Great question and we address it in today’s video blog.   PPC advertising can be a bit SCARY for many business owners so we walk through some of the big positives and negatives in PPC.  We feel that the time is ripe for businesses to use ppc for generating new leads in many markets…are you ready to replace your overpriced yellowpages ads yet and try something new?

Stay Tuned! We finish by giving you our single biggest tip to PPC success and the answer might just surprise you.   

Got a specific web marketing question that you would like us to answer?

Comment below and we will be sure and include it in a future post in the near future!

For Baja Tavern and Eats, a new restaurant in Port Canaveral, Fl that offers great seafood and a menu containing a fusion of California-Caribbean cuisine, email marketing has played a key role in their first year growth.

“Online Potential’s email marketing efforts have played a major role in the success of our promotions and special events” states Baja Tavern’s owner Norm Kolsch.  “Our business is seasonal but our email marketing has kept business strong, even in the off season.”

248% Email Open Rates… How Does That Happen?

Effective email marketing starts with strong subject lines and we take subject line generation very seriously.   A/B split testing of subject lines helps us identify which types of messages resonate with our client’s readers and help ensure their message gets through.  For example, a recent email campaign promoting a seafood sampling event went viral with many subscribers forwarding the message to their friends and family.  This caused email open rates to explode and helped pack  Baja Tavern with happy patrons wanting to sample the new menu items.   Open rates remain high as well, routinely topping 80%.

Kolsch goes on to explain the impact email marketing is having on his latest  offerings:

“Our last email promoting our new ‘Sunday Brunch with a View’ had a 108.8% open rate.  We were packed  solid with lines out the door and I estimate that half of our customers came in with printed coupons from our email marketing campaign”.

Email Marketing For Your Business

Now that 2012 is in full swing, think about your business and how you can get your message out to prospects and even current customers who could use your products or services.  If email marketing has not been a part of your marketing strategy, give us a call or send us a message to discuss how this cost effective, high ROI tool can work for you.

Gingrich fired back and called into question John King, CNN, and other media outlets, calling the question “despicable”. Audience members gave Gingrich a standing ovation when he stated “And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that.”

Gingrich went on to excoriate John King and denied the allegations. He finished by drawing comparisons between “elite” media treatment of current president Barak Obama and republicans such as himself and the other GOP contenders.

Within seconds, King, Gingrich and CNN were hot topics on social networks. Terms like Clashed, Spanked, Owned, Hammered were used to describe Newt’s response to the questioning as well as many phrases we would dare not repeat on our G-rated blog.

What I wanted to call into focus is that CNN and John King are dealing with a bit of a reputation management issue. There has been enormous back-lash from the way he opened the debate last night and it will be interesting to see how they handle it.

What if John King Worked for You?

The threat of defending your company’s brand or reputation from some form of negative press on the Internet is a very real danger. Maybe someone posted an unfavorable review on Google Places, wrote a negative blog post about your services, or even caught the brunt of a pointed retort from a Presidential hopeful. In any scenario, what are some ways that you could handle the situation and avoid negative brand attention via social media?

First, it’s important that you are actually engaging your online community. Being active through various social media channels and on a blog helps paint a positive picture of your brand. It also helps build your social community which impacts your reach if and when you do respond to negative attacks on your reputation.

Second, it’s important to quantitate the reach of the attack? Dealing with negative reviews on Yelp for instance is easier than dealing with the negative implications of posting pictures of yourself on Twitter (i.e. Anthony Weiner) and then lying about it.
Third, it’s important to respond with objective truth. You are trying to build brand reputation and tweeting or sharing customer testimonials, industry praise or even positive videos. While this list is not comprehensive, it’s a great start.

Have you had to deal with an attack on your brand or your personal reputation?  How did you manage your engagement?  Were you successful?  We would love to hear your opinions both on the debate last night or on your personal experiences in this area.

S.E.O. stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it is the practice of helping a website rank as high as possible, organically,  in S.E.R.P’s, or Search Engine Result Pages. So, when you type in the keyword phrase “gainesville internet marketing,” our website is going to come up in the SERP ranking number one. Here’s a free tip: You want your website to rank number one for your keyword term too. If you want us to help you achieve that goal, go ahead and visit this page for a free S.E.O Analysis.

But going back to the presentation. There are a TON of creative ideas and ways to help you win the never-ending game that is S.E.O. The main takeaway from the presentation, and the number one thing that I want you to gain from this post, is that EVERYONE in your company can participate in and contribute to your organization’s S.E.O strategy.  That’s right, that means everyone from the C.E.O on down, because the importance of ranking organically for keyword terms relevant to your industry, brand, and/or services should be a company wide initiative. It is something that I assure you will impact your bottom-line (probably sooner than later, if it has not done so already).

Digging a little deeper now, we come to the “how to” portion of the presentation. Let’s do just that and break-down a couple roles in the company that can help with S.E.O. strategies:

The C.E.O.

