thinks

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: metrics are good. At least if they’re done right. Here are several ways to make sure yours are.

• Drowning in data? Want to make sense of it all? Flowing Data offers a great look at how to think like a statistician – without the math.
• Mashable has some great data showing how small business is using social media. But, how can you track its value? Well, Social Times suggests 10 Social Media Metrics Your Company Should Monitor, that’s how.
• Twitter can tell you a lot about how people talk about your brand and John Jantsch offers 7 Insanely Useful Ways to Search Twitter for Marketing.
• And, finally, for a contrarian point of view – albeit a useful one – AdAge offers this view of Why Measurement Alone Will Not Lead to Better Marketing

Hope you’ve had a great week, Big Thinkers. See you right back here next week. You can count on it.

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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.

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

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Jeez. The hits just keep on coming for Google. First, Buzz’s privacy issues led to a class action suit, now this:

• A flap over videos posted on YouTube got several executives convicted under Italian law.
• The Atlantic thinks Google’s ad system stifles innovation.
• The European Union wants Google to get rid of street view photos more frequently.

Once upon a time, Microsoft was the big dog on the block, until regulatory issues took its eye off the ball. Before that, it was IBM. While the items above likely don’t spell the end of Google’s dominance, they’re also not likely the end of Google’s troubles.

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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.

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

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It’s been a crazy couple of weeks around here at thinks Central. But since we spent a lot of time talking about Google Buzz yesterday and the day before, it seemed to make sense to finish the week up with a little more social news.

• Mashable leads off with the well-covered story of Kevin Smith vs. Southwest Airlines. I’m not about to take sides on this one. But it’s worth noting how one individual – admittedly a very popular individual – using social tools can generate their own media storm. Fortunately, many best practices have emerged for how to use social media to your benefit in these cases. So don’t let one blow-up scare you away from the tool. Just imagine what might have occurred if Southwest didn’t use Twitter and didn’t know what was happening.
• Apart from paying attention to Kevin Smith’s travel woes, I’ve been watching the Winter Olympics whenever I got the chance. Well, NBC’s coverage of the Games has created a little social media backlash of its own.
• As if Twitter isn’t popular enough, it looks like Google gave Twitter its best month ever, so more may be on the way.
• While it’s clear that Twitter is on the rise, Facebook still does well, too. And Friend of thinks John Jantsch offers up 5 steps for successful Facebook advertising to help you make the most of the tool, too. It’s no secret I’m a big fan of John’s work and this one is no exception.
• Finally, after all the attention we gave to the Google Buzz backlash and the resulting lawsuit, Wired Magazine’s satirical look at the Buzz backlash is a nice way to end the week.

Happy Friday, Big Thinkers. Catch you back here on Monday.

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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.

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Hey, I don’t know if you heard, but there’s some football game happening this weekend. Yeah, I know. It’s kind of a big deal. I’ve heard people say it’s going to be super.

Anyways, it seems like, in the biggest games, the team with the best coach wins more often than not, doesn’t it? So, how can you be a better coach for your team? How can you help your team win its big game? Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• While originally designed for students, Chris Lehmann’s approach to developing tomorrow’s leaders can apply to you, today, too.
• Along the same lines, Umair Haque turns Jim Collins’ classic Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t
  on its head with his “Great to Good Manifesto.” Haque argues that leaders focus beyond the bottom line, building their companies on the bedrock of core values.
• Of course, you have to get your employees to share those values. Mark Pincus argues that ceding ownership of the process works wonders and asks you to question what your employees are the CEO’s of.
• Finally, lost in all the recent tech news about Apple’s iPad and Google’s Nexus One is Microsoft. It seems like a long time since they’ve won a big game doesn’t it? Former Microsoft VP Dick Brass offered one analysis of the company’s decline. And while he blames a lack of innovation, it’s really a lack of leadership that seems to have killed Microsoft’s innovation culture.

Happy Friday, Big Thinkers. Enjoy the game this weekend – or at least the commercials. And get ready to put your winning team in place on Monday.

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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.

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If there’s one thing that I love more than the web, it’s the mobile, local, social web. Local search is, in the words of one wag, EXTREMELY important. Consumers search from their mobile phones to find your business. And they’re doing it more and more every day. So, we’re going to devote all of today’s links to how you can benefit from the mobile, local, social web, OK? Good. Here we go:

• Oh, John Jantsch. It’s no secret I’ve got kind of a man-crush on John Jantsch. I’m a big fan of his book, Duct Tape Marketing, and try to read everything he writes. So imagine how pleased I was to see he covered ways to get found in local search over at the American Express OPENForum. Good stuff.
• Also at the OPEN Forum, social media superman Chris Brogan gives his tips for getting ahead on the local, mobile web. With folks like Brogan and Jantsch, I’m beginning to suspect OPEN Forum might end up in my sidebar one of these days.
• Finally, Mobile Marketing watch asks whether location is more important than SEO in local search. I wouldn’t let their findings alarm you. Make sure you’re in the search rankings and keep all your “findability information” – address, phone number, directions – available and well-structured on your site. The rest will take care of itself.

Don’t let the length of this week’s link list fool you. Much like Napoleon, it’s short, but powerful. Enjoy your weekend and I’ll catch you right back here next week.

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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.

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If vaudeville joke writers were working today, the punchline to the old “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” gag might be: “Search. Search. Search.”

Um… maybe not.

Whether or not you think that’s funny, it’s no joke how important search is to your business online. So this week, we’re diving into some Search 101 topics to help you rank better and turn those rankings into sales. Here we go:

• Let’s start with the source. Google provides a list of SEO basics to get you started.
• Of course, sometimes knowing what not to do is more important. Fortunately, Dave Naylor’s 101 common SEO mistakes can help with that.
• And we here at thinks have our own 5 questions about search engine optimization that are worth a look.
• One question that’s well worth answering for your SEO efforts is whether higher ranking leads to greater conversion. Fortunately, PPC Hero offers one way to find out.
• Now ranking only helps you if you’re ranking for the right search terms. Search Engine Journal has a good list of 7 overlooked sources for keyword data.
• And, finally, if you’re ready for more advanced topics, take a look at SEOmoz’s article on employing multiple keywords to target conversions. Heady stuff, but very well explained.

Once you’re able to apply these lessons to your business, you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.

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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.

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