InternetMarketingClub.org Presents How to Get Your Press Releases Picked Up On the Web

Join Jay Berkowitz, Founder of the Internet Marketing Club and PR Professional Michael Gustman to learn all about how to get your Press Releases on the first page of Google and the other search engines.

This presentation will cover the following topics:

- 8 things your traditional agencies don't do with your press releases
- Which wire services will power your press releases
- 10 free wire services
- How to web optimize a press release
- Where to post releases for optimal performance

This free webinar will take place on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: How to Get Your Press Releases Picked Up On the Web

Advertising on iPads

With the recent release of Apple’s iPad, one may wonder how to ensure their pay per click ads will show on this device. Since it is indeed a mobile device, your pay per click campaigns must be set to run on mobile devices, rather just on desktop or laptop computers. In Google Adwords, this can be set in the “Settings” tab of each of your campaigns.

The current problem, however, is that if you are running ads on an iPad, you will also be running your ads on mobile phones. The issue with mobile phones is that since the screens are so small, pay per click ads are often clicked by mistake, therefore costing you money.

Google intends to resolve this issue, however, by including an option to run ads specifically on iPads, rather than all mobile devices. So for now, if you want your ads to show on an iPad, set your ads to display on “All mobile devices” in the Adwords settings. If you don’t want to take the risk of running ads on phones, however, you may want to wait until Google updates the settings.

Internet Marketing Tips from Team OceanSwell - Part X

Some people (like me) only have one business blog. Others have many. But the first step towards having a useful and productive blog is to ask yourself the question, 'What am I blogging... ABOUT?'

Too many blogs wander from one subject to another, or are cluttered with a visually irritating amount of advertising banners or icons, to really achieve any purpose. If your blog isn't about one specific thing (or if it lacks a theme) then it can't really be called a business blog. What I mean to say is that you must always be mindful of your blog's ultimate purpose while adding content to it. Ask yourself, 'Why would anyone read what I'm writing?' You need a good answer to that question before you start adding any kind of blog content! Remember the basic goals of any business blog: 1) To build brand awareness. 2) SEO. 3) To act as a newsletter and improve customer relations. 4) To establish credibility.

But at the end of the day, a business blog has only one function:

SALES

Nothing happens until something is sold. If somebody comes to your blog, then they probably came there for a reason. If (for whatever reason) someone is exposed to your business blog and comes away having their want or need met, then there is chance that you've made a sale - or at least established the kind of author/readership link that might lead to a future transaction. Bottom line: You're blogging for your visitors and not yourself.

Lastly, always, Always, ALWAYS drive traffic to your blog. Do it in every conceivable way. A couple of free programs are TweetTrafficRush and ExitFire. Those are free to use and they are merely two ideas for bringing viral traffic to your blog. Blogging is a vast universe and becoming an expert at it is something that will serve you well when it comes to online business. Just remember to never stop learning and never stop growing. Most important of all, never, never, never quit!

iPad Lessons for Marketers - My First Take

Like most tech geeks I had to get my hands on the new iPad today, launch day April 3, 2010.

When I first held the iPad it was a bit heavier than I expected. Even though I had heard it was heavier than a Kindle it looks so much like an iPhone it feels heavy when you first pick it up.

Apple always amazes with their marketing, which is exciting given that we have been thrilled by them so many times in the recent past. The lines at the store were well organized and the store itself had a nice new clean fresh look. These iPad signs (below) are remarkably simple, yet incredibly clean and communicative. Apple hired four new employees for this store to manage iPad demand, I was very excited to see our summer intern started his first day at the Apple Store! Congrats @Zobey

The 1st lesson for marketers - launch new products with a bang! Make it special. Make it exciting. Make it a big deal!

Lesson #2 - think through the executional details. How are you going to handle lines, calls to your customer service department, FAQ's on your website. Apple hired new employees and set up speacial bootcamp training well in advance of launch. The 'Genius' who handled our purchase was well versed in iPad and familiar with the options and gave us a great demo.




















The 3rd lesson for Marketers - look at your site on the iPad. When I looked at Ten Golden Rules (below) I found out that our Flash intro did not show up - oh yeah I heard that iPad doesn't run Flash -doh! (Note to self - create an iPad friendly version of intro.)

If your site doesn't work perfectly check out this Apple page getting Sites Ready for iPad.



The 4th lesson for marketers is that a lot of people might use the iPad vertically. Most of us trying it in the store start out this way. Why? Well you hold an 8 1/2 x 11 page vertically. You hold an iPhone vertically. The screen is incredibly crisp and clear and our site read very clearly. But we design most websites for a vertical layout. This may change for iPad users.








The 5th Lesson for marketers - think of everything. Apple has learned their lessons the hard way. The early iPods scratched a lot, now they launch with a full slate of accessories. The store was well stocked with cases, Bluetooth keyboards, and stands that double as chargers. The ingenious case also can hold your iPad in two angled positions one for typing and one for watching movies.



Lesson #6 - Be prepared to tie in to big events. The iPad launch is a big event for marketers. YouTube recognized this and launched movie rentals about ten days ago. iTunes Store also features movies very prominently. What can you do with iPad? Can you develop a cool App to bring your product to your prospects? How can you make it easy or fun to do business with you?

More thoughts to follow once I listen to our Internet Marketing Podcast and play with some Apps :)

Here's a demonstration of why FourSquare will continue to grow in Importance

I recently discovered a great coal fired oven pizza place called Tucci's. I really like the oven based wings. When you checked in on FourSquare you'll see a 'Special Here' button. The special offers everyone a Free glass of wine on their 5th check-in. I'm drinking white wine free on my next visit :)

If you own a restaurant or a retail location, or if a friend owns one, this site/app is exploding. This is a great opportunity to make an offer early on while there is still buzz and amazement happening.

(originally published on Internet Marketing Club Blog)

A Facebook Contest Marketing Idea

Are you looking for a way to get a huge influx of new fans to your Facebook Fan Page? A contest (giveaway) is a great way to get the new fans. One of the simplest mistakes marketers make when they decide to run a contest on Facebook is how they go about marketing it to their current fans. I’ve seen plenty of contests that are posted on the wall of a fan page and that’s all they do. Come on Fan Pages, you have to get a little more creative than that.

I’m going to give you an example of a cool way to market your contest (giveaway) on Facebook. My creative juices are flowing this morning so prepare to be wowed!!!

1. Create a new event for your contest.
   
2. Choose a Title: make the title what you’re giving away.
3. Choose a location: putting your website is perfect.
4. Choose a start and end time: base it on how long you want to run the contest.
5. Choose a picture.
6. Provide the event type.
7. Provide a description about the contest.
8. Enable the event wall, event photos, videos, and links.
9. Invite all of your friends to the event.
10. In order to add an entry for the giveaway, your fans will have to share this event on their Facebook page by clicking on the “share” button to the right of this event.

It’s that simple and if you have something interesting to giveaway new fans are going to come out of the circuit board in droves...

Foursquare Fever?

We have it and our office is a buzz about it! We have declared war on becoming Mayor of TGR.

First, Foursquare is a new location based social networking app that allows you to share location with friends. From going to work, the mall, dinner and more, you “check-in” with your mobile device and your friends are notified. After so many check ins and points, you are able to earn badges or even become the “Mayor” of different locations.

Here at Ten Golden Rules, we are all using Foursquare and we are all trying to be the “Mayor” of the office. How fast does it change? Well, as you can see, Susan was once the mayor. She accumulated so many check-ins that she was the leader.

That was until our CEO, Jay Berkowitz, took that over. But as of today, Stuart became the mayor ruling over our CEO....

who has now declared Forsquare WAR!

Now, I'm trying to catch up and review my stats. I need to see how I'm going to be able to pull off becoming Mayor. If you have any tips, please send them to me :)

How is this applicable to businesses?

Everyone wants to be the Mayor! Certain locations like Starbucks is testing out a loyalty program and using it for reward points. Other restaurants are offering a free drink or discounts on dinners to the mayor’s of their locations.