I'm gearing up for my social networking seminar next week here at Tortus, and I wanted to share this very good article on using the photo sharing site flickr to market your business. If you already use flickr for your personal photos, why not consider giving it a try for your business or organization? Using flickr can be an indirect marketing method that drives traffic to your website and builds community with your customers. In contrast to the opinion of the article's author, I do believe that flickr can be utilized for nearly every type of business, whether you sell products OR services. Check out flickr today!

Here we are just before the start of the holidays - the indulgence, the conversation, the goodies, the family gatherings - and I get an email titled: Swim 2010 is here.  I'm thinking of buckeyes (peanut butter and chocolate treats), cookies, cakes, candies, turkey, meatballs, roasts: and they go and spoil the party.  Images of myself standing at the buffet table with my plate in hand conjure in my mind, and I watch as I skip over items I'd normally enjoy just because I'd read two dreaded words: Swim 2010.  

It's a tease to be sure, as I look outside at the winter wonderland, I can't help but dream of soft sandy beaches and warm waves.  Swim 2010 is here.

As a consumer, I'm conflicted.  Do I look at it, knowing that I have at least 5-6 months before I can even think about donning a bathing suit?  Will it make those months feel so much longer, especially if there's a cute suit I'm interested in?  And yet, I'm tempted.  Maybe it'll give me something to work toward.  Maybe it'll make me think twice about going up for holiday seconds.  Maybe I'll have something to envision while I'm at the gym.

You can bet I know the name of the company that sent out that email.  And you can bet that I'm spending time thinking about whether or not I want to open the email.  I'm curious to say the least.

But then again, it's the holidays.  And they only happen once a year.

What e-commerce strategies are businesses taking during the 2009 holiday season? e-Marketer takes a look; see the full article here.

Tightening personal budgets are not putting a damper on Black Friday shopping this year. In fact, a whopping 134 million people said they will shop on the Friday, Saturday or Sunday following Thanksgiving, up 5% from 128 million people in 2009. About 41% will shop at electronic stores, 36.3% at clothing stores, and 28.8% at grocery stores, according to a survey by the NRF.

How can you maximize your Black Friday revenues? Make sure your doorbuster deals extend to your website as well! 27.6% of consumers said they would shop online this year instead of visiting brick and mortar locations.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of this summer's smash hit, Glee. The TV show, which airs on Fox, has had a large and loyal following from its premiere and was the first new series to secure a full season showing after only two episodes. The secret to its unusual success has been credited to the large online marketing push in the months before its premiere. 

Glee follows the adventures of a group of underdogs who are members of a high school show choir. To prepare for the premiere, Glee created a large online presence that included Facebook pages and Twitter accounts for the main characters and a streaming version of a sneak peak at the pilot. The director's cut of the pilot was followed by a "Tweet-peat" in which the show's stars and  fans took to Twitter to discuss the episode. The result has been an strong fan base with a deep online engagement. Glee fans are even buying the show's featured songs on iTunes.

Glee is not the only success story stemming from social networks. Millions of businesses of all shapes and sizes are finding a new and captivated audience online. If you are not currently taking advantage of the marketing opportunities available online, there is no time like the present! 

A Tortus client recently recommended Jeff Jarvis' book What Would Google Do to the Torti. According to Booklist reviewer Mary Whaley:

Jarvis, columnist and blogger about media, presents his ideas for surviving and prospering in the Internet age, with its new set of rules for emerging technologies as well as industries such as retail, manufacturing, and service. We learn that customers are now in charge, people anywhere can find each other and join forces to support a company’s efforts or oppose them, life and business are more public, conversation has replaced marketing, and openness is the key to success. Jarvis’ other laws include being a platform (help users create products, businesses, communities, and networks of their own); hand over control to anyone; middlemen are doomed; and your worst customer is your best friend, and your best customer is your partner. Jarvis offers thought-provoking observations and valuable examples for individuals and businesses seeking to fully participate in our Internet culture and maximize the opportunities it offers.

Sounds good--I've added it to my reading queue!

Wikipedia has quickly become THE destination for info on the web. With more than three million articles in a variety of languages, contributed and edited by the world, it has become one of the biggest web phenomenas in Internet history. But what exactly are people looking up? The answer may surprise you..

According to the website's Wikistics, this year's most-viewed Wikipedia article was actually Wiki! According to the "wiki" entry,

"Wiki is a website that uses wiki software, allowing the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked Web pages, using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor, within the browser. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites, to power community websites, and for note taking. The collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis. Wikis are used in business to provide intranet and knowledge management systems. Ward Cunningham, the developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work."

