Autograph by Avinash Kaushik on my copy of Web Analytics 2.0, received at the Art of Marketing

Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve last blogged. Why, you ask? I am a perfectionist, and the thought of writing anything less than valuable to you, my dear reader, paralyzes me. Heaven knows that there’s a lot of noise out there, so if I’m to publish something, it’d better be great. Otherwise, what’s the point, right? Or so I think. As a result, I haven’t blogged lately, not considering all the generous comments that you have left in the past.

I have a couple of folks to thank for encouraging me to get back to the keyboard and develop content that is longer than 140 characters: Linda Bustos, the blogger behind GetElastic.com, and Tyrell Mara.

Linda spoke on the topic of blogging for profit and for fun at a Vancouver social media meetup that I’ve recently attended, and she’s imbued me with enough fire in my belly to blog again. Hopefully the flame won’t die… (By the way, Linda… great hair!)

The second person I’d like to thank is Tyrell. He’s recently completed his MBA, was new blood in said social media gathering, and suggested tonight, in a tweet accompanied by a “smiley face” and all, that I should blog about the Art of Marketing conference. And really. How could I resist a smiley face?

The Art of Marketing brought us some very high-caliber speakers:

• Mitch Joel, President of Twist Image, speaker and author of “Six Pixels of Separation”;
• Bill Taylor, Co-Founder of Fast Company and author of “Practically Radical”;
• Avinash Kaushik, one of the only men in the world for whom I’d cook dinner (the other ones being my Dad, my Beau and David Gray), author of “Web Analytics 2.0″ and “Web Analytics: An Hour a Day”; Digital Marketing Evangelist at Google and Co-Founder of Market Motive;
• Gary Vaynerchuk, author of “The Thank You Economy” and “Crush It!”
• Guy Kawasaki, a Canadian in a Hawaiian’s body, hockey aficionado, and co-founder of Alltop.com. Guy has been the chief evangelist of Apple and is the author of several books, the latest of which being “Enchantment”

There were several great takeaways from the event. I would require a very, very long post to assimilate all the great insight in one single entry, so I shall cover only one — it being the very first point that was brought to us, by no other than Ron Tite, the Master of Ceremonies at the conference. He’s the Vice President, Innovation Practice at Euro RSCG, and a speaker in his own right.

Ron reeled the crowd in with an anecdote about his experience with a “certain” air carrier that had lost his luggage. And boy, could I ever relate to this. “Said” carrier has lost my luggage not once, not twice, but thrice.

But I digress.

Ron’s suitcase was eventually returned to him, but days later than when he was promised, and not before he set up a Facebook Group petitioning the airline to return his belongings.

Here’s where it gets juicy (and Ron, if I’m not relating the story properly, please jump in and leave a comment): a luggage company heard about his trials and tribulations, and sent him a brand new suitcase which had some very… how shall I put this… special items inside:

Plastic handcuffs… Condoms… Wine… Clean underwear…

Accompanying the luggage there was a note along the lines of:

“We’ve heard about your experience and thought that we’d make things better by sending you a new suitcase, containing some items that we can just presume were inside it”.

At this point, conference attendees laughed, the ice was broken, and a great lesson was conveyed:

In social media, find someone’s trouble — a problem which you can fix.

Offer them a solution, even if the issue is not directly related to your product or service.

How could this relate, say, to a mechanic shop? Keep an eye on Facebook Groups and blogs around the area, and look for the poor soul who may be experiencing a gripe with another auto centre. For example, if someone received a less-than-stellar tune-up at a nearby establishment, offer to solve the problem for them, at no cost.

In the case of a cosmetics company, if it is brought to your attention that your competitor’s customers are having issues receiving mail orders, what can you do? Strategically select one of those people and send them products similar to what they had ordered.

Guy Kawasaki calls this providing assistance. Providing value.

I call it “building good business karma”. You know… the “what goes around comes around” type. The “you’ll receive it back a hundredfold” type.

People will remember you, and will talk about you. You’ll become memorable, for all the right reasons.

And here ends my blogging fast. No funny punch line — I’ll leave that to likes of Ron. But I ask you: do you have any stories to share about a business that has gone out of its way to solve your problem? Go ahead, don’t be shy, and share them in the comments!

