SEM, SEO, RSS, Web Marketing, Google Adwords, Overture, PPC, Podcasts,Website Traffic Tips: October 2005

Business Blog Marketing Training Session and Video

I was recently asked to speak to a group of marketing professionals at the San Diego Software Industry Council about business blogging. The training session was fantastic and very well received by the marketing professionals that attended.

What happened was that after the training session was over people were asking me for slides and saying that they wish they had a video so that they could review the information that was covered. This all got me to thinking that we should produce a Business Blog Marketing training video, power point slides and a companion workbook that covered additional information about the marketing benefits of Business Blogs. We actually created a 77 Minute Video about business blogging.

Some of the attendees had additional questions and concerns: so we put together a 22 page workbook that outlines action items, 8 fatal errors to avoid, key issues to business blogging success, how to get online visibility with your blog, Google & Yahoo new services that are important to marketing professionals, blog platform reviews, resources, glossary, etc...

Click here to Watch the Video of the first 5 minutes of the Business Blogging Session

Click here If you want to see the entire Business Blog Marketing Training Session Package

Having a properly executed Business Blog is a very important aspect of marketing online and is a critical part of Web 2.0, so make sure you check this out. We also talk about very recent news about how Yahoo and Google are embracing business blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds with new services that can take your business marketing to a whole new level..

Enjoy,

Rodney Rumford

Podcast Directory: Get your Business Podcast Listed

If you have a podcast for your business you will want to make sure that your podcast is listed in the major directories. This is a first step in marketing your podcast and getting some listeners and subscribers. This will allow your business podcast to have more online visibility and attain more listeners. The more ways that your podcast can be found the better. Now there are over 50 podcast directories, but only the top ten or so really matter.

You will want to ensure that your podcast is listed in the following 5 podcast directories.

Podcast Directory for your Business Podcast:

www.podblaze.com podcast directory

Podcastpickle

Podcastalley

Yahoo Podcast Directory

Apple iTunes (you have to submit through iTunes software)

Good luck in your business podcast marketing endeavors. Having your podcast listed in a podcast directory online is only a very small part of promoting and marketing your podcast online. There is much more to designing a business podcast marketing strategy. If you are looking for a consultant to assist you with your marketing strategy and how you can maximize the use of podcasts as a marketing tool then you should get in touch with the podcast consultants at www.Leveragedpromotion.com

Rodney Rumford

Podcasting as a Business Marketing Tool: Business Marketing Professionals Need To Wake Up!

We have been podcasting since the summer of 2004. That's way way early from an online marketing perspective. We actually developed the very first web based podcasting solution for business in the the 4th quarter of 2004. That site is very successful, but what became clear to us was that podcasting was going to take off in a big way. We were right!

So immediately after we launched that first web based service we started development on a web based podcasting solution that was only focused on business podcasting. We looked at all the tools that a business marketing professional would need for podcasting and built a professional podcasting website for businesses.

We were amazed by the number of clients that immediately started using the service, we listened to users feedback and continually enhanced the solution (we are always improving the service). When we designed this solution, I kept telling my team that we needed this to be so easy to use that a novice with no technology experience could create, publish and promote a podcast in under 5 minutes. Mission accomplished!

The really interesting thing about podcasting is that it has exploded since the beginning of 2005. We were actually featured in an article by the Associated Press and showed up in Yahoo finance,Google news, Forbes, Wired, etc. We got a lot of press attention and continued to grow. In fact our growth and visibility in the business podcasting world has allowed us to grow and set up a seperate podcast consulting practice for business clients.

We handle complete outsourcing of podcasting: Everything from strategy, planning, execution, best practices, marketing and all supporting technology. We have a number of high profile podcast clients such as book publishing giant Simon & Schuster (owned by Viacom).

The REALLY BIG News: Yahoo and Google recently embraced podcasting in a major way. If your business does not have a podcast you will be left behind. Google recenly launched Blog Search (which actually finds podcasts). And just 5 days ago Yahoo launched a new podcast search engine. This is getting serious and businesses have an opportunity to extend their brand and leverage podcasting technology to gain more online visibility, leads and clients through this marketing medium. No podcasts? I guess your target market will not find you. Not good.

Check out our complete business podcasting solution at www.podblaze.com

You can also learn about our podcast consulting practice at www.leveragedpromotion.com

Best wishes,

Rodney Rumford

Google Adwords and Business Blogs = Targeted Traffic

Google Adwords is a very valid way for your business get to get targeted traffic. But there is also a way that you can even more visibility with out the cost per click advertising model. You can get targeted traffic with a business blog.

Business blogging has become a way for smart marketing professionals to get targeted traffic and increase their online visibility. Marketing professionals can also se increased sales from a business blog.

You can learn more about this blogging technology and how it can help your marketing efforts by visiting our Business Blog Consulting site ( LeveragedPromotion.com ). You can also get an informative no cost white paper that will further explaine the business and marketing benefits of Business Blogging at www.leveragedpromotion.com

Rodney Rumford

Adwords Conversion Tracking Problems: Check Your Code

Google recently had some problems with the code they generated for conversion tracking. Hey, we all make mistakes, but the thing that is really frustrating from my perspective is that they did not alert adwords users until the 17th of February. That's 20 DAYS! You would things that they would have known this and had a solution quicker.

My suspicion is that they made some changes and it was then that they realized they had a bug in the system. What they fail to tell you is if it added conversions, deleted conversions, did not work at all, or if it was just buggy and intermittent and they don't know. Luckily for my clients, we had not added tracking code during this window. I do feel bad for all the people that did add conversion tracking during this time.

Now they have to go back and change pages in their websites, major hassle for some people, relatively minor hassle for others.

You would think they could track what code was created during this time and then alert customers as to which campaigns had conversion tracking created. If you are like most people; they can't remember what they did a week ago; let alone a month ago. Google drops the ball on this one.

Here is an excerpt from the email:



"You may need to update your AdWords conversion tracking code in order for you to receive accurate conversion data. Google's engineers have identified an error in the conversion tracking code snippet provided in AdWords accounts from January 18, 2005 (PST, US) through January 27, 2005 (PST, US).



The conversion tracking code has been fixed; however, our records show the code recently implemented on your website might have been affected. To ensure conversion tracking is working properly for your site, you'll need to log in to your account and generate new code snippets to replace any code you may have generated during the timeframe listed above.

To generate new conversion tracking code, please visit https://adwords.google.com/select/convtrackingsignup. (You may need to sign in to your AdWords account to access this page.) Follow the setup steps, making sure to click 'Continue' to complete the process"

All this being said, I still love adwords... Hey, what choice do you have when you want to reach your target market in a cost effective manner?! Google is the choice & still delivers great results.

Rodney

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