Today is the MLB All-Star Game. But, I’m lucky. I have access to the greatest team of All Stars out on the web every day. Each of the folks listed below makes me better at what I do every day. I can’t imagine going a day without reading one of these blogs or going a week without reading all of them. With that, I’m thrilled to announce The 2011 Thinks E-commerce and Online Marketing All Stars:
- The RKGBLOG—Leading off, we’ve got George Michie and the RKG team. Their RKBLOG is thoughtful, insightful and colorful. Need proof? Check out their recent piece on attribution modeling and see if you don’t want them on your team, too.
- Search Engine Land—Want to know everything going on in the land of search engines? Listen to Danny Sullivan and his team. One of the first sites I read every day, Search Engine Land covers all the news you need to know about the search marketing business, along with insights to help you put that information to work. For example, their coverage of the aftermath of the Google/Twitter split not only offered headlines. It offered clarity.
- GetElastic—Of course, there’s more to life than just search engines. Linda Bustos (@roxyyo on Twitter) and the rest of the GetElastic blogging team look at e-commerce best practices and share what they’ve learned in a way both useful and engaging. With posts like “Is Multichannel E-commerce Dead”, GetElastic offers thought leadership and practical advice for online business.
- Dan Zarrella—Billing himself as “The Social Media Scientist,” Dan Zarrella separates fact from fiction about your fans, friends and followers. For instance, in “Tweet Lots of Links to Get Followers”, Dan doesn’t just offer opinion. He backs it up with data. And for walking the walk as well as talking the talk, Dan Zarrella earns the clean-up spot in the All Star lineup this year.
- Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik—Did I just mention data? Avinash Kaushik lives, breathes and sleeps data. Some guys count sheep to fall asleep. I suspect Avinash counts them, segments them and determines the ROI of each. Offering posts both brilliant and funny like “11 Digital Marketing Crimes Against Humanity”, Avinash earned his roster spot among this group of All Stars.
- SEOmoz blog—Where do I begin with SEOmoz? Rand Fishkin has built an amazing organization out in Seattle to help SEO practitioners get better and to help businesses find better SEO practitioners. Whether offering innovative ideas like using Google’s new search by image for link building or original research into how tweets affect search engine rankings, SEOmoz remains one of my top destinations and a key contributor to my All Star team.
- Mike Moran – Biznology—How many IBM Distinguished Engineers do you know? How many Chief Strategy Officers? How many entrepreneurs? OK. How many do you know contained within one individual? That’s right. One guy: Mike Moran. Mike and Biznology’s bloggers (full disclosure: I am one of them. And am humbled by the opportunity), crank out hit after hit after hit. With folks like Mike, Frank Reed, Aaron Kim, and Chris Abraham, Biznology is practically an All Star team in its own right. And it remains one of the best marketing blogs on the Web, even after adding me.
- ProBlogger—Darren Rowse was one of the first bloggers I read when I started this blog some 6 years ago. And I still read him today. With great insights on creating and marketing content such as “5 Ways I’m Using LinkedIn to Drive Traffic, Build Community, Generate Sales and Build Influence”, Darren (and his dozens of guest bloggers) prove an excellent addition to the team.
- Duct Tape Marketing blog by John Jantsch—No E-commerce and Online Marketing All Star Team would be complete without the great John Jantsch. John’s Duct Tape Marketing (possibly my all-time favorite business name), helps businesses large and small solve all kinds of problems as quickly and inexpensively as a roll of… well, something useful, quick and inexpensive. Check out his thoughts on why everything you’ve heard about Google+ is wrong, for one example of why John will make my All Star team every season.
There you have it, Big Thinkers. Your 2011 Thinks E-commerce and Online Marketing All Star Team. Check ‘em out and see if your game doesn’t improve.
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No, I have not turned my back on the idea of improving conversion rate. In fact, dollar for dollar, you’re usually better off putting your energies into turning your traffic into sales instead of driving more traffic. But… that doesn’t mean its bad to fill the top of the funnel too. Especially if you get the right folks to come to your site. How do you do that? These 6 articles from the past week should help:
- Got a local business? I’m a big fan of GetListed to see where customers can find you. And where they can’t.
- It’s no secret how much I value paid search. But optimizing that can take work. Search Engine Land looks at getting more PPC traffic for lower cost.
- If that’s not good enough for you, Google is now experimenting with a flat-fee advertising model. I suspect we’ll see it shake up the local advertising world as the program moves forward.
- Google Operating System looks at how Google has improved their support. How does that help you? What better source of information on using AdWords and improving your site’s search ranking than direct from Google, right?
- Get social traffic for your business. Mashable has a great look at building your personal Facebook strategy.
- And, finally, Bing has a new program called Cashback, where you effectively pay your customers when they click your ads and make a purchase. Andrew Morgan at Rimm-Kaufman Group does a terrific job outlining its benefits and its risks. Give it a read.
Enjoy!
Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the
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thinks helps you understand how to
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“…you know what I’m craving? A little perspective. That’s it. I’d like some fresh, clear, well-seasoned perspective. Can you suggest a good wine to go with that?” – Anton Ego, “Ratatouille”
Coming right up, sir! There’s nothing like a little fresh perspective to clear the mind and point you in the right direction. Fortunately, we’ve got just the thing on today’s menu:
- Seth Godin’s always good for a new way to look at things. And while I love Seth’s latest idea, I hate the name. “Bear shaving” is when you address a symptom, not its cause. Seth’s notion is an uglier coinage than “The 5 Why’s,” but – sadly – memorable and worth looking into all the same.
- Another type of perspective: Take a look at something we all have seen before – a cheesy, info-mercial-esque approach to selling – and see why it works. Jeff Sexton at GrokDotCom does just that, looking at “on-target” copywriting on a silly, silly site and examining why it works.
- And I love this tip from Kevin Hillstrom on tagging customer attributes to measure the value of those attributes over time. Entertaining read, too. You should check out the whole series for incredible insights and, yes, Mr. Ego, fresh, well-seasoned perspective.
- And, finally, here’s a great little bit of perspective from George Michie at Rimm-Kaufman – with an assist from Kevin Hillstrom – about taking a fresh look at your PPC customers. Now that’s a real nice way to spice up this Friday.
I hope you enjoy these tasty morsels today. I suspect they’ll add immeasurably to your perspective. Oh, and I almost forgot the good wine. Try the 2006 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Indian Wells. It’s nothing fancy – only $13-$15 a bottle – but it pairs well with a hearty meal, such as the dish above. Bon appetit!
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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