Download your Google Plus Guide (PDF) – click image.

Most tuned in Content Marketing and WordPress MarCom professionals are aware of the tremendous success Google is having with Google Plus. Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about a manual +1 embedding method to get the button on your blog and CMS.  Now, to answer questions about strategies, extensions and plugins, here’s your WebFadds Guide to using Google Plus (complete with PDF — download at right).  We’ll take a look at what I call “Circling Strategies”, plus (pun intended) learn how to integrate Google Plus with other networks and WordPress.

Google Plus Circling Strategies

One great feature of Google Plus that will empower you to speak directly to and listen (always remember to listen) to targeted groups is called, “Circles.” The concept is simple — drag and drop your important contacts into appropriate and specific circles you create, then you can set your stream to only display messages from a certain circle or circles — the listening part.  You also can send message only to certain circles, plus enable image albums to be only viewable by certain circles.  Let’s consider some “circling strategies”:

• Target Images:  You create a circle for potential clients in your industry, called “prospects.”  Then you create a photo album of helpful images (think screenshots and powerpoint-like slides that explain important concepts), enable it for just that group, and “stream” out a notice and trickle of individual photos just to that circle.
• Phone Stream:  Continue to stream your comments and images to a certain circle using your phone’s built in camera and a Google Plus app on your phone.
• Serve Clients:  Create another circle just for your current clients, and load an album with PDFs and visual examples to frequently asked questions.
• The Schmooze Factor:  People buy from those they feel they know, so you have an opportunity to let your personality shine by gradually allowing clients and prospects to see more of your personal side.
• The International Effect:  Recall that Google earlier intended to add real-time translation for chats into the Google Wave and think about what that means for developing your global circles.

Watch out Mr. Zuckerberg — the circling feature alone (not to mention all the other Google integrations with Gmail, etc.) zooms Google right past the clunky way FaceBook operates.

Integrating Google Plus with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIN

Now that your circles are streaming, it’s time to get efficient.  This is a brand new network with its own learning curve.  Tim O’Reilly was complaining about its complexity on his Google plus stream today… but he does seem to be embracing it.  So, your tactic here is to seek efficient integration using a Chrome extension or two to make it easy to send Google+ stream comments over to Twitter, LinkedIN, and Facebook.  To do this, go and get the Extended Share extension from the Google Chrome Web Store:

Remember to be in Chrome (I’m usually surfing in FireFox), then just click install.  You will find options to select the networks to use under Window ==> Extensions.  Then you’ll see the “Share On” link which will pop-up a box with the network icons you selected.  Click the icons and post to those networks.

Integration on your WordPress CMS and Business Blogs

One of the best things about WordPress as a CMS solution are the thousands of plugins available in the great spirit of the open source community.  I have been looking for one that provides a smooth integration for Twitter, LinkedIN, StumbleUpon (many overlook this, but it is showing recent growth, and Analytics stats prove its worth), and now FaceBook — and it’s here, thanks to Kunal over at SearchTechWord.  You install, then configure it, with the option to have it placed at the top of posts and on the blog index page as you can see here at WebFadds.com, or use it in a side floating option position as you see in the screenshot below:

There ya go — you’re all integrated and on your way with Google Plus… let the circling begin.  Contact us if you need help with any of these integrations.

There are a lot of conferences, books, and blogs focusing on how to succeed in an ever  quickening online mashup of websites, social media venues, and smartphone and tablet apps.  At WebFadds, we focus on having a smart Content Strategy, then follow it with proven methods to review and revise your tactics.  Here’s an overview for you.

What is your Content Marketing Strategy?

CMS Wire has a great post in which a succinct formula for content strategy is presented.  Here’s how I would boil it down:

Specific Content, for a Specific Target Group = a desired Business Outcome Goal, because of a Specific Method of Motivation.

Let’s examine each.

