I had a client once who scoffed at my suggestion of having their web content written by an SEO copywriter and was insistent upon writing it himself. I ran into the writer a week or so later – a seasoned, accomplished writer and asked how it was going. He said, “What’s all the hoopla about this SEO business, anyway? A writer friend of mine told me that it’s not such a big deal. He said all I need to do is put a bunch of those keywords in there and the copy will be fine. I’m not going to have any trouble with this.” I smiled and nodded.

That former client’s web traffic – right next door to nonexistent. Yessireeeebob, it sure doesn’t matter. Not one bit. And, for the record, it wasn’t the fact that they wanted to write it themselves that was such a big deal – I can understand pinching pennies. What bugged me was the arrogance – and the ignorance – of the writer. And it’s often that kind of attitude that sinks a business – or at the very least, handicaps it from an online marketing performance standpoint. SEO isn’t only about keywords; it’s about keyword strategy and also about an overall SEO strategy. It’s about understanding the competitive landscape, where your opportunities lie, and what you can do to take advantage of them.

Wonder How the Web Really Works?

If you’re curious as to how a web search actually works, let’s go straight to the source. This is Google’s Matt Cutts, explaining all you need to know about web indexing and spiders. Now, let’s talk about SEO and how to use it to power your business and drive more web traffic.

First Do Your Homework: Keyword Research

SEO isn’t only about keywords, but keywords are certainly a factor when it comes to thinking in terms of what consumers are searching. Wondering where to start? It’s easy. Keyword research. First, pick out primary keywords and what you think consumers might be using for when they’re looking for the product you sell or the services you provide. Do a few test drives with your local searches to see what it pulled up to find popular topics, and develop a hierarchy of keywords (spreadsheets, anyone?) And, without getting too nerdy, understand that there are different kinds of keywords. Competitive keywords are differentthan mid-tail keywords. The hierarchy approach will play into page rank, as well as how often a brand comes up with different searches in its specific sector. Sounds complicated but it’s not. And once you dive into a little keyword research, and start seeing the words people use to search for what they seek, you’ll probably geek out a little. We do – on a daily basis.

Plant Your Flag: Claim Your Business on Google, Yelp and Bing

Local search is incredibly important these days. My friend John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing and author of The Referral Engine has written a fantastic white paper on how to use local search to drive business – and once you’re ready to focus on this, you should definitely check it out. Local search is really important, because Google (and other search engines) want to serve up searchers the most relevant results – and relevant results are often location-based. Google, Yahoo! and Bing have made it easy for businesses to provide detailed information, including addresses of locations, descriptions, images and even videos, so that their locations will show up when a user enters in a matching search phrase. Smart businesses create pages that share information specific to terms consumers might search for. For instance, “Italian Food, Northwest Houston” allows a search engine to match the searcher’s request by category and location. Google Local will also show information around hours of operation, services offered, user ratings and location. Make sense? I’m thinking you’re nodding about now. If so, scoot over and claim your business listing on Google Places.Then do the same thing with Bing and Yahoo.

Don’t Be a Tease: Provide Full Contact Information on Websites—And Be Specific

One of the key factors search engines look for in results returned is the website header and content on page. The header is important because it should always include the address of the company, and the header should be included on every page. Why? Search engines can easily pull results through address, and more specifically, zip code. This will help send customers in your vicinity to a specific location, especially if they search for terms that are heavily present in the content.

Content Creation

The second most difficult SEO tactic behind link building is content creation. Content creation requires knowledge of not only the consumer, but of the industry. Why are people buying a specific product? What drives their brand loyalty? Do they only buy products that have X instead of Y? Marketers often lean on surveys (or their own opinions), which don’t always generate the best results. And sometimes small business owners don’t do any research. They often don’t know what their customers are interested based on keyword research, they guess. Instead of either of these approaches, why not do your homework, and also empower your sales force, employees and even brand ambassadors to do some listening. Have them observe, monitor, ask questions of and interact with your target demographic. It’s amazing what you can find out when you listen and ask questions. This is where social media can play a big role. From an analysis standpoint, consumers love to talk and share huge amounts of information on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. It’s relatively easy to create search lists around specific topics and keywords, join the conversation and see what topics are most popular and heavily discussed? By doing this, you can create a list of 30-35 topics that can be covered in the earned, owned and paid spaces, ensuring that you’re creating an adequate supply of content and coverage across a variety of platforms, extending your online reach and enlarging your prospective customer base.

