacific sales is a result of several factors," eMarketer notes in its report. "Three Asia-Pacific markets—China, India and Indonesia—will see faster B2C ecommerce sales growth than all other markets worldwide this year, while Japan will continue to take a large share of global sales."  However, the United States will continue to have the highest ecommerce sales at least through 2016.

The study simply reiterates that more and more consumers are shopping online these days - and will continue to do so in the coming years.  Good news for online retailers!

See How The World Googled In 2012

Google has released the new Zeitgeist for 2012, its annual list of most popular searches and search trends throughout the year.

 Here is the top 10 list:

1. Whitney Houston
2. Gangnam Style
3. Hurricane Sandy
4. iPad 3
5. Diablo 3
6. Kate Middleton
7. Olympics 2012
8. Amanda Todd
9. Michael Clarke Duncan
10. BBB12

Election Day 2012 - Your Vote Counts!

"This isn't a campaign about me ... and it's not a campaign even about Conservatives versus Liberals ... or Republicans versus Democrats ... it's really a time when America's going to have to ask what are we as a country?  - Mitt Romney

Internet Slander - How Competitors, Customers, And Disgruntled Employees Use The Internet As A Weapon Against Brands - Part 3

Word spread fast. It wasn’t long before Mr. Tee heard about the new player in town. He was concerned and began having internal meetings about us. His mission was quite simple. Do whatever it takes to put us out of business within thirty days. He wanted to know everything about our operation - call volume, sales volume, internet activity, revenues, suppliers, employees, credit card processors and the list goes on. After all, the niche market he once ruled was no longer his own. He now had a competitor.

His first attack was delivered in the form of online complaint submissions. We started noticing an abnormal pattern of customer service complaints popping up on websites like RipOffReport, ComplaintsBoard, and the Better Business Bureau. I knew something was off since we’d just launched the business and had no prior complaints. But now all of a sudden, handfuls started rolling in. Unfortunately in the online world, Google indexes these “bash” sites in top search results. Anyone researching our company would surely see the complaints and potentially steer clear from doing business with us. Mr. Tee knew this and attempted to use it to his advantage – thus tasking some of his own employees to file these bogus claims. As I explained earlier, the only assurances of truthfulness required by these “bash” sites are a valid email address and the complainants own verification via the click of a mouse. No legal name, address, telephone number, receipt of purchase, or supporting documentation is required to file a complaint. So, in attempt to destroy our online reputation, this was an easy solution for him. Desperation must have caused his competitive approach to include lying and cheating, but what did he really have to lose? His company already had hundreds of complaints going against them for unethical business practices and repeated FTC violations – so why not attempt to include us in the mix?! Luckily his approach didn’t last long. Quickly we took action and fought back by submitting rebuttals one by one – a very time consuming and frustrating process, however a must if you plan to protect your brands reputation. (On a side note, I’d like to thank my former customer service team for your hard work and dedication in addressing each complaint! You’ll never know how much I truly valued your professionalism!) Soon thereafter we noticed the complaints starting to cease. Mr. Tee’s attack proved to be unsuccessful. For us it meant back to business – sales and call volume continued to increase. For Mr. Tee it meant phase two.

His next attack was aimed at our Internet Payment Gateway. For those who don’t know, gaining a credit card processor for your business is not an easy task – especially in a start-up environment. You’re considered a risk to the banks, and even more of a risk if you’re applying for a MOTO (Mail Order Telephone Order) account. These accounts are considered extra risky since the cardholder isn’t present at the time of purchase. Fraudulent activity occurs frequently. However, if you’re lucky enough to get approved like we did, just know your business is at the mercy of the processor. You must abide by all their terms and conditions or they’ll shut your processing privileges down with no prior notice. Trust me, I know from experience, and is why it made no sense the day our processing privileges were revoked. Our account was in great standings. Our charge-back percentages were lower than industry standards, our reserves had always been met, and we consistently passed our quarterly audits. We had followed their rules by the book. So why the sudden change? And that’s when it hit me. It had to be Mr. Tee! Somehow he managed to pull this one off and I’ll give him credit. For those who don’t know, he’d worked in the credit card processing industry for many years and was pretty successful at it. Throughout his career he’d closed significant deals and built relationships with some high-level industry executives. He also owned a merchant services business the same time I was working for him. He was very knowledgeable and had some major pull. The biggest mistake I made was contracting with the same processor he’d been using for years. I never thought thru the potential repercussions. He was doing a substantial amount of business with them, and I was clueless to the type relationship they’d had. The funny thing is when we contacted the processor to inquire about why they revoked our privileges, their answer, “I’m sorry but we don’t have to disclose our reasoning per your agreement.” Wow, what a shocker and tough pill to swallow when you can’t process a customer’s payment anymore. This meant we’d be forced to cease sales operations until we found a new one. This was mission critical! Failure was not an option! There was no way I was going to watch what our team had built come crashing down. There was no way I was going to let Mr. Tee beat me and accomplish his thirty day goal. I was panicked, an emotional roller coaster, and having sleepless nights. I knew I had to focus on the task at hand. I couldn’t let my emotions get the best of me. We had to overcome this some way somehow. I had nearly fifty employees whose paychecks and employment depended on it. So, without hesitation we immediately took action and began searching for a new processor. And within just a week or so, we successfully managed to contract with not one, but two new processors who’d eventually be with us until the end. (On a side note, I’d like to thank my former CFO for personally guaranteeing all our lines of credit and business loans. You’ll never know how thankful I am for everything you did in helping our company succeed financially and stay afloat during those challenging times!) This was a huge victory for us and major lesson learned – ALWAYS have a back-up!

Over the next couple weeks a few more curve balls were thrown our way, but nothing too serious or worth discussing. The fact of the matter is we overcame every obstacle Mr. Tee had conjured up. We were no longer his concern. He had much bigger problems to tend to now. In the coming months his sales continued to decline, his Internet ads were obsolete, he was losing employees daily, he’d exhausted all his processing privileges, lines of credit, and the FTC was knocking on his door – basically his business was imploding. Our business on the other hand, was booming. Sales and revenues were increasing exponentially, the call center was buzzing and our finances were healthy. For me, it was just a matter of time before my dreams of squashing this cat would become my reality. And so I patiently waited until …

Look forward to sharing more next time!

