Create Your Own Web TV Ad Today

One of the things I stress to all my clients is that there are terrific ways to find new customers out there on the internet these days, and just because it may seem daunting as to where to start doesn’t mean you should not take action. NO sitting on your hands local businesses! Time to take action.

Web video is huge now, getting easier to do every month, and now we are able to not only run your video marketing campaigns for you so you can virally build new customers from video impressions across the net, we can also build your very own web TV commercials and get them running in front of geo targeted customers in your area.

Yes your very own web TV commercial running on selected media properties where you live and want to find new customers and for a very affordable price, way better than most ads you would buy. This service is really quite amazing and I recommend you give us a call today and find out how you can capitalize on using web commercials for your business.

Some basic facts:

• no you don’t have to hire a fancy production company to shoot this video (in fact we can do it all from high quality templates that will knock your socks off)
• geo targeting these ads will zoom in on your market where you want to find customers
• you can also embed these ads on your web site for free
• you can let people share your ads to further spread the word
• the cost will amaze you

So when you consider the fact that most small businesses are doing almost nothing with their web site and just hoping to generate some business from their investment in a web site, it becomes crucial to take some action and drive some targeted visitors to your site now.

Don’t let the variety of options out there for your marketing cause you to have a paralysis. Take action and start building a brand for your business and driving new customers to your doors today.

Call us for more info.

510-289-3495 – or drop us a line in the contact form below.

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The Five Essentials for Killer Online Promotions

• Three steps to producing 700% greater online sales than your competitors do …
• How using breaking news in your e-mails can multiply your response …
• How and when to use deadlines and countdowns to rake in huge money online …
• Times when failing to mention your product in an e-mail can drive your response through the roof …
• And much more!

Dear Business-Builder,

I may never write another direct mail promotion.

No, I’m not retiring … I’ve just been focusing most of my energies on Web-based promotions – and the money is amazing.

Not that long ago, I set up a new customer acquisition program that uses banners, e-zine ads and rented e-mail lists to drive prospects to a landing page for a health product – a landing page that is generating up to $6.50 in net sales for every $1 we spend on traffic.

Then, shortly afterward, I agreed to take over customer file marketing for another client – and we’re generating up to $1.7 million a month with our daily e-mails to his file.

Now, don’t get me wrong; not all of my e-mails or landing pages do that well. Fact is, I’m learning a LOT about what it takes to succeed online every single day. And I’m betting that, whether you’re an entrepreneur, a marketing pro or a copywriter, what I’m learning will help you multiply your response, too …

The Astonishing Power of Making Friends First

This month and every month, the average Total Package subscriber will spend $7 to purchase our products. That’s up to seven times more than subscribers to most other e-letters spend.

No, I’m not bragging about how The Total Package is making me richer. Fact is, none of that money comes to me. We re-invest every dime to invite more business owners, marketing pros, copywriters and designers into our Total Package family.

I’m just hoping that what we’re learning as we grow The Total Package will help you rocket your response, too – so here are what I believe are the three reasons why our beloved subscribers spend so much with us …

Greater Readership: When I founded The Total Package back in June of 2005, I knew our subscribers would read us more often if they could count on us being in their inboxes on a particular day.

Put simply, we would have to publish our e-letters on a regular schedule. So, we began publishing every other Monday.

After a few weeks, we began publishing every Monday. And on April 1st 2007, we began publishing daily, Monday through Saturday.

Then, it was on to the next step: Publishing all of our e-letters at the same time each day will help you get into the habit of checking in with us every morning to get your shot of inspiration before you begin work.

Tremendous Value: When you’re in the information business, there’s no such thing as purely “editorial” copy. Every jot and tittle in every issue of your e-zine or print newsletter is, in the purest sense, sales copy.

Your invitation copy and headline and deck copy must “sell” subscribers on reading the issue by presenting the benefits they’ll derive.

Furthermore, to keep readers coming back to you, you must help them realize the practical benefits they’re looking for – and that means every article must “sell” readers on actually applying the ideas you share.

Do that – and make sure the ideas and advice you provide are top flight – and not only will you make friends; you’ll keep them.

And there’s another great benefit that comes from making friends first …

Every day, subscribers write to thank us for The Total Package – and many of those e-mails say something like, “I can’t believe how valuable the information you give away free has been for me – I can only imagine how much more valuable the products you charge for must be!”

So in a very real way, the quality of the ideas and advice we give away free becomes our most effective salesman for the products in our Online Store.

Under-Promise, Over-Deliver: Everything I do – both here at The Total Package and in the promotions I create for my ResponseInk clients – is aimed at maximizing customer lifetime value.