So, do tell. How do you use SEO to power your business? And if you’re not yet using the strategies outlined above, do you think you might start? These things take a little bit of time, but the payoff can be huge. Our recommendation – get going! If you don’t, your competitors will. Or already are.

4 Steps To Powering SEO For Your Business is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Image via Engadget

Positive online reviews for your product or service are powerful tools in encouraging others to sample your wares and build brand loyalty. Need proof? Consider recent news that online review giant Yelp may actually be killing chain restaurants as users instead opt to support and review local, independently owned establishments.

In the same study, Michael Luca of Harvard Business School reported that “ ‘a one-star increase in Yelp rating leads to a 5-9 percent increase in revenue,’” as written by The Washington Post.

And after all, this logic makes perfect sense. Let’s forget the social media part of the equation for just a minute and consider a hypothetical scenario. You’re searching for a certain product and decide to ask a few friends and family members for recommendations. You get a few positive referrals, but also hear from people who had a bad experience with one of your product options. Naturally, you’ll steer clear of the product that comes with negative reviews and will instead opt for another choice.

When you combine the power of a positive review with the global reach of the Internet, the possibilities can mean more customers and more revenue. Online reviews act as SEO boosters, increasing your online visibility and subsequent reach. And in this day and age, higher visibility in the fast-moving digital stream can only mean good things for your business.

That leaves the million-dollar question: how do you get more reviews? Consider these tips:

*Use email. Follow in the footsteps of business giants like Amazon and Sephora and send customers an email after each purchase inviting them to write a review. By sending an email with information on how to write a review, you give your customer the flexibility to complete a review when it’s convenient. You’re also letting them know that you hope your customer enjoys the purchase and that you’re invested in each person’s experience with your company.

*Put your website to work. Just as you’d integrate your blog into your website to create one information-packed portal, consider building review functionality directly into your website. Not only does this make for a better user experience, but you’ll also increase your site’s content and number of indexed pages, two critical factors when it comes to creating and maintaining an effective, optimized website. And even if you decide to incorporate reviews into your website, be sure to also include links to external review sites like Yelp and Google Places. Think of it as creating a testimonial portfolio that will give current and prospective customers a wider overview of your business and experiences that others have had.

*Make it stick. Speaking of review sites, many of them offer stickers and/or window clings that you can display in your business. Pick a prominent place such as the door or near the cash register to let customers know where they can find you online and write a review.

*Consider—and implement—feedback. Let’s say several customers leave reviews on a product and offer similar feedback on how it can be improved. Or, perhaps they share thoughts on something they’d like to see that you don’t currently offer. You may want to modify an existing product based on that feedback, or even create something new. You don’t necessarily need to revamp your whole product line.

We’ve seen a great example of this kind of thing locally – one of our favorite Kansas City sandwich shops named a breakfast sandwich after a regular customer. Those sorts of actions signal to your customers that you truly value their opinions and their business, which will likely inspire more reviews. Plus, this will also boost your word-of-mouth marketing—the customers whose feedback you incorporate into your product or service will spread the word among their own networks, increasing your reach–both online and off.

A word to the wise? Whatever idea you employ to help get more customer reviews, just make sure you don’t revert to spammy tactics in order to entice business. You can offer product samples to help educate prospective reviewers, but don’t try to buy them off with merchandise, gift certificates or money. Building a solid network of reviews make take some time, but if you approach the initiative with honest intentions and an ongoing dedication to customer service, your results will be much more powerful in the long run.

How have you encouraged your customers to write online reviews? We’d love to know what’s proven effective for your business. And if you opt to use any of the aforementioned tips, let us know how they work!

Online Reviews: How To Encourage People To Review Your Business is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

When you write a blog post, you probably include an image (and if you’re not, here’s a tip: start now!) Newsflash? You can optimize those images for search, too, which will serve to boost your content’s appearance in search results. Not only will this help increase your visibility, but can also boost your click-throughs, ad views and AdSense impressions, according to a post on Michael Gray’s Graywolf’s SEO Blog.

