Posted by Doug Kirk on Tue, Dec 13, 2011 @ 06:01 PM
Looking for Internet marketing help? This can be a daunting task indeed. There are many places to turn – email marketing specialists, article marketing submission bots, social media consultants, SEO experts, lead gen gurus – the list is endless. Not to mention the constantly shifting strategies and technologies. In an attempt to provide some clarity, I’m going to lay out the two most important principles to consider when looking for internet marketing help or internet marketing consulting.
1) Content is king. An oldie but a goodie and yet never more true than right now. You don’t need a pure SEO consultant anymore. You need is someone that understands how to create content targeting your potential buyers and then marry that to SEO. That means 
thinking about the questions your clients and customers want answered – and writing about them. Address the questions they’re searching for in Google, Twitter and Facebook. Anyone offering internet marketing help should also know that this "answer based content" comes in two forms: Blog content (much like this post you’re reading) and “Freemium” content (see the links at the bottom of this post). Blog content is informative content for your potential clients built with specific keywords in mind while freemium is when your potential buyer views the info as valuable enough to hand over their email for access. As an example, suppose you sell snow shoes. One blog post might be about the “10 Best Places to Snow Shoe in America.” Then inside the blog post is a link to download about the "5 most important considerations when buying a pair of snow shoes."
2) Social media is a targeted distribution point for your content. Blog content fuels social interaction and site visits. It’s critical to connect your blog to Twitter and Facebook accounts. This way you can keep those social media accounts filled with provocative 
information that your buyers are searching for on those platforms. Your social media accounts are distribution points for your sales messages from your blog. For Twitter, use software to seek out people on based on keywords in their bio descriptions. For example, if you sell smoked salmon, search for anyone with “foodie” in their bio. Then follow them. If they follow you back, set up an auto-reply with a coupon to buy your salmon. Again, use technology to assist or an internet marketing consultant to set this up for you.
Keeping these two principles in mind, anyone looking for internet marketing help has the foundation to build an effective strategy – either DIY or when hiring an internet marketing consulting expert.
Optimize 3.0 is an Inbound Marketing Agency and a Hubspot certified partner that builds leads and sales for websites large and small.
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Posted by Doug Kirk on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 @ 07:39 PM
As businesses become increasingly virtual it is more important than ever to use social media for a variety of marketing purposes. As the leader of the social media empire and arguably the number one 
form of getting information to mass quantities of people, using Facebook for business can have a great impact on the success of your marketing efforts, both through promotion and interaction with clients and customers. Facebook has so many capabilities that are compatible with websites, blogs, and even other forms of social media that it’s almost negligent to not take advantage of using Facebook for business purposes.
This post is to explain how to set up a Facebook business page and realize just how much of an impact using Facebook for business can have on your marketing success. It’s far more than just a place where friends post embarrassing pictures of each other. Setting up a Facebook business page isn't all that hard, you just need the instructions. The list below has some of the most useful tips to help you take full advantage of using Facebook for business. Use these tips and download (Social Media Business Essentials – 3 Steps for an Effective Facebook Account) for the full instructions on how to set up a Facebook business page.
- Complete a thorough profile with all important information in order to gain people's trust, and create a business account. Key: You need a personal profile to create a business profile.
- Install web applications to websites, blogs, or other pages concerning your business to your Facebook profile, making it easier for people to learn more quickly about what you have to offer.
- Be sure to connect your acebook acount to your website. Post your company newsletter so people can be updated on what exactly your business is up to. Set it up so that your blog posts are posted automatically to your Facebook page.
- Make sure to share important links or other forms of information that will be useful for customers and keep them interested.
- Get a custom URL for your page so it’s easier for people to find. Not a top priority immediately but certainly one to keep in mind moving forward.
- Make sure to regularly market any new products, deals, or services you are offering to create a stronger buzz.
- Make sure to buy Facebook Ads!
Get the full step by step instructions on how to set up a Facebook business page in this free download:
Optimize 3.0 is an Inbound Marketing Agency and a Hubspot certified partner that builds leads and sales for websites large and small.
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Posted by Doug Kirk on Wed, Aug 10, 2011 @ 10:12 AM
5 Steps to Get Started in Social Media Marketing – A Primer for Your Business
Social media marketing is daunting. You need to commit time and effort that may not be readily available. Yet, social media is where potential customers are searching for information to assist their purchase decisions. Moreover, the search engines take into account the "social-ness" of your website when ranking pages.
Here are five simple steps to get started:
1) Start a company blog.
2) Write about information your buyers consider when purchasing your product or service.
3) Build out social network profiles for your company (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter)
4) Connect blog to your social media pages.
5) Blog frequently.
Obviuosly, there are a ton of steps to make that happen. In fact, each step has a detailed plan. Download this whitepaper and get all of the details to get started in social media marketing.
Optimize 3.0 is an Inbound Marketing Agency and a Hubspot certified partner that builds leads and sales for websites large and small.
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Posted by Doug Kirk on Wed, Jun 01, 2011 @ 08:41 AM
I had the opportunity to listen to a great webinar the other day over at Inbound Now with David Wells http://bit.ly/jowzxZ. The guest was Rand Fishkin. Rand’s a founders at SEOmoz and an SEO sage. When Rand speaks, I listen.
Rand didn’t disappoint. He described Google Plus 1 and the difference between the Facebook Like button. He threw out some interesting facts such as Google actually buys data from Facebook and Twitter. A powerful indication of how desperate they must be to develop their own social share button and indirectly their own related data. Google has a lot riding on + 1.
I quickly went over the Google and joined the + 1 “experiment.” The product is only several weeks old and Google has put it in the proverbial sandbox at the moment. Right now, it’s only available for search users provided they’re logged into their Google account.
Plus 1 Is Better for End Users than FB Like Button. Once you’ve joined the “experiment” your search results are appended with a +1 button. The premise is that if you don’t abuse the tool, it will derive better search results for the user over time. It will eventually integrate your friends’ +1. For me, this is a huge distinction from Facebook’s Like button. Google’s +1 actually helps the user improve their search results. Whereas the FB Like button only notifies your friends that you like something. There’s no actual benefit for the “Liker” beyond notifying your friends that you appreciate a piece of content.
Maybe I’m a bit selfish but I like that I’m getting something in return via the +1 button.
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Optimize 3.0 is an Inbound Marketing Agency and a Hubspot certified partner that builds leads and sales for websites large and small.
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