Our mission in this e-letter is to keep you with us forever. And should you decide to purchase one of our products, our plan is to deliver far greater value than you expected – and to give you ideas and advice that put so much more money into your pocket than you expected – that you eagerly snap up every other product we offer.

That’s why we often advertise a one-hour teleseminar – and then deliver a 90-minute or even two-hour event. And it’s why we’re careful to ensure that the copy describing our products never exaggerates the benefits our products deliver.

And THAT’s why we have literally hundreds of “thank-you” e-mails from customers who were blown away by a product they purchased from us – and who are more than likely to come back to us over and over again.

Breaking News Can Multiply Your E-Mail Response

When you begin an e-mail with a USP or benefit headline, you might as well be screaming, “HEY! This is a junk e-mail! Delete it NOW!”

On the other hand, beginning every e-mail with a news story that ties directly to the product being offered is a great way to deliver value to customers and to ramp up readership of your promotional e-mails.

I spend the first hour of every morning scouring news sites for stories I can use to open the e-mails I write daily for a financial client. Right now, we’re promoting an investment service that issues “buy” and “sell” signals for options on international exchange traded funds.

So finding a news story that shows how foreign stock markets are leaving the U.S. stock market in the dust is like striking gold. For example, I found a story that documented how 65 stock markets around the world outperformed the S&P 500 in the first quarter of 2007.

My headline almost wrote itself:

BREAKING NEWS:
2007’s First Quarter Results Reveal …
65 World Stock Markets
Pound Wall Street to a PULP!

For Every $1 Gain in U.S. Stocks,
These Foreign Stock Markets
Made Investors up to $389 Richer!

And then, I found a Reuters story that made an equally powerful lead …

REUTERS GLOBAL MARKETS REPORT:
Foreign stocks soar to record highs
while U.S. dollar plummets to record lows!

The U.S. dollar has plunged to all-time record lows,
precisely as we told you it would …

Foreign markets are blasting through their all-time record highs,
just as we said they would …

Now, get ready for our
URGENT RECOMMENDATION to cash in …

Both of these headlines generated huge open and click-thru rates and produced huge sales by being newsy rather than benefit-oriented.

By contrast, the headline on my landing page for the product went straight for the jugular with a classic USP headline:

How Savvy Investors
Grow Up to 17 Times Richer
In As Few As 58 Days:

Go For 1,739% Gains
With The World’s Lowest-Risk,
Highest Leverage Investments:

OPTIONS on Highly Diversified
Exchange Traded Funds!

The rule here is simple: Make e-mails timely, personal and value-added. Make your landing pages benefit-oriented and timeless.

Deadlines and Countdowns Rule!

Next time you create an e-mail campaign for a customer file, seriously consider including a deadline – and then use your daily e-mails to count down to the deadline.

If you’re promoting an investment newsletter or trading service, for example, your deadline could be tied to a scheduled real-world event like the next Fed Open Market Committee meeting … the publication of key economic data … or the release of corporate earnings reports.

Or, you could tie your deadline to a trade or recommendation you’re about to issue …

Or it could simply be a deadline for saving money on the service you’re promoting – a Charter Membership Offer or a “Buy-One-Get-One-Free” offer for example.

When a deadline won’t work, try a strictly limited offer: “Only 200 widgets are available at this price, and they’ll be sold on a first-come, first-served basis only. When these 200 are gone, you’ll have to pay full price.” Follow-up e-mails can “count down” the number of widgets remaining.

Also: Don’t assume that deadlines are just for customer file promotions. A client of mine found that adding a one-hour deadline to his landing page – complete with a digital clock counting down the seconds – gave him a 40% lift in orders.

Add a Heaping Helping of High Drama

Lately, we’ve been adding drama to our e-mail campaigns and it’s working like gangbusters.

Instead of using our e-mails to sell a product, we create a week-long campaign inviting customers to register for a free webinar … or teleconference … or to listen to a recording … or to watch a video online.

Each of these audio and visual presentations is at least 95% value-added content. Each contains valuable information that our prospect would normally expect to pay for: Step-by-step instructions for accomplishing a particular goal … or investments you should buy now … or breaking news on dealing with a particular health problem.

Only the last few minutes are given to a very friendly, low-key offer for the product. Afterwards, customers who participated receive a series of e-mails counting down to a deadline for accepting the offer.

This kind of campaign is perfect for customer file promotions because in addition to generating massive sales revenues, it also reduces the number of times you ask customers to buy something via e-mail and increases the number of e-mails sent in which you offer your customer something free just for being your customer.

