Rob Brown

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

An SEO Tip: Why video and emerging social networks are important

I really enjoy the "game" of online marketing. There is an entire subculture of players and a game that extends across the entire world. That being said, I couldn't imagine relying on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as a primary form of marketing. These days, I see it more as a tool than anything else.

I’m adding this tip to this in depth SEO resource: http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-seo-your-website

This year will mark the implementation of cumulative logic to determine relevance in search results. This isn't news for anyone following search engine trends. From Twitter to Facebook to almost every major source of traffic online, search engines such as Google and Bing are more and more relying on human powered patterns to figure out what a human is searching for.

With this in mind, I have noticed something that smart folks are doing on video sharing sites such as Youtube.

Here's how it works:

1)
Start with a video. As with any content, the better the quality, the more productive the traffic will be.

2)
Create a high quality, informative, video. For example, if you're working with an independent restaurant, create a high quality video that revolves around the keywords you're trying to match. If you're using this strategy in volume, low quality videos will work, they just won't be as productive.

3)
Here's the part where the rubber meets the road. First, identify all of the Tube / video sites that accept video submissions. Youtube, etc. Next, keyword every available field. Don't just stuff keywords - treat each of these fields like the title tag in html. Next, submit, submit, submit. Submit this keyworded, interesting video everywhere you can.

3)
Last, post the video on your site with relevant and connected text. Post it everywhere that is even closely related. In my restaurant example: The main page, menu page, heck even on your keyworded 404 page. Hopefully, this video will add value to your readers too - remember that video significantly improves CTR, time on site and lowers bounce rates.

Why this works:

Increasingly, search engines are combining sources to determine relevance. Relevance very clearly equals higher rankings. Since there isn't a lot of competition on video sites for a wide variety of keywords and terms, it's possible to become influential and add a tool to your SEO and marketing toolboxes.

Posted via web from Rob Brown

Monday, January 4, 2010

Simple Business = Good Business

I live in a small town 45 minuets outside of Toronto. Sometimes, this works to my advantage (lower taxes, less traffic, nice folks). Other times, it doesn't (fewer services, few restaurants, expensive groceries).

What is not unusual is for me to walk into a small local store, be greeted with a smile and asked how the person can help me. Without ulterior sales training, the person just simply and honestly wants to help me.

Today, I found an example of simple, good business in an unexpected location. A new pizza place opened up and I decided to give it a try. The owner is from "the big city" and he reminded me of a "small town" simple business lesson.

Give people stuff for free and they will like you.

The new pizza guy knows he's new. He's nice, outgoing and has that "new franchisee" buzz about him. Of his own accord and out of his own budget, he's giving people stuff to make them like him.

Here's what he's doing:

1)
When a new customer phones in an oder, it is taken just like any other pizza shop.

2)
When you go in, you're greeted with a small town smile and a friendly "Hello".

Nothing new yet. You're a new customer and your order is ready - perfect.

3)
What comes next is genius. The owner opens up the pizza after taking your money and says something like "this pizza is a bit overdone" or "there aren't enough pepperoni" on this pizza. I can have a new one ready for you in 5 minuets and you can take this one at no charge. Brilliance.

4)
What my big city turned small town business person has told me with this one pseudo promotion is: He cares about his product, he is a perfectionist, he is friendly, he does what I want, he is more concerned with my happiness than the cost of his product, and best of all - he knows that people talk.

So there you have it. An insignificant new pizza shop owner that taught me a lesson about fundamental customer service. If only Facebook applied these principles or what about Ford. I'm not saying give away the farm, but DO THINGS that SHOW PEOPLE what you're made of. Pizza or not.

Posted via web from Rob Brown

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Blippy - Is This the Evolution of Twitter?

Twitter has a long way to go before it reaches the natural end of it's life. However, new service Blippy is prophesying that end by refining Twitter into a niche appeal service. Blippy is revolutionary because no other online service has given someone the ability to publicly track all of their purchases and the purchases of their friends in real time.

What is Blippy and how does it work?

After receiving a Blippy Invite Code, you're asked to link the accounts you have at stores such as iTunes, Amazon, Zappos, Netflix, Godaddy and others. You can also link a credit card or bank account.

Linking an account allows Blippy to monitor your purchases. Similar to tweeting, the purchases in your linked account can be viewed by your Blippy "friends" to be commented on and reviewed.