PS: At 4,855 characters, I could say that I have finally broken my blogging fast, haven’t I?

Spam. It can take many forms.

We’re all familiar with its more traditional incarnation – by e-mail. Then, there’s Twitter spam. You know the kind… you have barely started to follow someone, and BAM! There comes a “friendly” Direct Message, inviting you to visit their affiliate site. There’s also Twitter spam that arrives through “@ replies”: those that come from illegitimate Twitter accounts and contain a link to a titillating site where “ladies” (if you can call them that) await for you.

Worse, even, is when someone starts using his personal Twitter profile to retweet content from a client’s account.

Last but not least… there’s Facebook spam. Which is why I’m breaking my silence on this online marketing blog, after not having posted anything for a while and not following my own advice (that you should blog on a constant, frequent basis). This type of spam really, really annoys me. From what I recall, I’ve received messages from people in my Vancouver network inviting me to “like” the Page of a local company that I had never heard of; a charitable initiative in Alberta (whereas I’m based in British Columbia), and the Facebook Page for a tourism campaign, just to name a few. You can just tell that people are pimping their own projects. Have they no shame?

What’s even more deplorable is that these (hopefully well-intentioned) folks brand themselves as social media professionals! Little do they realize that they’re throwing their professionalism out the window!

Can they genuinely approach their client (or employer) with a clear conscience, and tell him that all those “likes” came from people who are genuinely interested in their brand?

There are many reasons why Facebook spam is just bad form. Here’s a few:

- Chances are that those friends, who were so nice to accept the Facebook Page suggestion, are not the target audience that will translate into conversions for the client. Yes, they have given their “thumbs up”, but by no means does that imply that they will pay attention to the updates posted on that Facebook Page.

- Those “likes” will probably disappear as quickly as they came. It’s always better to have a slow – yet steadily growing – number of supporters, than to have a windfall at first, followed by a high percentage of “unlikes” shortly after. I bet THAT won’t look too good on that monthly report to your client, will it?

- Facebook Insights (the metrics that Facebook provides about a Page’s performance) analyse the ratio of feedback that an update received (through comments, “likes”, etc) versus how many impressions the update generated. People who organically “like” a Facebook Page are more inclined to interact with that content, causing a higher feedback percentage per message. Now that’s something worth bragging about to a client in that monthly report.

- Last but not least… if you want to erode their professional respect for you, invite them to “like” a Facebook Page that you almost certainly know that they have absolutely no interest in.

There are other reasons why this practice should not be part of your online marketing arsenal, but I’ll stop here. Stop viewing your Facebook friends as commodity, and preserve that network that has taken you so long to grow.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited by the folks at the International Internet Marketing Association (IIMA) to speak on the same topic that I presented at IMC Vancouver 2010: “The Crossroads between Social Media & SEO”. The event will be at 6:00 pm on this coming Wednesday, October 13th, at the 4th floor of the YWCA Vancouver (535 Hornby Street).

To say that I’m excited is really an  understatement. Having been to several talks at IIMA by respected professionals such as Darren Barefoot, Jason Billingsley, Warren Sukernek and Richard Goossen, I feel honoured that I’ve been chosen to join the roster of speakers at IIMA.

For those not familiar with IIMA, they’re an organization now in its twelfth year. Their goal is “to bring marketers, agencies and professionals together to discuss the capabilities and potential of Internet marketing”, and judging by past events I’ve attended, they have certainly been fulfilling this mandate.

Below is a sample of  what you can expect to learn from the presentation:

- How a well-planned social media presence can increase your search engine visibility.
- The steps you’re probably already applying to search engine optimization, and which can be transplanted to your social media outreach for a stronger presence  on Google and Bing.
- How strategic Twitter updates, blog posts, Facebook statuses and YouTube videos can help your search engine rankings.
- Facebook changes that affect search.

I owe a big thanks to Jose Uzcategui, John Hossack, Charity Robertson and all the folks at IIMA for promoting and making this event possible. I’m sure there are other names that I’m failing to mention.