Plus, the event itself gives your spokesperson “face time” with your customers — and as we’ve seen, anything that strengthens the personal bond between your spokesperson and your customer adds substantial lifetime value to every name on your file.

Hope this helps …

Yours for Bigger Winners, More Often,

Clayton Makepeace
Publisher & Editor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE

Power Of Press Releases To Your Business

Found this great article today on how much power using press releases can have for driving traffic to your web site. Great article explaining  it  from Web Pro News.

Press Releases More Important to Marketing Than You May Realize

Press releases are not only great ways to spread the word about any announcements your business might have. They can also drive traffic, particularly from search engines. This is not news, but it’s a commonly overlooked fact.

“Search engine rankings are arguably the most important small business marketing tool available today because it drives Web traffic — and potential prospects — to a small business’ Web site,” a PRWeb spokesperson once told WebProNews. “However, because improving search rankings is desirable, achieving results can be both challenging and highly competitive.”

Back in the summer, PRWeb shared a case study with us, involving a firm that typically sees a boost in search engine rankings and a 50% spike in web traffic after they issue a release. In fact, for one release in particular, the firm saw a spike of 400% on two different Web sites, and the firm doesn’t believe they were from the same users. They also incorporate social media tools like Twitter to extend the “shelf life” of press releases, and say that drives additional traffic.

“When we included a link to our press releases on Twitter and other social media networks, we saw these both expanded the scope of distribution and the extended the longevity of the announcement,” the CEO of the company behind the case study had said. “With other news releases we saw an initial spike in Web site traffic on the first two days and then it dropped off. With these features we’ve seen increases in traffic up to five days after the news release was issued.”

In a study from Arketi Group, also back in the summer, journalists were found to use the web in the following ways:

- 95% search
- 92% reading news
- 92% emailing
- 89% finding story ideas
- 87% finding news sources
- 75% reading blogs
- 64% watching webinars
- 61% watching YouTube
- 59% social networks

You’ve got to wonder if that social networks number has gone up by now. My guess is that it has, and social media has since become all the more important to search, particularly with the inclusion of real-time search results in Google and Google’s social search experiment (which may eventually move beyond experiment status).

Marty Weintraub, the President of aimClear shared some great tips and insight into the use of press releases for search in a recent interview with WebProNews. Among other things, he noted that when you do a press release, you’re “hitching a ride” in the search engine results and news results. You can use outbound links in press releases, and perhaps more importantly, you’re out there where the journalists are looking.

Incorporating SEO into Online PR

Here are some press release distribution sites (some are paid and some are free):

- Business Wire
- PR Newswire
- PRWeb
- 24-7 Press Release
- PR Zoom
- PR Leap
- I-Newswire
- Webwire
- ClickPress
- PR.com
- PR Log
- eReleases
- MarketWire

Beyond the distribution sites, don’t forget to include your releases on your own site. Journalists like being able to find the most up to date information from the source itself. Earlier this year I discussed how some companies’ own press centers are holding back some marketing opportunities for them. Your site should have a section for press releases, and that should be up to date with the latest release when it goes out. You’d be surprised at how often these go without being updated even when a press release has been spotted elsewhere. It is also a good idea to link to any company blogs, Twitter accounts, or any other place where company announcements are made.

Article link

Using Google IN New Ways

Gadgets

Streamlined Search Functions

Googlezation: Organization and Planning Through

Fun

Other Miscellanous Programs

Google Base

Google Base is a glorified Craigslist — and is a great under–used tool for entrepreneurs. It serves as a place where you can add all types of information — like classified ads, current events, products, real estate and recipes — to make content searchable online. Based on the relevance of the submitted products, they may also be included in the main Google search index and other Google products.

Google Picasa

The blend of the name of famed artist Pablo Picasso and the phrase mi casa for “my house” and pictures is Picasa, another sweet Google program. Picasa is a free photo editing software system that allows users to upload, edit and share photos in just a few clicks.

Google Sketch Up

Design your dream house, a lamp or living room all by yourself… for FREE! There’s no limit to what you can create with SketchUp, a 3D modeling and designing program hosted by Google. The program is modeled to be easier to use than any other CAD program–plus, it doesn’t have the hefty price tag of comparable design programs.

Google Music

According to Google, one out of every 10 online searches is music related. Google has finally taken strides to get in tune with internet connoisseurs with Google Music. Type in any song, artist or lyrics, and at the top of the Google search you can preview (and purchase) the songs that appear in the search. Now you can find music on Google as quickly as iTunes.