If you are a small business owner, and we work with lots of them, then you already know that you play many roles and wear a lot of hats in your company, more so than “just” the C.E.O. Still, that does not mean that you can’t contribute to your company’s S.E.O strategy. You are the tip of the sword for your company. You need to “get out there” and make appearances in public. People will get to know you, and they will in turn get to know your company. They will look to you as a leader in your industry and market, and as they are looking to you as that authority, make sure to ask for those links to your site from theirs.

Link building with other local and regional companies is a strong link-building tactic, and Google is placing a premium on that as well. Ask other C.E.O’s (in non-competitive markets, of course) what they are doing with content production, what their Internet Marketing strategy looks like, and see if you can ally yourself with those that “get it.” Do this, and you are playing out your role in your company’s S.E.O. initiatives.  Oh, and know what kind of a link your company really wants to target too.

Public Relations Department

Your P.R. department can assist with some pretty creative things in your organization’s S.E.O. strategy. Here are but a couple proven examples:

• Always perform “Research,” never “Surveys” – People are not going to be that interested in the survey that you are conducting near as much as the value perceived from the “research” you are conducting to better your industry, market, or services. People want to belong to something, not be bothered or annoyed with something they perceive as a waste of their time.
• Hold “Off-Line” events – This is not a new concept, but no one said that you needed to reinvent the wheel either. Holding an off-line event gives you the opportunity to promote it, discuss it, and monitor it -wait for it- all on-line. It will also give you an opportunity to link-build, and a great topic for your C.E.O. to discuss while he/she is shaking hands and making those valuable connections.

Like I said, I want you to take away something from this post. Personally, I hope that you have come to the realization that S.E.O can be fun, get your creative juices flowing, and be viewed in a way that motivates an entire organization to participate in the overall strategey of a company’s S.E.O objective.  If you have any questions, we are always here to help.

What are some creative initiatives you and your organization are planning this coming year? Feel free to leave a comment below and discuss.

Photo Credit: Marketing Pilgrim

Content, especially FRESH content IS KING

Enjoy the video and let us know if you have any questions!

One question that we get a couple of times a month from various people is…

“How can I turn off that unprofessional-looking comments section on the main pages of my site?  I only want people to be able to comment on the blog posts!”

Great question, and definitely worthy of a quick tutorial because unlike most wordpress options, this one is not that obvious.

Enjoy this quick video overview of how to specifically accomplish this within your wordpress admin panel.

Tebow knows a thing or two about completed goals

Many of you have asked us about how to track when visitors fill out contact forms, complete online sales and complete other online company “goals”.  And for good reason, it’s vital to understand when visitors take a preferred action and where those visitors are coming from.  Especially if you are spending money getting those visitors to your website.

Google analytics makes this very easy and even gives you detailed information on where the visitors that complete such goals are coming from so that you can spend more time focusing on the traffic sources that are actually generating leads or new sales.

Here is a quick video overview on using goals in Google Analytics:

Most of us are managing many roles and incurring a LOT OF STRESS in the process.

So how do you successfully offload projects, processes and tasks in a way that allows you to train, manage and hold your employees accountable?

And how do you do this FAST?

For starters, it is vital that you understand that your business is simply a combination of many different SYSTEMS that “in theory” should fit together seamlessly to serve your customers.  Now we all know that many times, that simply isn’t the case and most small business owners that we meet with have, at best, a loose grip on the various systems within their organization.

“If you can’t describe
what you are doing as
a process, you don’t
know what you are
doing.”
W. Edwards Deming

The by-product of a lack of “systems thinking” is stress, concern and the inevitable problem of important tasks that fall through the cracks.

What if you had an organizational system that eliminated much of that stress and built a pro-active culture within your business?

The Secret Weapon:  Process Mapping

What I have discovered within my organization is that systems and processes that aren’t mapped are IMPOSSIBLE to manage.  Here are a few of the many problems that arise:

• Results usually have a high degree of variance
• It’s damn near impossible to train new employees the same over and over
• Projects get delayed
• Your doctors start talking to you about stress levels, blood pressure, your heart etc

Process Mapping and Flowcharts – the basics

First you need to understand – everything should be considered a system or a process within a system.  Your entire business is simply one big system made up of many smaller systems.

You need to make sure that the entire
system made up of people, processes,
policies, key metrics, assets and
strategies work together to meet the
promise made to the customers,
employees, and owners in a repeatable
and predictable fashion.

- Rich Schefren – Strategic Profits

Where should you start mapping processes?

For me personally, I began by documenting the pieces of our business that:

1. took up large chunks of my personal time
2. had a direct influence on profitability
3. had a direct influence on customer satisfaction
4. directly impacted lead generation or new sales

That gave me a number of systems to start mapping out but my next questions were “What should these maps look like?” and “What tool should I be using to create them?”.

Here is an example of a flowchart – it documents a shipping process with clear start and end points.

Photo Credit - Smartdraw.com

Here are what the various shapes represent:

• Oval – a start or stopping point
• Rectange – an action you need to take
• Diamond – a decision point.  Usually a “yes” or “no”

My advice is to start small – start with a business system that you can easily map and use to gain a clear understanding of how you want to frame a flowchart.  You can then begin to map out the systems that you have identified as “key drivers” of success.

insider tip – avoid the free tools here – I looked at and used many of them before settling on SmartDraw 2009.



