WHOLE NEW PLAYING FIELD FOR 'VIDEO' SEO

See the slide show and link below to learn more about the intricacies of 'video' SEO.

SES San Jose 2009 - Next Wave in Online Video

View more documents from Mark Robertson.

Click Here to watch video overview.

WHAT DOES YAHOO-MICROSOFT DEAL MEAN FOR SEO?

Turning up on the first page of an organic search result when someone types in your product or brand is pretty much the cost of entry for any substantial e-commerce entity or marketer. For the past decade, that's meant one thing: optimize for Google and maybe tweak a bit for Yahoo and MSN...everything else didn't matter all that much.

In the coming months when Microsoft's' BING takes over Yahoo search infrastructure, there will be a whole new wave of SEO needs from clients if they wish to be ranked high on search engines other than Google. Read more from AdAge

CREATIVE MARKETING APPROACH

Well, with Facebook, Twitter and other social media obligations, I find that I have been neglecting my blog entries. Today however I ran into a creative marketing approach that I knew I needed to share.

Ever go to a hair salon for the first time for a consultation? Well, to save time and resources, a salon in Cambridge, MASS offers free consultations via SKYPE (an online video/audio communications site), which is one of those out-of-the-box type ideas that I like to share with my readers. To read more, click here.

NEW 'OFFICE SUITE' FOR MARKETERS... ADVERTISING

Microsoft has long built enterprise software solutions for myriad industries: retail, health care, sales. But now it has its eye on the advertising industry.

Microsoft and Mediabrands, the media division of Interpublic Group of Cos. that counts Microsoft as a major ad client, are collaborating to build a software system that marketers can use to track everything from search advertising and e-mail newsletters to CRM systems to TV buys in one place. To read more, check out the Ad Age article on the topic.

NINE BALL, NOT A GAME OF POOL BUT RATHER A NASTY VIRUS

If you haven't heard of it yet, you soon will...the Nine Ball virus is making its way through the web infecting 10s of thousands of websites...two of which are ones I manage. Not a happy camper! I've spent hours trying to clean up the mess, just to find out that the two sites are infected again. Don't know how it happened, but I've taken precautions that I would like to pass along.

• Make sure you store sensitive data, i.e. passwords in a password protected document and use extra characters that you'll know to remove when needing the password, i.e. use an "&" symbol at the beginning or end of the password.
• Consider using a password manager like PassPack
• Don't use auto fill features when visiting websites unless using a service that PassPack offers.
• Don't e-mail usernames and passwords in the same e-mail and refer to the first bullet on this list for using extra symbols.

If you're interested in reading more on this subject, I found a good article at eWeek.com.

MOBILE APPS ARE ALL THE RAGE

If you're a wine lover, check out this wine matcher / wine pairing app from a client of mine Nat Decants. The app is for BlackBerry or iPhone. The wine mobile matcher is only $2.99 and is perfect for when you're at a grocery store or restaurant and wondering what wine to buy.

Watch the wine pairing video to see how the app works:

HOW MUCH IS YOUR WEBSITE/BLOG WORTH?

Do you have a website that gets a lot of traffic? Ever wonder what it's worth? Check out DNScoop.com to find out. Just to give you an idea...I have one client who gets about 1200 visits per day...according to DNScoop the site is worth over $85k. Not bad!

BOTTA 'BING!' NEW SEARCH FROM MICROSOFT

Microsoft on Thursday took the wraps off Bing, the rebranded and rebuilt search engine designed to replace Live Search. It's a solid improvement over the previous search product, and it beats Google in important areas. It will help Microsoft gain share in the search business. It's surprisingly competitive with Google.

Bing isn't available to the public yet, but you won't have to wait long. Starting on June 1, some users will get Bing search results from Live Search. On June 3, CNET says Bing will be Microsoft's new default search. Click here to see how it looks.

SOME OF MY LATEST WORK...

Check out some of my latest projects...

