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Attention, please

May 4, 2011/in Blogging, Business Management, Inbound Marketing, Strategy, Websites

do not click here, not the video

Frazzled? Me, too. Leave it to Chris Brogan to help us find our ‘center’. Check out his short video entitled, “What Has Your Attention“. He sure set me straight. I think this is something that all entrepreneurs and small business folks struggle with. Sometimes there are so many choices of what you COULD do that you lose track of what you SHOULD do.

Now, it’s time to get down to work. I will do something that will make me profitable and happy. (Repeat 3 times softly)

My Focus

Here are five things I plan to do to make that happen; per his suggestion, three are work related and two are personal.

1. Write 3 blogs

2. Add a page to my web site, SocialEnergizer.com

3. Finish up with that ‘dangling’ client (you know the one that’s stuck and needs a gentle nudge)

4. Walk 1/2 hour

5. Pack for vacation

I’ll let you know how I do. How about you? What five things do you need to do TO GET THINGS DONE!

Social Energizer’s purpose is to help companies develop lasting relationships with their customers and increase their conversion rates by adding proven online marketing techniques to their marketing mix.

We do this by integrating inbound marketing techniques into each business’ current marketing plan and by utilizing digital channels and strategies like Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Search Engine Optimization, and Web-integrated Email Campaigns.

We invite you to comment and rate each blog, so we can ever improve our offerings to you.

Free -and Legal- Images for Your Blog

April 26, 2011/in Blogging, Building a Community, Content Management, Google, Inbound Marketing, Search Engines, Small Business, Social Media, Websites, Yahoo

from http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

For basic tips on using images online, please see our blog, Image Basics for Bloggers, from last week.

What is Creative Commons?

In the past, buying photography was expensive and complicated. Royalties needed to be paid and photos were limited to many restrictions on how they could be used. Then along came Creative Commons in 2001, and everything changed. This non-profit corporation started with a cooperative effort between MIT and Harvard Law professors (among others) who realized that the digital revolution altered many past concepts on copyright theory. The ability to work collaboratively, globally, decentralized and create derivative works and collections that were low to no cost were all issues that were eased with the creation of Creative Commons licensing. Click on the following link for more information on Creative Commons licensing.

How do I use a Creative Commons image?

Things are much easier today in the world of social media and inbound marketing. How do you know if it’s legal and IF you’re placing it correctly?

Be sure the image you choose and the way you are using it, applies under the Creative Commons license category shown to the right.
Credit the photographer (a.k.a. attribution)
- If saving the photo, add the contributors’ name into the file name of the image (when downloading or taking a screen shot). example: pen_ParkerDuofoldNib_JanosFeher_Flickr.jpg
- If using a link, HTML or BBCode, review the code to be sure the contributor’s name is included.
Link back to them when you can.

How do I find Creative Commons images?

From Google Image interface

What do you need to do to add photos into your blog or website with little to no cost, legally? Here are a few suggestions.

Google Images offers an “Advanced Image Search” (found just to the right of the standard Google Image search button) that allows you to use images “labeled for commercial use” only. Just click on the blue link and a window similar to this Google image appears. In a search for ‘pens’ you enter the word in the top field and make sure the “labeled for commercial use” is chosen in the field second from the bottom. Membership is not required. Attribution is required.

from Flickr

Flickr has a nice interface for Creative Commons. You choose the level that works for you depending on if you blog to earn money or just for fun. To use an image in Flickr, you click on the bar above the image, as shown in this Flickr image, and grab the Link or HTML/BBCode. The problem with this is that the image is not physically loaded into your site, it’s called ‘hot-linked’ and means it is ‘linked’ to your site through the Internet and does not sit on your directly-accessible servers. Test it to see if your page takes too long to load. Membership is required. Attribution is required.

New, Wylio.com for Creative Commons Images

With all that said, THIS ONE GETS MY VOTE… Wylio.com!