• Since the goal of content is to engage with prospects and customers, you need to understand who your typical site visitor and end customer are. In B2B, this may be specifically defined something like this: “a mid-career purchasing professional in XYZ industry.”
• Next — you need Specific Content for those specific target group(s). Yes, I know I am showing it second here, and that’s because you have to understand your target well before you produce content. In fact, you have to also understand what motivates them (final formula item) too. In our example here, for a mid-career purchasing professional, you know that looking good (ie. for promotions) motivates them, so you need to develop content that speaks to how you solve both their industry need, and imply how that makes them look good.
• Next — what are your B.O.Gs? I have written about that in a series at Content Marketing Institute (see: this post ), so I’ll summarize here: a  B.O.G (Business Outcome Goal) are what you would like visitors to your website to do that moves them closer to becoming a customer. Examples include getting newsletter signups, white paper downloads or leads from a contact form.
• Finally, what is your M.O.M.? When we are young, often it is our Mom that inspires (try out for that group, etc.), and motivates (time to clean up your room, or else, etc.). So, ask yourself what is the M.O.M. — Method Of Motivation — to get your prospects to act and complete a desired business outcome goal? Hint: all successful advertising professionals know that people act on emotion — not simple logical facts and bullet lists. Cultivate the desired emotions in your content that compel people to act. I will write more about this as we go.

Outcome Improvement: Review and Revise your Content Strategy

How do you test and improve your strategy and tactics? Two methods: Actionable Analytics, and optimization tactics (not only SEO — add VBO, LPO, and CRO — see my article on it here: Three Tests to Optimize Your Website: VBO, LPO and CRO ).  I’ll write more about that here, and I think you will find a number of practical ideas in my article series at Content Marketing Institute.

Eweek has an interesting post about what is driving Data Analytics. In it they covered the following ten factors that go directly to why you need a smart and routine method of reviewing and tweaking site performance via Analytics review. Here are what I believe to be the top 5 — restated for clarity:

• Explosion of Devices: There are more than 1.8 billion people on the Internet with 4.6 billion mobile phones and millions of tablets.
• Movement away from SQL databses = new ways to review data
• Rise of Real time analysis of analytics data
• “Adaptive web” observes engagement patterns among like-minded individuals to understand user intent, then automatically adapts the online experience to the individual
• Social marketing is letting companies run campaigns that include social sites.

There you have it.  Focus on Content Marketing strategy.  Focus on tactics with smart review methods.  Get going.

Twitter Engagement: Are you on Twitter yet?  Yes… it will pay off for your business if you use it efficiently and correctly to connect with prospects.  Below are some ideas on how to advertise using Twitter.

Remember… it’s not about followers. It’s about engagement. Many users miss the ways, besides just tweeting, to engage with their “followers”:

1. Reply directly at (@) someone. Use the at symbol then their twitter name to begin the message (hovering over their profile pic will show an auto reply icon that automatically types this in the send field). Then, they will see your message in their “@” message, via the link on the right sidebar.
2. Direct Messages: also on the right sidebar, this is your way to send a private message/tweet directly to the follower of your choice.

Emerging Twitter Ad services: Below you will find a short list of advertising services — interesting. My advice is that it is best to get your word out there naturally — organically — by engaging your prospects on twitter, and having your posts get discussed and retweated from your business blog (we can help you get business blog to twitter postings automated — contact me). After that, it will be interesting to use analytics to track and study ROI for the following services…

• URL shortening service includes paid ads: Adjix
• * Magpie sets up an Ad network for twitter: Be A Magpie
• * Twittads monetize a twitter profile: TwittAd
• * Featured Users features your Twitter profile: Featured Users

If you have a favorite service you’ve used from the four above, or another method of advertising… stop by and let us know. As always, we are interested in how traffic from ads “convert” visitors into prospects, leads, and customers.

So… how is your site converting?

Playing Ball: Innovation, change, and Social Media Marketing growth… it’s happening rapidly each week.  Last week, Twitter reported astronomic growth — up 422% in 12 months. WordPress reported 2 million business blog and CMS installations in 2008.  Wow.  Talk about “playing ball on running water.”  How do you grab a hold of this tiger and make efficient and effective use of it in Business?  I’ll give you some pointers on how to stay optimized.