Internet Slander - How Competitors, Customers, And Disgruntled Employees Use The Internet As A Weapon Against Brands - Part 2

Internet Slander - How Competitors, Customers, And Disgruntled Employees Use The Internet As A Weapon Against Brands - Part 1

New Video Testimonial - Jason Boreyko, CEO & Co-Founder of SevenPoint2.com

Thanks Jason for the kind words!  Our team appreciates it very much!

New Client Press Release - DayLifeVegas.com

Adam Sadie, a Vegas VIP Host, Launches New Web-Based Concierge Services in Las Vegas – DayLifeVegas.com / NiteLifeVegas.com

DayLifeVegas.com and NiteLifeVegas.com set to cut out the middle man and connect people directly to the trendiest hotspots Las Vegas has to offer.

Let's face it; Las Vegas has perfected the nightlife. When you want to throw the craziest all-night parties, there's no better place than Las Vegas. But did you know you could have just as much fun during the day? DayLifeVegas.com http://www.daylifevegas.com is the number one resource for the trendiest pool parties on the Vegas Strip. With just the click of a button, you’ll be swept away to some of the most beautiful destinations Las Vegas has to offer. Marvel at lush vegetation, magnificent architecture, immense pools, and most importantly, beautiful people. These are same day clubs some of the hottest Hollywood celebs can't stay away from. The new web-based service guides you through the trendiest clubs including Wet Republic, Marquee DayClub, Palms Pool, Liquid, Encore Beach Club, Hard Rock Hotel Beach Club and many more. These adult-only playgrounds are a magnet for partygoers, glitterati, celebrities and anybody else looking to make a scene. With so many amazing choices it's easy to become overwhelmed.

NiteLifeVegas.com http://www.nitelifevegas.com offers a similar service. From finding regularly updated schedules of events to making VIP reservations, NiteLifeVegas.com has spent years attending all of the top night clubs in Vegas, listening to some of the best DJs in the world, and meeting some truly incredible people. It’s the only site you’ll need for planning the perfect night in the fabulous Sin City.

“Before there was Expedia and Travelocity, a consumer would have to call a travel agent to set up their trip – and the agent would make a marginal profit in doing so,” says Adam Sadie, a Vegas VIP Host. “Currently in Vegas, it’s the same. People contact intermediaries to set them up in Vegas. The problem is these intermediaries don’t work for any specific venues, unlike our experienced hosts at each property. They’ll offer ‘VIP’ services that a customer would receive if they dealt with an employed liaison directly. They over quote, take advantage of travelers, and make good money in doing so. Our goal is to cut out the middleman and allow people to coordinate their own trips by simply booking reservations through our website – saving customers considerable time and money. People spend thousands easily on room reservations and flights, but it’s sometimes difficult to do the same with nightclubs and pool parties,” says Sadie.

The customer service team is available to serve you 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. Annual membership benefits ($500) include a dedicated concierge and host team to recommend and coordinate all your reservations at top restaurants, pool parties and nightclubs. You’ll receive exact price quotes with no hidden fees and no additional costs or tips. It’s just as if you were booking directly without all the worry.

Read the full story http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/6/prweb9570316.htm

Internet Slander - How Competitors, Customers, And Disgruntled Employees Use The Internet As A Weapon Against Brands - Part 2

What happened next is something businesses typically experience during hyper growth – corporate restructure. Now I’m not downing this at all and understand operations must adapt to change, however there's a strategic way to go about it. Aligning talent appropriately will only help you and your business succeed. Believe it or not, your employees will ultimately determine your successes or failures – in my opinion. Unfortunately for me I was affected by this restructure. I was no longer reporting directly to Mr. Tee. Our business relationship began deteriorating and the communication breakdown had begun. I was now reporting to a guy who knew nothing about me, the Internet or my online marketing strategy. The only thing he knew was it generated significant sales and revenue for the company.

You see when I was originally hired, I was placed into the company by a recruiter. Guess who I was now reporting to? You’re probably thinking that recruiter right? Nope! It was her husband. I had known of him as he’d periodically make an appearance to the office every now and then to check in. His wife’s recruiting firm did all hiring and payroll for Mr. Tee’s business. And now, without me knowing, Mr. Tee hired him full time to oversee the entire sales operation. And although I never had a problem with him before, I think maybe he had a problem with me. Let’s face it, I was adding tremendous value to the business and probably made the mistake of revealing the Internet numbers to him – perhaps it caused a bit of envy or jealousy. No matter, throughout the transition we seemed to bump heads more often than not. Whatever ideas I was throwing his way, I’m sure he was presenting these to Mr.Tee on his behalf. He was constantly trying to change things. I will admit change is good and a constant in business, and life for that matter, however only when it’s necessary. Don’t change something that works and works well. Give your employee the benefit of the doubt, especially the one who built out the entire online business from scratch. You don’t think there were many tests and continuous tweaks along the way to get it to such an optimal point? Hello! I know I sound a little sarcastic, but that’s reality. Anyway it didn’t matter, I was eventually moved to another division of the company – one destined to fail. It was like I was being set up to be purged out. Luckily my salary stayed the same, but my bonuses and commissions were stripped away immediately. I was losing interest fast and it showed in my attitude. I was very unhappy. Whatever discussions were happening behind closed doors I’ll never know. The only thing I did know was it’d be a matter of time before my job would be in jeopardy. And to no surprise, and not long thereafter, I was eventually let go. If only Mr. Tee knew that day was about to cost him $8,000,000!

Over the next few months I had many sleepless nights. I was unemployed, stressed out, searching for a job, and just plain old down in general. I remember thinking to myself, “How could this have happened? Where’s the loyalty in that? Is this what corporate america has come to?” I had tons of questions running through my head, but knew very soon I’d have to let it go. I needed to conserve my energy for my next move – and that’s when I got the phone call!

Many don’t know this, but during the time I was working for Mr. Tee, I had been discreetly establishing a relationship with the call center manager (and for the purpose of this blog I’m not going to use his real name – we’ll call him Mr. Moe). Out of the four hundred employees now at the company, only Mr. Moe and I knew about it. He knew my strong points, and I knew his. He was calling to inform me that he too was recently laid off and wanted to meet for lunch. We discussed going into business together and becoming Mr. Tee’s competitor. Why re-invent the wheel – simply fine tune it. Take what we learned, tweak it here and there, and make it better. You see that’s the beauty of free enterprise. And after securing the necessary start-up capital, leasing some office space, implementing our first of three phone systems, hiring our first seven of one hundred employees, and building out our online ad campaigns, it was off to the races. We were now Mr. Tee’s direct competitor!

Look forward to sharing more next post.