While many of the rest of the top 50 are not surprising (Michael Jackson, Barack Obama, etc.), entries such as Adolf Hitler are sure to turn some heads! To view the entire list of the top 50 most view articles on Wikipedia click here.

To learn more about contributing to Wikipedia please visit their wiki!

It's hard to believe it's July already, with our nation's birthday only two days away. It's looking hopeful here for a fairly sunny Fourth with temperatures in the high 70s-- a good day to celebrate with ice cream! I'm not sure exactly how much ice cream is consumed in America on July 4th, but the International Dairy Foods Association estimates that 98% of U.S. households purchase ice cream. I'm willing to bet, then, that many of us will be enjoying a frozen treat this holiday weekend.

Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month? It's true! President Ronald Reagan made it so in 1984. In fact, he also declared the third Sunday of July to be National Ice Cream Day, which will be July 19th this year. So mark your calendars and have a dish, cone, or sundae in honor.

But what is the most popular ice cream flavor in the U.S.? The IDFA estimates Americans' favorites as: vanilla (30%), chocolate (10%), butter pecan (4%), strawberry (3.7%), and mint chocolate chip (3.2%).

Ice cream is the quintessential American dessert, according to the IDFA. In their article, "Ice Cream for America", they describe how:

The first official account of ice cream in the New World comes from a letter written in 1744 by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen. The first advertisement for ice cream in this country appeared in the New York Gazette on May 12, 1777, when confectioner Philip Lenzi announced that ice cream was available "almost every day." Records kept by a Chatham Street, New York, merchant show that President George Washington spent approximately $200 for ice cream during the summer of 1790. Inventory records of Mount Vernon taken after Washington's death revealed "two pewter ice cream pots." President Thomas Jefferson was said to have a favorite 18-step recipe for an ice cream delicacy that resembled a modern-day Baked Alaska. In 1813, Dolley Madison served a magnificent strawberry ice cream creation at President Madison's second inaugural banquet at the White House.

While you're enjoying your frozen treat, take a few minutes to check out this Common Craft video (and see more like it at www.commoncraft.com) to learn about social media in plain English. Warning: if you're not already enjoying some, it will make you crave ice cream!

If you’re looking for some innovative ways to generate new e-mail list members, I hope you’ll consider giving some of these low- or no-cost options a try. Some require a bit of legwork, while others require almost no effort at all.

1. Include a marketing e-mail opt-in link on your homepage and on other pages throughout your website. If people are viewing your website, they may be interested in joining your email list. Make it as easy as possible to opt in!

2. Ask each and every employee in your organization to be on the lookout for new list members. Clients, prospective clients, other business contacts, friends, and family may all be points of contact that would be interested in opting in to your marketing email. Even if you think that some subscribers are not really your target market, you never know who they know!

3. Offer opt-in incentives such as discounts, promotions, and other benefits.

4. Offer beneficial content. Special incentives are great, but so is email content that truly offers readers something of value. The more interesting and useful your email content is, the more likely it is to be forwarded to prospective list members.

5. Convert direct mail recipients into e-mail subscribers. Include opt-in information on postcards, catalogs, newsletters, magazines, brochures, and other print items. And don’t forget business cards, shipping sheets, invoices, business forms, and credit card receipts.

6. Include an option to subscribers to forward your marketing e-mail (with an opt-in link) to a friend. This can be particularly successful if an opt-in incentive is involved. 

7. While you’ve got them on the phone, ask callers if they’d like to be added to your list. Be sure to emphasize the benefits they’ll receive for subscribing. If they’re calling you on the phone, they may be receptive to your marketing emails!

8. Include an e-mail opt-in link in your employees’ e-mail signatures. Easy enough!

9.  Use social networking sites to generate new opt-ins. If people are checking you out on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other sites, they may be interested in opting in to your marketing e-mail list.

10. Collect business cards from conferences, seminars, speaking engagements, a prize drawing you’re sponsoring, or your front desk. Then follow up on the phone or via email to see if they are interested in opting in to your email list.

As Jill discussed in her May blog entry, broadcast email is a phenomenal marketing tool. It’s economical, fast, measurable, and targeted, among many other benefits--but it only works if recipients actually read your emails. What are some ways that you can increase the likelihood that your marketing emails will be read? If you’ve got a few minutes to spare, this helpful list of tips can help you get on top of your “bmail” game:

Give it time

Often, the draft of your email needs a little time to simmer, a little time to be taste-tested, and a little time to adjust the seasonings. So plan ahead: give yourself time to generate content ideas, write a draft with time to spare, share it with others and ask for their suggestions (in a timely fashion!), and leave enough time for a thorough proofread. A clean, well-written message is a better-received message.

