From the monthly archives:

November 2008

Search Engine Marketing, Inc. (Book Review of the Week-ish)

by Tim on November 26, 2008

I consider Mike Moran a friend and a really good guy. I provided a blurb for the updated edition of his book, “Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company’s Web Site” (co-written with Bill Hunt). Which, surprisingly, has made it hard to review. Because I’m completely in the tank on this one.

Full disclosures aside, it’s truly a great book. In fact, I believe I called it “…the book on search engine marketing.” Chapter 13 on link-building and Chapter 14 on optimizing paid search alone would make it a strong addition to any serious marketer’s bookshelf.

Maybe the best thing to do is steal some quotes from others to explain why you should buy this book
:

“Any organization that wants to get search needs to get this book
” – Analytics guru, author and FOT Avinash Kaushik
“This is a must read book for marketers at companies of all sizes from startups to the Fortune 100″ – Lee Odden
“Plan on picking up several copies. Every member of your team needs it” – Author and e-commerce expert Bryan Eisenberg

So, what are you waiting for? Grab a copy
– or several – today.

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Tagged as: book review, books, mike moran, ppc, search engine marketing, sem

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Yet another reason smart companies use Twitter

by Tim on November 19, 2008

in social strategy

What’s that? Still not sure what value Twitter offers your business? We saw another lesson this past week. Quick recap:

McNeil Consumer Healthcare created an ad for its Motrin product targeting specific customer group (new mothers, in this case)
The customer group hated the ad
The customer group took to the airwaves (Twitter) to protest
Mass media – the Associated Press, WSJ, Scientific American (!) – picked up the dissent
McNeil pulled the ad and apologizes, far too late to satisfy the customers, who created their own video response:

The point? You at least need to be aware how your customers talk about your brand in places like Twitter. And there are some simple ways to do so.

See this screenshot? This is a search on Twitter for Motrin.

If McNeil had one of its marketing folks subscribe to the feed for this Twitter search alone (see the small RSS subscribe button?), they may have been better able to address the situation. Is it a perfect solution? No. But as McNeil learned here, you don’t need to be perfect to be better than nothing.

Not enough? Want more? See Pistachio’s excellent overview of McNeil’s Motrin headache. David Armano takes a deep look at how you can connect with your customers via social tools, as does Josh Bernoff, every day. Josh and Charlene Li’s fantastic book – Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
– can also help you learn more about the changes that issues like this represent.

Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the mobile, social, local web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today. Or subscribe via email.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.

Tagged as: Search, twitter

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Blogging is dead. What are you going to do about it?

by Tim on November 11, 2008

in Blogging,Marketing

What? You don’t believe me? Everyone knows blogging is over. You probably shouldn’t even think about using a blog to grow your business. Forget about the SEO benefits of blogging. Ignore building stronger connections with your customers. I mean, seriously, you wouldn’t dare think about starting a blog now, would you? After all, Web luminary Jason Calacanis retired from blogging. And he ought to know, right? Even The Economist said,

“Gone…is any sense that blogging as a technology is revolutionary, subversive or otherwise exalted…”

But, wait. Didn’t The Economist also say,

“Confirmed, however, is the idea that blogging is useful and versatile” (emphasis mine).

Odd, isn’t it? Why, you’d think they actually think that blogging is, I dunno… useful. Versatile.

Weirder still, Tom Peters said recently,

“…[blogging is] the best damn marketing tool by an order of magnitude I’ve ever had” (see the end of the video).

Seth Godin chimes in “…and it’s free!” (Same video as above. I’d add, it can be free. In any case, it’s surely very low cost).

Y’know what? Ignore anyone who tells you blogging is dead. Especially your competitors (heh, heh). Sure, blogging has changed. But Richard X. Thripp said it best in response to B.L. Ochman,

“Saying that blogging is dead is like saying that writing or music or publishing is dead.”

Blogging is a tool. A valuable tool. One your business can use to effectively grow your brand, find new customers and improve your business. Tools don’t die. Carpenters still use hammers. Chefs still use knives. And business still use blogs.

Don’t have a blog? Don’t worry. Next we’ll look at easy ways to start a blog for your business using inexpensive or free tools.

Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

Or subscribe via email.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Tim on Twitter.