Internet Slander - How Competitors, Customers, And Disgruntled Employees Use The Internet As A Weapon Against Brands - Part 1

Internet Slander - How Competitors, Customers, And Disgruntled Employees Use The Internet As A Weapon Against Brands - Part 1

Have you Googled yourself or your brand lately? Perhaps you’ve seen some negative content appearing in search results that makes you cringe because you know it to be untrue. Some of these popular websites, or revenge sites as I like to call them, include RipOffReport.com and ComplaintsBoard.com. In case you’re unfamiliar with these sites, they’re basically an open forum to submit online complaints about companies. The only assurances of truthfulness required by these sites are a valid email address and the complainants own verification via the click of a mouse. No legal name, address, telephone number, receipt of purchase, or supporting documentation is required to file a complaint. In other words – an open forum to “bash” whoever you like. And just to add salt to the wound, once the complaint is posted, it’s there forever. Even if the parties resolve their differences, assuming the accusations are even factual, the sites won’t allow the original complaint to be removed. Even worse, the results index fairly well in Google search results – although Google has censored these results in countries like China, the Middle East, parts of Europe, and Australia. Why? Because the sites are experiencing many legal issues surrounding Defamation, The Communications Decency Act (42 USC Section 230), The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization’s Act (“RICO Act”), and Extortion. As Sarah Bird (Chief Operations Officer and General Counsel of SEOmoz) states, “It is no secret that RipOff Report has been widely and universally accused of promulgating defamatory content and then extorting money from the victims of the very libel it publishes. This business model has made RipOff Report the subject of many lawsuits.” Feel free to read the full article http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-anatomy-of-a-ripoff-report-lawsuit

Now, let me shift gears for a bit and tell you a story. It may be a bit lengthy, but I feel it’s necessary to explain how some competitors, customers and disgruntled employees will use these sites to attack your brands reputation. I speak from personal experience as a business owner, competitor, and victim. Stick with me here. I think you’ll get a kick out of this.

Many years ago before I started my first business, I was hired by a company to assist with some technical consulting. The business was fairly new, had launched six months prior and employed maybe fifty – certainly not like MCI WorldCom, the telecom giant I had previously worked. I was reporting directly to the President (and for the purpose of this blog I’m not going to use his real name – we’ll just call him Mr. Tee). Now let me tell you Mr. Tee was a visionary, an entrepreneur, very respectable, successful, business savvy, personable, dressed nice and had a bankroll. I looked up to him – felt this guy was going to be a great mentor to me. We possessed similar characteristics although I was a bit younger, in the early stages of my career, not nearly as experienced, and most certainly didn’t have the bankroll – although I was determined to figure that one out! As I began working, learning and soaking in all I could about this business, I made it a point to continually consult with Mr. Tee about new and creative ways to improve operations. On occasion, he’d mention how much he valued my opinions and admired my entrepreneurial spirit. Before I knew it I was part of the executive team – started feeling like Mr. Tee’s right hand man. I knew it was only a matter of time before I’d be required to do something “big” for this company. I no longer had a choice. It was now an expectation.

As I continued working, I discovered this business had no online presence. Nothing related to the company or the product was appearing in Google search results. All advertising dollars were being spent on nationwide print campaigns. And that’s when it hit me – this was the “big” idea I was searching for – this was my opportunity to take this business online and shine.

What happened next felt almost surreal! Call volume started booming, sales began pouring in and revenues were increasing exponentially. The call center was buzzing, the company was growing, and I was now known as the “Internet” guy. I remember walking though the call center each day with my head held high. I felt all eyes on me as I entered. Reps made it a point to acknowledge I was in the room. “Internet calls are booming today, Mr. Mansel” I’d hear them say. It felt great! I felt so respected, so valued and so appreciated. I felt like I was an owner in this company. I was part of the executive team, had a nice base salary, unlimited advertising budget, and was getting bonused on the entire Internet business. I owned this. The Internet was mine. Nothing could stop me now. I was on top of my game. What could possibly go wrong? Or should I have even asked myself that question!

Look forward to diving in next time.

I Paid $277,500 For A Google T-Shirt! – Part 3

Be on the lookout for my next post, "Internet Slander - How Competitors, Customers, And Disgruntled Employees Use The Internet As A Weapon Against Brands." I'm looking forward to sharing what's really happening online these days - and why it's so important to uphold your brands reputation.

As I continue from last post, I'll tell you business was progressing nicely. We finished out year one approximately $1.5M in sales - not too shabby. Most start-ups typically don't generate much revenue or profit for two to three years - assuming they even make it. Now I understand this doesn’t sound like a whole lot of money in the business world, especially when companies are selling single deals at that price point, but so you understand, my product had a price point of only $120.  This means we sold 11.5K customers – makes you look at things a little differently wouldn't you say? It’s all relative in my opinion.

As we entered year two, I was in full throttle running ads on all three platforms – Google, Yahoo, MSN.  I continually kept reinvesting a portion of my monthly profits so I could increase my ad exposure. Because I was collecting so much data, I was able to predict potential sales activity. Basically I knew if I increased my ads by this percent, my sales will increase by that percent. This is the power of paid search – very predictable. In the advertising expenditures report below, you'll see my total online spend continued to increase until it leveled off a few months in. This is the point I felt like we were getting the best “bang for the buck” – or the point at which the campaigns were fully optimized.

Now that I was covering approximately 95% of online searches for our product, I decided to begin placing print ads – the more expensive option. To give you an idea of how much more, if I would have tried to place print ads nationwide, my spend would have been at least ten times, maybe more, to reach the amount of consumers I was reaching online.  In an effort to control spending, I decided to pick just a few major metropolitan cities. Luckily it worked and the ads generated profitability, but you must know print ads are very unpredictable. There’s no historical data collected like the Internet – no way of predicting how effective the ads may be.  You basically place the ads, roll the dice, and hope it works. I was at a point where I could afford to play the game – and prepared to lose some money if they didn’t produce favorable results. Honestly, if I didn’t start running the business solely off the Internet, it would have failed, and I would’ve become a start-up statistic. Why?  I simply didn’t have the funds available to build a full blown nationwide print campaign.  I could never have grown the business at such an accelerated pace without the Internet.  It was our core traffic source, highly cost effective, efficient, measurable, predictable, and was reaching massive amounts of consumers.  Realistically, I should have titled this blog series, “How I turned $30K into $8M online.”  Yes, you heard that correctly.  I started the business with just $30K of raised capital and only a portion of it was used to build my campaigns.  Now are you getting the gist of how powerful paid search is?