Sokule – Business Building on Steroids

Video interview with Jane Mark of Sokule.com where Jane gives us the lowdown and how to of the wonderful features of this new social media service.

Obviously this is not Willie Crawford in the interview but rather it is Jane Mark of Sokule. Willie is the one who turned me onto Sokule but he deferred to Jane to explain the ins and outs of this exciting new service. I hope you will see the value of what Sokule offers to you and your business building efforts.

If you would like to sign up for Sokule please hit the link below:
http://www.sokule.com/askevinr

If you want help in learning how to use Sokule for your business drop me a line and I will be happy to assist you.

This interview was done using a new product called Wetoku which allows you to record two webcam video interviews online and embed the recording for sharing.

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Tools To Run Your Business Better Part Two

Here is part two of our tools and resources roundup.

Content Creation

• Screen Steps – tool for creating step by step instructions with screen capture
• MTurk.com – Get articles written for you for cheap. Also automate human processes.
• AssociatedContent.com – get content here and then re-write it for articles
• ExpertVillage.com – collections of video that you can buy from people
• Findarticles.com – searches offline articles – go buy them from people
• HowStuffWorks.com – good source of content, like expertvillage
• Ehow.com – more content, like howstuffworks.com

Online Survey Tracking/Creation

• Zoomerang.com Free Survey Tool
• Survey Monkey Free Survey Tool

Online File Storage/Backup

• DropBox.com Free file storage, sharing and remote backup from a folder on your desktop!
• Mozy – Simple online backup solution
• SugarSync – Online File syncing/storage

Random Great Tools You Need To Know About

• Evernote – free note taking tool (puts notes on your desktop and online, indexes images/pdf to make them searchable)
• Fatwallet.com – get great deals on “stuff”
• Gliffy.com – free flow chart design – alternative to MS Visio
• Filezilla – best free ftp client
• “The” Paypal Button – Andrew Lock says that if you’re doing more than $3000/month in paypal, you can click this button and they’ll charge you less transaction processing fees
• Kayak.com – travel prices aggregated
• Web-Appointments.com – let people schedule appointments with you when you allow them to
• Doodle.ch – Group date picking (”when works for everyone?”)
• HandWrittenresults.com Send hand written thank you letters to your list!
• Ted – Inspirational video presentations from great minds!
• Windows Notepad Replacement – A better program than the standard notepad

Tools To Run Your Business Better

Want to have the best tool box for your business to make your life better, more efficient, and save money too?

Well I have compiled list of cool stuff that I use, fellow marketers have used, and are on other folks best of lists as well. I hope you enjoy and get great value from this resource.

Testing/Tracking

• Crazyegg.com – headmap click tracking
• Woopra – website analytics
• Statcounter – Not the most detailed analytics, but gives very important trend/keyword data easily. Great for affiliate websites.
• Google Website Optimizer – free split testing and multi-variate testing
• ClickTale – web analytics that takes a video of your users mouse/actions
• ClickDensity.com – similar to crazyegg.com…
• Site Yogi Free consolidated website statistics

Video/Audio/Picture

• Audacity – free audio editing
• Jing – free screen capture/sharing tool
• JW Player – best free flash player (the best flash player…period)
• Super – free video conversion tool (the best free video converter – converts from anything to anything) Download
• VSO Image Resizer – right click to resize/save images to a different format
• OnlineVideoToolkit – How to do video with a Flip camera
• LiveFaceOnWeb.com – Pay to have an actor create a video and “appear” on your site
• TubeMogul.com Free Video Distribution service (free alternative to traffic geyser)
• iStockPhoto free stock photos
• sxc.hu free stock photos

Outsourcing

• ReplaceMyself.com – How to outsource to the Philippines
• Elance – freelancers galore
• OnlineJobs.ph – Where to find Filipinos to hire
• BestJobs.ph – Where to find Filipinos to hire
• Guru, GetAFreelancer, odesk, RentACoder, ScriptLance – More freelance job sites

Screen Sharing/Collaboration

• Crossloop.com – screen sharing for tech support
• Logmein.com – free alternative to gotomypc.com
• Adobe Connect now – free (for 3 people) screen/mic/webcam sharing

Phone Calling/Recording

• FreeConferenceCall – a whole suite of phone services – conference lines, voice boxes, broadcasts…
• Pamela skype recording plugin
• PhoneTag.com – intercepts voicemail, transcribes it, and texts the voicemail to you (voice recognition to text)
• Google Voice – If you can get in…
• MagicJack.com – A usb device that gives you VOIP for dirt cheap. My partner, Dan, uses it exclusively at home.
• K7.net Free incoming voicemail and fax service
• AuctionAudio.net or AudioAcrobat.com – 3 way in phone conversations to record