• Logo and Website for MM Players Club, a unique way to play private country club golf.
• Website and site optimization work for a beauty salon in Gold Canyon, Joli Salon.
• Website for a indoor golf dome in Chicago, White Pines Golf Dome.
• Website for a great pizza joint in Scottsdale and Phoenix, Humble Pie.
• Registration page and database for "Arts Olympics" event for the Superstition Area Cultural Alliance (SACA).
• Site optimization work for OnSet Marketing Group.
• Website for a decorative concrete supply company in Chicago, BDC Supply

TEN TIPS FOR BUILDING A GOOD E-MAIL LIST

An email campaign is only as good as the list it is sent to. The question from marketers then becomes, “How do I build a great email list?” Read these tips from dmPULSE that can help all email marketers build their most valuable asset; the email list.

A UNIQUE PRODUCT IN AN UN-UNIQUE CATEGORY

Have you heard of Tom's shoes? If you haven't...you will! This utterly simple shoe design is gaining a lot of steam with its unique, altruistic marketing approach. For every shoe they sell, they give a pair away to a person in need.

SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS FROM TOP PROFESSIONALS

The benefit from a firm grasp of social media for companies is impossible to ignore. Whether you work in marketing, advertising, public relations or interactive, there are distinct competitive advantages for both individuals and businesses from a better understanding of the social web.

Read what some of the biggest brands in the business are doing with Social Media and how it can help you. Article by: Social Media Today

T.V. ADVERTISING MADE EASY!

Think you can't afford T.V. advertising or commercial production? Think again. Google has made the process of T.V. commercial production easy and its airtime even easier to purchase. If you're familiar with Keyword or Adword advertising, the new "Google for T.V." is very similar. Purchasing T.V. airtime is now auction based, which means if a station or network has time that is unsold, you can get a bargain. The best part, it's all trackable so you know what's working, and what's not. Check out the brief demo below.

IT'S NOT A BIRD. IT'S NOT A PLANE. IT'S A FLOGO!

What the heck is a "Flogo" you ask? It's a floating logo of course! Flogo has come up with a way of compressing bubbles and helium gas in order to create floating logos for events and other brand awareness campaigns. Check out the video below on a Nintendo campaign.

NEW CAPTCHA METHOD BY GOOGLE TO MINIMISE SPAM

If you're not familiar with the term, "Captcha," you've probably run across one when perusing a website in which there are form fields. A CAPTCHA is a type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer. The process usually involves one computer asking a user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade. Because other computers are unable to solve the CAPTCHA, any user entering a correct solution is presumed to be human.

A persistent problem on the Internet is screening out automated computer systems that can be used, for example, to sign up for spam-sending e-mail accounts or post comments designed to improve a site's search results. In comes Google with a new "image-based" Captcha method to help minimise spam and other nefarious issues. Read more from News.com

ONLINE MEETING/CONFERENCE CALL TOOLS...

There are some great inexpensive and often free web apps out there to help you facilitate conference calls and meetings. Here are a few to check out, Free Conference, TalkShoe and GoToMeeting.

FORGET RSS, THIS MIGHT BE A SIMPLER SOLUTION

If you're not quite sure what an RSS feed is, you might not have to learn thanks to Alltop. Alltop is an online magazine rack of popular topics. They update stories every hour. Pick a topic by searching news, name, etc. and they'll deliver it to you 24/7. Check it out and let me know what you think.

INTERESTING TWIST TO DIRECT MAIL...MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE TOO...

So, imagine sending your direct snail-mail piece but rather than using a stamp, you use Zumbox. Zumbox delivers paperless mail online – from street address to street address. What used to only be sent as paper mail can now be sent without the paper. How? Zumbox has created a nationwide paperless postal system with a Zumbox for every street address in the U.S., including yours.

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

This is an interesting article on why Facebook doesn't listen to its customers, and it won't start now. The article has some good lessons for all businesses. Click here to read about it.

GREAT NEW ASP TO PROMOTE YOURSELF IN E-MAIL

Glooq is an interesting new product that allows you to create banner ads and place them into your e-mail in order to promote yourself or product.