Time it right

If you’re offering a special promotion on Monday, don’t wait until Friday after lunchtime to send an email. You could miss out on readers who leave the office early with your email still sitting in their inbox, unread. On the other hand, an email Monday about an event on Saturday may be forgotten by the time the weekend rolls around. Another time consideration: if you don’t want your email to get deleted with the deluge of first-thing-in-the-morning marketing emails, send it later on in the day. And, of course, avoid list fatigue by not sending too many emails too frequently.

Start out on the right foot

The single most important piece of copy in your broadcast email is probably the subject line. If it includes lots of capital letters, exclamation points, or words and phrases like “FREE” and “act now!!”, it will most likely get trapped in a spam filter. (You also want to avoid such strategies in the body of your email). Or, if your subject line is vague (“To our valued customers”) and doesn’t persuade recipients to read on, it may get deleted unread. Your subject line should clearly tell readers what your email is about and, if possible, what benefit they will obtain by opening it. By all means, you can write a fun or zippy subject line, but above all, make it clear.

Make your company name clear

You should put your company name in the “from” line. If readers don’t see and recognize your company name, they may view your marketing email as spam. Email users are more likely to open communication from companies and businesses they trust. And avoid sending broadcast email with an employee’s name in the “from” line, unless that employee is widely recognized by name.

Consider segmenting

Instead of sending the same email to everyone on your recipient list, you might try sending tailored emails to certain segments of the list. A unique offer for new subscribers, a specific email message for recipients who have opened your previous emails, or a monthly “birthday special” email are all ways that you can experiment with different groups on your master list.

Test it out

It can be as simple as asking coworkers which subject line they prefer, or as complex as segmenting your email recipients into groups and experimenting with different emails for each group. If you go the formal, analytical route, take a look at your broadcast email statistics to determine which subject lines and body content had the best open rates.

After the fact

In the days and weeks after you’ve sent out a broadcast email, check your statistics regularly. How are your open rates? Which emails were more successful? How many recipients have opted out? Email marketing should not be a “fix it and forget it” endeavor; take full advantage of statistical analysis to make your campaigns more effective. One of the biggest benefits of broadcast email is how simple it is to track and analyze. So try some of these tips with your next marketing email--the results will be worth the effort!

So,

One of the greatest challenges in business today is effective & timely communication. I'm pleased to say that we're getting better at it.

Our monthly Newsletter is scheduled to be sent on Wednesday June 17th. I'd like to thank Sara and Jill for their collaboration and help. Our monthly Newsletter, first published in March 2007, is designed to be thought provoking, entertaining, and to keep us "top of mind" with prospects and clients. Additionally, within the content we want to personalize and convey exactly what we do, and demonstrate our intellect and prowess. All help or ideas are appreciated!

Thanks!

Harry

You may have heard that a good way to increase your search result rankings is to get other websites to put an inbound link to your website from theirs. This practice is often referred to as a link exchange, or reciprocal linking, and is a search engine optimization method aimed at getting your website higher up in the results rankings. It sounds like a good idea, but is it? And if it is, how exactly do you go about it? These are two commonly asked questions about link exchanges that I’d like to answer for you in today’s blog article. 

What Not To Do

First off, there are certain types of link exchanges that we don’t recommend and that won’t win you any friends with the search engines. In fact, belonging to such exchange networks can actually hurt your rankings. A link exchange with a disreputable link farm or a website that offers little, if any, value to your site visitors is considered a harmful exchange. These types of mass exchanges tend to be considered “artificial” by search engines like Google. While there may be mass link exchange sites that are legitimate and relevant to your particular business, caution should be exercised with these types of exchanges. There are no magic bullets for search engine optimization success.

Do Some Research

A better idea may be approaching individuals and organizations with whom you have an ongoing relationship that will be relevant to your site visitors, and proposing a  “link trade”.  Perhaps “natural” is a good way to describe a legitimate link exchange. For example, if you donate to or work with local charities or organizations, you might ask them to post a link to your website on their sponsorship page. In return, you could then post a link to their organization in a press release on your website, or on a page showing photos from an event of theirs that you sponsored. To give another example, if you sell carpets, you could link to the carpet manufacturer’s webpage on cleaning tips. In exchange, they could post a link to your site under their vendors page. Before approaching someone for a link exchange, visit their website and look for a page where you think providing a link to your site would be a natural, logical fit. 