Here's why Blippy is cool:

You might be thinking to yourself, "OMG - I don't want anyone to know about my Netflix rental history"; that's what I thought too until I used Blippy. Blippy's purpose isn't to monitor all of your purchases. Rather, Blippy wants to tell your audience "look at how cool I am, I just bought this".

It's scary to think that people will know what you buy when and for how much, but this initial fear is one of the reasons that I think Blippy will succeed. The shock value is enough to get a few early adopters into the system and the community that is forming shows the value in giving Blippy and the general public a view of your purchases.

Beyond showing people what you bought, Blippy takes point from Twitter by showing your friends what you purchased. However, it gets interesting when people start to comment on your purchases and discuss them. Again, this sounds intimidating, but check this out:

See what's happening there? Some Internet noob named Jason Calacanis purchased a new camera to take the best photos possible of his new daughter. He purchased the camera, broadcasted his Amazon purchase on Blippy and opened a conversation about it. What followed was some very sound advice on lenses and even a note by some other unknown guy, Leo Laporte.

How cool is that, right? We know what someone we like purchased, where, for how much and Blippy friends got to have a conversation about it. Beyond the shock value of having instanat access to what we buy and when we buy it, Blippy will live or die in these types of conversations and interactions people like Jason and Leo have with their audiences.

Of course, this isn't without problem. Similar to Twitter, the user interface of the Blippy conversation limits the depth of what people are saying. After Leo said to Jason, "[You] should have bought the 5D. Seriously.", Jason started a question on Mahalo Answers asking how his camera was different that resulted in significantly deeper, well researched answers.

What do I think about Blippy?

I mentioned at the start that Blippy is the evolution of Twitter. In it's current state, that's exactly what I think about it. When a product or service reaches critical mass, competitors break the market leader apart into smaller services tailored for specific functions. Online, this is called "niche market product creation" and is exactly what Blippy is doing.

Blippy could have easily been marketed as a Twitter API based App service that allowed people to broadcast the details of their retail purchases to their Twitter friends. By developing their own niche microblogging social network based on purchases, they're taking a risk that could pay off. If heavy social mavens such as Laporte and Calacanis attract their friends and fans to have conversations, this could become a very interesting project. Years down the road, the obvious "end game" for Blippy goes one of two ways. Either Twitter buys them after they have ammased enough regular conversation that Blippy becomes powerful or they quickly monitize with the retail companies that they interact with. The less obvious path (and the one my money is on) is that a smaller credit card company (not Visa) will buy Bilppy for access to the data and to use as a marketing tool to differentiate their product from larger competitors.

Check out Blippy. Grab a beta invite code and sign up. My crystal ball says that we're going to start to see a lot of integrated services similar to Blippy in the near future.

Posted via web from Rob Brown

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Apple Tablet Announcement

Apple has reserved the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco in late January. Many people are hyothesizing that Apple will release a tablet computer.

The Apple tablet has been anticipated for almost 2 years now. With soft compeition from the now defunct CruchPad, the Apple Tablet (possibly called the iSlate) is expected to debut on January 26th at the largest Apple event since September.

I'm interested in the Apple tablet. I think that a touch tablet driven with a clean, simple operating system has the capability to be a game changing device similar to the iPod. With applications ranging from educational tools to simply advancing entertainment, an Apple tablet could become what the Apple TV always hoped to be.

More information:

http://blogs.ft.com/techblog/2009/12/exclusive-apple-to-host-event-in-january/

http://seekingalpha.com/article/179709-is-the-apple-tablet-coming-january-26-2010

http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/12/23/rumorous-maximus-apple-holding-special-event-january-26/

Posted via web from Rob Brown

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Untitled

I've just finished authoring a series of articles about debt. You know, the kind that piles up around Christmas?

Here is one of the articles that I composed titled, "How to Consolidate Debt with Bad Credit":

http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-consolidate-debt-with-bad-credit

While researching this line of articles and specifically this one that deals with bad credit, I'm reminded how serious credit it but how easy it is to fix it with good, simple habits. If you've never had to deal with bad credit or if you have good credit but are thinking about consolidating your loans to save money, this article might help you.

Let me know what you think. I would really appreciate some feedback on this.