Overall and as you'll see in the report, we ended year two with a whopping 240% increase in sales and revenues close to $3.5M. Phenomenal growth pattern and the same year I received my cool Google t-shirt. Yes I just smiled sarcastically.

To view the full PDF report, click on the image below.

I'm also going to share the first page of our PnL statement the same year. I've blacked out certain line items for privacy, but this reiterates the statement that "Numbers Don't Lie."

To view the full PDF report, click on the image below.

In closing, my purpose in sharing this information, as you’ve probably gathered by now, was not to show you step-by-step how to make millions online. Those eBooks and “how-to” articles are a dime a dozen.  I simply wanted to show you first hand that paid search works. Start getting familiar with the online advertising platforms.  Start engaging, doing some research, listening to others, applying some techniques, discovering some of your own, testing, tweaking and finding your sweet spot!  You have tools readily available with the click of a mouse that can help your business reach a new level.

And, for what it’s worth, I’ll tell you building an online business, or any business for that matter, can be one of the most challenging, risky, rewarding, and gratifying experiences of your life.  The process will test your abilities and push you beyond your limits.  Heck, if someone told me years ago that I will own a business (now my second), hire over 100 employees, work out of 5,500 square feet of office space, build a sales dept, customer service dept, order entry dept, recovery dept, shipping and receiving dept, process over 60K orders, generate $8M in sales and spend nearly $2M in advertising - I'd probably ask what they were smoking!  Or would I?

I Paid $277,500 For A Google T-Shirt! - Part 2
I Paid $277,500 For A Google T-Shirt! - Part 1 

Featured Client Video - The Alkaline Movement

Get in on the hottest movement in the wellness industry. Become part of the next major shift  ... The Alkaline Movement!  Who is following this exciting and life changing movement - Doctors, Athletes, Motivational Speakers, and Authors. Get your share now at http://www.sevenpoint2.com

I Paid $277,500 For A Google T-Shirt! – Part 2

So, you’ve read about the guy who made millions on the Internet.  You’ve seen all the “how-to” articles, videos and blog posts about making money online.  The get rich quick schemes – some true, some not.  You may be asking yourself, “when is it my turn, I’ve done exactly what this eBook told me, followed it step-by-step and have made squat! It was a complete waste of money, time, effort, sweat and tears.” Yes, I know, it gets frustrating.  I too have tried many of these programs and have failed miserably.  There were times I wanted to throw my computer out the window, send hate mail and request my refund.  We’ve all done it at some point in our lives, but today I share some promising news with you.  Online advertising works, I am living proof and have done it more than once!  But the reality is this - not all products sell well online.

Lucky for me the product I was selling had high demand – search volume was significant.  That is why I moved forward on building my campaigns.  Search volume will be different for yours - maybe higher, maybe lower. The only bit of advice I can give, and in my experience as an advertiser, you'll want to steer clear from low search volume products.  You'll also want to be sure the product you're selling has a good bit of profit margin built in.  Personally I won't sell anything online for under $100, but in some cases, mostly when advising clients, there needs to be decent margin to maximize profitability.

Now, here’s the beauty of the Internet.  Search engines collect and track user behavior constantly.  Each advertising platform (Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing, Microsoft adCenter) have integrated tools that will reveal all sorts of data.  You'll find out quickly if your product is in demand and worth marketing online. Again for me, I was lucky. My product had high demand, high margins and significant search volume.  This may not be the case for you, however I want to show you how effective it can potentially be given the right product. 

For the purpose of this blog post, I'm going to show you statistics from a campaign I ran for the business I owned few years back. This is the actual reporting tool I used to track all sorts of data from my campaigns. For now, I'll share data collected the first six months I was in business.  Most will wait for the second year once they've tested and tweaked their campaigns for optimal performance.  Not me, although I’ll certainly be revealing second year stats in my next blog.  The below report will show you metrics I was tracking from the beginning on a monthy basis.  You'll see month-to-date (MTD) stats in yellow and year-to-date (YTD) stats in green.  You'll also see a missed calls percentage near 50%.  This just shows I couldn’t hire reps fast enough to compensate for such explosive call volumes - ALL from advertising on the Internet.  Wait until you see my second year growth when I added print ads - that's when things got really exciting.

To summarize the current monthly report - in just 30 days, I received 93K clicks on my ads, spent $13K, answered 10K calls, missed 10K calls, processed 1,700 plus orders (yes our credit card processors loved us) and generated $155K in revenues.  Do you think I had significant profits?  I’ll let you be the judge and look forward to sharing more next time.

To view the full PDF report, click on the image below.

 

I Paid $277,500 For A Google T-Shirt! - Part 1 

I Paid $277,500 For A Google T-Shirt! – Part 1

So you must be asking yourself, “who does that!”  You’re thinking this guy has lost his mind and rightly so. But I bet the title in this blog post has sparked your attention to continue reading on.  And now that I have your attention, please stick with me here as I’m about to show you how effective paid search can be for your business and your brand.

Your campaigns will differ from mine in many ways - your daily, monthly and yearly ad spend, your clicks, your cost-per-click (CPC), your click-thru-rates (CTR), conversion rates, cost-per-call, cost-per-sale, etc. Luckily for me, I had a lot of search volume for the product I was selling - so much that I spent $277K one year and $793K over three years. And this doesn't include what I spent on Yahoo and MSN.  So, I guess spending this amount of money qualified me for my cool t-shirt.  Maybe you’ll get a letter like I did saying something to the effect of, “yeah thanks for being a top adwords advertiser, here's your special gift from the Google Adwords team!”  The funny thing is I remember when I received it. I couldn't help but mumble sarcastically under my breath, “gee I spend $277K and get a t-shirt ... how thoughtful!”  I know I laugh about it now, but the reality is this. Google's advertising platform paid me back many many times over and helped skyrocket my company’s revenue and profits in a huge way!  Our ROI was crazy good and not typical of a start-up, so I felt compelled to share how efficient, predictable and profitable online advertising can be for you and your brand.

Over the next few weeks or longer, I haven’t decided yet, I’m going to share with you real campaign statistics and real company financials to prove it works.  The saying that “numbers don’t lie" has never been truer with what I’ll be revealing to you. I share this because it was my company, my passion, and one of my greatest business achievements.

Look forward to diving in next time.

