Choosing the Blog Program

When you are ready to get started with your new blog the first thing you have to do is figure out what blogging program to use and where to put it. There are a few options to consider before getting started with your new blog. One option is that you can choose to host your blog somewhere on your current website which would require that you either custom program a blog into your site or upload a pre-existing blog program to your site. Another option you have is having your blog page somewhere off site. If you choose to do that then I recommend looking at one of the blogging applications mentioned below. Keep in mind that if you have a website and you host the blog off site it can sometimes be difficult for users to get back to your company’s man website. (more…)

Are you a business owner? Have you been hearing all about Social Media? Did you know that blogging for your business is a great way to generate leads, build your brand and convert new customers?

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Its happening everywhere. Stocks are on the decline, earnings reports are bad, people are being laid off and this is all in big business. So your thinking to yourself how can I possibly weather this economic storm if I’m a small or medium size business without the huge resources of larger companies?

What most news articles and reports don’t mention is that even in the face of cutbacks to marketing budgets most companies turn to online marketing as an efficient and economical way of advertising, generating leads, and driving new sales to their business.

Online marketing can take many different forms, and can mean different things to different business’s. The important thing to understand is that in tough times its the best possible solution you may have to increasing sales even in a tough economy.

So why should you invest in online marketing?

Online marketing not only provides your business the ability to efficiently and effectively target you advertising efforts to specifics groups, it also provides you the ability to maximize your ROI and adjust your approach in almost real time. The reason why many large companies increase their online marketing budgets in tough times is because they are able to analyze what they are spending down to the smallest detail and can tell whether its working very quickly.

Direct Mail and other forms of traditional marketing simply cant offer that. You can mail out 10000 flyer’s and hope the most people look at them before they throw it away and some people actually respond, but its really hit or miss. Turn to email marketing however and now you can target 10000 people via email, know that your email will end up in their inbox, understand exactly how many people took the time to view, know if they actually clicked through to your site, and track them through every point of the transaction. Not to mention its a fraction of the cost of direct mail and you can adjust and target your campaign overnight not weeks later.

This is just one example of how online marketing can recession proof your marketing iniatives. The list goes on from Paid Search Listings, Local Optimization, and website enhancements that can all drive more sales, leads, business, or traffic to your site with the ability to track every detail.

Corporations discovered the advantages of these techniques a long time ago, now small and medium business is getting into the game and if you have considered it yet I seriously suggest you take another look.

It could be the difference between weathering the economy and growing your busines, or getting beaten down by the economic storm.

So with all the focus on the deteriorating financial markets it seems that the biggest deal in history has slowly but silently fallen off the radar. Microsoft’s play for Yahoo! is still going strong and believe it or not it looks like it very well may happen.

Yahoo has spent the last month trying everything it can to poison the deal, make alliances with other companies or try to get Microsoft to sweeten the pot but to Microsoft’s credit it has yet to blink.

While most articles talk about the synergies or lack thereof that the merger will produce I wanted to quickly highlight some points that will be beneficial to online marketers, publishers, and advertisers.

1. Better click through percentages in Paid Search – Yahoo! generally has better conversion rates than Google does even though Google supplies most of the traffic. I think a combined Yahoo!/Microsoft team in this highly competitive market will give Google a run for its money. Microsoft has spent a lot of resources on developing some really great analytics for its adcenter network and this should pay off
2. More advertising revenue – Yes, I know if you combine both companies this becomes an obvious thing but theres more to it than just the combined revenue that is already there. With better visibility, greater market share, and the ability to reach a much wider audience through both Yahoo!s and Microsoft’s web properties they combined company can stand to earn top dollar for premium placements.
3. Let their be Search – In search Google is obviously king. While Yahoo has been developing a better search component for a long time now there hasn’t been anything of great substance that has come out. With a combined Yahoo!/Microsoft team they can devote better resources to develop on the Live Search system that Microsoft has spent tremendous resources to build. While its still not as good as Google, the potential is their to make it a great alternative.
4. Why its good for Online Marketers- If your currently doing SEO, SEM, or any other type of online optimization and marketing you currently have to optimize first for Google and then worry about the rest. With a combined Yahoo!/Microsoft you may have a little more work ahead of you as you may have to actually optimize for both Search Engines but the pay offs for your clients should be much greater.
5. Video, Social Media, and More – Both Yahoo!& Microsoft have been playing catch up in the world of Social Media, and Multimedia. While both of them have made significant strides they are not the leaders in any of these fields. Google got a break when it bought Youtube. What these companies need to do is take the best of breed from both of them, combine them, and make them better. Yahoo’s Buzz is one example of late to the game but getting it right. Initial stats show impressive traffic to sites that have had articles pop up on the front page.

Every point I have made of course depends on a combined, efficient, culture friendly company forming. While some things will come to fruition very early, as a combined company they will have some real growing pains. If they can overcome these all I have to say is watch out Google.