Does your website have a business blog? Business blogging gives your company a powerful way to communicate to prospects, customers or people who want to learn more information about your company’s products and services. Anyone from the CEO to the Marketing Department to Research and Development can share their expertise, analysis or forecasts with a very large audience on the internet (visualize anyone in the world with a computer and internet access). An RSS feed can be added to your business blog so that someone can subscribe and get current information delivered to their RSS Feed Reader as soon as a new post is added to the blog. See our previous blog posting - What is an RSS Feed, and How Can You Use One to Your Advantage?

Whatever you decide to do, there are numerous ways to “dress up” your blog. Blogging is a great way to build your brand, share your expertise and drive traffic to your website. If you are already business blogging, kudos to you!! What I want to share with you today is to how to put a little “BLING” in your blog.

• Let’s start with the design of the template or CSS stylesheet. Make sure your colors are aesthetically pleasing. There are many websites and blog services that have stock templates and CSS stylesheets to choose from for your business blog. If your budget allows, you may consider having a professional graphic designer help with the design. This is very important!!
• Don’t forget to smile! – adding a smiley face can put a little fun into your blog posting. There are many styles to choose from. Just do a search and use them as you deem necessary.
• Graphics such as colorful images can be added to give some added effect to your blog. Make sure they are consistent with the content of the blog posting. Edge effects can be added but make sure the placement of the graphic flows with the verbiage. Be cognizant of image’s size and width.
• Another technique is using enlarged and colored fonts. Using bold letters will draw people’s eyes immediately as well as writing in Italics. Using different colored fonts is a way of accessorizing your words.
• Adding icons, badges and buttons are a good way to show respect for different organizations or groups that your company supports.
•  Adding a short video into or even a link to a video, can “jazz up” your blog posting by giving it some movement and aesthetic appeal.
• Some bloggers have even been known to add a podcast or “audio file” to a blog posting. Its one thing to read what someone has to write, but listening to the blogger’s voice may be an appealing change of pace from reading a blog post.
• Do you want to get a little more mileage for your blog? Add a social bookmarking website link. Consider using this option (occasionally) to only your best blog posts so that anyone who is impressed by the posting can immediately post it to one of the many social bookmarking sites. There are many to choose from and the link would look something similar to this:
   

If you are having trouble coming up with something to blog about, consider using your blog to:

• Communicate a new product/service announcement (make sure you are not doing a sales pitch)
• Mix in a press release about your company
• Publicize something from R&D
• Write about positive feedback from a customer/client
• Talk about Charities and Non-Profits that you are passionate about
   

People overwhelmingly prefer to do business with others they know and like. Keep your business blog professional and avoid topics that may be controversial or ones you wouldn’t discuss at church in a mixed crowd. A business blog will not solve your business problems, make you a millionaire or get you a date with a famous Hollywood actor (unless you are REALLY lucky). However, it will add a new feature to your website, strengthen your overall business strategy and create new relationships with your readers as well as reinforce existing relationships.

So, back to my original point; what is your blog wearing? Does it look like casual, business casual or professional (Think blue jeans, khakis or Italian suit)? Put a little “bling” into whichever type of business blog you have and you may notice increased readership, more comments and even more sales of your products/services. Well, what are you waiting on?

Let the Bling begin!!

Video Allure 

Is your business using video in any way? Have you ever visited You Tube? As the old saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words” has been amplified over and over with television, VCRs, DVDs, online videos and more. According to comScore, internet users in the United States view over 14.3 billion online videos a month and online video viewing accounts for over 12.5% of Americans total time spent on the internet. Quick – hand me my eyedrop medication for dry eye. NPD Group states that 97% of internet users in the United States use the internet to shop. Even the Kelsey Group remarks that 54% of Americans have substituted the Internet for the phone book.

Video Power 

So, how powerful is video? Think about the last commercial you saw that was trying to sell something. Take for instance a new car commercial. You see a person in a convertible driving down a curvy, coastal highway while the sun is setting. It was pure visual stimulation; with the engine revving, tires squealing, music playing and the sound of laughter in the background. All good stuff. Did the video appeal to your senses? Did you sense how “nice” the car would look with you driving it? Could you almost feel your hands gripping the steering wheel as your foot pushes the accelerator?

Video Persuasion 

Adding videos to your website can be very effective in persuading a visitor to either purchase your product or service, and/or do more searching on the site for more information. The trick is that your video has to “Engage” the viewer. It can’t be boring, poorly created or really long. Time must be spent on crafting your message, delivering it in an informative fashion and mixing in some fun and cool colors/graphics.