How A Blog Is Like A Volcano

Do you have a Content Marketing Strategy? Have you ever thought about one? If not, you're about to find out how powerful and explosive blogging can be for you, your business, and your brand! There is a great analogy I've stumbled upon when you compare a Blog and a Volcano. Yes that's right, a Volcano - the geology of a content marketing strategy.

Last year I posted this analogy on my company blog blog.veracall.com, and felt it's worth hearing again how Brian Massey of ClickZ explains the power of blogging.

Here are a few key highlights:

• A blog spews content like a volcano spews lava. Like a blog, a volcanic mountain becomes more visible as it rises higher and higher into the top levels of the atmosphere. It can become visible very quickly to nearby villages, executive offices in neighboring cities, and to search engines.

• You’ve got to have a plan for a steady flow of content. Your blog-cano is the heart of your content marketing strategy and can power your social media marketing strategy, lead generation strategy, and search engine optimization.

• The beauty of blogging is that it's a more casual medium. Your blog content doesn't have to be bibliographed articles. It doesn't require your subject matter experts to be writing constantly. In fact, blog content can come from many sources: presentations, case studies, and even geology textbooks. Much blogging is simply commenting on others' writing, which we call "curating content" for your audience.

• Choose a blogging platform that is search-engine friendly. Don't just use the content management system that your corporate site is built on. Definitely put your blog on the same domain as your corporate website so both benefit from the search engine "juice" you create.

• Search engines love blogs and will send traffic by finding naturally keyword-rich content.  If you have the resources, you can identify your most valuable keywords and purposefully incorporate them into your blog posts and titles.

• Blog content is a great way to feed social media because these posts, tweets, and status updates contain a link back to your content. You can actually measure the clicks and conversions generated by your social media outreach, and this can justify production of more magma.

Read the full story http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2015807/geology-content-marketing-strategy

Facebook Financials Revealed - A Whopping $1 Billion Profit!

The secret is out!  Facebook's IPO has revealed the social network's financials - indicating phenomenal growth over the past three years.  In 2011, the tech giant reported annual profits of a whopping $1 Billion.  Yes, that's profit, not annual revenues and is nearly ten times Google's profits the year before its IPO.  What's even more impressive for Facebook, it almost doubled its profits from the year ending 2010 to 2011, and was three times that from 2009 to 2010.

Could Facebook's IPO be the most profitable tech IPO ever in history?!  What do you think?

“Your World Is Exploding: How Social Media Is Changing Everything - And How You Need To Change With It.”

Excited today for my friend and childhood bestie, Chris Dessi on the release of his new book, “Your World is Exploding: How Social Media is Changing Everything - and How you Need to Change with it.” Chris is a Social Media Expert in my hometown of New York City. He is often called upon as the social media “go-to guy” with numerous guest appearances on Fox News GoodDay New York. I’m looking forward to sharing his philosophy with my team about the astronomical explosion of social media in recent years – and how it is a spiritual awakening, not a technological one.  Read my review of his book @amazon here http://www.amazon.com/review/R2ZUFM9LP7QBKZ/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_cm_cr_notf_APPROVED_fbt

Watch his most recent guest appearance on One-on-One with Steve Adubato.

Online Ad Spend Will Surpass Print In 2012

Marketers are expected to spend more this year on Internet ads rather than traditional media, like newspaper and magazine ads.  This is a first ever in U.S. history.  A recent eMarketer study estimates online spending will grow 23.3% to $39.5 billion in 2012.  This is significant growth and expected to increase over the next five (5) years to an estimated $62 billion.  According to David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst, “Advertisers’ comfort level with integrated marketing is greater than ever, and this is helping more advertisers—and more large brands—put a greater share of dollars online.”

 

Marketing Solutions For Your Business

"We know what it means to capture a brands essence. Deliver a winning strategy."

Gerri Detweiler Interviews eCredable CEO, Steve Ely

Gerri Detweiler of TalkCreditRadio.com interviews eCredable CEO, Steve Ely as they discuss how alternative credit can be used to empower consumer creditworthiness.

Google's New Search Update - "Search Across Your World"

Search giant Google rolled out its new search update today merging Google+ into Google search results more deeply than ever before. This deep integration now allows Google+ members the ability to search against a broader web and their own Google+ social graph. Jack Menzel, product management director of Google search, explains how members will be able to "search across information that is private and only shared to you, not just the public web."

Read the full story http://mashable.com/2012/01/10/google-launches-social-search/

Google+ On Track For 400 Million Users

Google+ experienced a huge traffic jump in Dec-11.  Analysts predict the social network is on track to reach 400 million users by year ending 2012.

According to Experian Hitwise, Google+ total visits reached more than 49 million in Dec-11, the biggest month to date and up 55% compared to Nov-11.  Analyst Paul Allen, founder of Ancestry.com,  recently told the Daily Mail that the site surpassed the 62 million member mark - although Google has declined to comment on its current membership numbers.  This growth rate is significant.  It took Facebook nearly 4 years to reach 60 million members.

2011 - A Monumental Banner Year for Google

Google was very busy in 2011, from its attempt to buy Groupon, to launching its new Social Network Google+, to rolling out the Android 3.0.  Read the full story at http://mashable.com/2011/12/31/google-nails-2011/

YouTube's Best Christmas Video's of 2011

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Personally, this is my favorite, but you can view the full list here http://mashable.com/2011/12/24/youtube-christmas-videos/#QH2-TGUlwu4

Featured Client Video: SevenPoint2™ - Co-Founder Dr. Howard Cohn Discusses Why SevenPoint2™!

Co-Founder of SevenPoint2™ talks about some harmful ingredients found in many health shake products on the market, and why SevenPoint2™ is healthier for you.

Online Sharing 2011: Facebook the Dominator

The results are in and not surprising to say the least.  Facebook now controls 52% of all sharing on the web for 2011 - up from 44% last year and 33% the year prior.

How The World Googled In 2011

Another year comes to an end.  See how the World Googled in Zeitgeist 2011: Year In Review.

Veracall Digital Marketing Teams Up With NaXum Online Marketing Systems To Implement A Hi-Tech, World Class, CRM-M Cloud System

SevenPoint2™ launches SP2 Pro, a brand new cutting-edge back office for its distributors.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) November 30, 2011 - - Veracall Digital Marketing http://www.veracall.com based in Atlanta, Georgia and NaXum Online Marketing Systems http://www.naxum.com out of Houston, Texas have joined forces in developing a custom CRM-M Back Office System for SevenPoint2™ http://www.sevenpoint2.com - a revolutionary new alkaline health & wellness company led by Jason Boreyko, CEO & Co-Founder. Located at http://www.sevenpoint2pro.com, the SP2 Pro system takes the top cutting edge tools available in networking today and integrates them in an easy-to-use system. Distributors gain access to an entire suite of marketing services to help manage and grow their online businesses. Some of the system tools include a CRM-M contact manager, lead capture pages, tour sites, reoccurring webinars, video email, auto-responders, text message alerts, and so much more.

