Tag Archives: marketing

Google Places Reports And Irony

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Getting Google Places traffic reports may not be unusual for businesses that have claimed their Google Places account. However, it seems unusual to me because - 1. I have never claimed my Google Places account for my business. 2. As a rule – Google doesn’t show Map results of Advertising or Marketing businesses at the search results level in Google.com. The only traffic an advertising or marketing firm can generate for its Places account is from searches done at the Map level. ? Google Places Traffic Report ? Search traffic generated by maps as a percentage of all search traffic generated for the small business is low single digits at best and thus virtually insignificant. I am sure for most small businesses getting Google Places search traffic reports is even more so.

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Google Places Reports And Irony

Copyblogger Weekly Wrap: Week of October 3, 2010

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I’m going to keep this week’s intro brief because my dog is biting me. My mother says he bites us all because he’s herding us (he’s a collie mix and barks and corrals when anyone runs), but I think it’s because he wants to be on the winning side. If anyone is play-attacking anyone else, he bites the person being attacked. He’s kind of an ass that way. So it really can’t bode well that I’m being harassed while writing the Wrap. Speaking of ass, it’s just like that time he bit Jennifer Lopez while she was busy working on Gigli . Now for the part where I massively fail to tell you what happened this week on Copyblogger (with bite marks): Monday: 4 Simple Ways to Get More High-Paying Clients with Your Blog If you’re not getting clients with your blog, chances are you’re not doing the four things in this post. Or possibly, you’re doing them but are wearing a clown costume. So remember also #5: Don’t wear a clown costume. And off you go. Read the full post here . Tuesday: The Simple Tricks Experts Use to Always Get Paid For Their Time Sometimes the person asking to “pick your brain” isn’t a zombie, and when that happens, you’re really in trouble. Rather than awkwardly stumbling through a conversation containing sentences like, “But my brain is supposed to make me money, you freeloader!”, Laura Roeder has better ways to deal with sticky situations. Read the full post here . Wednesday: Captivate Your Readers with a Marketing Story that Sells Let me tell you a story: There once was a guy named Johnny, and he had the very unprofitable hobby of writing stories. Then he discovered that if you can learn to tell your own true story in business, you can make money… so he did just that, and taught others how to do it, too. Then he hooked up with seven Victoria’s Secret models and lived happily ever after. Read the full post here . Thursday, part 1: The Easy-to-Use Tool that Helps You Build a Breakthrough Blog Apparently there’s this newfangled trend out there in the Interwebz called “being organized.” The way I read this, some people actually plan things out on a calendar and do NOT blog totally randomly. Apparently this crazy new trend has some advantages that you can read about in this post, like “knowing what the hell you’re doing.” Hmm. Interesting. Read the full post here . Thursday, part 2: Two Conferences for Serious Online Marketers Brian Clark will be speaking at the BlueGlass Internet Marketing conference in Florida November 2-3, and at PubCon Las Vegas on November 8-11. That’s pretty much it. Not funny enough? Okay, imagine him speaking in a clown costume. Read the full post here. Friday: Blogging with a Learner’s Mind This post made me think of how people say that kids pick up languages naturally and well, and how my response is, “If you were content to just say stupid and incorrect things and had people tirelessly correct you for months until you got it right, you’d be good at languages too.” Pamela says it best: “A learner’s mind is fearless.” Learn to lose that fear and be content to learn over time and your blogging will become so much more awesome. Read the full post here. This week’s cool links: Three Problems that Make Me Leave Your Blog in Three Seconds : It’s kind of a problem if people arrive at your blog, are really turned off, and leave. Here’s what may be driving them away and how to fix it. Why Free Plans Don’t Work : A lot of software offers a free plan, with the intention being to convert those people to paid users later. But is it a good strategy? Yes, the Internet Is Changing Your Brain : So, the use of Google and the net in general is changing the way you think. The question is, how, and in which directions? Sales Psychology: Why People Won’t Pay Your Rates : The fact that you look expensive or cheap doesn’t have much to do with the price, because everything is relative. Here’s an explanation of what really matters. The Basics : Sometimes we make simple things too complicated, like when a restaurant adds a bunch of things to Macaroni & Cheese. Always remember the basics. (Mmm… basics.) About the Author: Johnny B. Truant specializes in selling through stories and would like very much to set you up with a cheap blog or website . (That’s “cheap” as in “inexpensive,” not as in “tawdry.”)