Wylio.com search for pens

Wylio is a slick, new image search engine that only searches for images offered under the Creative Common’s license. Users can be sure that all images offered are free for use. It’s a simple 3-step process: Search for an image, Resize and Position, and Copy and Paste the Code. Bloggers can easily grab the code to place in their blog posts, or for the low cost of $2.99 per month they can buy the premium version of Wylio.com and download the files.

Here’s the best part. Wylio inserts the photographer’s attribution into the code for you, no asking for permission, no wondering if you’re ‘covered’. Grab it and you’re done! With that said, I am testing this ‘hot-linking method’ today for download speeds and performance. Let me know, in the comments section below, if the pen image gives you any trouble. It is a ‘live’ test from Wylio.com.

Join the conversation on Twitter. How do you use images? Have you worried about your images?
Ballpoint Pens photo © 2009 Jana Lehmann | more info (via: Wylio)

Social Energizer’s purpose is to help companies develop lasting relationships with their customers and increase their conversion rates by adding proven online marketing techniques to their marketing mix.

We do this by integrating inbound marketing techniques into each business’ current marketing plan and by utilizing digital channels and strategies like Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Search Engine Optimization, and Web-integrated Email Campaigns.

Still need some help? Give us a call!

Image Basics for Bloggers

April 20, 2011/in Blogging, Building a Community, Content Management, Google, Inbound Marketing, Search Engines, SEO, Social Media, Strategy, Technology, Websites

Attract their attention

When it comes to blogging, we all know that it takes great content to attract attention. Part of this is the written content, but just as important part are the visuals you find to support your words. Yes, the secret is in the pictures. Adding just 2 images can increase the time someone stays on your blog by up to 300%. This happens because a person’s eyes are drawn to the photo and they study it. If the photo is good enough to attract their attention, then they are more likely to read the content.

Keep it simple for the web

The two nicest things about using photos on the web is 1) aesthetically, they do not need to be ‘photo shoot’ quality and 2) by file-size standards, they can be small, low-resolution images.

What do these two things mean to you? Not needing to hire models, hire a dedicated professional photographer and buy props will save you thousands. Thousands you probably wouldn’t want to spend anyway. And by being able to save your images at a small file size, lower resolution of 72dpi (dots per inch), allows you lots of flexibility. But again, what does that all mean? It means that you can practice, practice, practice on your low-cost digital camera, smart phone and scanner then quick and easily post them to your website and blog.

How to pick an image?

To choose an image, you really just need to tie the writing and the topic together. I do that by closing my eyes, thinking ‘big idea’ and seeing what comes to mind. A 30 second brainstorm. It usually works and my first impressions are usually the best ones.
Simple doodles, scanned on a low-cost scanner, and household items, taken with a digital camera, make great fodder for blogging images. Here are some examples based on topic:

Confusion, use a quickly drawn question mark and scan it
Buy Local, take a quick shot of your dad or uncle farming
Strategy, take a quick shot of Monopoly, or your favorite boardgame pieces
Sustainability, take a picture of your recycling by the curb
Planning, scribble out a ‘flow chart’ on a scrap of paper and scan it

See! That wasn’t so hard, was it? Keep it simple. That’s what works for blogs. Just tie it in to your topic and you’re all set.

Then what?

After you have your images, you can save them at 72dpi, which is usually a default setting on your camera (lowest quality). I suggest for the first few months of blogging you take lots of pictures and label them with keyword(s). Put them in a folder labeled for images that you created (and own).

Pay attention to events you may attend for that perfect photo opportunity. For added impact, give your camera to friend and have them take some pictures of you, the author. Little by little, you’ll perfect your skills and build that perfect blogger’s library.

Next week. Finding free and legal images –online.

Social Energizer’s purpose is to help companies develop lasting relationships with their customers and increase their conversion rates by adding proven online marketing techniques to their marketing mix.