So how do you go about optimizing images for search? With the help of MarketingProfs, I’ve got a few handy tips that can easily be incorporated in your next blog post.

• When naming the file, include keywords. If you’re stumped, you might want to look at the keywords/tags in your blog post and use those to help generate ideas. Just don’t try to cram too many keywords into one file name. For example, if you’re writing a blog on energy-efficient lighting and you have an image of a compact fluorescent lightbulb, you could name the file CFL_energysavings; CFL_benefits; or CFL_greenproducts, to name a few.

• Help optimize your post’s important images by including bolded keywords or a heading tag in text that immediately precedes the image.

• When you write captions, include the search term at the front (as long as it makes sense to be there.)

• In image optimization, size does matter! Don’t go smaller than 100 x 100 or larger than 1,200 x 1,200.

If you’re already familiar with SEO, these tips are simple enough to incorporate and will quickly become habit as you format images for your blog posts. The result? You’ll likely end up with higher search visibility, which not only ensures your content is seen by a wider audience—you may find that it helps you grow your business, too. And what’s not to love about that?

I’d love to know if you’re currently optimizing your images for search. If so, how’s it working?

How To Optimize Your Blog Post Images For Search is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

I read about Qwiki on the T2+Back Alley Films’ blog and have been thinking about it ever since. Qwiki was introduced during a TechCrunch Disrupt session this fall and can potentially impact search in a big way.

Oh, and when you win top honors at an event that introduces innovative tech companies to the world, well, I’m thinking people might want to start paying attention. Not to mention that during a recent financing round, one of Qwiki’s largest investors is none other than Eduordo Saverin – Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg’s one-time partner and the source for the movie, The Social Network.

Today, you type something into Google or Bing and get a list of links that you troll through looking for information that suits your needs.

Qwiki delivers interactive video presentations that pull dynamic information from a myriad of sources. They call it an “information experience” and what makes it even more killer is that each piece of information that’s pulled into the presentation is an interactive reference tool.

Qwiki’s goal is simple: to forever improve the way people experience information.

Even more exciting, at least to this social media loving geekazoid, is Qwiki’s intention to roll out products for small businesses and social media users. These tools will allow users to create Qwikis based on their social media aggregate, integrating Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc., into their personalized Qwikis. Sweeeeet. Think about it – it’s pretty cool. And yes, cooler than a Google Places page – at least from an experience standpoint.

Or, from a business standpoint, think about how a small business could integrate reviews from Yelp, Gowalla and tips from Foursquare, maybe even include information and reviews from sites like Merchant Circle into their personalized Qwikis.

People like to do more than just see and read things, and being able to dive into an interactive experience seems beyond cool to me – and I think the Qwiki development team are thinking the same thing. The T2 + Back Alley blog quotes Qwiki CEO Doug Imbruce saying that their ultimate goal is to become “ubiquitous layer that augments the traditional web” and I think they may be onto something.

Check out the Qwiki of The Eiffel Tower and you can see instantly why they hooked me. And if you want to see how social media information can be easily aggregated into a Qwiki, check out Gregory Smith’s Qwiki. And for a Qwiki related to current events, check out the Nuclear Power Qwiki and related content.

Qwiki at TechCrunch Disrupt from Qwiki on Vimeo.

As my friend and fellow tech geek Ron Callari writes, “it will be interesting to see how the grand-daddy of search, Google will react” to the goodness that is Qwiki. Visual data and results are infinitely more interesting, at least to me, than endless links and text search results. Time will, most certainly, tell.

Oh, I know, you’re already over on the Qwiki site, figuring out how to make your own Qwiki … you’re welcome! And Qwiki is in alpha testing phase now – sign up if you want to be a part of it.

Image credit: Ron Callari

Qwiki: Making Search An Experience is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Google now uses business reviews as part of its methodology in determining search rankings. And businesses who aren’t paying attention to this are doing themselves a disservice. There are all kinds of research out there that show customers read and rely on online reviews when it comes to making purchasing decisions, so integrating this element of local search strategy into your marketing efforts just makes sense.