Project Management

• Google Docs – duh
• Mindmeister.com – free mind mapping tool
• RememberTheMilk.com – free online todo list (the most full featured online todo list)
• ActiveCollab – great project management software

Graphic Design

• 99designs.com – People will compete to create a logo/design for your website (cheap graphic design work)contest for cheap graphic/design work
• DoMyDesignStuff.com – Great graphic designer
• DesignGuruRyan – Another great graphic designer
• Kuler.com free Adobe recommended color pairings and design templates

Part two coming soon

Big Brands Using Social Media – Pay Attention Small Business Owners

Ford Motors uses social media in their marketing efforts. They use the whole gamut from Twitter, Facebook, Flikr, YouTube, Sribd, Delicious, and Upcoming as their main social media properties.

Watch this report from WebProNews on just how they utilize social media for their brand.

This is a key thing for small business owners to take note of, the big guys know this stuff helps and works for their business. You should know that it works for you too. Implementing a social media strategy into your marketing can zero in on local customers and building long term customer relationships for your business.

Google Cracking Down

There have been notices of late that Google is cracking down on advertisers and web sites that are promoting dubious offerings. They have told AdWords advertisers to be careful if they are promoting certain kinds of things.

To me this is all the more of a signal to do things the right way, be white hat in your Internet marketing, and stay on the right track. If Google is starting to get smarter and more able to search out listings and advertisers that are promoting dubious offerings then why risk it with your business?

Stay above board, make sure your site has the things Google, and the other search engines, want to see (privacy policy, terms, contact information) so your site stays listed and bringing more customers to your door step every day. Each chance you take or short cut to traffic you take can possibly mean a cut in that customer flow.

A Better Way to Conduct Teleseminar Training

The old model for running teleseminars is broken.

How can I say that?

Because I’ve participated in a lot of them, and
I’ve run a lot of them myself.

Here are the problems as I see it:

1. All the beeps and “background noise” drives
me absolutely nuts.

2. Teleseminars are always 1-way: Me talking to
everybody else. Very little engagement.

3. Most conference call systems stink. They
really do. Talk to anybody who’s been doing
teleseminars for very long and you’ll hear the
same thing.

Anyway, my point is not to “dog” teleseminars (the
model itself is very good)… but rather to
introduce you to new technology that makes
teleseminars WAY better.

It’s called MaestroConference.

<—– Get Your Free Trial

COULD YOU USE FEATURES LIKE THESE?

When you use MaestroConference to conduct a
teleseminar, it’s no longer just a one-way affair.

What’s more, instead of getting maybe 1-5%
engagement, you can literally get 100% of
listeners actively engaged by using the group
break-out feature.

Here are a few of the things that make
MaestroConference so unique. You can…

* Organize workshop-style training by phone,
complete with breakout groups that simulate a
real workshop. (Deliver a virtual in-person
training experience without the hassle and
expense of travel.)

* Instruct listeners to order during a
teleseminar by pressing a button on the phone.
(No longer do you have to rely solely on hard-
to-remember URLs.)

* Conduct live Q&A calls and “pass the mic” to
people who “raise their hands” — thereby
avoiding the chaos and noise pollution that
happens when you “open up the lines.”

Any one of these new features would make
teleseminars and teleconferences much more
effective.

By putting all three features together, this is
bound to make virtual phone events more engaging,
more persuasive, and more profitable.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE “EARLIEST BIRD” SPECIAL

Right now, when you sign up to MaestroConference’s
Notification List, you’ll qualify for a free trial
in early summer.

All you have to do is click the link below and
sign up with your name and email.

If you’d like to start using MaestroConference
right away, then pay close attention to the page
you’ll see after you sign up.

I’ve managed to get a few “Earliest Bird” specials
just for you. Basically, you’ll get twice the
service for half the regular price.

This offer is limited to only 750 people, and we
expect these to go fast. Complete details will
appear after you sign up for a free trial account.

FINAL NOTE:

If you grab one of these now, you’ll be one of
the “early adopters” who gets to test-drive the
technology for a fraction of what other people
will pay.

And you’ll get “First Mover’s Advantage” in your
niche — offering virtual trainings that are far
superior to your competitors.

This gets my strongest endorsement.