We do this by integrating inbound marketing techniques into each business’ current marketing plan and by utilizing digital channels and strategies like Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Search Engine Optimization, and Web-integrated Email Campaigns.

We invite you to comment and rate each blog, so we can ever improve our offerings to you.

Your Website is Your Base Camp, Is It Solid?

March 30, 2011/in B2B, B2C, Building a Community, Content Management, facebook, Get Found, Inbound Marketing, Small Business, Social Media, Strategy, Twitter, Websites

Whether you’re climbing Mt. Everest in the heart of the Himalayas, like adventurers Rhys & Nicky, or leading your company into the world of inbound marketing, your success depends on having a solid base camp. Your website is your base camp.

A Base You Can Rely On

First off, your website is the most important part of your base camp, and making sure that you OWN your website is crucial. If you are unsure if you are the owner of your website, you can check on several registrar websites such as www.who.godaddy.com. If you are not the owner of your domain, you need to make sure that transferring your domain is high on your list of things to do.

Next step in having a solid base camp, is making sure your website is well designed and up to date to represent your hotel at the highest level. Here again, ownership is key. Self-hosted websites are affordable and offer the opportunity to retain all content, analytics and security making it a viable asset for your lodging property.

Closely Located to Your Final Destination

Your website needs to encourage a sense of community, but that is not where your community ‘lives’. Easily visible and friendly links to social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ will provide the conduit from your site to places where you can interact with your community.

Interesting Enough That It Can Be Considered Part Of The Journey

Your site should be intuitive and attractive, certainly even more attractive than the base camp at Mt. Everest. Your blog, if you have one, should contain engaging content that relates to your hotel/resort and brings the customer back time and time again. For more information on blogging, check out our articles:

10 Easy Tips for Better Blogging

So if I have to blog, where do I start

The Place Where You Realize Dreams Can Become Reality

Your engagement on various social network sites drives visitors to your website which is the place where your efforts can be measured best. Google Webmaster Tools and other analytic tools provide a consistent and straightforward means of tracking your traffic.

Your Strategic Centering Point

In the world of inbound marketing, the pull strategy is the rope that allows you to get up the mountain. With each effort, whether it is sharing on social networks, posting interesting videos, or writing interesting content about your area and events, your goal is to “close the sale.” At each step of the relationship with your hotel and potential customers, your website must strategically provide the information they desire and persuade people to proceed to the next step of staying at your property. Strong and compelling call-to-action mechanisms will pull your customers in, guiding both them and yourself to the top of the mountain.
For help creating and inbound marketing base camp, i.e. a company website, give us a call. We’ll be certain to include all vital gear and advice just like the best Mt. Everest Sherpa would.
Social Energizer’s purpose is to help lodging properties develop lasting relationships with their guests and increase their satisfaction and returning visits.
We do this by integrating inbound marketing techniques into each business’ current marketing plan and by utilizing digital channels and strategies like Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Search Engine Optimization, and Web-integrated email campaigns.
We invite you to comment and rate each blog, so we can ever improve our offerings to you.

We invite you to comment and rate each blog, so we can ever improve our offerings to you.

Twitter – The art of tweets, follows and hashtags

March 16, 2011/in Building a Community, Content Management, Convert, facebook, Inbound Marketing, Marketing Technology Optimization, Small Business, Social Media, Strategy, Twitter, Websites

If social media were a three legged stool, then a business website, Facebook site and Twitter account would be the legs of that stool. For businesses wanting to master the art of social media marketing, these sites must be professional looking, elegantly managed creating a seamless brand appearance. They also need to be balanced and leveraged between one another.

This week at Social Energizer, we are focusing on helping people get up and running with Twitter. As mentioned in our earlier blog, Rule 1 for Social Media Measurement, Twitter’s purpose is to generate excitement and rapid discussion. The important metrics are how many people follow you, how often you are retweeted and how often, and which, of your tweets are ‘opened’. By doing all of this you are generating activity, and hopefully, pushing them to your website where you can convert them into an eventual sale. That’s really why we’re here, right?