CMS Thought of the Week: The *whole web* is your Content Management System.  Today, I was checking my LinkedIN homepage, and reviewed a number of blog posts — there — from friends and colleagues.  The same posts often show up in my twitter stream (shortened into 140 characters with links back to posts). And, Google lets you create a sort of “mash-up” via Google reader (for RSS feeds) where you can share your posts and those of others — see: my Google Reader Public Mashup.  Are you optimized to take advantage of these key web CMS techniques?  Contact me and we’ll work on it together.

Twitter Tips of the Week: If you’re looking for a job, check this link to an excellent Mashable article (a great web publication, using a CMS developed in WordPress) will help you learn how — on Twitter.  That’s right!  I’ve found and worked with two clients there in two weeks.  Plus… even if you’re not looking now… consider the article carefully and you’ll understand some key Twitter Social Media Marketing strategies and Tactics.

Next, look carefully at the “Five Phases of Social Media Marketing” — Social Marketing is not “free”, but it will pay off when you tie it into Analytics… and — analyze for conversions (that’s the R.O.I. secret).  One great question from the article:  “Will your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system interface with your social media tools?”  Watch for good CRM’s to start adding in Twitter functionality.

WordPress Eding Tips on Video: WordPress is a great CMS solution — we develop exclusively with it.  As you learn WordPress, and start managing the admin. area, you may like to review these short (approx. 2 min.) videos.  There are more available at WordPress.tv, but these are my “A-List” to help your work be optimized… in WordPress:

Posts:

• writing-and-publishing-a-post
• using-quick-edit-and-bulk-edit-to-manage-your-posts-in-half-the-time
• saving-and-returning-to-draft-posts-pages
• publishing-your-post-at-a-later-date

Add Categories & Tags to Your Posts (always do this — good for both SEO, and helpful site navigation):

• adding-categories-and-tags-to-your-posts

Pages:

• creating-a-post-excerpt-using-the-more-tag

Sidebar:

• adding-a-widget-to-your-sidebar

There you go.  That should help you optimize your WordPress and Social Media work.  Now… about those conversions? Have you optimized your landing pages so you can increase your conversion rates?  Contact me.

WordPress CMS News: A new report shows WordPress taking a leading position as one of the top four Open Source Content Management Solutions — read more here.  Version 2.8 is coming soon, and rumored to add even more flexible CMS capabilities.  If you have upgraded to 2.7.x, the upgrade to 2.8 will be easy — no expensive programmer required… just push a button.  If now… contact us, and we can upgrade you.

Are you optimized for Twittering yet? Social Media Marketing is coming fast and hard, with Twitter a major force (see below).  You will find me twittering @webfadds (and Spirit too). And, there are ways to optimize and automate — I’ll show you some here.

Not yet? Well, maybe you’re still on the fence about the “business worthiness” of Tweeting. It’s simply micro-blogging for business people and you are out there letting people get to know you before they buy. Why? People buy from people they know. It’s that simple. Add to that the ability to brand and establish authority in your niche.

And, the Twittersphere itself is offering increasingly useful tools to take your twittering to the next level…

Twitter Resources:

• Polling? You bet — check out: StrawPoll
• Productivity? It’s covered. Track Daily Goals with a social twist of accountability  | An event manager that auto-links to Google Maps, updates your Google Calendar, and auto-invites via Twitter  | Twitter for Organizations | Share files on Twitter
• Job Search? You got it… a job search engine for Twitter
• Research? Check it out… Track Trends and Events with TwitScoop | Tweetscan hunts for topics of interest and sends you an alert
• Publicity? Of course. TweeTube shares photos, YouTube videos, multiple website urls and more (from your iPhone too)
• Staying Efficiently Organized? Right. Have a good look at Easy Tweets* to promote your business and monitor your brands featuring an easy, efficient dashboard (we include coaching for this service in our Social Media MAX pack)
• In Gmail? Yup. Get an app to do Twitter from Gmail (another reason why Google is watching carefully)

Interesting Business Marketing Use of Twitter: ForkFly — a service providing discounts from hundreds of Portland, Oregon merchants. Hmmmmm. Get a following, sell access to focused followers. Earn money. Opportunity knocks.

