Newsweek: One Giant Step

Mark the day. The December 31st issue of Newsweek will be the last print issue. Comic book collectors would hear something like this and line up cash in hand buy the comic and immediately place it inside a protective seal. Somehow this moment may have individuals purchase it and place it in a frame at minimum. The end of print? Yes,  this is a giant step toward the demise of print media.

The Pew Research Center reported in September 2012 that more Americans get there news online rather than from newspapers or radio. Twenty-three percent of individuals here in the U.S. said they’d read a print newspaper the day before. That’s half the number who did so in 2000, when nearly 50 percent read a paper the day before. Twenty-nine percent reported reading a newspaper in any format.

For American adults under the age of 30, social media has far surpassed newspapers and has equaled T.V. as a primary source of daily news, according to a new study of news consumption trends by the Pew Research Center for the People & The Press.

The study found 33 percent of those young adults got news from social networks. We all know the impact mobile has had on the print industry. Apple's iPad, the Kindle Fire, the Nook just a few names from the tablet market. The combination of mobile devices and the ever expanding landscape of social media looms like a sun engulfing dark cloud over print media. Additionally, the market for news is graying out. What this means is that the medium of television is slipping in its reach too.

Beyond the world of social greetings and scheduling social events. The goal of communication in the business world is to enact transactions of some sort. As we are gluttons for analytics and wealth, the stats show if you want to reach the young and wealth a business owner needs to get entrenched in the muck of social media and network.

More Americans are downloading news apps in the past couple years, the Pew study says:

25 percent of all Americans (up from 16 percent in 2010).

45 percent of mobile Internet users (up from 20 percent in 2010).

Those growth rates are encouraging, but still a majority of mobile Internet users have not downloaded a news app to their devices. “Those who have downloaded news apps tend to be young, well-educated and wealthy,” the study says. “…Even among mobile Internet users, there are sizable income differences: Fully 60% of mobile Internet users with incomes of at least $100,000 have downloaded a news app, compared with 40% of those with incomes of less than $30,000.”

While the world says farewell to the print version of Newsweek, we look forward to how our communications and interactions as a human race will change. Years ago stories of alien invaders were blockbusters. However, the human story is more compelling than imagined space-men. We now have the vision to see human drama unfold across the goal in real time. The stories sometimes are tragic and violent such as the Lybian-Egyptian conflict. Sometime stories just make us go wow, like Felix Baumgartner's space jump, he broke nearly every daredevil record known to man, also shattered records for most-watched YouTube video of all-time (uh, social media plug).

The love affair we have with sharing our lives and being able to be espial via every social channel we can find.

John is an marketing professional and provides insights on Online Marketing. Contact John ASAP. Go to landing page design Atlanta.

QR Codes and Your Business

What’s Black and White and read all over with your mobile device? It’s a QR code.

This black and white graphic can provide the first step for any business to turn offline interaction into a first encounter with a potential client. When an individual who has a smartphone scans your business’ QR code, they can be directed to your website. This landing page should include some manner of engaging the person. Most businesses will have a form asking for the name and email. Today that request for information is fairly common. Having a website and more access to technology can also open the door to more creativity. A business owner can use their iPhone or other device to create a quick and simple welcome video. Nothing too long just a nice, “thank you” for scanning our code and visiting our site, we’d like to have you as a client (or patient), please do this for us. I would hope you would agree this is pretty simple.

Think employing QR codes and having a mobile site is not worth the time and investment, think again. Here, are some points to consider, as reported by, HowToGoMo.com:

1. By, 2013, more people will use their mobile phones than PC’s to get online.

2. Mobile searches have grown by 4X since 2010

3. There will be one mobile device for EVERY person on Earth by 2015.

Kaywa and WaspBarCode.com are sites which offer QR code generators for your business. Any search engine can assist in a search for QR code generators. Some of these are completely free some are free with service subscriptions others have pay-per-code offerings. Most of these websites are very straight forward and are as easy to use. Most require the entering your company information, your website and clicking the button to generate the code.

How Can QR Codes Be Used?