Video Show and Tell

Since video stimulates the brain, it creates a connection that words and photos alone cannot. Most consumers want to do business with people they know, like and trust; video goes a long way in establishing that connection before they even meet you. Picture superiority effect states that concepts are much more likely to be remembered if they are presented as pictures rather than words. As you are creating your videos, remember to use “visual elements” along with the verbiage in the script.

Video Marketing 

Videos are an important part of an overall internet marketing strategy. As with any marketing strategy, the goal is to grab the attention of the viewer. For example, think about those commercials that run during the Super Bowl. Many people don’t watch the Super Bowl for the game; they want to see the commercials because they know that new and very creative ads will be shown during the game.

Video marketing is the new cutting edge way to advertise your businesses’ products and services. It doesn’t require a huge investment in equipment or a large marketing budget to create an effective video – just some creativity, resources and time. Once you create the video and use it, it can be stored for future use. Your website could even have a section named “University”, “Library”, “Product Videos” or “Service Videos”. Be sure and make the video both informative and entertaining. It’s a perfect way to introduce a new Product or Service. Videos can even be incorporated into blogs and e-newsletters.

We have always been a visual society being influenced by what we see and hear. Online videos are a modern day continuation of visual stimulation. Your website and brand will be ELEVATED above your competition by the addition of video.

So what are you waiting on – go get that digital camcorder and start filming. Or, contract with a professional who can “juice” it up for you. Either way you will be doing something most other businesses want to do but haven’t quite taken that step yet. Start the journey!!

And I’m proud to be an American, Where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.  -  Lee Greenwood

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  -  John 15:13

God Bless America!
 

Privacy issues seem to be on the forefront of every headline these days! One of these headlines is about Facebook's recent launch of a feature called Instant Personalization.

• What is it?
• Should I be concerned?
• Can I do anything about it?

Instant Personalization is one of many Social plugins offered by Facebook. Basically, a plugin is a little bit of computer code that developers use to extend the capabilities of a software application and/or website. When you click the button, the button acts as a shortcut to perform whatever function it is programmed for by the developer. For example, when you click the “Become a Fan” or “Like” button on Facebook, you let your friends know about it as you are added to that website’s list of fans and that website is posted on your page.

Instant Personalization is a new feature that automatically allows your public Facebook data to be used by 3 of Facebook's selected partners; Microsoft Docs.com, Pandora and Yelp. If you have a Facebook account, then you were automatically "opted in” to this system without notice. With the release of this program with everyone opted “in” without notice, it has created a little bit of commotion out there in “Internetland”.

Your information is used by these companies to help them target you for advertising and to create a stronger profile of your online presence. If you don’t want your information to be shared with these companies, login to your Facebook account and go to Accounts, then Privacy Settings and then Applications and Websites. Look for "Instant Personalization Pilot Program" and click the box “Edit Settings”. You can opt out by un-checking the box next to “Allow select partners to instantly personalize their features with my public information when I first arrive on their websites”.

When you opt out of this feature there is a very important message that shows up you should read...

While you’re at it, you may want to review all of your privacy settings. There are privacy settings for everything from your Birthday and Hometown to your address and cell phone number. Remember that you can control who can and cannot look at your information. Think of Facebook as your personal book on the internet. Be cognizant of who has access to your information.

A very important thing to understand (and also share with your friends and family) is that if you're using Facebook then you're making your life public. However, you can control this by carefully choosing your Privacy Settings. Truth being known,  your Facebook information is available to the highest bidder. Think of the Internet, MySpace, and Facebook as a huge billboard along the interstate near your hometown. If you don’t want everyone to see it, than keep it off of the billboard (aka Internet).

I’ll leave you with these thoughts to ponder:

• Is Facebook making this change to enhance your experience?
• Do Yelp, Pandora and Microsoft Docs.com stand to earn revenue as Facebook partners?
• Facebook has removed the 24-hour rule with regards to how long they can keep your personal information.

Facebook now holds your information indefinitely.

What is an RSS Feed?

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication”. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically (i.e. blog postings, press releases, videos, podcasts, vblogs, etc). They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. If you are a person who regularly uses the internet to get information you’re probably very familiar with the value of an RSS feed. If you not that familiar.... read on!

Benefits of an RSS feed

Plain and simple - RSS makes it super easy to receive content automatically. The information can comes to you in your Outlook inbox, or in your “RSS Reader” - which may already be built into your web browser. An RSS Feed can streamline your “information gathering”. It can deliver information that is spam-free, and you don't have to provide your email address or personal information. You can also unsubscribe from the RSS Feed at any time. Additionally, the information you receive is the most current, you have total control of what you want to subscribe to and it will save you a huge amount of time surfing the internet.