Branded as the SP2 Pro system, NaXum has added yet another robust and scalable system to its bag of technology tricks. From building the incredible CRM-M engine that powers Luxor Casino’s operations to implementing custom systems across the US, NaXum provides the resources required to build world class systems.

"The technology NaXum brings to Veracall's clients has been a game changer for their online businesses. For the past three years, I've personally been working with NaXum in the areas of digital design and systems integration," said Justin Kerrihard, Veracall's Vice President & CCO. "The NaXum team has quite an obsession with cutting-edge technology trends and digital marketing standards. Their customer support is by far the best I've ever worked with," said Kerrihard.

Currently, SevenPoint2™ is five months ahead of schedule. Within the first four weeks of opening its doors, the company generated $500,000 in product sales. Now with the addition of the SP2 Pro system, it’s clear the company is headed for massive online growth in the near future.

About Veracall Digital Marketing:
Veracall Digital Marketing’s mission is to provide the necessary tools, training and technologies to create and capitalize on emerging business opportunities. The team consists of expert branders, graphic designers, internet marketers, technical specialists and project managers

About NaXum Online Marketing Systems:
NaXum Online Marketing Systems is one of the country’s leading Internet Marketing service providers. NaXum CRM-M Cloud Systems create custom, best-in-class module based marketing and recruiting platforms for clients.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/11/prweb8997712.htm

Featured Client: SevenPoint2™ Achieves $500,000 In Retail Sales Since October 2011 Launch

Our client made major strides since launching four weeks ago on October 1, 2011. Stellar performance if I do say so myself!

Ground-Breaking Network Marketing Company Experiences Sales Explosion In First Month.

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—Since its official launch on October 1, SevenPoint2™ has already dashed out of the gate toward a leading position in the network marketing world. The company is led by CEO, Jason Boreyko; Sam Adams, Co-founder and Visionary; and Dr. Howard Cohn, Executive Vice President of Product Development. Collectively, they have been dubbed the A, B, C gurus of network marketing. 

Among many other notable accomplishments, these principals bring the following expertise to SevenPoint2™. Jason co-founded New Vision International, a network marketing company that produced over $1 billion in combined sales and created 40 millionaires. In the process, the company generated over $350,000,000 in commissions for its members. Sam took an energy and wellness company’s sales from just $40,000 a month and catapulted them to $25 million the first year it was under his guidance. Dr. Cohn’s background includes developing and testing thousands of nutritional and health products. All three men have the ability to build dreams and manifest them into reality. Their current vision is to launch a World Wide Alkaline movement, using  SevenPoint2™ as the vehicle for success.

Jason states, “SevenPoint2™ is at the forefront of the hottest pioneering movement in the natural products industry: the areas of alkaline and weight loss products. It took us six months to hit $500,000 in sales with New Vision International and they shot from zero to $9.2 million within the first 13 months. SevenPoint2™ has already produced a whopping $500,000 in retail sales since our official launch on October 1, 2011. Our goal is to achieve $8.3 million in monthly SevenPoint2 sales by October 31, 2012.”

Google+ - Open For Brand Business

After months of being told no, Google has finally opened its doors for brands to begin creating business pages.  Google+ Pages will provide a means for businesses, musical acts, nonprofits, and other entities to engage consumers directly on the platform.  A key feature called Direct Connect will enable users to search for a brand name preceded with a [+] to be taken directly to that brand's page on the social network. In addition, Google is proactively integrating Google+ Pages with search results, just as it has for individual profiles.  No plans have been mentioned yet for ads designed to drive traffic and revenue similar to Facebook. Take a look at Veracall's new Google+ page located here: https://plus.google.com/109540690894136255545

October 1, 2011 - A Dream Was Born

Excited to share a recent video of our clients Pre-Launch event held on October 1, 2011 in Newport Beach, California.  The event was a great success! It's truly been an awesome experience helping SevenPoint2™ http://www.sevenpoint2.com create its brand.  Read the full story http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/9/prweb8833670.htm

Steve Jobs (1955-2011) - A Creative Genius

Such an inspiring video!  Today, California Gov. Jerry Brown officially declared Sunday (10/16/2011) Steve Jobs Day in California. He truly was a creative genius.  Rest in peace ...

Jill Schlesinger of CBS MoneyWatch (Jill on Money) interviews CEO of eCredable, Steve Ely

Sharing a recent radio interview as Jill Schlesinger of CBS MoneyWatch (Jill on Money) interviews Steve Ely, CEO at eCredable. Jill and Steve talk about the more than 50 million people who have no credit history, no way of proving they are creditworthy, and how eCredable.com can help.

 

Legendary Network Marketer, Author and Motivational Speaker Joins Forces With Veracall Digital Marketing to Launch a Worldwide Alkaline Movement.

Wanted to share a new press release about our company.  It's been an exciting project!

History in the Making! SevenPoint2™ poised to go massive as Jason Boreyko, CEO and Co-Founder, introduces a “72 Day Alkaline Weight Loss Challenge” to North America.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) September 30, 2011 - - Veracall Digital Marketing http://www.veracall.com takes great pride in being not just a first-class design firm, but a successful business that understands the pressures that face CEOs, Presidents and Managers on a daily basis. Veracall strives to partner with and employ only the best to ensure project quality is unmatched. The company was recently contracted by legendary network marketing entrepreneur, Jason Boreyko http://www.jasonboreyko.com, to help brand and market his newest business venture, SevenPoint2™ http://www.sevenpoint2.com.

Boreyko is a successful entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker. At the tender age of 5, his father had him packing Amway boxes. He started his networking career at 18, and after a few failures and some false starts, reached the top five income earners of a $200 Million company by the age of 26. Not long thereafter, Jason started New Vision International. Under his leadership as CEO and Co-Founder, New Vision generated over $1 Billion in combined sales and recruited over 1.4 Million distributors with offices in Japan, Canada, Australia and the United States. His team created 40 Millionaires and generated over $350 Million in commissions for its members. Experienced in both the corporate side of the business as Owner and CEO, and as a top distributor for other companies, Jason surely knows the secret of success in this business.