Oh yeah. You better believe it. Online reviews most definitely convert into offline sales. We covered this in a recent webinar series and it’s so important we wanted to write about it, too. And if you’re interested enough that you want to dive deeper into local search and other SEO focused strategies for business, check out the webinar series here.

Back to business. Business reviews impact search rankings – not an opinion, it’s a fact.

There are a myriad of business, large and small, who stand to benefit from online reviews. Some examples of small businesses include dentists, an eyeglass shop, a neighborhood bakery, travel agency or wedding planner. And examples of medium-sized businesses who might likewise benefit from reviews include fitness clubs, restaurant chains, hardware stores, the local UPS franchise pack and ship shops or large medical practices. There are many others, these are just a few that came immediately to mind.

Here’s what positive reviews can do for you:

• They increase your rank by linking important and relevant websites to your website.

• If there are a constant stream of positive reviews, this only helps increase and improve your online reputation. Let’s go back to the dentist example. If you were in the market for a new dentist and went online searching in your geographic area, would you be more inclined to patronize the dentist with 40 positive reviews or the one with 2? I’m pretty sure we both know the answer to that one.

• Positive reviews drive traffic. Period. Believe it.

• Positive reviews can help counterbalance any negative ones you might receive, by pushing them lower. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that negative reviews won’t happen – they will – it’s just human nature. But many positive reviews will help persuade prospective customers that a negative review or two should be taken with a grain of salt.

• Positive reviews on relevant directories help you get a leg up on the competition. Hard to argue with that one. So don’t. Believe it.

Hey, I’m just a marketer. Don’t take my word for this search business – let’s talk to an expert. My good friend, Gabriella Sannino, owner of Level 343 a full service SEO and copywriting consulting company, has this to say:

Google is investing heavily in functionality tying into a user’s geographical location. Local search is becoming more vital and valuable every single day. Sentiment analysis or reviews is far from perfect yet, but positive reviews are always a good idea for a business. Get listed on relevant local business directories and try to get positive reviews there. Keep in mind relevance is key and don’t forget to keep your eyes on and control of your Online Reputation Management (ORM) in the process.

Bottom line – business reviews are an important part of local search strategies for many businesses. Here’s an example of what they look like when they show up in search:

If you want to grow your business – or your clients’ businesses – in the coming year, turn your attention to reviews as part of your overall search efforts and we think you’ll be happy with the results you’ll see.

5 Reasons to Focus on Business Reviews For Search is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Clueless. An apt description. And not so very long ago, I was pretty clueless about SEO and how important it is for business and, more importantly, for business growth. But now I know better. SEO is, quite simply, smart business practice.

SEO is reality. If you want people to buy what you’re selling – I don’t care if it’s cruises, ponies or marketing consulting services, paying attention to SEO should be a critical component of your marketing strategy.

Fact: Only 90 some percent of people go online to find products or services that they want to buy – and if they can’t find you there, dude, you’re on your way to being out of business.

Back to me. After taking some time off when I had the twin terrorists, I was slightly stir-crazy and ready to kick butt again. Never mind that my husband was glad for some help with carrying the family financial load and my colleagues were chomping at the bit. Oh, and I’m a little bit Type A (shhhh) – and don’t like to mess around. I wanted to grow the agency and was ready for warp speed kind of action. I also wanted to be more effective at what we were doing for our clients because – when it all comes down to it, the proof is in the pudding, right? If they do what we tell them to do - and it works – we all win. And if they trust us and don’t see results, we get the axe. And I don’t know about you, but we’re not in the business of aiming to fail. Oh, and the crummy economy and scarcity of marketing budgets contributed a teensy bit to our collective motivation to do more, and do better, and make sure that what we did worked.

So I was on a mission. I started paying attention. Started listening to people who are way smarter than I am. And there are tons of them, btw. And then I started learning about the importance of search and how to integrate it into what we were doing – for V3 and for our clients. I can’t say this without sounding like a cheesy infomercial, but I’m going to say it anyway – it changed everything about our business.