So, after you open your account, here’s where you start:

The make-up of a tweet

Write a tweet of 140 characters or less: note the number next to the word tweet keeps track of how many characters over or under you are.

The art of the Follow

When you find someone interesting, “follow” them, they’ll likely follow you back. To do that ‘hover’ over their name until a pop-up opens or click on their name and their profile will open for you. Simply select ‘follow’ and watch your numbers begin to grow.

The art of the @

Just need a short example here- I am @SocialLynn, type this into a tweet and it will ‘tweet’ me and let others know that you are talking to me. Yes, they can eavesdrop. That’s kind of the point.

The art of the # hashtags

# is used to find people tweeting about a certain subject.
When using it in your tweet, it allows you to tweet beyond your ‘friends and followers’ base.
Similar to keywords for your blog, #tags can be strategic. You can add people to your twitter account that are interested in the same things. Within www.search.twitter.com, #Science would pull people interested in science. Using that technique, add people likely to be found within the demographics of your target market.

KEY Twitter Strategy

You want to follow and have as MANY people as possible, but keep the numbers somewhat balanced with how many are following you. Don’t be too selective on the ‘who’. Twitter is about numbers. Maybe have a goal of 1,000 the first month, 3,000 the second month and so on. Keep building it until you notice your ‘trackable traffic’ picking up i.e. blog and Facebook when you reference them.

General Twitter guidelines

Soft sell, be useful to others
Tweet/retweet others, more than yourself.
To speak to someone directly use the @ before their name.
Let your friends and colleagues know you are on twitter. Include your Twitter ID on your signature line and business cards (website, facebook url, too)
Don’t feel obligated to keep up with it all. Twitter is a stream. You step into and out of it at your convenience. If you see something you like, tag it as a “favorite” and come back to it. Or send it to yourself as an email.

I recommend linking your Twitter account with your website. I do not recommend linking Facebook and Twitter (personal preference); they seem like different message formats and audiences to me. As part of the three legged stool, have you noticed that I seem to be leaving out Facebook? Check that in our post, First Steps to Successful Marketing on Facebook, it is certainly one-third of the social media equation, I just like to use it differently than Twitter. Facebook is also a tool that pulls people to your website and final call to action. Once again, this threesome should all appear professional looking, elegantly managed and brand integrated. To learn how to do that, just give us a call or drop us a line. Thanks!

SEO Basics: Get the Most from Keywords

February 11, 2011/in Blogging, Content Management, Google, Inbound Marketing, Search Engines, SEO, Web Analytics, Websites, Yahoo

Why do you need Keywords? They lay the foundation for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). And SEO is how you get visitors to your site. It lets people know you exist. Keywords are used by search engines to find a product or service like yours and match it to the customer looking for that.

Close your eyes. Step into your customer’s shoes. Think. If someone were looking for the product or service that you offer, what words would they type? Write down your top ten words that you think they would use. Then write down the top ten phrases that they might use. That’s it. You have the foundation of your brand’s keywords.

As you develop your SEO, stick to these keywords at least until the page becomes ‘found’ or indexed. Use the keywords within your blog articles and web content.

Here are a few quick tips on how to make the most of your keywords for SEO.

Keyword use
Be sure to use keywords in the page title, headings, anchor text, alt text and body copy as often as possible.
Place keywords strategically
The optimal number of keywords is 1-5 keywords per page. Place keywords in your body and bold some of them, preferably in the first sentence or two.
Title
The title of each page should be unique, use keywords and be 70 characters or less. Avoid using symbols because search engine crawlers may not like them.
Meta tags and descriptions
You have the ability to add Meta information; this is behind the scenes and may not be noticeable to readers but it is what search engines search for. Make sure you add Meta titles, keywords and descriptions that focus on the keywords used for each page (i.e. sometimes it can be the bigger idea).
Internal Linking
Link back to blogs or places within your site that reinforce your topic and its keywords. Using yourself and your content as a resource builds your internal links and provides better SEO.

