Posts Tagged ‘internet marketing’

We’ve all seen a variety of different blogs and blog posts. The simple truth is that some are great and some just bore you to death. What’s the difference between a homerun post and a post that just fizzles out? Here are 6 tips for writing blog posts that will shine!

1. Offer Value: Blog posts are all about valuable and relevant content. Don’t use your blog post to push a sale onto the reader. Just offer them value in your blog post. If you offer them value first they will be open to hear your sales pitch later.

2. Stay Relevant: Mix it up with your blog posts. Talk about relevant issues and topics that you know your readers are interested in. Don’t talk about the exact same topic day in and day out. Variety is the spice of life! Try covering a entire spectrum of topics that your readers may be interested in.

3. Give Them More: Provide links to other valuable blogs, articles, and websites for your readers that relate to your post. Content is king and the more value your content has the better chance your blog post has to
succeed.

4. Picture Perfect: Always include a picture or two in your blog post. Nothing will turn people off faster than a big blank block of text. Throw in a few relevant pictures or screenshots of what you’re talking about.

I get this question all the time! Social networking is obviously hugely popular to build communities and connect friends and family but cannot it work for business?

More importantly does it work for any business or just “internet marketers”?

I did a little primary research over the last few weeks and found some stunning facts.

What does all this mean? Let me explain:

Pageviews and unique views are both self explanatory so don’t need to much detail there but you can see that if you can boost both those by 238 and 226 percent respectively over a two week period, imagine what you can do in six months or one year!

Pages/Visit: We increased this category by 27 percent which indicates people are viewing 27 percent more pages than they were two weeks ago which indicates they are more engaged by our content.

Time On Site: Another indicator that people are more engaged. They are spending 81 percent more time on our site browsing and reading.

New Visits: This is the category I really wanted to talk about. Given this decreased by 8.26 percent you would think this is negative but its not! Our pageviews are up (way up by 238 percent) and same with our unique views but our new visits are down?

We all know that Google rocks. Not just for finding things like; what to cook for dinner or movie listings. Google is arguably the most powerful and useful tool for your internet marketing needs. Its so powerful in fact that you are definitely going to want some help to get the most out of it and of course pull top rankings on Google searches. Here are 10 Google applications that you have probably never even heard about. You thought Google was great before?… wait until you get your hands on some of these apps!

See all 10 Google applications here: http://tinyurl.com/p74bsj

You can definitely make use of these apps to grow your business and online presence. But hey its very time consuming and it can get pretty complicated. Don’t forget, we’re always happy to Do It For You!

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Corey Robert
Production Director
Black Card Marketing Group

Technorati Tags: alerts, applications, base, book search, code search, flight simulator, google, google earth, internet marketing, keyboard shortcuts, marketing, online, page creator, SEO, sketch up, tracking, trends

I find it fascinating that modern day marketing techniques (call it marketing 2.0) has reached bigger businesses. Look at ING Direct Canada a good size bank with branches all over the globe using a “launch sequence” to promote their new chequing account.

More evidence that marketing 2.0 and social media are here to stay because even big companies that could afford to pump millions into traditional advertising are opting for marketing 2.0 tactics (social media, blogging, conversation building, community building and so much more).

This is their traffic driving page: http://www.your185.ca/v/

This is their webpage (notice the connection between the message and URL): http://www.your185.ca/

Interesting facts:

• They are using twitter to build conversation
• They are using Flickr to keep visitors engaged in their “local” celebration
• They are using a webcast to announce new details
• The traffic driving page is a very “down-to-earth” kind of video, no fancy stuff
• Above the fold is just a video which almost appears to be a “live feed” although I don’t think that’s the case, it’s still cool
• The webpages are very clean and professional, no clutter
• Notice how the twitter conversation and Flickr is what I call “natural social proof”. It’s not a direct testimonial but still acts as social proof – very powerful (you can also do this with blog commenting)

I would of done some things differently and I know Jeff McLeod, our VP Marketing, will have great feedback especially about the social media component.

It goes without saying that small business owners are always looking for ways to save money. And technology is a great way to do just that.

By its very nature, technology is intended to make complicated things simple and expensive things affordable. Think about sending a bill to a customer; back in the day, it took paper, correction fluid, a stamp and a trip to the mailbox to accomplish this task. These days, it can be as quick and cheap as sending an e-mail.