Another Interesting, Government (hey… looks like they can be efficient sometimes) use of Twitter: If you are a Twitter user you can get northbound Canadian border wait times by sending a direct message to WSDOT – the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Is all of this useful in business? Well, what is one closed sale worth to you? Ten? I had a business meeting last week with a prospect I found on twitter, and am estimating proposals this week. Still questioning it? I agree, in business you have to focus on ROI… so do it. You can track it — Web Analytics Word is reported that Ominiture, a popular commercial Analytics provider, is integrating with Twitter.

Time to Get Going: We have a new package — Social Media-MAX Pack – here at WebFadds to help you get going. You leverage your Business Blog in a synergy with Twitter to engage prospects and leads… and learn about your niche. We coach and train you on efficiency in addition to installing and configuring your package. Contact us to start today.

It works. A week ago, I had 38 followers on Twitter. Now I have 295 (at time of writing), 344 predicted later this week, with over 1,000 predicted ( by yet another twitter service, of course) next month…

How did I do it? I’m practicing what I teach… using the synergy in our Social Media-MAX Pack is very powerful. Like a rocket. Watch me prove this @webfadds.

Is it fake? No.  Not if your intent is actually to engage colleagues and prospects in dialog about your niche focus, and business passions (with a bit of the personal side sprinked in, so people can know you too).  There are automated tools that save you time, but if you proceed ethically, (no spam) with honest intent… it’s for real.  You’ll probably see a few “fakes”… but Twitter is pretty quick to close down those accounts.

You can use our “old technology” contact form to get started… or just contact me on Twitter. And, we can chat about ways to increase conversions at your site too.

* WebFadds is an authorized reseller for Easy Tweets.  You’ll find excellent service and features (more coming… in Beta now) from the support folks there.

Social Media Marketing — who has time for this busy new marketing strategy? Busy indeed, but optimizable using automated techniques… I’ll tell you how.

What is Social Media Marketing? Simply put, it’s the use of new technologies — from blogging to twitter tweets — to engage prospects for your company’s services and products.

Is Social Media Marketing (SMM) on the Rise? Yes. You know — I resisted Twitter for some time due to my perception that it was juvenile and had no real business purpose. Wrong.

One example of how I was wrong about Twitter, and a tip for you: I used a new Nearby Tweets Search Engine (Twitter posts are called “Tweets”) recently to find out who was talking about similar business strategies in my neighborhood. Results? I have five leads, and one coffee meeting scheduled to discuss new business. Could I have looked up related businesses on Google? Perhaps. But I would not have known who was actively and currently focusing on certain business topics. That’s the key, and you can easily do the same.

Take a look below at the “Benefits of Social Media Marketing” chart which appears in a whitepaper, free for the download, by Michael Stelzner, who interviewed 900 business people and marketers for his research. You’ll get some great insights when you read the report.

Above, over 900 business professionals report positive results using Social Media Marketing methods (from Social Media Marketing Industry Report, by Michael Stelzner)

How to understand SMM and make it work? Two recommendations: Think about standard sales and marketing principles in new venues. Look for automation.

On the first point, just think about standard sales methods and think of social media a bit like those “business after hours” prospecting events that sales people always attend. You tune in, listen, make yourself known, and schmooz around a bit. People buy from those they know.

Of course, you’ve still got to find the time to make the switch from old ways of doing things to new. Good news. Since the new “venue” for Social Media Marketing is online, on computers, some of the work may be automated. I want to caution you — you still have to get in there and “hand out cards” and make your personality known… that’s what it’s all about.

Which social media sites for business? There are a lot of choices out there, but for now, I recommend concentrating on just three: Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIN. These are market leaders, each with a different focus and functionality, and I have seen all three bring business for our clients.

New WebFadds Social Media Max Service: Now about automation — one of the reasons we’re focused on CMS solutions using the WordPress platform (in addition to SEO strengths) is the excellent sets of plugins to add features and streamline your work. We have identified eight key plugins for SMM which in particular automate blog postings to twitter, and facebook walls, display of feeds from twitter in your blog, display of linked in information, and more.