Video A Week Builds Your Base

Well the old saying is an apple a day keeps the doctor away. My new mantra for 2009 and business building is a video a week will keep your business in the pink. What do I mean by that? Well we know that articles and article marketing is good for your web site, as it helps build links to your site which boost your search engine ranking, and it helps drive traffic to your pages. Well video and video marketing can do the same and even better. So you need to do a simple video a week and submit it to your site’s blog, various video sharing sites and even podcast sites for maximum distribution.

But you say, “I don’t know how to do video!”. I answer that with a simple “Just do it.” Or just hire someone to do it. We are not talking Hollywood here folks. We are talking about being real with your customers and your audience. Check out this example.

Listen you can do something as simple as turning on your web camera (if you have on your laptop) or your Flip camera (dirt cheap and easy to use) or even your iPhone ( I just got one and tested out shooting video and emailing it to my YouTube page) and record you talking about your business/products/promotions or whatever. The key is to do it. And do it each and every week.

Want to know how to do it and what tools to use? Go to the link at the top of this article. It is one of my alter egos on the web. I teach this stuff and I can show you too. If you sign up to be on my list at that site or at this one you will get access to videos showing you just how to get started using web video in your business.

Just do it my friend. If you create one video a week for your business you will reap nice rewards with more customers and revenue for your business.

How Can Linked In Help Your Small Business?

Recently LinkedIn has been running a series of posts on its company blog in which guest bloggers (small business owners in some cases) share some ways that LinkedIn has helped them run their businesses.

Obviously they are hoping to get more folks to use Linked In through these posts but in fact they offer great infromation that can help show you how to utilize Linked  In to your advantage in your small business operations.

Linked In includes posts like:

The posts in this series talk about things like asking the LinkedIn community to comment on best practices in certain niches and regarding specific technologies, as well as marketing, and finding people of influence. They talk about generating leads and referrals, and even gaining some perspective on web design and navigation.

Some interesting tidbits about LinkedIn:

These are just some things LinkedIn wants users to keep in mind. To benefit from LinkedIn, you’re going to have to “develop a network that lasts,” and a while back, LinkedIn VP of Marketing and Advertising, Patrick Crane shared the following tips on how to do just that:

The moral of the story is that you should read the LinkedIn blog on a regular basis to get a variety of helpful tips on how you can use the professional social network to benefit your business. It’s not just fluff. You can actually get some solid ideas and use them to improve your own experience. Oh and maybe even try submitting your own story as well.

Great Results

Just an update on some of the results some of my clients are seeing for their websites. We work to improve ranking for clients on words that local consumers are searching for them on. It does your business no good to try and rank and compete for broad, highly competitive terms such as plumber, roofer, accountant. Therefore what we work on is to identify what are called long tail key words that you can rank for and which will bring customers to your web site and hopefully convert into buyers. An example of a long tail KW is Alameda plumber, or best Alameda plumber. Something that zeros the customer into your locale but which is not being competed for by millions of other plumbers.

We optimize your web sites code for these type of keywords both in the under the hood and above the hood in the copy on the page. We build links to your site using these KW’s so the search engines will know what you and your site are all about. This stuff works. We have a variety of methods at play with each of our clients.

We are seeing in our current set of projects that our clients are already ranking highly for their long tail keywords which now puts them squarely in front of their customer base in the search engines. If you can get high SE ranking for several long tail key words that are specific to your buying audience you will see more business. Traffic and highly targeted traffic is something every business can use in the pursuit of revenues.

Stay tuned for some cases studies out of these current projects soon.

Are you a small business who thinks Google and all the other search engines have left you standing on the platform at the station? You are not alone. But now the word is getting out about some changes that have occurred in the SE world.

Recently Google quietly changed the way it ranks search results on certain keywords, according to Scott Wilson, president of online marketing firm RankHigher.ca. By taking into account the IP address the search originated from (the users location), Google now gives higher placement to local businesses, rather than global sites, even if no one entered a specific location.

“Up until last month, people became frustrated when typing in ‘pizza’ or other search terms when it wouldn’t get them the local results they were looking for,” said Wilson. “They were either being forced to refine their search by typing in an exact city or abandon Google altogether to search the Yellow Pages.” So while Domino’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut still get the top spots when you Google “pizza”-having spent untold sums in search engine optimization (SEO) and online marketing to garner those positions-the next set of results focus on local business results.

This is a clear opportunity for small businesses to carve out new market share online. “Now small players don’t have to beat out the giants for top placement, they just have to top local competitors,” he noted. “It has leveled the playing field for small businesses.”

Wilson’s firm, RankHigher was formed in 2004 and identifies Internet opportunities, builds SEO-optimized Web sites, writes and shoots Web videos and provides other Internet services for clients like Apple, Pepsi and Gerber. The company has now turned its attention to helping small companies with Internet marketing and SEO. He offered some tips for small business owners looking to take advantage of Google’s newfound local focus.