Learning about SEO and using it – on our website, on the blog, for our clients – totally changed the way we do business and how we allocate and focus our efforts. And it allowed us to reap some very real rewards. More business, happier clients, more fun doing what we all love doing. Score!

SEO can help small businesses level the playing field and compete against bigger businesses with bigger budgets. Knowing some basics about what to do on your website, how to utilize local search to your benefit (it all starts with local search, you know) and, if you’re blogging (or want to be), knowing how to write effectively from an SEO standpoint, can make all the difference in the world. The difference between having no one visit and read your blog or check out your website and having hundreds of people a day (or more) come check out what you’ve got going on is like the difference between sitting on the bench, waiting for some action, or playing in the doggone Super Bowl. Cheeze-o-rama - but you get my point.

Again, I can’t even write this post without sounding like an infomercial and that’s not my intent. I’m trying to tell you my story so that you realize that I didn’t always know about this stuff and might have even been where you are now. Feeling like there’s so much to learn and having no idea where to start or where to find the time (or the money). I still have a lot to learn – we all do – and there are never enough hours in a day, you know the drill.

And when it appears as though I’m just gabbing it up on Twitter or Facebook every day or every evening, when normal people (whatever that is) are working or doing fun stuff, or watching TV or riding their bikes (like Gini Dietrich), I’m also checking out links and reading blogs and soaking up information from really smart people – and doing all I can to quench my apparently never-ending thirst for knowledge. And I’m constantly focusing on how to improve what we do and what we can deliver for our clients. And the more I learn, the more successful I am and the more successful my team is – and the more our agency grows. I can’t be any more of a straight shooter than that. I worship at the altar of the SEO gods – for good reason. It’s not the only thing you can do to grow your business, but it’s a really, really important component.

SEO can make a difference in your business. That’s not an opinion, people, it’s a fact. If you want some references who can attest to that, let me know and we’ll hook you up with some of those aforementioned really smart people. People like Gabriella Sannino, or Lisa Barone, or Danny Sullivan, or Travis Wright or Lyle Hawkins – and those are just a few people that we stalk and learn from on a regular basis. If you’re not not doing the same, stop what you’re doing and get to know them. Now. Trust me on this one.

So there. And while I don’t know it all, I know how to put on a doggone good webinar. And if you want to learn more about SEO come join me and Erika Napoletano, a/k/a Redheadwriting, Mike Belasco and Alysson Fergison as we put on a webinar series with our friends at Thinking Bigger Business Media. The cost of this three webinar series is just $77 and if you use discount code sk976 you can get a 10% discount.

Isn’t your business worth a lousy $70? If you think so, come and join us. You’ll be glad you did. And if you participate and don’t learn a ton, I’ll eat a pile of you-know-what that those doggone ponies of Redheadwriting’s leave all over the yard. And post the pictures on YouTube.

Register now. Use Discount Code sk976 and save 10%. See you there – at least I hope so!

Clueless Is Not An Excuse. SEO Matters. is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

SEO, SEO, SEO. Think of it as being sung to the tune of “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.” Okay, now that I’ve got you in the holiday mood, let’s cut the crap.

SEO. Like it or not, it matters. Search engine optimization. A mere 90 some percent of people head to the Internet to search for products or services they want, need and are ready to buy. If your business isn’t built and marketed to take full advantage of that, what are you doing? What are you waiting for? Holding out because you’re too busy? It might cost money? Or are you thinking that if you just wait it out, it’ll change. And people will head back to phone books and the daily newspaper to tell them where to find solutions to their problems.

Riiiiiight.

Erika Napoletano, your favorite Redheadwriting, and I are working with our friends at Thinking Bigger Business Media on a series of webinars for business. This month’s webinar series is all about SEO and at the ridiculously low price of $77, there’s no reason for you not to be there. Plus, you can take away the information from these seminars and immediately put it to use for your business – or for your clients – and what’s not to like about that?

