Online Marketing Blog

I arrived early to Monday’s Productivity Power Panel and it was standing room only.  I quickly snapped my picture (as you can see the panelists were doing the same of the packed room) and found my spot in the back of the room, on the floor.  This panel discussion features Moderator Craig Jarrow (@TMNinja) and speakers Leo Widrich (@LeoWid), Brett Kelly (@inkedmn), and Mike Vardy (@MikeVardy).

In this session the speakers covered 3 different elements to becoming a highly productive blogger:

- Techniques and Tools

- Social Media and Sharing

- Gadgets and Gear

Techniques For Picking Blog Topics

Craig: One of the first things we get asked about is how do we generate so much content, or how do you write so many posts on the same topic?

As marketers we all know that storytelling is an essential part of connecting with prospects and customers.  Scott Monty (@scottmonty) and his team at Ford have taken the art of storytelling a step further.

In his moving (yes I said moving) keynote, Scott walked the audience through some of Ford’s most recent and innovative campaigns.   In many of these campaigns the story is told not from the perspective of Ford, but from that of the consumer.  Below you’ll find more about the stories of these campaigns, the people who told them, and the lessons learned.

Let Your Customers Tell The Story

The Car: Ford Fiesta

The Buyer: Millennium’s

Believe it or not an image can help make or break a piece of content, once your visitors reach the page.  C.C. Chapman (@cc_chapman) shared sound advice and lots of laughs with his opening session on day one of the New Media Expo with a session entitled “How To Add Photography Into Your Marketing Mix”.

Whether you’re sprinkling your content marketing with imagery or looking to make it a larger part of your strategy, C.C. suggests some best practices for letting your images shine.

#1 – Always Create An Emotional Response
When someone looks at the images that you use to help tell the story of your content, it should illicit a response or reaction.  If a follower takes a look at your photo and then stifles a yawn it’s time to go back to the camera lens and find another image that is more suited.

5 Types of Social Media Strategies
Social media is not a magic bullet. It’s an enabler. Social media won’t make an antisocial brand suddenly social. But it can facilitate and amplify the role that brands play with their audiences.

Whether in social media or any other domain, we need to focus less on how “awesome” we are and more on working toward making our customer’s more “awesome”.  Via Marketoonist.

There’s No Avoiding Google+
In order to compete with social networking giant Facebook, Google+ has begun requiring that people that use their services are also set up with a public Google+ page that anyone can view.  Via The Wall Street Journal.

People flock to Las Vegas for many reasons.  Some want to experience the nightlife while others are interested in seeing acts perform, lounging by the pool, eating gourmet meals, or even attending marketing conferences.

To win big in Las Vegas  you need a little luck and an understanding of the game.  Similarly, if you want to make it in the world of search and social media, you need to understand what works and what doesn’t.

The Rat Pack of the 1960′s was the must see act of it’s time.  Fans would visit Las Vegas from all over the country for a chance to see the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin perform live.  The “must see” Vegas act in January is the “New Media Rat Pack” playing live at NMX and includes top new media experts and digital celebrities ranging from Dana White of the UFC to Guy Kawasaki.

We live in a world where shopping, dating, watching new films and networking can all be done online.  In fact, these actions (and many more) have become a part of our everyday life.  Many of us may experience buyers remorse for purchasing something online that wasn’t within budget, a desire to post a bad review after a terrible movie, or have a sense of regret after a bad date.

When it comes to networking for personal and more importantly business use, there are many benefits to be had and pitfalls to be avoided.  If you are able to effectively engage your online community you can experience many advantages including:

• An introduction to someone such as a thought leader you might not otherwise have access to.

The Social Media Cheat Sheet

This new infographic from SM2 (a social media monitoring platform) provides a handy guide to social media for business.  The infographic provides tips and pitfalls for using the top 9 social networks for business including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

A Valuable Lesson From Randi Zuckerberg: Online Privacy Is Complicated
One mis-click and you may find yourself sharing information or images you had wanted to remain private.  Randi Zuckerberg – sister of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg got a taste of this herself on Christmas day when a personal family photo was accidentally shared publicly.  What advice does she share with other users?  Randi states: “always ask permission before posting a friend’s photo publicly.”  Via Gigaom.

The team at TopRank Online Marketing would like to wish our online community a very merry holiday season.  I for one get very nostalgic around the holidays and count down the days (starting in October) until I get to gather with family and friends to share a meal and make new memories.

For many families, part of the holiday tradition includes singing carols and watching Christmas movies from their childhood.  There is one song in particular that gets stuck in my head every holiday season is The Twelve Days of Christmas.  For a fun spin on a classic we bring you some of our favorite tips for the 12 Days of Social Media, Content Marketing & SEO.

On the __ day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Happy Holidays From TopRank Online Marketing

We celebrate and appreciate the opportunity to have you as party of our online community, and look forward to our mutual success in 2013 and beyond.  You can now “Optimize” your own holiday card!  The first 5 people to comment on this post or share a tweet of their TopRank holiday card will win a free copy of Optimize by Lee Odden.

Make Your Own Holiday Card!

Google & Facebook Take on Patent Trolls
Google recently joined forces with Facebook, Dell, and Intuit to try and restrict the validity of certain patents issued by the United States.  This filing is meant to determine if a company should be able to secure a patent for an “abstract idea” concerning financial intermediation implemented with a computer.  Via Inc.

8 Deadly Sins of Site Design

This recent infographic from Nexus Themes targets 8 common mistakes that drive customers away from your website.  These sins include:

• Bad Navigation
• Too Many Ads
• Bad Content Structure
• Obtrusive Use of Audio & Video
• Registration Requirement
• Boring Content, Boring Design
• Poor Legibility
• Lack of Frequency

Yahoo Has More Users Than Gmail – Introduces A Faster, Cleaner Email Interface
Yahoo has begun pouring effort into updating their email platform across all platforms.  A more modern design is being implemented in hopes of attracting users to actually use their Yahoo! Mail account, instead of using it as a repository for junk mail.  Via Marketing Pilgrim.

As consumers we make a few large priced purchases that we remember and many small cost items here and there.  For the larger items we expect personalized care and service, whereas the smaller purchases may be out of our mind just as quickly as we’ve purchased them.

There is another category and those are the purchases that we make each month, without even thinking about it.  Subscription based services are great, you get your service when you want it, your account is auto charged each month, it’s pretty awesome.  Until of course it stops working.

You may have had the same experience as I have where you call, furious that your cable or Internet stopped working and reach an automated system, or are put on hold for what feels like hours.  Fortunately, social media has provided an opportunity for these seemingly “unreachable” companies to help customers in need.

Visual Gold

This new infographic from Marketo (client) takes a dive into content marketing campaigns of the future.  Those that focus on creating visually appealing content in a way that still creates value to the readers.  In this infographic you’ll find ideas such as:

• Content Formats
• The Five Pillars of Visual Marketing
• Promotion & Distribution

Pope Joins Tweeting Masses With @Pontifex Handle
Benedict XVI will begin tweeting in eight languages beginning December 12th, 2012 using the handle: @Pontifex.  The pope will use Twitter to respond to questions live during his weekly general audience.  Not surprisingly, within only 10 hours of the announcement, Benedict had already reached nearly a quarter million followers.  Via The New York Times.