What is first? How can you get started? Well you need to add or claim your Google business listing. Visit the Google Local Business Center Web site to add your business. You may find that your business already exists in the database; if that’s the case, you must claim the listing by following the steps on the page.

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New Testimonial – Willie Crawford

Willie Crawford has nice things to say about my services.

Willie Crawford testimonial for Rockk Video from Kevin Rockwell on Vimeo.

Meet My Mentor – Legendary Consultant

David Preston is known as the “Legendary Consultant” and for good reason. He has done more for businesses across the nation and around the globe in the last ten years than just about anyone out there. He has a nice casual Southern style to him (albeit with no drawl) that makes him very easy to listen to when he presents. His style is to give and give and give great information to clients.

OK take a pause here from reading my words and go check him out by clicking here. This link will take you to a Google search and show you just how “legendary” he is….

I found David through my long history of working as a mentor and educator to students on the internet. I worked with another legend of the internet world, Willie Crawford, and met David at one of his speaking engagements. He rocked the room with his powerful message. I decided right then and there that I needed to craft my knowledge that I have been giving to remote students and present it to those in real need. Local business owners who need more customers!

We sat and worked on what I had been presenting and merged it with his wonderful material to create the workshops that I give now locally and across the country.

“I’ve known David was using a lot of techniques that were blowing away the competition, I just couldn’t get him share until now. After spending the weekend with him I learned one of his methods and it floored me. It’s like client acquisition on steroids! I knew immediately that this one method may make me a million.” Willie Crawford said.

David Preston found a solution that has been haunting people for years. He shows them how to end their marketing nightmare and become a true success on the internet. David has now opened the door to a enormous group of people that once thought a disability, or not having enough money would doom them to failure.

These videos are unlike anything else available, anywhere. Like all of David’s products they are no fluff, no hype and straight to the point. He has built a strong following of marketers who know that he will not produce a product unless it genuinely helps people. This product is no exception!

Though he is mainly known for his huge offline consulting business he has recently exploded into the internet with three best selling products back to back. This is his fourth offering to the internet community and I’m certain it will be in huge demand as well.    …FPR

So you see it pays to network. It pays to work with the best and I feel that David is one of the best there is at teaching small businesses how they can grow their clients using crucial internet marketing strategies. Most businesses just don’t realize how important this is and how they can do it today.

David had some nice things to say about my video production at a recent event. Check it out:

David Preston – Legendary Consultant from Kevin Rockwell on Vimeo.

Local Search Is Surging

Research from comScore indicates that growth in local search is outpacing overall online search. In 2008, the practice of using online search tools to find local businesses, products or services grew by 58%, reaching a total of 15.7 billion searches for the year.

While total online searches for the year reached 137 billion, the growth rate there was only 21% on a year-over-year basis. Local searches make up 12% of core searches on the top 5 online portals, comScore reports.

The study found that local search — the practice of using online search tools to find local businesses, products, or services — grew 58 percent in 2008, reaching an annual total of 15.7 billion searches. By comparison, overall U.S. Web core searches grew at a much smaller rate of 21 percent year-over-year, nearing 137 billion searches by the end of 2008. Local searches stand at 12 percent of core searches on the top 5 portals.

“As local search grows, our data becomes more valuable,” said Neg Norton, president, Yellow Pages Association. “Whatever way consumers choose to find a local business, chances are the last mile of the search was supported by Yellow Pages — whether the consumer knows it or not.”

“Even if the searcher doesn’t know the company or brand they will ultimately give their business to, the decision to actually make a purchase has often already been made,” Norton said. “That is a strong argument for local merchants to develop and maintain an online profile, if they haven’t already done so.”
Another interesting statistic is that nearly half (45%) of Internet Yellow Pages and local online directory searchers made an online purchase in the fourth quarter of 2008. If you are one of the businesses that have yet to be convinced of having an online presence, perhaps that will sway you in the right direction.

Have You Tried Online Coupons? They Work!

All of us have seen and probably used coupons before to shop. But how are they preforming these days? We are now in an age of online information for just about everything and coupons are no different. If some brand new scientific research is any indication, it seems that online coupons have a much bigger effect on consumers than print coupons do. A study from NeuroFocus examined consumer responses to coupons both online and printed by analyzing brainwave activity, and combining those findings with others from eye tracking and galvanic skin response measurements.