There are many more ways to make your Keywords work for your SEO. This should get you started. If you’d like to learn more, let me know.

Social Energizer’s purpose is to help companies develop lasting relationships with their customers and increase their conversion rates by adding proven online marketing techniques to their marketing mix.

We do this by integrating inbound marketing techniques into each business’s current marketing plan and by utilizing digital channels and strategies like Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Search Engine Optimization, and Web-integrated Email Campaigns.

We invite you to comment and rate each blog, so we can ever improve our offerings to you.

SEO Explained through Analogies

February 8, 2011/in B2B, B2C, Content Management, Get Found, Google, Inbound Marketing, Search Engines, SEO, Small Business, Social Media, Web Analytics, Websites

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can be daunting stuff. It’s the sort of topic that makes one’s eyes glass over and can put the worst insomniacs to sleep. BUT it is one of the four most important elements to Inbound Marketing and is often not understood.

Many consider it the magic behind the curtain. It is not magic –not really. It’s the logical process of improving visibility of a website or web page in search engines without paying for it. When done correctly it can work like magic and is the key to getting found online.

I always like to use analogies when describing concepts like SEO. Explaining complicated ideas is often made easier when tied to something familiar.

Google Search

Think of Google as an American Idol contest, with lots of fledgling talent: some wannabees, a few already working professionals and some previously unknown and untapped artists -all waiting to ‘get found’. The Google engine is Simon Cowell (I know Simon is so –last year, but to me, he’s still ‘Idol’). He has lots of experience measuring talent. He knows what to look for, how to assess it, and compares each one to the other. Once he decides his top picks he places that influence on others, ruling the American Idol world.

While researching for this article, I found a couple analogies from Aaron Wall’s blog SEOBook. Here are my favorite SEO analogies of Aarons:

Link Reputation

search engines follow people – helps explain why new sites tend to not rank well, and how links are seen as votes.
roads and highways – used to describe PageRank and why some votes count more than others.
multiple audiences – used to describe why many types of content are needed to address different audiences, and the importance of creating content that is loved by buyers, linkers, and search engines.
rising tide lifts all boats – used to describe how links to one part of your website help other pages on your website rank better
pet rocks & overpriced dolls – describing how perception becomes reality when describing cumulative advantage, and how some poor quality sites are popular while better content remains hidden

On Page Content

fish and a fishing pole – when explaining how text heavy sites often outrank thin ecommerce sites, I like to call searchers fish and each word on the page an additional fishing pole in the water. This is really powerful when used in combination with analytics data, showing her the hundreds of phrases that people searched for to find a given page on her site…helping her see the long tail as schools of fish.
Don’t Make Me Think – people scan more than they read. Large blocks of text are imposing. People are more likely to read well formatted content that uses many headings, subheadings, and inline links. Expect people to ignore your global navigation, and do whatever you ask them to do (via inline links).

Site Structure

Broadway Street in Manhattan – used to describe the value of descriptive .com domain names, and when describing what top search engine rankings are worth.
a pyramid – when explaining how some phrases are more competitive than others, and how to structure a site.
chapters of a book – used to describe the importance of focused page titles, and how to structure a website.

Do you have a favorite analogy to explain SEO? Was this helpful? Let me know what you think.

Social Energizer’s purpose is to help companies develop lasting relationships with their customers and increase their conversion rates by adding proven online marketing techniques to their marketing mix.

We do this by integrating inbound marketing techniques into each business’s current marketing plan and by utilizing digital channels and strategies like Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Search Engine Optimization, and Web-integrated Email Campaigns.

We invite you to comment and rate each blog, so we can ever improve our offerings to you.