Here’s what’s in store:

PART 1 – SEO for Business: A Crash Course
Tuesday, December 7, 2-3pm CST

Every question about SEO you were afraid or embarrassed to ask! You’ve heard why SEO is important and how other businesses are benefitting, but isn’t it time to put your business in a league WITH and then AHEAD of the rest? This introductory session will cover the basics of Search Engine Optimization, such as on and off page SEO tactics, how the search engines “see” web pages, an overview of local search and dispel myths. It is a primer to prepare you for the second webinar in the series, Local SEO: Cultivate Your Neighborhood, which covers the essentials for every business owner on local SEO and how to attract the attention of customers in your own backyard.

PART 2 – Local SEO: Cultivate Your Neighborhood
Thursday, December 9, 2-3pm CST

Whether you’re a business with a brick-and-mortar footprint or consultant/agency working with them, you can’t ignore local Search Engine Optimization and the value it brings to a business. No buzzwords – just actionable strategies you can IMMEDIATELY use to improve your relevance to the search engines for local search. Learn about which directories are worth your time, how your listings in them and your website are related and how your existing customers can help you improve your rankings.

PART 3 – SEO for Blogging
Tuesday, December 14, 2-3pm CST

If you’re going to blog, you might as well do it right. We hate to waste our time and we’ll never waste yours. This webinar will take elements from the previous two and expand on them to give you the tools for a powerful, search engine-relevant blog. Learn about WordPress plugins that essentially do the SEO work for you, how to have both a personality AND a SEO-rich blog and simple, actionable things you can do on your blog today that will improve how the search engines see each and every blog you post!

We’re joined by some awesome talent for these webinars:

Mike Belasco is President of seOverflow, headquartered in Denver, CO. He’s a big geek, which immediately endears him to us. For obvious reasons. In addition to the geekishness, he’s a sought after speaker at national industry events and conferences, including: Search Engine Strategies (SES), Search Marketing Expo (SMX), Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland (SEMpdx), and Business Marketing Association (BMA) events. Mike is also a member of Google’s Advisory Board, making their firm one of the decision makers and first to know of the latest changes in search.

Alysson Fergison, is the Founder of SEOAly, an SEO consulting firm that also does keyword research, audits and on-site SEO problem resolution, WordPress website and blog design and development for small business. Aly is the antithesis of the corporate bobblehead yes-man … er, woman, and that’s one of the reasons that Erika and I like her so much. She speaks our language. No BS, tells it like it is, and helps clients solve problems on a daily basis.

Both of these smarties also regularly help US deliver better results for our clients, so we couldn’t be more thrilled to have them participate in this webinar series. In short, we drink their Koolaid and like it. Oh yeah.

So don’t delay, click on over and give YOURSELF and your business a little early holiday present. Register for this webinar and start doing what you know you need to be doing – now. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll be able to do after you finish up with this series. Plus, it’s more quality bonding time with me and The Redhead – what’s not to like about that?

And for those of you who’ve not participated before, these sessions are audiotaped and available after the live broadcast, in case you want to review and/or missed one of the sessions, so there are no worries there. We’ll also be doing some cool giveaways for registered attendees before the webinar series, and if you want one head on over to Thinking Bigger Business Media’s Facebook page and “like” .. then leave a note, something pithy like “I was here. I’m coming to the webinar. Sign me up for something cool” and you never know what you’ll get in return.

See you there!

SEO Strategies Webinar With Me And The Redhead is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

As much as it pains me to admit it, every single time I reach for a bag of potato chips (which I love), or a piece of chocolate, or a ding dong cookie, an image of that annoying Joyce Cherrier and her perfect abs pops into my head. That doesn’t mean I don’t buy the chips, eat the chocolate and hide the cookies from my kids. Au contraire. It does, however, mean that my friendship with Joyce and her admirably devoted to fitness and nutrition self makes me stop and think about the consequences of eating yet another piece of crap. And, as much as it pains me to say, never mind write, it probably does make me eat less. And, loathe as I am to admit it, I even subscribe to and actually read her doggone healthy blog, which makes me at least FEEL more buff, even if I’m not.

Joyce makes me better.

