Conversation MarketingRuminations on the world of internet marketing, by a grown up. We won't use the word 'synergy' once, we promise...5 Worst Ads of 2008 (so far, give or take)- June 30, 2008 Many bloggers try to take the high road, avoiding mocking the work of others. I have no such reservations. My creative lead pointed out that 2008 has, so far, been a truly great year for godawful advertising. So I'm stepping away from internet marketing for a moment to bring you the worst 5 ads of the year (and maybe of late 2007): Number 5: WAMU Wahoo! Anyone remember this one Probably not, since it was immediately buried in a wave of layoffs and horrific financials. But it's painful..http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/06/5-worst-ads-of-2008-so-far-giv.htm 8 Old Internet Marketing Tools That Still Work- June 27, 2008 I went and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night. It was bad. Awful. Root-for-the-army-ants-because-they-might-end-the-movie-sooner awful. Seeing a great old franchise turned to so much stinking manure me to thinking about some old things that do still work for us internet marketers: Blogging Carnivals. I always seem to forget about this, but if you want to build links and network with like-minded folks, blog carnivals are fantastic. Try BlogCarnival.com if...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/06/8-old-internet-marketing-tools.htm Just How Fast IS Google- June 26, 2008 Blink. Apparently that fast. I just did a little test, took a random blog and bookmarked it using the ma.gnolia.com bookmarking service. I searched Google for the address of the bookmarked site 10 minutes later and there it was in the results: I've talked before about Google's incredibly fast blog search updates. This is a little different. Why it Matters in Internet Marketing If your client says "Oh, it's OK. Those busted pages won't get picked up by Google for a few...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/06/just-how-fast-is-google.htm How To: Find Great Keywords and Track 'Em - Wordze and Trackur- June 26, 2008 I've been playing around with two new internet marketing tools of late. They're impressive enough that they deserve some special mention. I've gone as far as signing myself up as an affiliate, too (full disclosure) which is something I rarely, rarely do. Wordze is another keyword-mining system similar to WordTracker and Keyword Discovery, with some critical additions I'll talk about in a minute. With Wordze, you can figure out how folks will search for you. Trackur finds a wide range of...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/06/find-great-keywords-and-track-em.htm Mobile Search. Yawn.- June 25, 2008 Hey, internet marketing world: I don't give a flying poo about mobile search in North America. Yet. Why Because: I have yet to see mobile search earn a real return on investment. A warm feeling that I'm doing Really New Stuff, yes. Dollars and cents, no. Using mobile search marketing tools is about as easy as drinking a glass of water while standing on your head. The average American or Canadian is more likely to use their cell phone to pick their nose than to browse the web, find..http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/06/mobile-search-marketing-yawn.htm Google Buys Microsoft - It'll Happen by 2015- June 23, 2008 Google will buy Microsoft in the next 7 years. Don't believe me Read why I think it'll happen by 2015: Anti-trust Won't Be An Issue By then, no one will worry about a Googleopoly. Google will face major competition in the growing mobile search space. The Powers That Be will have already forced Google to give up pre-installing Android as the only option on cell phones in exchange for the giant's purchase of Yahoo! Mobile. Their smaller market share in the two fastest-growing...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/06/google-buys-microsoft.htm 10th Anniversary- June 21, 2008 My wife's officially put up with my sarcasm and attitude for 10 years today. I'm happy. She's happy. We have two great kids. What else is therehttp://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/06/10th_anniversary.htm I'm In DMNews: Multivariate Testing Article (And a complaint)- June 20, 2008 An article I wrote about multivariate testing in PPC campaigns just got published in DMNews' Search Marketing Guide pdf. You can read it in PDF here: Stuck in the Dark Ages So then someone from DMNews calls me, asking how I'll take advantage of getting published. I told her I'd like to put an image of the page up on my blog and company site with a link back to DMNews. I told her I'd capture the whole page, so DMNews would get exposure. She said no, and that I'd have to pay...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/06/im_in_dmnews_multivariate_test.htm Justifying Internet Marketing- June 19, 2008 Today's post will be very short. Potential clients ask me more and more, "Why should I spend $10,000 or any other amount on internet marketing every month What will I get for it" I don't know. I'll say it again: I. Don't. Know. I can no more predict the results of an internet marketing campaign than I can predict the price of oil 10 years from now. There are no guarantees. So, when you ask this annoying, annoying question, you give me 2 choices: I can lie. Or I can be honest and..http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/06/justifying-internet-marketing-1.htm An SEO Workflow that Works- June 18, 2008 If you've ever heard these quotes, you need to read this post: "The designers said we couldn't use this font and have it be text." "The designers said they couldn't format the page without tables." "It'll take us hours to change that now." "No, you can't edit the title tags on each page." "This is a big change. Why does it matter to SEO" "We can get to these SEO changes in about a month." There's a right and wrong way to include SEO in your internet marketing mix. Throwing it in..http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/06/seo-workflow-that-works.htm |