Chris Brogans- What is the Focus and Purpose of Your Blog

January 20, 2011/in B2B, Blogging, Building a Community, Business Management, Content Management, Google, Inbound Marketing, Search Engines, SEO, Small Business, Social Media, Strategy, Websites, Yahoo

I was digging through some of my archives and came across this article from Chris Brogan, one of my favorite thought leaders in the social media arena. It is about the focus and purpose of your blog.

Chris starts by suggesting that you, “Ask yourself that question: what is the focus and the purpose of my blog? Is the purpose of your blog easy to define? What are you aiming towards accomplishing with it? How are you testing whether or not you’re reaching your desired effect?”

Next, he tells the story of his blog history and brings you up to date.

“When I started my blog many years ago (it skittered across several domains before I landed in “real” blog software), it was for fiction. I wrote stories. Then, I wrote about fitness and nutrition. Then, I wrote about self-improvement. Then, I wrote about new media. I went from that into writing about social networks and social media, and then eventually, I moved into how businesses could use social media to improve.

What am I writing about these days? Human business. It’s essentially the idea that relationships and human-shaped experiences serve business much better than cold marketing and afterthought customer service.”

Human business, now that’s an idea that can catch on. At Social Energizer, our philosophy is based on this same principle. Finally, Chris helps you define what it is that you need to do.

“Your blog is a media property. It’s also a tool that allows you to build relationships (should that be of interest), to notify and inform (if you like telling the news), to reflect and react (if you like being a commentator), to report (if that’s something you enjoy doing), or a tool to educate, instruct, or establish thought leadership. It can be a call to action, a lead generator, a showcase for your talents, and many other things.

But your community (or your audience, if you’re not as close to them) is there with an expectation. They are seeking whatever it is you’ve been offering along the way. They want your best, and they want your material to enlighten, entertain, inform, inspire, or any of several other functions.”

One thing Chris doesn’t mention in his article is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Sometimes gaining better SEO can be the main purpose for writing a blog. Consistently changing content on your website will affect your search rankings with the major search engines like Google, Yahoo! And Bing. Initially, I think small business owners care more that customers find their websites, then that they are ‘engaging’ with them. It’s sort of the chicken and the egg thing.

What is the focus and purpose of your blog? If you need help defining it and applying it? Give Social Energizer a call. Our focus is on small businesses. Our purpose is to help integrate inbound marketing techniques into our clients’ current marketing plans.

Even Santa likes Social Media

December 21, 2010/in B2C, Building a Community, Content Management, e-Commerce, Fun, Inbound Marketing, Lead Generation - Nurturing, New Media, Social Media, Trends, Websites

It’s got to be good if Santa likes it. The phenomenon of social media continues into a Christmas-decorated living room near you. Social media are now part of celebrating Santa’s annual visit to children near and far.

Mashable has just posted “9 Ways to Connect With Santa on the Web” so kids can get in touch with Old Saint Nick. Services range from Santa emails to tracking his sleigh in the skies as he delivers presents around the globe. It’s just one more instance of how Social Media pervades our private lives and provides businesses with ways of engaging their customers.

In the true spirit of Christmas giving, most of these services are free and can be found at http://www.emailSanta.com/.

And what do you give in exchange? Your gift is personal contact information and permission to market to you and your little ones.

My Focus

How do I use a Creative Commons image?

How do I find Creative Commons images?

New, Wylio.com for Creative Commons Images

Attract their attention

Keep it simple for the web

How to pick an image?

Then what?

A Base You Can Rely On

Closely Located to Your Final Destination

Interesting Enough That It Can Be Considered Part Of The Journey

The Place Where You Realize Dreams Can Become Reality

Your Strategic Centering Point

3, 2, 1, Twitter: The NASA Tweet up Shuttle Discovery Launch

“Mario” – SXSW 2011 Film Bumper

More Gary Vaynerchuck –he was a busy boy

Matt Mallenweg, WordPress/Automatic

The art of the Follow

The art of the @

The art of the # hashtags

KEY Twitter Strategy

General Twitter guidelines