Hello to all my fellow Bloggers.

I come to you today as a community of well knowledge people who want to help. This is one reason I love blogging so much. I love the feedback that people are willing to give. 

So, here is my dilemma. I need a Rockin Blog Software Platform! I hope that by getting your feedback, I will also be able to better serve my clients by being able to provide a case study and a recommendation to them and yes; I will share this with the Blogosphere. 

Here is the scoop. I currently have a CMS that has integrated blogging software. Yeah, that’s the good news. The blogging software DOESN’T talk to any other types of tracking tools or analytics tools. The one tool that truly bums my groove is that I can’t get it to hook into Technorati and the software company doesn’t feel this is a huge issue right now, although the forum on this is huge (which means others out there confirm I am not crazy). I can’t even get it to connect to Google so I can set a goal on how many subscribers I get through my RSS like Avinash Kaushik talked about in the last Webinar with HubSpot's Inbound Marketing University. This is the Bad news. 

So, I come to you for suggestions on blogging software:

• What is the blogging software you use and why do you like it? 
• Does it hook into all the cool tools that HubSpot recommends to get found?
  • Technorati 
  • Google Goals 
  • I am sure there are more and please feel free to share 
• Does it give you complete control over the design of your Blog and if not what kind of limitations does it have (Dave loves to design and have control)? 

Since I am fairly new to blogging, I would appreciate any advise you have. I subscribe to some really cool RSS feeds and I read all the important info, but most of you have been doing this longer and know the tips, tricks on getting found and that is what I want, to get found by more, I am convinced the blogging software has a huge impact on this. 

As a Web Design and Marketing Company, I am starting to think that websites are a dying breed, like outbound marketing. Blogs can accommodate just about anything we need to convey to the world and most times our Blog gets picked up by Google faster than our website. So HubSpot, HATS of to YOU! 

Thanks in advance to all who comment on this Blog! I also hope to make some new friends during this process.

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Online marketing has become the most successful method of advertising for any kind of business during the last decade. It is fast and promotes your business to thousands of potential customers daily. As marketing is a primary factor to a successful business, the internet facilitates this process in a way that will ensure the maximum exposure to what you are offering.

Traditional marketing, known as outbound marketing or interruptive marketing, requires much more time and effort. It often takes many people to be involved which means it takes more time, resources and money to produce. Outbound Marketing is also very hard to track for results. With the internet you can reach customers all over the globe in a matter of seconds. Online marketing is superior to traditional ways of marketing in almost every aspect. Here is a list of the top 10 reasons online marketing dominates traditional advertising.

1. SPEED

• Email marketing campaigns are fast, targeted, cost-effective, highly efficient method of marketing your business.
• Traditional mail marketing can take months and a lot of money and effort to generate results.

2. GEOGRAPHICAL RESTRICTIONS

• The whole globe can be your customer base when you are marketing your business online, as the internet reaches almost every house on the planet.
• Traditional Marketing restricts the amount of people you can reach.

3. MARKETING EFFECTS

• Online marketing is based on pull marketing or Inbound Marketing, which means the customer found you while looking for a particular item.
• While offline marketing is based on push marketing effects, which means you have to introduce your business to every single customer that comes into your location.

4. SALES PROCESS

• When your business is marketing online, you can make a sale in a matter of seconds; whether it is an online store they are shopping or request more information through a contact form.
• Offline advertising is very different in that someone has to sell the person the item, which means the person has to have the product knowledge and ability to sell to someone.

5. HOURS OF OPERATION

• Your website is your business being open 24/7. Generating leads, and sales while you are asleep.
• Offline stores are restricted to the human active times, this means you open in the morning and close in the evening and you can’t make a sale while you are closed. In other words, the offline selling process has a shorter sales life than the online one.

6. COST OF MEDIA

• Online marketing allows you to make a short video or audio commercial and submit it thousands of media communities and is usually free or minimal charge.
• To make a commercial on TV or radio or place an ad in the newspaper is a very costly engagement.

7. LIMITED ADVERTISING LIFE SPAN

• When you post an ad online about your business or website, using an article for example, it can be online forever.
• Traditional Ads can be active for an agreed-upon period of time and then it will be replaced.

8. COST PER CUSTOMER

• These costs are reasonably low with online marketing but relatively high with offline forms of advertising. They are simply the costs incurred to generate potential customers for the business.

9. CUSTOMER SUPPORT

• Online customer support can usually be solved via email.
• Offline support requires a little more time and effort to be resolved.

10. ONGOING MARKETING INFORMATION

• Data collection online is instant. You can track marketing efforts via google and other tracking tools.
• Offline data collection is usually paper copies of items which usually take up storage space and requires manual computation for stats.

As you can see, online marketing is a far more cost effective method of marketing to traditional marketing. Online marketing is all about saving you money, time, and effort; yet brings you the required results you seek and most of the time exceeds your expectations.

Web 2.0 is the latest evolution of search engine technology. Today it’s no longer good enough to have a professional-looking webpage and a blog. Successful companies are posting viral videos on Youtube, creating Facebook Fan Pages, Myspace pages, getting followers on Twitter, Connecting with other colleagues on LinkedIn and applying cutting-edge technology to their core business principles. Now business owners big and small are looking to get these services to help them catch up with this ever-evolving phenomenon.

According to a 2009 Deloitte survey, 94% of business executives plan on ramping up their social networking participation over the next 12 months. Additionally, nearly 40% of businesses are hiring full-time professionals at an online marketing company to manage their social networking strategies.