Jason Boreyko Family Photo

“Our new business mission is to introduce, educate and share knowledge and products about our most precious resource, health,” said Boreyko, CEO and Co-Founder of SevenPoint2™. “It’s been shown that an acid ph body stores fat and toxins that harbors an environment for disease. Educating people on the value of a balanced 7.2ph body creates the foundation for anti-aging and optimum health. Working with Veracall’s team of digital marketing experts assures our brand will connect with people by leveraging the smartest and most innovative use of digital media. It’s been a great experience and we appreciate everything Veracall's doing for us.”

The synergy that exists between the three founders (Jason Boreyko, Co-Founder & CEO – Sam Adams, Co-Founder & EVP Marketing – Dr. Howard Cohn, Co-Founder & EVP Product Development) is perhaps the strongest indicator of the manifestation awaiting SevenPoint2™'s future. They’re committed to mindful focus on raising the health of the planet while building the finest company with a conscience that this industry has ever seen. The vision is to introduce a "72 Day Alkaline Weight Loss Challenge" and launch a World Wide Alkaline movement.

7.2 Weight Loss Challenge from SevenPoint2 on Vimeo.

“Veracall is proud to be partnered with such a great team of successful entrepreneurs,” said Marc Mansel, Veracall’s President and CEO. “Our goal is to create a solid brand identity for SevenPoint2™ that builds confidence with their customers and distributors. We welcome the opportunity and look forward to a long-lasting business relationship.”

For more information about the company and its range of digital marketing services, visit http://www.veracall.com or email sales@veracall.com

About Veracall Digital Marketing:
Veracall Digital Marketing’s mission is to provide the necessary tools, training and technologies to create and capitalize on emerging business opportunities. The team consists of expert branders, graphic designers, internet marketers, technical specialists and project managers.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/9/prweb8833670.htm

Facebook Consumer Behavior - 10 Facts You Should Know

A recent Facebook study was conducted by Constant Contact and research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey. They analyzed and revealed a number of details about how people interact with brands on the world's largest social network.

Here are some of the findings and this recent blog post outlines it well:

• 52% of Americans over 18 spend at least one hour a week on Facebook.

• People interact with their favorite brands on Facebook far more than other social networks. 

• Engagement is real: 78% of people who "like" brands on Facebook like fewer than 10 brands.

• 58% of users "like" a brand because they are a customer.

• Most fans "interact" with brands, primarily through reading the brand's posts and newsfeeds.

• 76% of people have never "un-liked" a brand.

• 56% of fans say they're more likely to recommend a brand to a friend after becoming a fan.

• 51% of fans say they're more likely to buy a product since becoming a fan.

• 45% of Facebook users' time is spent in the newsfeed.

• 69% of Facebook users want to hear from some brands more than others.

eCredable Endorsed by Dave Ramsey

eCredable (www.ecredable.com) is a Credit Reporting Agency operating under the auspices of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair and Accurate Credit Reporting Act (FACTA), just like the national credit bureaus. The company was founded to fill a large (and growing) gap in the marketplace. Almost 25% of the adult population in the U.S. (estimated 65,000,000 Americans) has no credit history, which means they have no way of demonstrating their creditworthiness.

The new web-based service allows consumers to build an AMP Credit Report™, which is basically a detailed snapshot of your monthly bill payment accounts that don’t currently get reported to the major credit bureaus. Payments such as rent, utilities, insurance premiums, cell phone bills and the list goes on.

To gain a better understanding of the service, here’s a recent radio interview from Ilyce Glink's radio show, featuring Steve Ely, CEO of eCredable. On August 14th, 2011, they discussed Alternative Credit, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and how eCredable can help the 54 million US consumers who cannot prove they are creditworthy.

Twitter – Boosting Its Effectiveness And Measuring Your Return

As social media best practices continue to evolve, many questions arise as it relates to its measurability. Some have even argued that social media just doesn’t work, and could hold true if it’s the only online marketing technique you’re using. Rest assured it will not give your site the support it needs on its own. Social media techniques should be connected to your overall marketing strategy, particularly when attempting to achieve brand awareness. Cross promotion is essential so you can intertwine your audiences.

So, how do we measure and track success indicators using social media? This recent ClickZ blog post by Heidi Cohen provides some good pointers on how to boost twitter effectiveness and track your twitter return.

6 Marketing Strategies to Boost Twitter Effectiveness:

Twitter is a social media platform, not another one-way broadcast channel to fill with your marketing messages. Here are six strategies to boost your Twitter return.

1. Be real in real time. Actively participate on Twitter with a human voice and emotions to show you're interested and care, not just waiting to pounce with your marketing message. Hint: Have social media guidelines and a social media contingency plan in place so employees understand how to identify themselves and represent your business.

2. Make participants an offer they can't refuse. An automated feed of the same content you're delivering elsewhere isn't going to cut it. Develop your Twitter following by creating a unique, targeted stream of timely must-have information such as special insider knowledge and offers only distributed on Twitter. The objective is to make your tweets stand out and be worth paying attention to by providing value to your perspective audience. Hint: Determine who you're going to follow. For most non-media businesses, it makes sense to follow anyone who follows you so you can communicate with them.

3. Provide targeted tweets via separate accounts. Twitter user’s value keeping their Twitter stream free of extraneous messages. To this end, create multiple accounts to serve different purposes so followers know what type of information they're going to receive. For example, you can have a dedicated deal of the day account and a special customer service account. Hint: Keep branding consistent.

4. Show you're part of the Twitter community. Leverage unique Twitter conventions to expand your reach, specifically hashtags and Twitter chats. Use and promote relevant and unique hashtags to expand your message reach to a broader audience. Join Twitter chats covering your area of expertise to interact with others in real time and share your knowledge. This is a great way to build your Twitter following since people get to know you. Hint: Be a guest speaker on a Twitter chat. To this end, it's useful to participate before and after the conversation using the chat hashtag. Alternatively, if there aren't any relevant chats in your category, consider starting one to build an engaged following on Twitter.

5. Cross-promote on your Twitter presence. Like other marketing initiatives, you must continually publicize your Twitter presence. Use your internal media and other social media channels to encourage people to follow you. Include the breadth of your options such as your website, email newsletters, offline marketing, packaging, billing, correspondence (like customer service emails), autoresponders, and blog. Hint: Incorporate a tailored call-to-action related to Twitter and your offering with a targeted promotional code for tracking. Also, wherever, you have social sharing buttons, add a Follow Us on Twitter button since these readers are Twitter-savvy.