We will install and configure this Social Media Max package on your WordPress Content Management System for $739. Need your Facebook, LinkedIN, and Twitter accounts set-up too? No problem — we’ll do it for $339. Includes initial coaching on working these services for business “conversion” purposes. We then set up your Easy Tweets controls for a powerful way to grow your twitter following, and channel them back to your business blog (we coach you on success with your Easy Tweets – $25mo. account). And for a limited time, we’ll include installation of Google Analytics at your site to help you track your site for conversion health. Contact me today to get started.

That’s enough Optimizing for this time — remember to always be converting.

#3 on Google in less than 19 Minutes: What’s the true power of a Business Blog? Well, you know I always focus on conversions. But before you can convert a visitor to a customer, you have to have visibility. And once your Blog gets accepted as a trusted source for information in your market niche (about 2-3 months of steady posting at least twice a week for new blogs), then your latest posts will go up fast — and rise to the top if your content is good.

A case example is a blog post on camp cooking contests we put up Saturday morning at SportsExposBlog.com, during their four-day tradeshow, where each day selling more tickets is a key to success. Within 19 minutes, that post was #3 on Google for the search, “Cooking Contests, Salt Lake City.” Great for immediate, and targeted visibility for those interested in reviewing cooking contests.  It’s still in position #4 on Google as I write this post.  Another client, Tom Hale — an Adwords Expert Extraordinaire — regularly sees his posts register high on Google in under 10 minutes.

SEO Technique Tip: First, the business blog for SportsExposBlog.com is developed on the WordPress platform, which out of the box provides a number of ways to Optimize for Search Engines. Then, we used a professional SEO plugin called HeadSpace (see articles about how HeadSpace works here ) and configured it for the phrase “Cooking Contests”, and the locality, “Salt Lake City”, for that specific post. It worked.

Why WordPress as a CMS? Last week I was at the Portland Search Engine Marketing Professionals annual Search Fest — a day of seminars and trainings on tips, traps, and techniques for this rapidly evolving field. There, a sales rep. told me that WordPress was not a CMS. Huh? Funny, it seems that Ford Motors, Comacho Cigars, CNN, the New York Times, and a host of other Fortune 500 players didn’t get that memo. They’re all enjoying the strengths of WordPress as their primary Content Management Solution. Of course, the sales rep. was, well, repping his own proprietary CMS based on Microsoft’s unpopular ASP.net platform.

There are several platforms out there offering CMS solutions, ranging from Cold Fusion, to Open Source PHP/MySQL, to Ruby on Rails, and ASP.net. Check around, and you will find many more options in the PHP realm, of which WordPress is arguably one of the top five choices. Way back in 2007, WordPress won “Best Open Source Social Networking CMS” from Packt Publishing.

What’s the best CMS solution for your company? Well, WebFadds, of course, can make the case for WordPress. But I admit, you’ll see some great contenders out there. A young fellow on a plane I took to Salt Lake City last week showed me an impressive proprietary CMS built in the Ruby on Rails environment. One big choice is Proprietary (you pay one company for a license and rely on them to continually improve your CMS) versus “Open Source” (the initial core program is free to download and install, and upgrades are free).

WordPres wins again, since it is in this initially “free” category.  But to be frank, free is not really free. You will want to custom configure and tweak it for maximum SEO and administration optimization — and that costs some money. But I think you’ll see that WordPress still wins when you compare your R.O.I. to other systems over the mid-term.  And, optimization with WordPress is not just about SEO — you’ll also streamline your content administration wrok.

Contact me — I’ll be pleased to work with you to find the best solution for your R.O.I… and, take a look at this overview: CMS WebSite Solutions with WordPress.

So… what is a “Conversion”: I get this question a lot.  Remember when everyone worried about “hits?”  Well, “conversions” are the new hits. You see, it’s not really that good to get a lot of hits, if your visitors simply bounce away without doing anything that brings them closer to a business goal.

You want to think very carefully about how you intend to “convert” visitors, into prospects (they might download a whitepaper, for example); into leads, where they usually fill out a contact form which may be given to your sales team; and into customers — when they make a purchase at your site.