While most of our blog posts are on practical marketing tips, I hope this helps you as you begin to plan for growth in 2012.

Already mapping out business processes?  Please share examples of maps you have created or tips on what you do to make the process more effective.

Our culture demands productivity and David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” is a must-read for all new hire’s.

Here are the details:

Lead Project Manager Job Description

Summary - here at Online Potential, the customer relationship is vital to the success of our organization.  The person responsible for maintaining the client’s perception the MOST is the person that holds the key to our referral growth.  These five fundamentals rules will guide you:

1. Show up on time.

2. Do what you say you will do.

3. Finish what you start.

4. Say please and thank you.

5. Give a little more than they expect.

This customer facing role requires someone possessing a servant mentality, high character and a gritty determination to drive through obstacles to get projects finished.  This role also requires an individual possessing a blend of technical and people skills that is fairly unique. Our lead project manager will wield tremendous influence over team members and therefore must be both detail and team oriented, passionate and upbeat and capable of reinforcing a customer-centric culture.

Responsibilities

• manage all development-related client projects to include planning, reporting and contractor management

• manage all recurring technical support and ensure proper billing

• work to ensure client expectations are exceeded – both on quality and on time.

• manage client project setup with a focus on careful documentation

• participate in tactical and strategic company planning meetings

• discover and assess new tools, applications or methodologies that can improve our current systems

• manage interns, contractors and any other employees as needed

• responsible for identifying training needs and communicating those needs to CEO

Job Functions

1. Project Management – you are expected to communicate with clients to clarify expectations, outline solutions and document costs, timelines and workflows to ensure that Schedule A documentation is thorough and acccurate. You will schedule project planning meetings (both with clients and internally) and assign all project related tasks.  You will create project milestones and work with internal team to ensure projects are completed in a timely and cost efficient fashion.  Lastly, you will prepare client facing updates and reports that account managers can share with clients.

2. Human Resource Management – provide management oversight for contractors reporting to your position.  Oversee interns and invest the time needed to help them understand various parts of our business so that they can contribute to the fulfillment of projects not related to SEO or traffic aquisition.  Ensure new interns receive proper access to tools and sites they will need and ensure that internal security and access related documentation is tight at all times.

3. Financial Management – in conjunction with CEO, will review sales forecasts, projections and budgets to ensure accuracy and effective financial planning on a quarterly basis.  Expected to help chart upcoming expenditures related to growth and keep expenses in line with sales projections to ensure profitability

EXPERIENCE/QUALIFICATIONS

• Education: Undergraduate degree in Business or related field required

• Experience: strong foundational knowledge of wordpress, using plugins, themese and the following:

  • PHP

  • HTML (to include HTML5)

  • CSS

  • Java Script

• Project management software such as MS Project

• Web based Marketing experience preferred.  Specifically, experience with:

  • SEO concepts

  • Email Service Providers

  • Social Media platforms

  • Website Usability

• Management experience is preferred but not required.

serious inquiries only should contact:

Herb Jones

herb @ online-potential.com

352.262.4372

Now his team is back at it and I just saw my very first Obama banner ad.  Being the inquisitive marketer I am, I clicked through to see where they were driving this traffic and was VERY impressed with this:

What comes to mind when you see this?

• Simple?

• Focused?

• Positive?

As a marketer, I love everything about this landing page and my gut tells me that it converts very well.   Small business owners looking to craft effective landing pages should take away several key elements and apply them to their own campaigns:

1. Powerful imagery - Obama might be the most recognized person on earth right now (sorry Snooki) and this image of him radiates confidence, positivity and most importantly his eye path is guiding you to his call to action. I can’t emphasize the important of this last point – study after study indicates that faces convert higher when looking at a call-to-action.
2. No Navigation – while his reelection logo is a hot link to his main site, there is no navigation so visitors are funneled into their email list.
3. Simplicity – it’s becoming increasingly difficult to capture attention span for any length of time.  Can you distill a message and a call to action down to any less than 3 words?  Highly unlikely.
4. Questions are Powerful Engagement Tools – rather than try to sell you – Obama’s marketing team chose instead to engage you with a powerful yet simple question.  “ARE YOU IN?”.  People feel compelled to answer questions – it’s our nature – and this particular question gives you only one option – “YES – here’s my name and email address”.
5. Popularity is Very Persuasive – us humans all have  a tendency to be part of the “in crowd”…we want to be liked by others.  Robert Cialdini, author of one of my favorite reads “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion“  includes popularity as one of his 6 key principles of influence.  The question mentally strips us down to two choices: Do we want to be “IN” or “OUT”.
6. Effective Use of a Button – the button color stands out well and the text reinforces the primary persuasive element “I want to be IN”.

Here is another landing page – this is the splash page for his reelection site:

Not as effective but this page contains many of the key elements found in the first landing page.

Effective Marketing at Work

What are your thoughts on Obama’s marketing so far?  Have you seen any other ads, landing pages or marketing tactics that you were impressed with?

Link to Obama’s “Are You In” landing page