NeuroFocus, the world’s leading neuromarketing company, announced the results of the first research that examines consumer responses to coupons at the deep subconscious level of the brain. The findings carry significant implications for marketers as coupon use accelerates across many demographics.

“Our research gives companies the first clear understanding of how consumers respond to coupons where it really counts: deep inside their subconscious minds,” said Dr. A. K. Pradeep, CEO of NeuroFocus. “Neuroscience has proven that that is the level where product interest, purchase intent, and brand loyalty are really formed.”

“The fundamental difference between this research and others is that measuring brainwave responses results in factual findings, not interpretations of what consumers say they think or feel about coupons,” Dr. Pradeep said. “As our Chief Science Advisor Dr. Robert Knight, one of the world’s preeminent neuroscientists, explains, ‘the brain makes behavior.’ With these results, companies now know the critical differences in subconscious responses across the categories that determine behavior, so they can make the most fully-informed strategic marketing decisions when it comes to couponing.”

The research looked at metrics like attention, emotional engagement, memory retention, purchase intent, novelty, and awareness. Online coupon success far-exceeded print in each category except for memory retention. In this category, online still came out ahead, but it was closer.

Online coupon sites have seen record traffic in the days of the global financial crisis. I have frequently encouraged the creation and use of coupons as a way for businesses to save their customers’ money and ultimately get their business and customer loyalty.

If you have not seen or tried an online coupon for your business I would advise to keep an eye on this as growth could become very rapid in coming months. Think how you can engage your customers through mobile coupons. Here is an example of a coupon on a local directory site.

Oh My God! How Do I Get My Customers Back?

Can you hear that cry ringing in your head? Well I can because while working with clients this month I have actually heard it said to me by a small business person in my city. In fact others I have spoken with recently have said basically the same thing.

It is the cry of the entrepreneur these days. Customers are being careful with their money, cutting back on spending, and exploring their options for saving more than ever.

So what can you do to fix this for your business? My suggestion is first of to take on a mindset that you are the best option for your customer. We begin to increase our favor when we adopt the right attitude. When a small business hires help to run the show we cannot always be secure that they will always present your business to the customer in the best light. Some will and some may not.

So you as the owner have to do all that you can to keep your customer thinking of your business in glowing terms. One method for doing that goes beyond the “thanks for shopping here” message at the end of the transaction. Take it further and invite your customer to become a special part of your family. A valued customer. Invite them to join your special club/membership/insiders club/coupon club or whatever you want to name the special list they can join to become a part of your business.

Do you know that the special cards that credit card companies give out such at the “Gold” card, “Platinum” card and even the “Black” card are wildly popular with consumers? Why? Because they give them a feeling of elevated status.

You want to do the same with your customers. Extend an offer to them. Give them something of value for free if they join your list. Then continue to offer them great value in free content, deals, specials, coupons and so on. Make them feel like there is no other option when they want to shop for your products or services. If you make them connect with you and your business then you can build that relationship in a way that no print advertising can ever do. Plus you can track and measure all of it as well.

Let me help you brain storm ideas and content for connecting your customers to your business for life. And don’t forget that there is a gold mine in working with other small businesses like yours to do Joint Venture deals that make money and customers for both of you.  Can an auto repair shop and an espresso shop work together? You bet, I have seen it. You just have to get outside of the normal marketing box to find exciting new ways to grow your customer base.

Ten Packs- Local Search Game Changer

Google has done an update to their search results output and are now displaying a ten pack of local results on the first page of search results. The ten local businesses that match the search query are showing along side a Google map that pin points their locations.

So what does this mean for local business search? Well it could mean a lot of good things for your local business. Face it ranking for broad terms like lawyer, plumber, salon, locksmith can be very tough. But ranking for Alameda lawyer, or Alameda Plumber can be a whole lot easier and now with Google Ten Packs it becomes even easier.

“This has potentially huge implications for searchers, local business owners, big businesses with a local presence, and search marketers, too. As I wrote on my own blog yesterday, Google is changing the game where local search is concerned. As Andrew Shotland asked, is every search local now? No, but we’re getting there. Google must be very confident in its ability to identify local intent, and its ability to minimize the ongoing map spam problem.” SEOLand

I feel this is great news for local businesses as they will will now be getting exposure on at least hundreds, and probably thousands of prime keywords. But, with Google showing local results on this prime real estate, a big door of opportunity has just opened up. A doctor in Oakland can get visibility on the term “doctor,” but only when local folks type it in.

The way I see it local search is going to continue to become more important for businesses of all sizes to understand and consider as part of their overall search engine marketing strategy or for those not yet doing any it may be time to jump in and gain new customers.