The good news? You can use Google Analytics to track with precision your site visitor behavior leading to conversions.  The bad news?   Well, when you consider that most conversion optimization work yields improvements in the 20% – 75% range… it’s really all good news for your R.O.I. (Return On Investment).  If there is any bad news, it’s simply that your work isn’t done after the first design and formatting pass.  You need to always be testing, reviewing, and tweaking to increase conversion rates.

Is there a formula? Yes, in a general sense, but forget about “best practices” here.  Why?  Because every site, niche, and business model is different, and in particular your product or service’s value proposition is different — even from your closest competitor.  So… the right combination of Headline, Graphics, and Calls to Action yielding the highest conversion rates will vary.  But… sound the trumpets — Google rides to the rescue again with the “Google Optimizer” program which rotates these key elements and reports on the best combination.

Above, we can see a Google Analytics report showing that traffic referred from a Business Blog (for a WebFadds client — International Sportsmen’s Expositions) converts 31% higher than average per visit, and 255% higher for the specific “Goal 2″ — a purchase of eTickets for a show in Salt Lake City.

It works. Using analytics for a current client we are able to determine that visitors originating from their Business Blog show a higher ecommerce conversion rate (they purchased 255% more eTickets) than those originating at the parent site.  And using our favorite landing page optimization formula… we were able to increase exhibitor information form fill-outs by 50%, year over year,  for a 3-month period – a $9200 increase in R.O.I. just in 3 months so far. Not too bad.

Give me a call, or contact me and we’ll explore ways to increase conversions and R.O.I.  for your company.

How Well is Your Site Converting?

Business Blogging — A Paradigm Shift: I was working on a CMS development project last week for a company of technically savvy consultants, and so was very surprised when our team received feedback that blog links shouldn’t appear on the front page of their site, and that blogging was just for rambling. Hmmmmm. At first, I thought they didn’t get it — they didn’t understand how social media marketing was such a great opportunity for them to connect with prospects and make sales. Then, I realized I didn’t get it. I’ve been engaged with it for some time, so I assumed clients understood that nowadays, Marketing is Publishing, and Publishing is Sales. Yeah, yeah, I know about the “ass-ume” thing.

“… when I worked in Advertising for a Manufacturing Company, we produced “sales literature” and hired field sales people. Online, your blog is both. It combines the education of good marketing literature, with the entertaining, instructive, and persuasive conversation of good sales people. “

This just goes to show that in a time of rapid change you can’t assume people have caught up with the paradigm shifts. Shifts? Yes. You know, like, “The computer will never replace typesetting machines.” “Art will never be produced on a computer.” “Professionals will never use digital cameras” … Those kinds of shifts. To those we’ll add, “blogging cannot be a very good business tool.” Ready to make the shift?

Anatomy of a Good Business Blog Post: Remember, you are a “Conversion Blogger.” In those two words are the secret of your success. You “blog” to put your personality into it and engage your readers. You make “conversions” (get leads, downloads of whitepapers, make sales), by simply asking for them after your readers get to know you.

Above is a “strategic wireframe” of a good business post. Note, that I have added some SEO tips, since that is still another reason to make regular Business Blogging a primary marketing thrust.

Here are the essential elements of a good Business Blog Post:

1. Write a good headline using the “H1″ tag, and include a primary SEO phrase
2. Write friendly voice blog copy, that educates and entertains, and also include your primary SEO phrase.
3. Include a compelling photo or illustration that helps you put your point across
4. Include a call to action that asks your reader to convert to a prospect (download a whitepaper), a lead (fill out a form), or a customer (make a purchase).

Connect, Engage, Convert… people buy from those they know.

Can You Prove It? Can I prove this works?  Yes. Install Google Analytics. Set up a Sales Funnel from your blog to a conversion page. Assign an ROI figure per conversion. Then, analyze the results.

Some Common Reservations about Business Blogging:

“It Takes Too Much Time”: Yes, it takes time. So, for business purposes monitor your R.O.I. with a good Analytics tool. Done well, it will pay off.

“It Takes Too Much Time”: It takes time, yes, but it’s more efficent than writing individual emails to all your clients and sales leads.

“Our Competition Doesn’t Do It”: Opportunity for you.