If you’d like to join us, book your ticket online here.  The cost for this IIMA is quite reasonable (CAD$38.25 for IIMA member, and CAD$45 for non-members)

I’m sure that many of us will get together at a pub nearby to continue to network and “talk shop” after the event, so feel free to join us there as well, and allocate some extra time for a pint!

Illustration credit: Luc Legay

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak at Freedom 55 Financial on how financial advisors can generate leads through social media and use social networks to grow their business. I couldn’t have asked for a better audience, especially at 8:00 am on a Friday! If you think that financial planners are nothing but stifled individuals with suits and ties, you only need to meet that bunch to change your mind. Laughs were had from both sides of the podium!

One thing that struck me almost immediately was that some financial advisors still don’t have a site. In fact, some of them even doubt the value of having one. What an eye-opener: here we are in the online marketing industry, presuming that every single business can take advantage of social media, when many don’t even have an online presence!

So, in true David Letterman style, The Online Strategy House presents you “The Top 10 Reasons Why You Need a Site”. Pretend you can hear Paul Shaffer in the background… and let’s go!

#10 – You prospects will very likely check you out online when deciding whether or not to become your newest client. A Web site is a perfect tool to build their confidence regarding your company.

#9 – If you choose to have your site built on an easy-to-use content management system, like WordPress, you’ll be able to effortlessly update it with new information. Imagine the possibilities: a new product becomes available to your clientele, and you can immediately let them know about its benefits. It certainly beats printing a new batch of brochures, doesn’t it?

#8 – If you don’t have a site, you can bet that your bigger competitors do. Which brings us back to #10: what if your prospects could not find you online, but saw a comparable business that offered tonnes of information about their offerings? That might create a little bit of doubt in their mind, no?

#7 – Because you want to take control of what happens if prospects “google” your name. If they find your professional-looking site in search results, with valuable content, they will likely feel more reassured — especially if they are in the information search stage of the purchase cycle. However, if all they see is the link to your Facebook profile and that comment that you left on a fishing forum long ago… that doesn’t look so respectable.

#6 - For referrals. People may not remember phone numbers, but they will recall a good domain name. Choose a memorable name for your site, and you’ll make it easier for your loyal clients to spread the word about you.

#5 – A Web site — specifically a blog — gives you a voice when there’s news that you’d like to discuss — related to either your own business or your industry. You can use this outlet to keep your clients “in the know”… which helps you to establish yourself as an authority in your field.

#4- You will probably look unprofessional if you DON’T have a site. Picture this: you’re enjoying a conversation with someone who’s taking an interest in what you do, and might even want to give you some business. He asks your Web address. You say… “I don’t have one”. See that blank stare on his face? That’s the look of disappointment.

#3 – Because it’s not as expensive as you think! If cost is what has kept you from having your own cozy home online, know that now it’s cheaper than ever to have a site created for you. There are many inexpensive services out there that you can turn to, and that make it child’s play to update it.

#2 – Because you can “SEO” (that is, search engine optimize) your site to target phrases that describe your products and services. If done correctly (shameless plug here… ask me how I can help!), your prospects will find you in search engines when they perform a query for those same terms.

#1 – Because it’s 2010! What are you waiting for?

The best time to optimize a site for search engine visibility is before it’s built. There are many design factors that affect whether your site will rank well on Google or Bing. Several of these elements should be considered when the site is planned — not after the fact.

If you’re considering finally taking the online plunge, contact me at The Online Strategy House. I’ll work with your design and development teams to ensure that it’ll help you get the online visibility to reach your goals.

This question came to me courtesy of my profile on Formspring:

“Which CMS platform do you most often recommend people build their sites on?”

To which I replied:

“Hello! I’m a bad, bad Formspring user. Just noticed this question now. Aren’t I supposed to be notified whenever there’s a new question?

I was once involved in a project that ran on another CMS called ExpressEngine. It was very challenging to make any modifications without hiring some expert – and pricey – professional help. Maybe others have had better luck with it, but that incident definitely left me with a sour taste in my mouth about Express Engine.”

Is there a CMS that YOU prefer?