QR codes are a marketing tool plain and simple. They should be used to engage a potential patron. Put them on all printed marketing collateral such as; direct mail, business cards, flyers, posters. At one technology show, the booth personnel wore T-shirts with the QR codes screen printed on the shirts. Stephanie True Moss, editor and publisher of QRmedia states, “… the codes shouldn’t just take people to your website. They should provide some form of worthwhile content. The QR code is simply a trigger. The QR code will take the scanner away from whatever the code’s on to something else, so that needs to be valuable enough for someone to devote their time to it.”

One of the keys to creating a successful QR campaign is to have a mobile-friendly site. The initial page of this site should be engaging. Here, are three keys to consider when launching your QR code campaign’s landing page:

1. Remember to K.I.S.S. the page. – Keep is short and sweet or keep it simple and short, whatever your definition of the acronym your landing page should be something easy to understand and grasp within 3-4 seconds.

2. Know How to Use Color. Use color combinations that work well together. Black text on a white or light gray background always seems to be a safe an expected user experience. Knowing what colors not to use is just as important as what color to employ. For example, bright red text on a royal blue background can cause vertigo in some individuals.

3. Tell the visitor what to do. Whether you want them to call, watch a video or complete a form, always make sure to direct the action. If someone visits your web page you want them to do something that will help you build a connection. Of course, some will not do anything. However, we want to focus on those who will take action, these are your future clients.

If deployed effectively, QR codes can provide a trackable form of marketing that can turn observers into customers.

As a business owner, you may need to take time to educate your current customers about QR codes. To quote the book, Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play, “If our intent is to help clients succeed, we have both the right and the obligation not to guess about key elements of that success”. Do not guess or assume every person who sees that QR code will instinctively know what to do. QR codes are still fairly new in U.S. advertising. When you include a code on advertising, include a brief and enticing message which encourages them use QR code reader to get special information or discount from your company.

Finally, when including QR codes in your marketing mix, move into the consumer mindset. Even as a business owner, think about your experience as a buyer or consumer. Never begin a marketing campaign without being able to answer the question, “Why should this person do business with my/our company?” The answer must benefit the customer. The customer will watch your brief video or complete the short form on your mobile site, if this benefits them in some way. There must be a personal or business benefit for the customer.

John is an marketing professional and provides insights on Landing Page Design and Conversion. Contact John ASAP. Go to landing page design Atlanta.

How to Use Facebook to Build Your Business

With over 400 Million users in the world, 111+ Million in the U.S., Facebook is a business tool that cannot afford to be overlooked. What are some keys to using this tool and how can it build your business? The key is to build relationships with individuals. Facebook clearly shows us that being social is a basic human need. Even when practiced through non-physical means, people like people. We enjoy the interaction with others and yearn to be part of something that is bigger than ourselves. Facebook offers this to everyone with an internet connection.

You Cannot Rush Friendships – Even On-Line

Some feel that a real friendship can blossom and become full grown overnight. We live in an age where we have come to expect “instant gratification”—everything from instant foods, drive thru-windows and now with social media… instant friendship. Building a real connection with people takes time and comes about by the sharing of experiences, events and messages over time.

Developing certain skills can help in getting the process of building friendships. Learning these skills can make the road to building a revenue stream with social media smoother. Time needs to be taken to build more than a surface connection.

Establish, Build and Maintain an Active Interest for your “Friends”

Don’t post nonsense. If you are new to using social media, remember not to insult your friends by making them waste time having to delete you due to messaging that is not related to why they befriended you. For example, a local restaurant can post information about contests, musical groups, and new menu items and has an audience that is more casual in nature. This is different than a local A/C repair company, whose posts need to be more closely related to his industry. Let’s face it, the local restaurant is more desirable visit than the company who you are only going to call when there is trouble. Nonetheless, both companies benefit from social media.
Many who are successful at making friends online and growing business say, “It’s having a real love for people and taking an active interest in others.”

This does not mean you have to always be a cheerleader or fist pumping hype man. For most, this is not part of their make-up. Sincere interest is what will draw people to you. Put your audience first. I recommend more information on why a person will use your business than a click here for a coupon methodology.
Remember to put people first.

The Emotional Road

“Pay attention to how you listen,” is an old proverb. If you are a business owner, you should know the value of listening. Being a good listener is vital to building a friendship and building your business revenue.

