Free Workbook for AdWords Beginners

For those of you who are new to Google AdWords, there is a free workbook that will help you get started using the AdWords interface and creating pay per click advertising campaigns. The free downloadable pdf file is a bit lengthy, but provides some great insight into the basic steps of using AdWords.

The main topics covered in the workbook are organizing campaigns, picking the right keywords, writing targeted ads, and putting it all together. Each topic is complete with definitions, tips, and screen shots.

The workbook is by no means your answer to getting the most out of your advertising, but it is a good way to get started if you have a small budget and are doing things on your own. For a more in depth strategic guide to online marketing, try the Ten Golden Rules of Online Marketing Book.

Best Practices for Corporate Blogs and The Three E's of Social Media

I often answer questions from business people who are hesitant to start blogging due to fears about comments on their blog that they can't control and negative reaction to their content.

First of all, you can set your blog to moderate comments and approve them before they go live. We LOVE to get comments (please comment below!) but we do not publish comments that don't 'comment' on the blog and are merely promoting an agenda.

If your organization is sensitive to the messages being posted in blogs , you will need a policy for internal folks who have access to your blog. Set up a review and approval process before blog posts can go live. This removes the risk of something unacceptable being posted.

So what content should go on your blog?









I recently coined a strategic approach to Social Media Messaging called The Three E's of Social Media.

Educate. Show your customers how to do things. Answer their questions. Be helpful. This can only build your credibility and build links to the posts which will improve search engine results!

Engage. Engage customers in a 2 way dialogue. Ask them questions. Run polls. Offer special contests and delight them with surprises for visiting the blog such as chances to win or links to free stuff.

Entertain. A blog (and all social media) should be social. Put a smile on their face. Shoot a funny video prior to the holidays. Shoot a video of your senior executive team doing karaoke. Post outtakes from your commercial shoot or a podcast or video cast.

Preview What Your Google Web Result Will Look Like

Here's a pretty nifty search engine results tool that allows you to preview what your Google web result would look like, even before it goes live. The tool allows you to see if your title, meta description and web URL will all show up. Although it is not guaranteed that your meta description will show up in the search engine result, the tool can give you an idea of how long the search engine result description will be. The tool also allows you to bold certain keywords, as well as save the result as a link.

I think this tool will help show if you have too long of a title tag or meta description (should Google use that as their output, instead of copy on the page).

Here is an example using Ten Golden Rules. As you can see, the meta description used does not show up in the current search for comparison result in Google.

Google Continues To Compete With Microsoft

Google announced that it is developing an operating system for the PC. Google Chrome Operating System will initially be for the netbooks but believes the software will be able to power a full-size PC as well.
Releasing later this year, under an open-source license, will allow programmers to modify it. In fact, they are already asking for help from developers in the open-source community to help make this a great product. Look for the netbooks to have Google Chrome Operating System Fall 2010.

Google Offering New Blog Search Tools

In response to the laundry list of requests by users, the new Google Blog Search has implemented some cool new features.

RSS and Atom feeds are now available by clicking on the respective left hand column links of the Blog Search. By clicking these links, you are able to subscribe to the topic you searched in your preferred feed reader.

For those of you who do not use feed readers, Google also released an iGoogle gadget that embeds the blog search front page inside your iGoogle page. This widget allows you to choose which topics you are interested in following.

Google Blog Search is also helping you keep up with the trends with a “Hot Queries” list. This will list the most popular topics being discussed online.

I Love podcasts - Here are my favorites, what do you listen to?

I love podcasts! They are free and very easy to download on any computer and then you can take them with you on a mobile device or burn a CD for your car. There are podcasts on almost any topic and if the subject matter is something you are passionate about they are very entertaining.

The best way to listen to podcasts is for FREE by downloading iTunes. Go to Apple.com and download the software. YOU DON'T NEED A MAC AND YOU DON'T NEED AN iPOD TO LISTEN TO PODCASTS. Just search for the name of a podcast in the iTunes store - here's some great internet marketing podcasts that I listen to:

Marketing Over Coffee Christopher S. Penn and John Wall break down interactive marketing strategies over a Dunkin Donuts coffee.

For Immediate Release Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson cover new marketing from the public relations perspective 2 times each week!

Ten Golden Rules Internet Marketing Podcast Recent winner of a SOFIE Award for Best Use of New and Emerging Media! The team at Ten Golden Rules shares the latest strategies and tactics for internet marketing and advertising. Some Amazing Interviews with Social Media Superstars including Google's Matt Cutts, Pandora Founder Tim Westergren, the Facebook Goddess Mari Smith and Steve Krug Author of Don't Make Me Think.

Internet Business Mastery how to create a revenue producing website from the do-it-yourself website masters.

That Affiliate Thing The latest from the important field of affiliate marketing. Commentary, interviews, and various segments hosted by Lisa Picarille and Shawn Collins

Jaffe Juice Author and Social Medialite Joseph Jaffe covers the latest in new media and he recently moved his great audio show to video and the results...hmmm we're not quite sold on the new format.

6 Pixels of Separation Mitch Joel, with his audio community, is warm and engaging as he covers the latest new media and connectivity tools

Diva Marketing Talks from Social Media Guru Toby Bloomberg.

The Engaging Brand - A great show from Anna Farmery in Britain.

Cliff Ravenscraft does 15+ Podcasts Per Week! AMAZING. I love the Lost Podcast and the Podcast Answer Man a Podcast about podcasts!

Susan Bratton does a great job with Dishy Mix podcasts part of the Real Life Media Podcast family.

Three Small Changes to Add To Your Blog Today

Have a blog and unsure about how to make it better? We all know that by doing at least 1 change a day, you’re one step away from greatness. Here are some easy to implement tips you can add to your blog today.

Add images to your blog posts. Adding images that are relevant to your content will definitely give your blog post some personality, and will illustrate your message a lot more clearly to the reader. Find some free stock photos at Stockxpert.com.

Keep your readers up to date. Make sure you give your readers a way to keep them up to date with your content. Give them an option to subscribe to your blog through RSS or email updates. Feedburner is a great tool for this and is free.

Have an “About” page. Make sure if you don’t have an “About” page you should consider creating one. Readers will appreciate your blog more if you do include this, even if the “About” page is only a paragraph.