I’ve been in a blogging slumber for months, but some recent experiences with Klout and Twitalyzer, combined with Veronica Heringer’s own good post about Klout, caused me to put my fingers to the keyboard.

Veronica expanded on her thoughts regarding, well, how much clout one should give to Klout’s numbers as a measure of our individual influence on Twitter.

Here’s my take on it: services like Klout and Twitalyzer can be a good accessory in helping marketers to identify potential influencers in a specific realm, but at the end of the day, there’s no substitute for common sense and actually reading an account’s Twitter stream to detect if that person’s (or company’s) updates are valuable.

Why do I say this? Because, yesterday I noticed that a specific Twitter user who, in my books is a spammer (with the best of intentions), ranked very well on Klout. Other than this individual’s malpractices on Twitter, I don’t have anything against this person. What makes it even more difficult to swallow it is that we have met before. I enjoyed our interactions, and would have sincerely thought that this person would think twice before sending me a Direct Message that was clearly promotional, about a topic that I have no interest in.

That Twitter stream – once personal and engaging – is now littered with links upon links that regurgitate headlines, in a fashion that is only employed by less-than-reputable accounts.

As I was saying… as a marketer, I might think that this account is a key influencer in my geographical area were I to solely rely on Twitalyzer and Klout. But, as my parents used to tell me as a kid, “Diga-me com quem andas, que eu te direi quem és”. Meaning, “Tell me who you walk with, and I’ll tell you who you are”. Regardless of their score, I’d sure as hell not want to associate myself, nor my clients, with that Twitter user.

Thoughts?

On Thursday, May 27th, Tris Hussey, Kemp Edmonds and myself are speaking at Social Media Club Vancouver’s event “Social Media 101: Strategy, Business Intelligence & Metrics“.

The format will be slightly different from today’s presentation at Third Tuesday. Each talk is shorter (20 minutes each, with 10 minutes for Q&A). I’ll be speaking about integrating social media with the rest of your online marketing efforts. Tris Hussey will talk about harvesting Business Intelligence with social media, while Kemp Edmonds’ topic is metrics. If I may say so myself, that’s a darn good panel!

Yes, it’s $15. Why? Because the event starts at 6:00 pm and is scheduled to go all the way to 9:00 pm. And we don’t want you to starve, so we’ll feed you. We also need to cover the cost of the venue – so the cost of the ticket also goes towards that. We don’t keep a cent from it.

Stephen Hui, Technology Editor of The Georgia Straight, thought highly enough of Social Media Club Vancouver to write a blog post about this event. So, to use one of my favourite expressions… Don’t be bashful. Register now.

In a couple of hours, I’ll be presenting at Third Tuesday on Social Media Metrics. It’s a huge honour, given that greats like Tod Maffin and Julien Smith have also talked at past events.

If you’ve arrived here after my talk, I’d love to know:

What’s the one social media metrics question that you’d like to have answered, but were afraid to ask?

I’ll go through your questions and will chose a few to answer to.

Thanks for popping by – and for joining me at Third Tuesday!

There’s much debate about the impact of social media on companies’ revenue. However, no case study or research report hits the message home as much as “real life”, empirical examples. Today, I’ll tell you the story of how Bluehost got itself a new customer (and more revenue) through the power of social media, backed by excellent customer service:

My client, In Order To Succeed, has been having a less-than-stellar time with their current host (HostMDS). During the better part of the last week, it has been a saga where their email service doesn’t work and the site has been down. Their current host is based on the East Coast, and their phone technical support has forgotten that clients in the PST zone may need their help from time to time. That’s why I’m not linking to their site – because it is “out of order”. But I digress.

As their advisor on these matters, I had no choice but to decide to move their site (and email service) to a new host. The question was: which host should we choose? Enter social media.

I immediately turned to my Facebook and Twitter connections to enquire from other knowledgeable individuals:

Over a few hours following that question, I received six replies, through Twitter, with host recommendations from individuals whose opinions I respect. A comparable scenario ensued on my Facebook profile, where I posted an update asking for suggestions:

Following the feedback received through both Twitter and Facebook, I contacted Bluehost, and sure enough, was very impressed by the quality of the support that I received during that initial interaction. One key takeaway here is that none of the glowing recommendations received through Twitter or Facebook would not have amounted to much had my personal experience not reflected what my peers had told me. Customer support was available through a livechat application on the homepage, and a subsequent phone call connected me with a knowledgeable sales representative.