Here’s an example of how it works

Jane has 10 different websites that she trusts to get factual, up-to-date information about her community, food prices, special sales, community events, etc. She uses this information to make both small and large decisions for her family and to stay “tuned in”. Instead of Jane going to each of those 10 websites individually and getting the information, she can use a Feed Reader. A Feed Reader (or aggregator) will combine multiple RSS Feeds into one browser or web page. MS Outlook, Google, and Web Browsers (like Internet Explorer and Firefox) offer RSS tools integrated right into their programs. Cool, huh? So now all Jane has to do is access her Feed Reader and she has content from all 10 websites in 1 place – and the feed comes in within minutes of being posted. Think of it as having 10 of your favorite magazines or newspapers delivered to your front door step, with ONLY the articles and information you are interested in. And NO ink stains from going through the pages.

Create Your Feed Reader

As mentioned earlier in this blog post, most web browser and email software offer an RSS reader built in or as an “add-on”. If you use Internet Explorer, the feed reader is built in. It can be found on the top menu under View > Explorer Bar > Feeds. In Microsoft Outlook, an RSS Feeds folder can keep all of your feeds in one place and it is located in your Mail folders. Likewise, Firefox has numerous “add ons” like RSS Ticker, Sage, Beatnik and BlogRovr that consolidate all of your feeds. Plus, Safari has an RSS reader built in that can be set up just like readers in Internet Explorer, Outlook and Firefox. If you are having trouble setting up your reader, you can either ask your grandchild for help (for the older crowd) or simply use the help menu.

News aggregation websites

There are many websites that combine news related information for you. Some examples are: Drudge Report, Google News, CNBC, Fox News, etc. It’s possible to find sites that even cater to a certain sector of the population – liberal, conservative, male, female, sports, agriculture, etc. All this being said, can you now see how beneficial a Feed Reader can be?

Are There Drawbacks of Feeds & Readers?

Of course. Some people may prefer to get email updates from their information sources. Sometimes images and graphics don’t get displayed in some Feed Readers. The identity of some RSS Feeds are hard to determine because the url address may not be the same as the website it is coming from. Further, not all websites offer RSS Feeds for their content.

To Feed Read or Not To Feed Read

The choice is yours. The internet and all of the associated applications and websites offer users a multitude of options to access information. Whether you like to read the newspaper or “surf the net”, choices abound that can both be informative and efficient. Your call.

Blogging produces results. According to Hubspot’s “The State of Inbound Lead Generation”, businesses that blog as part of their strategy generate inbound leads, increase pages indexed by Google (and other search engines) and attract visitors to a web site. Hubspot’s report goes on to say that once a blog gets to critical mass – somewhere in the range of 20 to 50 articles – median monthly leads increased by 30%. Blogs that had 52+ articles generated leads that were 77% higher than the median result of the 20 to 50 group.

To make an impact in the blogging arena requires work, commitment and a whole lot of material – at the basis of this is “heart and passion” about the topics you write about. There are many individuals who blog for a living. As mentioned above, in the business world blogging can be a huge addition to a web site – or to the company this is blogging (or being blogged about). A good blog can also bolster an internet marketing strategy and create business leads. If your business does not have a blog you may want to seriously consider starting one. If your business is already blogging, keep it going. Not only are you expanding your company’s internet presence but you are adding pages that are getting indexed by search engines. Think of it as a big library out there in cyberspace and your company is filling the shelves with books. Neat, huh? Even better, writing blogs give you an opportunity to think a bit more deeply about your thoughts, beliefs and convictions – as they relate to the business you are in.

Within the blog, links can be made to other blogs or web sites. Conversely, when people read your blog they can link back to it from their blog or website. This is commonly referred to as “back linking”. Imagine a spider building its web. A back link (or link to) creates a thread in cyberspace between two points. The more threads your blog has the more it is noticed by those “internet spiders” or robots as they are referred to now.

To blog or Not to blog could be the question. Blogging will definitely impact your business – whether by bringing more notice to your website, or by allowing you to really “think” and articulate what makes you and your business unique… solidifying your passion, if you will. It’s a lot of work; however the payoff can be huge.

So, does size really matter? Of course.

There are only two reasons to attend a trade show – to see and to be seen.

It’s commonplace to attend trade shows and walk around all day and get the free bags, brochures, business cards and things that blink. Vendors are there to promote their newest product or service while others go there to collect intelligence on their competitors. If you attended a national trade show that had about 5,000 exhibitors, you could expect to have somewhere around 150 – 250 visitors per day at a booth. It would be very difficult to make that many sales calls are in a day.