6. Give followers and customers their 15 seconds of Twitter fame. As a social media conduit, Twitter isn't about you; it's about the community. Twitter's an interaction platform. Take advantage of this by participating in the conversation where appropriate and talk to followers. Recognize others with retweets and shout-outs. Hint: Spotlight customers in your tweets through Twitter memes like #FollowFriday. Alternatively, develop unique communication (such as customer of the day) that's integrated with your brand to acknowledge customers on Twitter.

How to Track Your Twitter Return:

When it comes to measuring your return on your Twitter initiatives, it's easier and more effective to track success indicators in the early phases while you're building your base and your investment is relatively low. Starting with the following indicators enables your metrics to evolve with your Twitter strategy.

1. Track followers. People are a top-level indicator of the number of participants receiving your message. Understand followers may not see your message if they're not on Twitter or a related application or specifically tracking your messages when your tweet is sent.

2. Monitor tweets and retweets. Are other participants re-broadcasting your message? Are they interacting with you on Twitter? If you're tweeting content on your website or blog, are page views increasing? Are you getting earned media (additional page views attributable to social media involvement)?

3. Measure special Twitter-oriented call-to-action response. Are these tweets driving interaction, engagement, and/or sales?

4. Monitor social media ecosystem for brand and relevant keywords. Use brand monitoring to track social media involvement and issues. Can you use your Twitter presence to mitigate issues before they turn into problems? Is your Twitter participation helping to increase positive brand awareness? What's happening with your competitors?

5. Check your social media influence. Has actively participating on Twitter improved your influence on social media? How are your customers receiving your participation?

As you extend your marketing efforts on Twitter, use a combination of strategies to engage your target audience while laying the foundation to deepen your customer relationships. Also, integrate these efforts into your overall marketing.

Online Channels – Connecting Consumers And Brands More Intimately

Digital Marketing and Social Media is allowing marketers’ to interact more intimately with consumers than ever before. By listening and engaging online, companies can learn a great deal about how its brand is being received in the marketplace. Many marketers are now starting to use this consumer feedback as part of its online strategy due to its measurability.

A recent June 2011 study commissioned by Dell from Forrester Consulting found that marketers from different industries look at various key performance indicators (KPIs) when measuring the success of their listening and engagement initiatives. Here are some of their findings:

 

  

Google+ - Growing Like A Weed

As Google attempts to enter the social media space yet again, it’s becoming quite clear where they may be heading. Although the platform has only 10 Million registered users, some say 20 Million, growth is up 283% for the week ending July 16, 2011 and up 821% from the week before.

Experian Hitwise took a stab at estimating the early growth of Google+ and here are some findings:

• For the week ending July 16, the Google+ domain (plus.google.com) was still tiny with 1.8 million total estimated visits.

• On a daily basis, estimated visits peaked last Thursday on July 14 with 317,000 estimated daily visits.

• On July 18, that number was down slightly to 226,000

An important point to note - The data was tracked until the day before Google introduced the new Google+ iPhone app, currently the top downloaded free app on iTunes. Another point is that Hitwise’s data doesn’t take into account mobile apps or mobile web, so numbers could be a bit more than estimated. Hitwise also says Google+ is the No. 42 social networking site in the U.S., and No. 638 overall. The week before it was ranked No. 2,404 among all sites in the U.S., so as you can see a huge jump for the week.

The current gender breakdown of Google+ users consist of 57% males with 38% between ages 25-34. Top cities for users include LA, New York, and San Francisco.

Overall, Google+ still has a long way to go, especially if it plans to compete with Facebook’s 750 Million users. Only time will tell if Google+ develops into a major competitor or completely exits the social media space for good.

Upholding Your Brands Reputation - Do's and Don'ts

Were you aware your brands reputation is no longer your own; but controlled primarily by the thoughts and feelings of your consumers. The online world continues to change the way we do business. Today, anyone and everyone has the power to go online and express whatever they wish about their experiences with your company or product. Some of your competitors have even used this to their advantage, by making up negative feedback to steel your customer. The Internet has become a cesspool of slander, gossip, and negative content. The sad thing - there's not much we can do to stop it.

Some of these popular feedback and review sites include:

Local Ratings and Reviews Websites

Research Websites (Industry Specific)

Social Media Websites

Other websites notorious for negative consumer feedback include Complaints Board and Rip Off Report. And yes, they’re experiencing lawsuit after lawsuit for defamation and false claims. Regardless of these outcomes, the fact is you have a responsibility to uphold your brands image and provide answers to consumer feedback. If handled inappropriately, it could have very negative repercussions. To help you manage your brand reputation, here are a few do’s and don’ts provided by ClickZ expert, Jessica Richards:

• Do update your listings to maintain accuracy.
• Do respond to comments, but do so appropriately and objectively. Many businesses will selectively respond to negative reviews to clarify a situation, apologize, or indicate how the issue will be corrected. Be sure to provide a timeline if you are addressing a specific problem.
• Do use feedback to change or adapt your offerings, if feasible.
• Don’t try to moderate. Users can express opinions, good or bad, and any attempt at moderation could lead to backlash among visitors.
• Don’t review your own company or product.
• Don’t feel like you have to respond to every negative comment. Choose carefully when and how you respond.

Top 20 U.S. Online Advertising Providers

Here's a snapshot of the latest Top 20 online ad providers ranked by reach. Google continues to be dominant with Yahoo! not far behind.  Data provided by comScore as of May 2011.

Advertising Network	Unique Audience	Reach (%)
Google Ad Network	199,648,000	92.3%
Yahoo! Sites	188,763,000	87.3%
AOL Advertising	184,357,000	85.3%
Yahoo! Network Plus	184,094,000	85.1%
ShareThis	177,213,000	81.9%
Turn Media Platform	176,023,000	81.4%
Google	173,982,000	80.5%
ValueClick Networks	171,704,000	79.4%
Specific Media	170,883,000	79.0%
24/7 Real Media Global Web Alliance	167,019,000	77.2%
AdBrite	159,762,000	73.9%
Facebook	157,219,000	72.7%
Collective Display	156,224,000	72.2%
Tribal Fushion	152,690,000	70.6%
Vibrant Media	145,303,000	67.2%
Burst Media	144,144,000	66.7%
AudienceScience	142,975,000	66.1%
Microsoft Media Network	140,188,000	65.7%
Fox Audience Network	140,188,000	64.8%
Traffic Marketplace	139,861,000	64.7%
Source: comScore 2011