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

To see the five easy ways small businesses can save money using technology go here: http://bit.ly/9qsHGZ

Technorati Tags: black card marketing, dify, do it for you, Gerry Robert, internet marketing, money, save money, small business, technology

Hey everyone, here is an awesome little trick that can help you grow your fan pages, groups, and events exponentially. We’ve all been through the tedious work of adding hundreds of friends one at a time. But thanks to a little nifty javascript manipulation you can suggest or invite your entire friends list all with a few clicks. Watch the video below!

Here is the code you will need to paste into your browser’s URL bar:     javascript:fs.select_all()

Enjoy this little trick courtesy of the Black Card Marketing Group!

Technorati Tags: article marketing, BCMG, black card marketing, blog, dify, Do it For You Marketing, drive traffic, facebook, Gerry Robert, internet marketing, leads, marketing, marketing tools, potential customers, rules, social media, strategies, twitter, video marketing, Youtube

Social media is reinventing marketing, communications, and the dissemination of information. While businesses now have access to these rich channels, the true promise of social media lies in the direct connections between people who represent companies and the people who define markets of interest.

Today, many businesses approach this with the establishment of social media guidelines and policies. This is indeed an important step, and not one worth economizing. But it’s also not enough. I highly recommend establishing official procedures that remind representatives of the importance and privilege of engagement.

The openness of popular networks is trivial. Any business can join and create a profile. It’s the devices we employ, the intentions that motivate engagement, and the value we offer that dictate the significance of the brand-specific social graphs we weave. It’s a simple investment in either visibility or presence. In social media, just like in the real world, presence is felt.

Get all 21 Rules here: http://bit.ly/a4sylT

Brian Solis is the author of Engage and a leading authority in digital branding and marketing. Connect with him on Twitter or Facebook. What follows is a modified excerpt from Engage, the complete guide for businesses to build, cultivate, and measure success in the new web.

Technorati Tags: article marketing, BCMG, black card marketing, blog, dify, Do it For You Marketing, drive traffic, facebook, Gerry Robert, internet marketing, leads, marketing, marketing tools, potential customers, rules, social media, strategies, twitter, video marketing, Youtube

The latest changes to Facebook have seen their fair share of criticism, with many users examining more closely the definition of “public vs. private.” Some users have been turned off enough by Facebook’s envelope pushing when it comes to privacy to go so far as to contemplate a mass Facebook exodus.

Whether or not the changes become the final blow to Facebook’s tenuous relationship with privacy remains to be seen. However, protecting your privacy is important on any social network, so while you’re still on Facebook, here are a few important privacy tips to keep in mind as you navigate the site’s newest incarnation.

Get the top 5 tips here: http://bit.ly/a7DL2m

Adam Rosenberg is the Online Community Manager at Salsa Labs. Most recently, he was the New Media Manager at the Center for Democracy & Technology where his work focused on Internet privacy, data protection, cyber security and open government issues.

Technorati Tags: article marketing, BCMG, black card marketing, blog, dify, Do it For You Marketing, drive traffic, facebook, Gerry Robert, internet marketing, leads, marketing, marketing tools, potential customers, social media, twitter, video marketing, Youtube

Cisco Systems has predicted that Internet networking traffic will have quadrupled between 2009 and 2014 in its Annual Visual Networking Index Forecast. It also predicted that online video will be the primary driver of that growth.

Cisco’s report says that 767 exabytes of data (one exabyte is the equivalent of one billion gigabytes) will be transferred online in 2014, and that 91% of consumer traffic will be online video, which will include both traditional web video and video-on-demand provided by television providers.

For the rest of the story go here: http://tinyurl.com/26lyfvx

Technorati Tags: article marketing, BCMG, black card marketing, blog, dify, Do it For You Marketing, drive traffic, facebook, Gerry Robert, internet marketing, leads, marketing, marketing tools, potential customers, social media, twitter, video marketing, Youtube

With web video exploding and the promise of GoogleTV around the corner, it’s a wonderful time to be able to upload your own content. But just because anyone can do it doesn’t mean everyone should. For every well-produced, entertaining and informative video, there are millions that aren’t. So what are some of the bigger pitfalls to avoid if you want your video to get people talking?

Firstly, remember that at the moment, the vast majority of content created for the Internet makes zero money, so everything you do should come from a place of passion. Here are a few tips to make that passion work for you.

Get the four tips here: http://bit.ly/c92Ym8

Technorati Tags: black card marketing, dify, Gerry Robert, google, internet marketing, marketing, online video, producing video, tips, video marketing