Signals from the Field

Social Media news site Mashable.com (of which I am a fan) made a post on Wednesday on Bing's surge in internet popularity. After only one month, Bing is now the 13th most visited site on the internet.

I read recently that people are uploading 20 hours of video to YouTube every minute. That's right - 20 hours every minute. Considering it is free, one must wonder how long YouTube's business model will survive...but that's not the point. What's really happening here is that video is the new method of delivering content on the internet. Those of us interested in driving revenue, serving the customer and creating effective internet marketing plans better pay attention to this trend. We're really not surprised when you think about it. Once TV sets began to populate our homes, the TV set became the preferred source for news and entertainment. And then this thing we call the internet came along a few years ago and it has consumed our time and attention. No surprise the two have come together.

I don’t care who you are, but it’s a tough act to follow the Bacon Explosion. Here goes nothin’…..

I read an article recently that stated 60% of US Fortune 500 companies will start an online social media campaign this year and half of them will fail at it. If these "deep pockets" can't figure it out, what about the thousands of small and medium sized businesses out there battling to develop an effective internet marketing program? We have discussions with our clients all the time about how to capitalize on this social media explosion, and we advise them to think hard about their niche.

If you feel like you are getting old and out of touch with all these new Web gadgets and thingamajigs ... well join the club. It gets over whelming sometimes how quickly technology changes. One minute you are using Yahoo to search the "Internet" for "stuff", the next you are being asked why you don't have a Twitter account. It just seems like so much of this technology stuff ... the Web, Twitters, Facebooking ... is all just a flash in the pan, and that ultimately the good old methods of grabbing clients through word of mouth will line your small business wallet with green again. Unfortunately, it is a fact that NOT keeping up with technology in todays E-world could ultimately, if not end, critically affective your "Bricks-n-Mortar" business.

After the abysmal failure of Windows Vista in the business market, Microsoft is hoping to regain customer loyalties with the pending release of Windows 7.

Most people know that blogs are a great way to help users keep informed about topics of interest, and at the same time drive qualified traffic to the website. For this reason, search engines love blogs. Blogs with new material posted on a frequent basis that is relevant to the website will encourage search engine spiders to index the parent website more frequently. For many site owners, however, adding a blog can be a daunting prospect, particularly if their website is hosted with a provider with restrictive policies regarding new features.

Don’t “set it and forget it” when it comes to making your website a part of the overall marketing plan for your business. Search engines love fresh content, and so do your customers, so develop a regular schedule for updating content on your site. Add articles or press releases about new products, new personnel, or just about any relevant information that that has a value to your customers. It’s hard work to achieve and then keep high search engine rankings for your website. With some scheduling and a little forethought, updating your website will become second nature, and you’ll reap the rewards.

One of the brightest minds on new media, Clay Shirky, described social networks as having "the power to organize without organizations." So what does that mean? Organize what exactly? Organize groups, common interests, a cause, or a community without requiring a formal institution or organization.