“Isn’t a Press Release Good Enough?”: No. Press releases miss the opportunity for you to engage directly with your prospects and customers. Remember, people buy from those they know, and most press releases are cold, corporate statements. Put some personality in your posts. Entertain, Educate, then ask for the sale.

“We Don’t Know Good Writing Techniques.” Here’s a link to a series of articles on copy writing and blog writing.

“Blogging Isn’t Supposed to Be About Sales”: Two thoughts for those that say this. Why not? And, second, “all of communication is an attempt to persuade.” I quote one of my Communication Professors on the last point, and yes — I wanted to argue with him, but it would only have proved his point.

“Blogging is Only for SEO Juice.” Write blather filled with SEO phrases, and you’ll get traffic, until Google penalizes you. And even that short lived traffic will bounce away from your site and you’ll miss the sale. Use SEO phrases cleverly in copy? Yes. But don’t fail to engage and convert.

Remember… it’s not just about sales, because you also use your personality to entertain and provide education for readers. But it can and will definitely lead to sales.

In the 90′s, when I worked in Advertising for a Manufacturing Company, we produced “sales literature” and hired field sales people. Online, your blog is both. It combines the education of good marketing literature, with the entertaining, instructive, and persuasive conversation of good sales people. So… go make the sale.

And remember that the only thing constant is change, and with change comes inevitable paradigm shifts. Resistance is futile (any trekkies out there?).

Give me a call, or contact me and we’ll explore Business Blogging opportunities for your company, and how to make the paradigm shift.

Contact Us · (360) 566-2451 · Email | Twitter: WebFadds

Hello -

This eNewsletter is now “The Optimizer”: I’ve changed the name to “The Optimizer,” to focus on one concept — optimization. Optimization, in a word, expresses the work leading to success at your websites. Not only do websites need optimization for search engines (SEO), but also efficiency and content marketing gains using an automated, dynamic CMS solution — another form of optimizing your work. Factor in the ongoing R.O.I. improvements you get from optimizing your landing and conversion pages, and you have my recipe for online business success — a la Optimization. We’ll be talking about tips, traps, and techniques for Optimizers in every issue.

Are Conversions Gender Specific?: Hey, should have reported this prior to Valentine’s day… but you can bring up even now with your mate. As you know, we have an ongoing poll at LinkedIn on “How well does your website convert visitors to leads or customers?“. Well, this poll shows that so far (it’s live, go add your own one-click vote), women get more leads (at their websites), while men do more optimization. Yet… more men than women don’t understand conversions. Hmmmmm. No wonder there are relationship psychologists:

Publishing Persuasive Content: Speaking of optimizing — your content itself is the place to start. Today, Marketing is Publishing, and Publishing is Sales (when you’re a “Conversion Blogger”).  Every company online is in Publishing. Take a look at this article covering success results of businesses that create quality content.  Now that’s the way to do it.

Blog for The Conversion: Remember that a conversion happens when a visitor to your site moves one step closer to a business mission goal you have. What goals? Convert a visitor to an interested prospect who might return (give them a whitepaper to download), a lead (they fill out a form), or a customer (the pay for, or at least order a product or service). And your blogs should provide meaningful and engaging content, which also asks for a sale.

Two examples: The first client, in the business of providing tradeshows to Sportsmen, has a new business blog (from WebFadds) and while providing hunting and fishing tips, they also ask for online ticket sales to their expositions (see SportsExposBlog.com). That’s doing it right.

A second client, in the business of providing travel fare specials, has been writing lots of jibber-jabber blog posts just for the “SEO juice”.  Huh? That’s an old-school concept where you just fill up your posts with keywords and phrases and hope Google picks you up.  This is a bad strategy for three important reasons: Visitors will “bounce” right out of your site if content is not engaging; Google has filters to block out sites that aren’t really relevant; and without conversions in mind as you create content that really connects with visitors… no sales will be made. Instead, give your visitors some real meat in your content, and let them get to know you. People buy from someone they know. Then, ask for the sale. You’ll see conversions and ROI stats from Google Analytics that justify your effort.

So… how is your site converting? Contact me, and we’ll explore the value to your company that increased conversions will bring.