The downside of the story was that one other (local) company I contacted did not have anyone available to answer my questions, even though I called them during regular business hours (PST). Those guys missed on an opportunity to gain me as a client, in spite of a glowing review that was given about them.

What does this represent to Bluehost?

• An additional US$83.40 in revenue.
• Numerous positive comments made about their brand on my Facebook profile. Although I only have 158 Facebook friends, many of those are key influencers in Vancouver, who have likely read the recommendations left by others.
• The enthusiastic testimonials that were left about their service on Twitter and Facebook. They not only reached me, but have been potentially read by Twitter followers and Facebook friends of those who offered feedback. This amounted to an aggregate total of  1,177 people on Twitter and 1,529 Facebook users. Granted, there is some overlap, since some share Facebook and Twitter connections, but you get the picture. The exposure that one single tweet and Facebook profile received grew exponentially.

What could have been improved? If Bluehost had been “on the ball” on Twitter, they would have sent me an @reply inviting me to contact one of their representatives right at that moment.

Not only this illustrates very well the adage that “social media is the new word of mouth”, but it is also empirical evidence the power of social media channels for businesses.

So, as it turned out, three days ago I received a question, submitted to me via my page on FormSpring.me. Cole Roberts, a very talented Vancouver photographer with whom I had the pleasure of working while at Magnify Digital, did the honours as the first “human” (meaning, not FormSpring’s own robot) visitor to ask me a question. Below is a copy, and my answer:

Q: How can I get my blog to be #1 on Google search for ‘Vancouver Photo Blog’ : )

A: Hello, Cole – great to see you here, and thanks for being my first (human) visitor to pose a question.

So… how do you get your blog to be #1 on Google search for “Vancouver Photo Blog”?

As you know, this is not an SEO question that can be answered in a short paragraph, but let’s see what I can do to at least help you know a tad more today, than you did… say… 5 minutes ago.

First, the bad news: it looks as though you have your work cut out for you. A quick search on Google.ca shows that there are 17,300,000 search listings for that same term.

The good news: I’ve been following what you’ve been doing on your blog, and you’re on the right track. That contest you ran last year (http://ow.ly/Ywj3), which had the final draw broadcast on video, is an example of content that you can continue to do, to differentiate yourself from your competitors. One idea would be for you to keep on creating engaging, educational, informative, unique content on video, and post it to YouTube. According to data from October ‘08 (eons ago), YouTube, at that time, had more than 65 million unique users.

It also happens that videos are displayed among search results on Google. So… if you continue to develop catchy videos, and optimize them for terms like “Vancouver Photo Blog”, etc, there’s a higher likelihood that your videos will turn up on search results for those same phrases.

That’s just one element you can implement. Another one, which is critical, is the development of optimized text content for your site, focusing on “Vancouver Photo Blog”. Don’t overdo on the Title Tags, though. I’ve seen some pages where you’re just trying too hard.

Now, when it comes to text, you want to be careful. You don’t want to spam the text in your site with “Vancouver Photo Blog” written a thousand times, in sequence. There’s an art to this. Carefully chosen keywords, in carefully chosen places on a page, are part of the answer.

Now, last but not least… the easiest way for you to rank #1 on Google search, for “Vancouver Photo Blog”, is to… invest in PPC ads (AdWords). That’ll be quicker and easier, but the effects to your search ranking won’t be perennial…

Hey… you didn’t say if it had to be #1 in organic (unsponsored) results! : )

And when I happen to need photos made, you’ll be top of mind!

Would you like to ask me a question? Go right to my page on FormSpring.me and shoot it. Just to get your imagination going:

Q: “What’s your favourite city?” A: Berlin

Q: “Who was your favourite actor growing up”? A: James Dean

Q: “What is your biggest phobia?” A: Cockroaches. I can scare a bear away from my yard (which I’ve done while living in Whistler), but would run out of the house at the sight of a roach.