Before your company decides to be an exhibitor at a trade show, ask these questions:

• Why are you exhibiting – e.g what is your expected outcome?
• Who is your target market, what are they most interested in – and why?
• What is the message you want to convey, and how should that be done?
• What do you want to get out of the show?

One creative and impactful method of leaving a lasting impression is to have an interactive game or experience that integrates video, graphics and animation. An interactive game provides the following:

1. Ability to better communicate how a product or service really works
2. Attracts visitors to your booth
3. Opportunity to make an important “first impression”
4. Allows the participant to obtain valuable product or service information 
5. Stimulates multiple senses (sight, sound, touch)
6. Visitor can engage and have a fun experience.
7. Can be integrated with a lead retrieval system that will allow the vendor to follow-up with the participant afterwards.
8. Can be integrated with a contest. E.g., Top 5 scores on a quiz wins a prize.

According to Simmons Market Research Bureau study, 91% of respondents ranked trade shows as “extremely useful” as a source for product purchasing information. By using an interactive video game kiosk at your next trade show, you engage a person with the video that builds brand awareness for your company. This can further result in driving traffic to your website, creating loyal customers and influence future buying decisions.

So, at your next trade show are you going to see, or to be seen?
 

Now why would Mr. Klein make such a remark? For quite some time, online news websites and cable TV have been accused of contributing to the demise of newspapers. Now it seems that it the old saying may be true – “what goes around comes around”.

Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets are pulling viewers away from CNN, and other news outlets. Klein further remarked, “We want to be the most trusted name in news. But people have friends on Facebook and follow others on Twitter and they consider them as trusted sources of information”.

It seems that there is some power out there in the land of social networking. CNN has definitely changed the ways news has been reported over the years. Social networks now are poised to take that to another level. “People are pretty up to speed on what happens today. You’ve got to give them more insight about what’s going on. That is where we are going to continue to make a difference” Klein said.

Is your company or business getting engaged with social networks? Your website is a valuable tool that can grow your business, but another valuable tool is using social networking to help get the word out about your company’s products, services, or cause. Ask yourself this - what would happen if your company was mentioned in a news report on CNN? You would guess that a certain number of people would go to the internet and look up your business to find out more about it. At the same time, what would happen if the people you’re connected to starting talking about you in their social networks? The answer is the same. Further, you can use social networks to better understand your customers and competition… even if you are not actively publishing content, and are more passive in your networking social engagements.

While social media should be considered as part of the promotional mix, an overall evaluation of a company’s objectives, target audience, staffing and budget needs careful consideration. Interestingly, we recently read that traditional business-to-business ad spending is expected to decline by about 8% in the coming year, but that online ad spending is expected to increase by 5.5% in 2010. In contrast, in 2009 online spending had actually dropped 4.6 percent versus the previous year. Bottom line - good research and evaluation of the right “e-business” marketing mix is a must.

According to information from Radicati Group, around 210 billion emails are sent each day. Supposedly, about 70% of those are spam or contain viruses. All the more reason to use a reputable email marketing service provider.

Email marketing can be very effective in promoting a company’s product or service. What about adding some “social” to your email marketing? Ask your email contact to post your content on their Facebook page, Tweet about it or even add it to their blog (if they have one). How about adding a link to your business page on Facebook, or your Twitter page, or your LinkedIn page when you email?

As social media continues to evolve on the internet, give serious consideration as to how to integrate it into your email marketing strategy. Email marketing is very effective in spreading the word about your business. Build your strategy, execute it and add in a little bit of social.

Dandy’s patented product line is made of the highest quality fabrics available for peak performance and durability. Picture This is proud to be their “e-business” partner support all their online marketing programs. We’re thrilled by the achievement that Dandy Products secured by having the Canadian government chose to use Dandy to help protect the environment by using the Dandy Sack for inlet covers throughout the city of Vancouver during the winter games. Hats off to Dan Cleveland of Dandy Products. Your vision and dedication to your industry coupled with your desire to protect the environment have elevated you to Olympic level status.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, unveiled Bing on May 28, 2009 at the All Things Digital conference in San Diego. Bing went live on June 3, 2009. By combining Live Search, Windows Live Search and MSN Search Microsoft brings a new player to the market and actually changes the field a little by terming Bing as a "decision engine" versus a "search engine".

The Bing folks have been looking at what people are trying to do when they search instead of what they are looking for. Their end goal is to find better ways to connect people with the information they need.

Kudos to everyone at Bing for bringing a new way of thinking and searching for that elusive information out there somewhere on the internet.