And when I’m writing a blog post, whenever I feel like mailing it in, I stop and think of my friend, Erika Napoletano, the infamous Head Redhead at Redheadwriting. She’s a magician with words and crafts them in a way that always inspires me. Whatever there is to say, whomever it is saying it, Erika can and does do it so very eloquently. And I’m not just talking about her say anything persona. It’s about so much more than that. She’s an incredible writer, knows more about writing for maximum SEO than I can ever hope to, is an amazingly adept researcher and has a way of wrangling the written word that’s better than just about anything I’ve seen. I’m in awe. She also taught me to pay myself first. And it’s a mantra that I repeat to myself, and anyone else who will listen, on a daily basis. That means regularly remembering to do things for yourself – like write a blog post, or optimize your site for search, or anything else that impacts your business or your life – every single day. Before you take care of everyone else. Because if you don’t’ take care of yourself, who else is going to do it?

Erika makes me better.

And when I’m thinking about who I want to be when I grow up, if I ever grow up, I think of Liz Strauss. She’s so dead on smart that it almost takes my breath away. She forces me to ask tough questions and never just be satisfied with the quick and easy answer. Liz dives deep into the middle of just about everything and doesn’t ever settle until she’s found the answer she’s looking for. The one that makes sense. And when I’m with her or talking on the phone with her or just thinking about her, I find myself wanting to be sure and think things all the way through. The way that Liz would. I love the way she pulls people together and supports them, whether it’s through her blog, SOBCon, her SOB awards and directory and a myriad of other things. And she pushes them (even when they don’t think they want to be pushed) and pulls more out of them than they thought they had to give. She manages to magically create a feeling of community out of even the most mundane experiences, before anyone even realizes what’s happening. She’s a teacher, a mentor, a strategist, a connector, a facilitator, a brilliant thought leader and all of those terrific qualities are wrapped up in just about the nicest person ever. With whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Liz makes me better.

That’s me. There are more. But this is my start. What about you? Who makes you better? Won’t you tell me who they are and why? I’d love to know who inspires you. Then I’ll stalk them my own self!

Who Makes YOU Better? is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Squish 'em like a bug, baby

Dear Competitor,

I couldn’t sleep last night and found myself thinking of you. I love competition, both for myself and for my clients. It keeps me thinking (which I enjoy), on my toes (good, because I’m short) and adaptable (which I find, perversely, fun). And while I was thinking of you, I felt compelled to write, just to make sure we’re on the same page on a few things.

And, of course, because I’m nice. And I worry about your business and how it’s going to measure up against me and my clients’ businesses. And just because I’m so doggone considerate, here are my suggestions for your success in 2010 and beyond.

Your Website
Please don’t change it. Not now, and not any time soon. Especially if it was built more than two or three years ago. I’m sure it’s totally up-to-date, optimized for search, well-researched and written with regard to your target audience and just out there working its little tail off for you on a daily basis. Give yourself bonus points if it’s built in Flash or has cool things like music that blares as soon as someone opens the site and or video that starts playing instantly. Those are both such attractive things and users really, really love them. Nevermind effective out the wazoo.

Google Alerts
No matter what anyone says, it really doesn’t matter what people are saying about you or your brand, so cluttering up your email box with pesky alerts from Google is just a waste of time. Plus, you know who you are and what you do, and if anyone has any questions, they can ask you, right? But listening to the social media space and all those Internet crazies, nah. Don’t do it!!

Search Smirch
All these people going on and on and on about “search” and how important it is to show up in search – which means that Google thing, I guess. Lord, but I get sick of hearing about that, too. Well, ignore ‘em. Seriously. When I want to search something, I do it the old-fashioned way, I dig out the Yellow Pages. I see you nodding your head. You do it, too, dontcha? Well, there’s no reason to expect your customers or prospective customers to do it any differently, right? After all, if people weren’t using those doggone Yellow Pages books, they wouldn’t still be delivering them to your front door, now would they? So ignore all that blather about search – people will find you the way they always have. You can count on it.

Social Media
Listen to the people! All the people who say that social media is just a big, fat, time suck are right! Nobody in his right mind cares what people are Tweetering about what they had for breakfast, what someone else is “fanning” on Facebook, or where they are checking in on a daily basis through that FourCircle thing – or whatever the heck it’s called. And for sure, that geolocation stuff blows and is so not worth a second thought. Who needs to know where anyone else is throughout the course of a day? What possible good could come from that, anyway? Never mind that Blippy thing, where people tell other people all what they’re buying and where they’re buying it, for Pete’s sake. How lame is that? Where’s the ROI in all that nonsense, anyway? Time suck. Money suck. No way, Jose. Not for me.