Yes, it is just as Voltaire wrote: “The road to the heart is the ear.”
If you become genuinely interested in what others are saying, you will find more people will be drawn to you. The use of direct mail, a web site or social media to build business has the goal of building awareness. The hope is this awareness turns into revenue. Do not be myopic, however, and only focus on your goals – keep a growing interest in your “friends.”

Be Loyal

Today, it seems that everyone is logged in to something; be it email, Facebook, Plaxo and we know the list seems never ending. Some do not mind, it seems, being plugged into everything. Knowing this, our messages can be easily ignored.
Here is a point in being loyal – post information on your social network that is relevant. If you have a message stream that is disjointed or not connected to why an individual is your friend, you run the high risk of losing a ‘friend’ and perhaps a potential client. Once an online connection is lost it will most likely never be re-established.

Stay true to the reason the individual decided to “Like” you.
I always recommend staying far away from post which speaks negatively of clients. I have seen posts on Facebook using such terms as “dumb client”, “idiotic customers” and in some cases the language is best expressed “&$)!**!” These type of posts scream if you do business with me and it goes wrong, I don’t mind exposing this to the “world.”

John is an expert in designing landing pages and online conversion techniques. Contact John ASAP. Go to landing page design atlanta

5 Easy Google Adword Exercise Tips

1. Exercise.

Yes, you need to get moving everyday. It has been said that 30 minutes a day can push off a lot of diseases, for those who are sedentary. It is the same with your Google activities. Take a few minutes each morning to review your account activities. The failing of many accounts is the lack of exercise. You have to go into the account and work it out. If you manage your own account really dig into your clicks and impressions . You can look at this similar to weights and reps. Can you bench 100 lbs, 10 times? What are your goals with clicks, 1%, 2%, or more? If you have keywords and phrases that are performing well, can you expand on these further and even expand or create new ad groups? Destroy non-productive keywords. Do not hang on to them for emotional reasons. Some people have a 'feeling' they are going to get a click. Then went their keywords do not get clicks – it is the public who ‘just doesn’t know what they want.



2. Read and study more.

You don't know what you don't know. Google seems to be changing every week. Staying abreast of all the information can be a challenge. However, if you have a firm hold on the basics of marketing, advertising and then Pay-Per-Click marketing, it will not be too hard to keep up. Building Your Business with Google FOR DUMMIES and Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing for Dummies have been invaluable to me. Additionally, information from Marketing Experiments (marketingexperiments.com) has provided a wealth of real world experiments in marketing. The information at Marketing Experiments also helps in the most important elements of executing a well managed campaign.



3. Join a Community

I have been in sales and marketing for 20 years and I have never seen collaboration like what I am experiencing now. Social media has everyone well educated (or so we think). Join a group or online social communities to find others like yourself. If you are a chiropractor, find out what is working for other chiropractors in your area or across the U.S. Second, find out how they are using tools you as a business owner want to use. If it is AdWords, ask questions, most are willing to share a lot of good information. A business owner in another state where you will never compete may become the best litmus test for overcoming obstacles or setting goals. LinkedIN is one of my favorite communities.


4. Use checklists.

Write it down and check it off. Using Google is often a challenge if you move too quickly. Mistakes in setting up an account can cost you a lot of money. Simply forgetting to check Google Search or Google Network can have you wondering, where did the money go? Write down what to do in the set up of your account, what to do daily, and work by this list. You will be more effective. Sign up for Google Adwords Blog (http://adwords.blogspot.com/) as Google often has additions to their processes. Then examine where these updates and tips now fit into your checklist. This action will help you incorporate new techniques into your campaign management.



5. Ask for feedback.

Make a habit of surveying past what changes you have made. Make full use of the Change History tab under reporting in your Google AdWords account. The chart metrics can provide a graphical look at the performance of your account. Have the impressions dropped off, you may ask yourself, why? One of our clients told us the phone calls had slowed down. We showed them the impressions had dropped off as their ads were only running in one small geographical location. The smaller geographic area meant fewer impressions and far fewer clicks. As a result, a lot less calls were coming in. Additionally, by using this report, you can examine your Click-Through-Rate. Are there days you experience low click through rates? Perhaps, you may consider turning the campaign off for this day and add to the budget on the best or better performing days. If your ad appears more on your best performing days, there may very well be an increase in sales and profits.