The Link Exchange Approach

Sending an email or broaching the idea during a phone call or meeting is a good way to approach an exchange with someone you know on a professional basis. If you emphasize the benefit to both the other party’s website and to your mutual or related clients, your proposal may be gladly accepted. If sending an email, start with a friendly greeting and a brief explanation of your request. Be sure to provide the link you’d like to have them post on their website, and of course, offer to provide a link to their website on your own. Inviting them to contact you with any questions concerning your site and to discuss how they would like to have a link to their site appear on yours is a good closing strategy. If they do agree to post a link on their site, follow up with a thank you that acknowledges the favor.

Try Deep Linking

One thing to keep in mind when doing a link exchange is that “deep” linking into an inner page in your website can be better than a link to your homepage. Not only can it bring visitors to the exact page that can benefit them most, this technique can also be helpful in search engine optimization. In the case that a link exchange isn’t a significant benefit to your search engine rankings, the links will still bring valued visitors to your site and help your customers and potential customers to learn more about the value of your organization.

Summing It Up

Trading links with respected suppliers, partners, and customers is a mutually beneficial and legitimate additional approach to search engine optimization that offers a value not just to your search engine result rankings, but to all parties involved.  When it comes down to it, the best overall approach to getting in good with organic search engine result rankings is building a site with a foundation that has optimization in mind from the very beginning of the programming and design processes. This is an integral aspect of our website development approach at Tortus, and why we tout ourselves as not merely builders of sites, but builders of your business.

Economy Raining on Your Parade?

With the economy slowly grinding along, business owners are becoming more aware of how company funds are expended and more wary of new expenditures that cross their desks. This fiscal conservancy is wise in uncertain times as multi-national corporations, once symbols of American ingenuity, are now cast as cautionary tales of fiscal irresponsibility. Despite the fact traditional sales are down, online sales continue to increase in the double digits.

The Silver Lining

Forrester Research Group (Nasdaq: FORR), an independent technology and market research company, forecast that US online retail sales in 2009 would grow by 11 percent to $156 billion. Despite the doom and gloom proponed by the media (whose jobs depend on high ratings, and by proxy, public panic), people are still shopping. More consumers are just choosing to make their purchases online rather than visit a "brick and mortar" store.

Why? Ecommerce websites provide the consumer with the convenience of conducting research as they shop.

In direct response to this trend, agile businesses focused on growth are actually increasing their investments on the web. Businesses are providing more information on their websites; online tutorials or product demos are becoming more popular. In order to retain customers, businesses are using multichannel marketing methods to build a sense of community. Online retailers are taking the guesswork out of shopping by providing product guides right on the product detail pages or sending online newsletters about special features directly to their customer base. Taking the content one step further, smart online retailers are posting the newsletters on their websites to boost search engine placement. Just click around and you will quickly notice how even local grocery stores, career centers and appliance retailers are using social media websites like Facebook and Twitter to build a strong online community.

A Shift in Focus

We know that traditional sales are on the decline. It is not the end of the capitalist world, as we know it. Our focus simply has to shift. Businesses that utilize the web as the driving force behind their businesses are realizing success where most businesses are not. In fact, Forrester found that 24% of retailers will spend more on their online business over the previous year with investments focused primarily on social marketing web-based software (60%), broadcast email (65%) and intuitive search tools (80% of respondents).  Marketing managers have realized that the web is the most cost effective tool for building a stronger consumer community and converting potential consumers to faithful return shoppers.

Marketing and eCommerce managers are not using Twitter because they like the cute bird or because they find writing a promotion in under 140 characters a joyous pastime.  They use Twitter because Twitter is a free and incredibly effective form of viral marketing. Forrester Research principal analyst and author of the report, Sucharita Mulpuru states the facts plainly:

“Because consumers continue to spend online, interactive marketing spent to drive web sales remains a lucrative investment. While other retail channels struggle, eCommerce managers have a unique opportunity to drive more sales and test different tactics that resonate with consumers.” 

At Tortus we recognize that the web is only going to continue to grow. Therefore as efficiency experts, we focus on utilizing methodologies that will increase our clients’ profits and decrease their operating expenses. In this economic climate, you don’t have to panic - you have to focus.  The business climate has been irrevocably changed by this economy, and consumer confidence is shaken as a result. Your online presence should be representative of your experience, longevity and value.

"Tweet" with Vigor, "Friend" the World

Does your website generate trust and confidence through the use of product guides, newsletters and email marketing rich with special promotions? Do you promote your business with an active online community that encourages sales through consumer generated reviews? If not, its time to reevaluate investing in the web. To insert a classic English idiom: Spending money on traditional marketing techniques and neglecting the web is being "penny-wise and pound-foolish." Consumers are still spending money, they are just choosier about which companies they buy from and more aware of the value they are getting for their dollar. Suddenly, the main attraction of Twitter has grown from just trying to be cool and “in the know” to trying to stay afloat and make some dough.