1-2-All Email Marketing by Active Campaign

1-2-All Email Marketing by Active Campaign
One of the tools that a self-publishing author must have is good email marketing software. I highly recommend 1-2-All which was developed by Active Campaign.

Google Universal, News,Images and Video Even More Important to Your SEO Strategy
Google's new update to design and function means you have to search optimize images and video

Image from blog post at WebWare

May 16 was Google's Searchology day. They unveiled a number of new Google services to the media, and the one that produced the most buzz was Google Universal – the redesign of the site and the way the search engine finds and displays results.

Here are some comments from the experts:

“Google is integrating the results from several different kinds of searches - text, photos, video, news, books, etc. - onto one page. It may encourage searchers to increase their use of Google products that aren't getting as much attention. It's Google's way of making vertical search results more visible. And it means more work for you.” Developer Shed Weekly

“A major change to how Google presents search results, a revision to the "main" Google that weaves videos, news, books, and other results into the Web-page results you get.” PC world “Google’s universal search adds content such as relevant videos, images, news, and maps to standard Web links with search queries. Will this move spell the end of search engine marketing?” Information Week

“Google is undertaking the most radical change to its search results ever, introducing a "Universal Search" system that will blend listings from its news, video, images, local and book search engines among those it gathers from crawling web pages. Search marketers who have paid attention to the importance of specialized or vertical search will see new opportunities.” Search Engine Land

The old Google search results page has disappeared. News, images and video results are being displayed on page one along with web pages.   In order to make room for these extra Google vertical results some of the current page one results get bumped off the page.

What does this mean for your SEO efforts? Content, content, content is more important than ever.

• Create a constant flow of optimized news that gets picked up in Google News on your keywords
• Make sure you use images as content and tag and optimize all images with keywords
• Add video to your site where appropriate. Tag and optimize it for search.
• Syndicate your content. Put your press releases, articles, images and video in an RSS feed for greater visibility

See Also

• Google 2.0 Google Universal
  Danny Sullivan's excellent overview of how Google Universal is affecting search results.
• Techmeme Google Universal
  Follow the discussion on Google Universal

Corporate Blogging
Dilbert cartoon in the Washington Post says it all

There is classic Dilbert cartoon about corporate blogging in the Washington Post .

If you;ve been concerned about your CEO blogging, it's a must see.

See Also

• Washington Post cartoon about corporate blogging

Will E-Publishing Become the New Leader?
Let the truth be told I am not a big supporter of e-books even though I wrote an entry earlier with regards to the advantages of them. Though I am not a fan, e-books are good for one thing, and that is establishing yourself as an expert.

links for 2007-05-27
Achieving emptiness with "Bit Literacy" - (37signals) (tags: GTD productivity rss Books) The Laws of Simplicity » laws (tags: simplicity) USPS Stamps Yoda Brilliant marketing campaign is this. (tags: starwars USPS Marketing movies)...

Include Video In Your Content Strategy
User generated video getting good views from niche audiences

It's time to start brushing up on flash, screencasting, video production, and video networks, syas Brian Solis.

Online video is the next frontier for the communications industry adding a new layer of engagement to any existing PR, marketing and web initiative.

During the week of February 3, YouTube's traffic surged above the combined traffic to all of the television network websites, reported LeeAnn Prescott of Hitwise in February..

This is a landmark event in the changing face of web traffic and entertainment consumption, now that entertainment seekers are now more likely to go to YouTube than any other television network or gaming website.

Although you never had to learn how to make a VNR, you might have to learn how to make these online videos.

Being able to produce a good viral piece with a video camera or a using a program like Camtasia could put you ahead of the pack. If you are not going to learn to do it, find a social media agency that can produce these ideas for your clients or your company.

If you're in the LA area, or you're attending the PR Convergence conference in LA next week, come to the Social Media Club meeting. There is no charge and we'll be talking about these ideas.

It's 6 pm - 8 pm Wednesday May 16th at the Universal Hilton.

Entertainment Execs See CGM as a Threat
Amateur digital videos, podcasts, mobile phone photography, wikis and social-media blogs are one of the top three challenges they face today.

Consumer Generated Media (CGM) or User Generated Media - whatever you call it, it has entertainment execs worried.

According to a new Accenture study of senior executives in the media and entertainment industry in North America and Europe, more than half said the ability and eagerness of individuals to create their own content is one of the biggest threats to their business.

70 percent of respondents said they believe that social media, one of the largest segments of user-generated content, will continue to grow, compared with only 3 percent of respondents who said they view social media as a fad.

Other key points of the study: 

• 68% of the respondents said they believe that within three years their businesses will be making money on user-generated content
• 62% said they believe their companies will make money through advertising and sponsorships of social media
• 21% anticipate improved profits from subscriptions
• 18% expect profits from pay-per-play offerings
• 24% of respondents said they do not yet know how their businesses will profit from user-generated content.

The User-Generated Content - How About Just Content? report from InStat, which covers the worldwide market for User Generate content found that

• Worldwide revenue from UGC content will increase from $80 million in 2006 to $1.6 billion in 2011.
  
• Flash continues to be the output format of choice.
  
• As more UGC content is viewed on the TV rather than the computer monitor, the impetus to both submit and receive higher quality content will translate to much larger files being uploaded and downloaded.

Roger Faxon, chief executive of EMI Music Publishing said the music industry is moving "from a sales model to a consumer consumption model or participation model, where its economics are predicated on the use patterns of consumers as opposed to the purchase patterns..."   

Perhaps it's time your company took this view.  But before you rush into social media, make sure you understand where your visitors and customers are on the social technographics ladder - see last post.  A social media strategy is necessary to make this all work.

Photo courtesy of amanky

The Corporate Blogging Book
Stop what you are doing and run out to your local Barnes and Noble bookstore. Why? Because you need to have in your hand at this very moment The Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil.

Its Name is Zookoda
Zookoda is the new leader in professional email marketing for bloggers. It gives you better control on the look and feel of how your feed is sent to your subscribers. The program is similar to what you see in newsletter...