Mobile Marketing – What?
Sure, I use my cell phone and text my husband now and again, but that’s the exception rather than the rule. Heck, I can just call him. And when he doesn’t answer, I leave him a voicemail. And of course he listens to it (it’d be rude otherwise). It’s just what you do. Call people, they answer, you talk. All these crazy people talking about mobile marketing and using text messages as part of a marketing strategy don’t know a hill of beans about good marketing tactics – no one will stand for that garbage. Plus, who needs a coupon on the cell phone – I get mine in my daily newspaper, dude. Never mind how nutty it is to read all that shiggedy about people actually designing stuff – like websites – to be viewed on the dang cellphone. How crazy is that? Nobody does that stuff. Heck, I wait until I’m home and in front of my desktop before getting on the Internet – and everyone else who has a lick of sense does too, don’t you know it?

So, there you have it. I’ve saved you a bunch of time, expense and headaches by doing all the homework for you and sharing my findings. Just keep on keeping on, doing business the way you always have, and things will be just fine. After all, no one likes change and it’s a pain in the neck to learn new things and do things differently. It’s kind of like watering grass in the desert. Just doesn’t make sense.

Now does it?

Dear Competitor, is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Don’t you remember your mother’s admonition about not wearing ratty underwear in case of an accident?  Well, I’m pretty sure that we ALL have some of those kinds of underwear stashed in our drawers.  And as we all know, accidents do happen.  What she really meant by that adage was that you always want to put your best foot forward – even down to the nitty gritty of your choice of underwear, because you never know who’s going to be looking at them.

I’m not sure why we insist on keeping things that are beyond their prime.  For some, it might be out of a sense of frugality, but for many, it’s truly because change is hard.  And that, my friends, is the key.  Change. Is. Hard.

For me, websites are a bit like tattered underwear.  I encounter terrific people on a daily basis who have websites that are sadly outdated and doing absolutely nothing for them in terms of search, brand image, awareness, etc.  And anyone who thinks they are not being judged based on the look and feel, content and effectiveness of their website is simply fooling themselves.

We have a client who owns a local small business.  When we started working with her, she had a website that was about 10 years old and was more horrible than words can describe.  In short, it was so poorly constructed that she had never, ever been picked up by a search engine.  It was head-shakingly horrid. And she’d just been holding onto it because she didn’t know any better.  And she thought that to replace it would cost infinitely more than she could afford.  But, ultimately, she made the decision to trust us, find the money in an already tight budget, and redo her website.   And she was thrilled when we brought the project in $200 under budget.  We also started her blogging, integrated a contest into her marketing strategies and did a few other things designed to drive traffic, search and awareness.

We are big believers in using ethical search engine marketing tactics and go to great lengths to ensure that our clients understand that great search results take a little time.  We got amazingly lucky with regard to this particular client and she started showing up in search within a very short time of the website launch.  And the coolest thing about all of this is just being able to sit back and watch our client reap the benefits of her leap of faith into the world of actually marketing her business in a strategic manner.  She’s busier than she’s ever been.  Her phone rings on a daily basis, she gets email inquiries from all over the world. Her biggest problem these days is having enough staff to handle the influx of business.  And it’s all because people are searching for what it is that she does – and finding her.  She is loving life and her business is thriving, in spite of the down economy, and it’s all because she decided to take a chance. She decided to toss out the old, worn out, ineffective stuff and replace it with new.

The lesson here is that change is good. And necessary.  Even if you are attached to your tattered undies, you have to occasionally toss them out and buy new ones. They look better, they fit better, they feel better.  They do a better job at what it was they were designed to do.  The same is true of your website or other collateral marketing materials and tools that you have. Just because you designed them once, doesn’t mean that they are still effective.  Smart business people regularly evaluate those tools and their effectiveness. And, if you’re not doing that, you’re doing your brand and your business an injustice.

Time to Toss the Tatters is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency