Alberta Business Marketing

Is your head buried in the sand or does your technology organization understand and leverage the powers of online marketing, search engine optimization and social media to share information, content and advice with your community and client base?

Hello from Toronto and the 2010 Search Engine Strategies conference.  David and I are guests at this years Canadian stop and enjoying a great opportunity to share best practices and ideas with many of our peers in the online community.  It is great to actually see faces in this usual face-less world that is emerging.

It is no secret that the online search world is evolving, is your business prepared for the upcoming changes or are you still attempting to catch up with older techniques?

Today’s age of the knowledge worker empowers users and search is one of the most important ways many learn about what you have to offer and teach the market about your offerings. Search can be a complex yet adaptive strategy and the time is now businesses large and small to take control of how and where people find them online.

Interested in understand the latest on how Google’s search techniques impact the marketplace? Does Microsoft’s advertising strategy tweak your curiosity but allow prospects to find you?

The 2010 Toronto Search Engine Strategies may just have the answers for you. Now underway at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Toronto this annual event brings the sharpest minds together for 2 days of intense collaboration on search engine techniques and facilitates the sharing of best practices amongst conference delegates.

It is no secret that the Internet is evolving and the way small business across North America look at new ways to market their business challenges even the sharpest of marketing minds. SES 2010 provides a forum for online marketers to learn the latest techniques on effective link building, pay-per-click advertising, social media tactics, real-time search effectiveness and many more business and marketing strategies.

Now in it’s seventh year, SES Toronto is organized and programmed by the SES Advisory Board and SearchEngineWatch.com, the leading authority on Search Engine Marketing (SEM), including Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click.

What are some of the emerging trends? Is it Google’s recently announced “Caffeine”, which is a complete overhaul on how Google indexes websites? Will this shift from crawling the net looking for content to a real-time database of online content change the way many of our VAR businesses show up on search results?

Will Social Media continue the onslaught that has attracted the attention from experts, enthusiasts and hobbyists? Gobbling up the attention span of business professionals to casual surfers across everywhere? How important will Facebook and Twitter be in the next year? Will the “instant on” social media services play impact search results and help position business when prospects look for products and services? “We can’t continue to keep our heads in the sand.” states Ulistic Senior Advisor David West.

These questions and others will be discussed in the keynotes, breakouts and in the hallways throughout the 48-hour conference in downtown Toronto. Peter Morville, President of Michigan’s Semantic Studios kicked it all off with his morning keynote address on how search patterns influence the decisions and actions people make. “We really need to understand our users and the vocabulary and the words they use,” said Morville, talking on understanding how people search for information throughout many facets of Internet, mobile and Internet search.

Follow Search Engine Strategies on Twitter #SESTO.

Tags: advertising strategy, Advisor, Business/Finance, David West, Facebook Inc, google, Google Inc., impact search results, Internet Marketing, Internet search, knowledge worker, Michigan, Microsoft Corporation, North America, online community, online content, online marketers, online search world, pay-per-click advertising, Peter Morville, President, President of Michigan, real-time search effectiveness, Reprise Media, search engine, Search engine marketing, search engine optimization, Search Engine Strategies, search engine techniques, Search Engine Watch, search results, search techniques, SES 2010, social media, social media services, social media tactics, technology organization, Technology/Internet, toronto, Twitter Inc, Vertical search, Web search engine, World Wide Web
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Are websites really relevant in todays’ social web? I subscribe to a great and very informative blog by marketing expert Scott Brinker.   Recently one of his discussion points was on the concept of a website in today’s social web.  Go ahead and check out his article 3 nimble trends changing content and marketing, it makes for some very interesting reading on where we may be heading in the marketing world.

It was Scott’s article that sparked the thought in me about relevance and business websites.

Are these Internet billboards really necessary when we have so many different forms factors online to consume information?

I don’t know the answer to this question or maybe I do and need to write about to figure it all out.  Half of me is torn one way while the other half torn in the opposite direction.  For those who follow this blog and my number of different blogs focused on business in Calgary and Canadian business know that I have a passion for creating content.  So much this is my career, working with small business on crafting and creating their online communications strategy.  I am so blessed to have a faithful following of people who check in almost daily for new information that either comes from my colleagues like Scott or stuff I just think about.  We don’t have a website for these content service, just a blog…and for all argument sakes a blog is really a website with dynamic content.

My argument for business “owning” their website (notice I didn’t say having) is this.  Your website serves a great place for your static business content.  Information about your products and services, history of the company and a run down of all the great things you do.  Some of you even transact through your website.  However, more and more of the leading websites are now combining traditional static information with bits and pieces of dynamic content thrown in just for fun.

Your business marketing site (your website) is your sales and marketing engine online.  David and I work hard each day and focus our services at Ulistic on educating small business owners across North America on the value of investing in the ownership of the entire web presence through our Ulistic Coaching and Online Mentoring Program.  Not just a simple website but an interactive marketing machine that converts visitors to prospects for your business.

The demand for this knowledge of communicating online is overwhelming some days however it is truly rewarding.

What does this really mean?

I believe websites for small business are an investment.  A well performing website is a huge asset to any corporation, especially one that has proven conversion results.  So yes, a business must have a marketing website to market their business online and one that blends all the social interaction required in today’s world.

I think I just answered my own question.

Here is a great quote I pulled off of Scott’s blog and it really sums it up.

Nic Newman of the BBC:
You can’t afford to [create] a piece of content for any one platform. Instead of crafting a website, you have to put more effort into crafting the description of an asset and the different bits of an asset, so they can be reused more effectively, so they can deliver more value.

Tags: blog, business marketing site, Business Success, Business/Finance, Calgary, Computing, Internet billboards, Modal logic, North America, online communications strategy, Online Mentoring Program, Scott Brinker, social web, technology, Technology/Internet, ulistic, web presence, website, World Wide Web
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A tip of my hat goes out to my good friend Joseph from the Power Within.  These guys pulled off another excellent event yesterday (Thursday May 20th, 2010) here in the Stampede City.  The keynote speaker was hockey legend and captain of the Canadian Women’s Hockey Gold Medal Champions Haley Wickenheiser, no wait she was the last speaker, does that make her the headlining act?  Did the 42nd President of the Free World open for a Canadian Hockey Gold Medalist?

Actually, it was William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States who most people came to see (at least the business community who left shortly after the President’s address) to a near sold out crowd during the recent Power Within stop at the Telus Convention Centre.  Mr. Clinton was purely sensational and highly engaged with every single person in the crowd during his keynote address and Question/Answer period with Salida Capital President and CEO, Ms. Courtenay Wolfe.

Bill Clinton’s stop in Calgary wasn’t his first and chances are it will not be his last.  I highly recommend next time he is in town, you get out and see him. Bill spoke on a number of topics including the importance of shutting down the coal-burning electric generators, the energy sector in North America as a whole and any discussion with a former President wouldn’t be complete without his views on the economy.

What I really grabbed onto the most was Bill Clinton’s passion for every single cause he works on and especially the importance of ending hunger worldwide.  Through the William J. Clinton Foundation, he strives daily to end things such as childhood obesity, famine, HIV/AIDs and a number of other great causes.  He even gets along with the 43rd President, George W. Bush as the two work together on some efforts.

How does Mr. Clinton’s address effect a Calgary Online Marketing person like myself?  Mr. Clinton shared some discussion points on technology and the rapid changes occurring around technology.  Especially how we can leverage these changes to do something good in the world.  It was an eye-opener that was what hit me the most and when I left the Calgary Telus Convention Centre I was thinking to myself, what can I do right now to make a change?

It is no secret that technology is crucial to business today.  It is also crucial to the very existence of us as a race today but I am shocked when I hear about the number of people worldwide without fresh drinking water or proper sanitation.  How can I make a difference here?  After all, I am just a blogger?  Can I increase awareness of the challenges facing our world today.  Bill Clinton did talk about how great of a world we have but how poor we treat it.  Interesting, once again I ask…

How can I make a difference?

Tags: 42nd President, 42nd President of the United States, 43rd President, Arkansas, Bill Clinton, Calgary, canada, Captain, CEO, childhood obesity, Clinton, Clinton Foundation, Courtenay Wolfe, energy sector, Force Majeure, George W. Bush, Haley Wickenheiser, HIV/AIDs, Joseph, keynote speaker, last speaker, North America, Online Marketing person, Politics, President, Salida Capital Corp, Stuart's ramblings, Telus, Telus Convention Centre, TELUS Corporation, The Power Within, United States, William J. Clinton Foundation, William Jefferson Clinton
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Over the past few weeks I have been studying the analytics used to track this blog amongst other sites under the careful eye of our team at Ulistic. I keep asking myself if Search is really all that important in today’s new Internet?  In the early days of the Internet, back in the days of webcrawler.com (which was my search engine of choice), searching for information was a hit and miss affair.  Sure some days you would find what you were looking for and some days maybe not.  Was that because of poor search engine optimization?  My spidey senses say no…maybe just a plain old lack of information online.

Then Google came along…and everything changed.

A new form of Snake Oil Salesmen was invented, “the search engine optimization guru”.  (Today we have social media gurus) Don’t get me wrong with every business comes which is popular attracts Snake Oil Salesmen.  Today, they are everywhere.  Someone looking to make a quick buck scaring small business people into thinking that they business will go under if they don’t do something now.  There isn’t a day that passes where I get solicited from someone who fails to truly identify themselves via email offering to put my site on the first page of the Google search engines.

Your business must have balance…you need to get out and shake hands, get some Vitamin D, go to people where the work, network, have a balanced website, effective search strategies, social media activities and much more…you can’t rest on search engine optimization alone and expect to survive.

Here is my side of the story – I am in the business and work with a number of IT firms, small businesses and others across North America and even I can’t guarantee to you that we will put you on the first page of Google.  Why?  Lots of reasons.  If you follow the best practices that professionals recommend, you have a much better chance of surfacing on the top of the search table. However, who is to say your competitors down the street isn’t after the same goal or that company on the other side of the globe who has repeatedly cut your grass over the past six months.

SEO is something that you firm must invest in.  But, like I said earlier it has to be part of the overall strategy and balanced with everything else you do.  SEO needs to be part of your overall marketing plan just like your business networking, your direct mail pieces and other marketing activities.  It must be part of the long-term vision of the organization and the management team of all organizations who wish to achieve success online must take ownership and be included in the process.

Yes, Search is crucial in today’s business world when it is balanced with all your other activities.

What about social?  Is Social Media the new search?  Will Facebook become the next big search engine?  My crystal ball says “Facebook has the potential”.  Now, search is on a whole new level.  Search enters social and social enters search.  Does it make sense?  Just looking at the web analytics I have to say I am impressed how much traffic comes from linkedin.com, twitter.com and facebook.com on a number of keysites under our watch at Ulistic.

Will we be saying…and then Facebook came along…and everything changed.

Tags: business networking, Business/Finance, Computing, Facebook, Facebook Inc, google, Google Inc., Internet Marketing, Internet search engines, media activities, media gurus, North America, poor search engine optimization, search engine, search engine optimization, search engine optimization guru, search engines, search strategies, search table, Social Media Ventures Inc, Technology/Internet, Vitamin D, web analytics, World Wide Web
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Does your business have a CEO? The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) many times in a small business is also the President, Salesperson, consultant, technician, bottle washer and accountant.  However, the CEO position is an essential role within many successful small and large enterprises.

My good buddy Joe who runs a number of technology blogs recently shared a great article on the topic of CEOs in the Managed IT Services business.  You can read Joe’s article from the MSPMentor.net site here.  Joe mentions he was inspired by an article that appear in Inc. magazine, I will have to track this one down.  Our new client in Tampa who focuses on back to work programs in the US also gave me a copy of Inc. this past week…so now I have to check it out.

What is a CEO? Does your business have one?  Perhaps you have it printed on your business card.  If it is you, are you acting like a CEO?

Joe’s article shares a number of key and highly valid points about what or how a CEO needs to function in their business.  I am sure there are many great examples of “how a CEO should behave” and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Over the past several years, I have worked for a number of people who have called themselves the CEO (some great and some still under development) who have inspired me one way or another in my own personal development.   The one who has inspired me the most from an overall leadership perspective has to be Pat Davis from Passion Parties.

Pat shared with me the importance of “leadership by walking around”.  I still remember discussing these points with her in Passion Parties’ Brisbane, CA office a few years ago.  During that time I was helping Passion Parties with their complete technology overall and also assisting in the move to their new Las Vegas HQ.  Pat and I would often discuss technology in the direct marketing business and how technology will enhance their overall business.  At that time I was working in the small business computer networking business and as a technology professional was very much in development of my own business acumen.

Pat and I would discuss the importance technology will play in business often, but she also told me computers are tools and tools only.  Nothing will ever beat the importance of getting off your backside and walking around the office, getting out in the community and shaking the hands of those around you.  Pat is an expert at speaking with her staff, talking with her consultants and she is the master at leveraging the media.  Just Google her and you will see what comes up.

A CEO in my opinion has to be the face of the organization, you can’t sit in the backroom, head down in your laptop sending out email after email.  A CEO has to get out of the office and meet people eyeball to eyeball.  A CEO has to speak with the media and not be shy of the camera.  A CEO needs to know everyone in their organization and their families (bigger firms will find this a challenge).  A CEO needs to do a lot of the grunt work and it is not an easy job, that is why only a handful do it successfully.

What does this have to do with social media? Social Media services now enhance the reach of a CEO, their circle of trust just got a lot bigger.  Those they can touch and inspire just exploded in size.  A CEO must be a company blogger.  A CEO needs to own the company social media services.  A CEO needs to connect with people and especially connect online.  Did I say the face of the company, yes I believe I did.  The CEO must be the voice of the company, before someone else claims that voice.

I personally work with a number of CEO’s across North America master their online appearance.  Some are getting it, some are still having a challenge.  Need to chat…call me 403.775.2205.

Tags: 403.775.2205, Brisbane, Business, business computer networking, Business/Finance, CEO, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), company social media services, consultant technician, consultant technician and accountant, Data General, Google Inc., importance technology, Joe, Las Vegas HQ, leadership, media services, MSPMentor.net, North America, online appearance, passion parties, Pat, Pat Davis, Person Communication and Meetings, President, salesperson, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, tampa, technician bottle washer and accountant, technology blogs, technology professional, Technology/Internet, United States
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