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Copyblogger Weekly Wrap: Week of October 3, 2010

Two Conferences for Serious Online Marketers

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In addition to our keynote at BlogWorld this month , I’ll be speaking at two other conferences this fall. If you’re serious about building your business with online content, search marketing, and social media, you’ll want to seriously consider attending one or both. 1. BlueGlass Florida – November 2-3, 2010 BlueGlass Internet Marketing Conferences feature the top social media and search marketing industry experts to give you the best in topics, trends, strategies and networking possibilities. The event is produced by BlueGlass Interactive , the powerhouse combination of several top SEO and online marketing firms (including my friends Chris Winfield, Loren Baker, and Greg Boser, plus search and viral marketing ninjas Dave Snyder and Brent Csutoras). I’ll be speaking on a panel that kicks off the conference called Online PR – The Art of Getting Your Business Talked About along with Peter Shankman and Lisa Buyer . The entire line-up of speakers is fantastic. Important! If you’d like to save 15% off the conference fee, use copy15 when you register. Hope to see you in Fort Lauderdale. Register for BlueGlass Florida here . 2. PubCon Las Vegas – November 8-11, 2010 PubCon Las Vegas is legendary as a gathering point for serious webmasters to learn, network, and drink themselves silly. Even if you skip the drinking part, PubCon provides some of the best education about online marketing you’ll find at a conference. This year, I’ll be doing a keynote panel along with New Marketing Labs president Chris Brogan , social media firm UnMarketing president Scott Stratten , and Sevans Strategy founder Sarah Evans . Can one stage hold all that ego? You’ll have to show up to find out. And you’ll save 20% when you use this code to register online – cb-5671220 . Register for PubCon Las Vegas here . About the Author : Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Brian on Twitter .

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Two Conferences for Serious Online Marketers

50 Can’t-Fail Techniques for Finding Great Blog Topics

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It’s one thing to know you need to create lots of great content . It’s another to actually know what you’re going to write about this week. Are you out of ideas for blog posts? Small wonder, if the only place you’re looking is inside your own head. We all need inspiration … and you’re not going to find it banging your head against the desk and hoping an idea falls out. You need fresh inspiration if you’re going to come up with new ideas. To help get your inspirational motor running, here are 50 techniques for generating great blog post topics. Two words: Google alerts . Set an alert with a few industry key words, and ask it to deliver at least 20 stories a day. Read the headlines and throw interesting links into a file for future use. When you get several related stories, you’ve got an instant roundup piece. Skim national newspapers and magazine stories. How does national news such as the recession affect your readers? Talk about national trends, and your audience will come to rely on you to tailor big news to address their concerns. Ask yourself, “What’s missing?” or “What will happen next?” Answer the questions those national rags didn’t address. What’s the next domino that will likely fall as a result of this piece of news? Point it out, and your readers will feel you (and they) are ahead of the curve. Read small publications. If you have an expertise blog, check the experts’ columns in local papers or business weeklies. Few people outside your community will have read these, and their topics are often easily recycled. Read trade publications. Trade pubs cover every imaginable industry and they’re a great source of trend ideas, from Ad Age to TWICE (This Week in Electronics). They’ll also track new companies and products you might mention (see #39). Read your competitors. I subscribe to several competing blogs on my iGoogle desktop, for real-time headline scanning. If you write on a similar topic, you can give the other blog link love. Riff on a popular post. Grab yourself some high-powered linkage by posting your reaction to a big-time blogger’s thoughts. Try a new medium. Burned out on the blogosphere? Look at YouTube videos, listen to podcasts, or watch good ol’ fashioned TV shows or radio broadcasts. Think about pain. What are the biggest problems your readers face? Focus on topics that would provide balm to their wounds. Talk to a friend. That’s right — use your lifeline, just like on the reality TV shows. Jawing about a problem usually helps ideas bubble up. Tackle a controversy. Weigh in on your industry’s hot topic. This can be especially effective if you have a contrarian viewpoint . Join a blogger’s group. Knowing your group will ask what you’re posting should help concentrate the mind. Hearing what they’re blogging on will no doubt suggest subjects for you to cover, too. Scan industry conference schedules. The list of session topics offers a quick guide to your audience’s hot-button issues. Get a critique. Find a mentor. Have them look over your blog and point out what’s missing. Mine your hobbies. People love posts that offer an unusual perspective on your topic. For instance, I once did a post called 7 Things I Learned About Business From Playing Bejeweled Blitz . Do an interview. Do you have a favorite thinker in your space? Get in touch. You’ll be surprised how many authors and thought leaders are game for a quick Q&A. Review your greatest hits. Read your most popular past blogs. Look for ways to take a slightly different angle and further illuminate the same topic. Write a sequel. If something has happened recently that puts a new light on a past blog post, update your readers. Write a new entry and link it back to the old one. Have a debate.

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50 Can’t-Fail Techniques for Finding Great Blog Topics