John has been involved in marketing for over 20 years. John is available as an Adwords Consultant in Atlanta.
For more information go to landing page design atlanta.

Using Banner Ads To Build Your Income

In this Googlized world there are other ways to generate revenue aside from AdWords. In some scenarios, AdWords may not be a good fit. Especially with some cost per click costs being more than $10 a click. If average return is 1.5 percent, a $500 per month campaign will get 50 clicks (at a $10 Cost-Per-Click) and a .75% of a customer.

Yahoo...banner advertising is not dead. The banner advertising I am referring to is in the area of placement ads. With the Google content network you can pick and choose where you want your banner ads to be seen.

Banner ads present a grand opportunity to make 'easy' money. A passive income is what so many seek. AdSense from Google is an excellent tool. This requires one to have a web site wherein these ads can be placed. The site holder does not have any say on the ads that are going to be placed on the site. Google places ads which are closely related to the theme of the site, and then pays the site owner a percentage of every click that is made on the site. Some web masters can buy a website at Template Monster (.com) and have a site ready in just a few hours. With time dedicated to promote the site via Search Engine Optimization or using social media sites on a weekly or bi-weekly basis a following can be built.

There is a new product, the Banner Blue Print which is an awesome product. It is an instructional step by step video class. There are cases where individuals are making a financial killing placing ads on other company's web sites. The course consists of 30+ videos jam packed with 10hours+ of real solid content, including 8 Modules, with tons of videos, ebooks, and mindmaps in each!

Here are some of the items that are taught on the videos; (1) How to get started making the easiest money of your life as soon as possible, with almost no cost and hardly any actual effort... you can be up and running within the hour, and the profits can last for YEARS. (2) How to get paid over and over again by using banner ads to promote other people's products... and I'm not talking about the same old affiliate nonsense you always see... (3) Where to get torrents of traffic that's eager to check out WHATEVER you're offering... the course will show you how to focus so tightly that site visitors will almost have to take whatever action you want them to.

The product is well worth the $77 price tag. You can visit the web site and while you may not make a million dollars through banner ads, they can be a good way to stick a few bucks in the bank. If you do make a million bucks as a result of this column, donations will be gratefully accepted!

Please take a look at the Banner Blueprint Training Course. John is an expert in designing landing pages and online conversion techniques. Contact John ASAP. Go to landing page design atlanta

Using Google Analytics for E-Commerce Campaigns

If you own an e-commerce site you realize that it is critical to maintain reports to best manage and realize your ROI. Google Analytics can be used and should be used. No excuses as to why you should not use it, Google Analytics is a free tool!

You can use it to give valuable information on your entire site, not just on Google stats. It reports on all traffic sources - are you getting traffic from Google, YaHoo or BING, if you don't know, now you can find out. It gives your bounce rates and what pages are not performing.
Also, key it the page overlay which allows you to see what links are being clicked on. The tool is valuable and very cool.

How you can use it for your own e-commerce site to help improve your PPC account?

Using the Google Analytics e-commerce reporting tools allows you to fairly simply see where the majority of your revenue is coming from, what products your customers are buying, average order value, total number of web-based sales, and conversion rates and much more. As making bid adjustments are key to a thriving PPC campaign, the data you gain here will help you make better decisions. Non performing keywords should be killed, executed and burned at the stake. The quicker the better. Take your ego out of the equation and keep what works. Keeping keyword that you 'feel' should work and do not perform waste valuable dollars.

There are three reports which can assist you in managing your companies PPC account to get better results.

1. Revenue by Medium
2. Revenue by Product
3. Revenue by Keyword

Try these out for size and let me know what you think.

John is an expert in Landing Page Design and Conversion. Contact John ASAP. Go to landing page design atlanta

5 Google Videos Advertisers Must See

Google recently began publishing videos on their YouTube channels which are designed to help advertisers make better use of Google’s various advertising ।
If you want to learn to maximize the profit from your AdWords advertising, and learn a few tidbits that you can’t find reading Help Center documentation, you must watch these five videos। All are nicely arranged here:


http://www.w3roi.com/blog/2009/10/5-google-videos-advertisers-must-see/




John Atterberry is a Marketing Strategist for Sunergeo Incorporated and is a Certified Google Advertising Professional.