Francois Gossieaux, a senior fellow with the Society of New Communications Research, says there are still “plenty of companies who do not realize the power of communities, and others who have not yet figured out the proper approach for leveraging communities as part of their business.” He adds, “Businesses are truly becoming social again, and companies should look to leverage the collective wisdom of their employees, customers and partners in order to innovate faster, reduce costs and bolster their bottom lines."



A Professional website design on a solid foundation is the first step towards your Online Success.  Your Online presence needs to engage your potential customers by Calls-to-Action and the Remarkable content you display.    

Whether you are one of the companies already on the Web 2.0 wave or just starting out, the rules of Marketing your company have changed.  If you are not capitalizing on the Social Media, Blogs, RSS tools that are available to you, you are missing out. 

Today the success of marketing your company does not rely on the size of your budget rather the time and willingness you have to put into your online marketing presence.  I think some companies would rather throw dollars at the marketing than to put time into it.  I think this is one of those times when we find out who the "Real Players" are.

Thoughts?

The Government has finally accepted that "Cloud Computing" is an acceptable form of doing business.

If you have been involved in some shape or form with the Government, you know that Cloud Computing was something that was just not an option.  Too many hoops to go through, too much information that could be lost, etc.  Well hold on to your hats.  The White House has just announced that the Federal Government is going to go to the clouds.  This will save the taxpayers money and make the government more efficient.  It means no more costly servers for every office, no more purchases of software that is not needed.  It means that the different offices can actually communicate.  Cloud computing allows you to get what you need.  Now the Government can be up to date with the latest technology that we in the private sector enjoy. 

Apps.gov is an online storefront for federal agencies to quickly browse and purchase cloud-based IT services, for productivity, collaboration, and efficiency. Cloud computing is the next generation of IT in which data and applications will be housed centrally and accessible anywhere and anytime by a various devices (this is opposed to the current model where applications and most data is housed on individual devices). By consolidating available services, Apps.gov is a one-stop source for cloud services – an innovation that not only can change how IT operates, but also save taxpayer dollars in the process.

What is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology as a computing model where IT capabilities are delivered as a service over the Internet to many users. Like a utility such as electricity or water, cloud computing allows users to only consume what they need, to grow or shrink their use as their needs change, and to only pay for what they actually use. With more rapid access to innovative IT solutions, agencies can spend less time and taxpayer dollars on procedural items and focus more on using technology to achieve their missions.

Although this is in its beginning stages, the U.S. Chief Information Officer of the White House is very confident that soon they will be in the clouds.  Stay in touch with this topic by subscribing to their blog.

Today I heard on the radio that Colorado Springs was in the Top 10 Best Cities For A Housing Recovery according to Forbes Magazine.  I had to check out the details of this and came across an article written by Matthew Woolsey on August 13, 2009 that states that Colorado Springs, CO is ranked 3rd in the Top 10 Cities for the housing recovery.

Change is to do something a different way. Why is CHANGE so hard for some companies? It's hard because we get so use to doing things one way and are convinced that if we just keep trying at it, it will eventually prove a different result. This is the definition of Insanity. I think we have all been there at one point in our life. We are creatures of habit.

Change is a scary and exhilarating experience. Even people who like change still complain every now and then. Sometimes it can be hard to see the reward of the change. In the end, change is GOOD! It shakes things up, evens the playing field, makes everyone perform at their highest level and in the end you see the fruits of your labor.

Take Social Media for example. I can tell you when I say Social Media or Inbound Marketing to my clients; they have that look of “what is that”? Or “oh yeah, I have heard of that but what is it”? Digital Marketing is hot and I don’t expect it to cool anytime soon. Newspapers and magazines offer online subscriptions, coupons are being sent online, and stores are sending their weekly advertisements via email. This is the future so we may as well start the embracing now so as to not be left behind later. CHANGE, is good. Think of it this way, we are saving trees and the ozone.

How can you change the way you think about marketing your company? How can you change the way you reach your clients? Step outside the box and see if Traditional Marketing can be replaced with Digital Marketing.

How do you change? Get a Facebook page for your company, get a twitter account, start a blog, get on Linkedin. You would be amazed at the amount of people you can reach just by utilizing these tools (Facebook has over 4 million users, Twitter has 14 million, and LinkedIn has 35 million). You have a marketing department, right? Get them to CHANGE their way of doing things. Get them engaged to market the company online by talking about the company.

Small businesses need to take a risk and change. Get your employees involved with Digital Marketing. Engage them to get more friends, followers, and connections. You will be the talk among their peers. Some CEO’s think their employees are wasting time on the Internet or doing personal things, but if you make it their job to do those things, I bet they spend more time working for you. Take a risk!

To many times people worry about “what if it doesn’t work”? Instead worry about “what happens if it does work”? What a problem to have!

Social Media, Inbound Marketing, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In....AHHH.  I know what your thinking...I don't have enough time in the day to get regular work done let alone this.  Breathe.....Yes, the Social Media Frenzy can seem overwhelming at times.  Believe me, it is overwhelming to talk about it.  I get so excited about  the two I am using right now, that I get that "deer in the headlights look" from people I am talking too.

Absolutely!  In fact a 2008 cone Business in Social Media study showed:

• 93% of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media
• 85% believe a company should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media
• 56% of American consumers feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment.

Focus on the 4 steps below to make the web an effective, revenue generating channel for your business.

1. Develop Great Content

Potential customers are searching for information and they are using search engines to find information that meets their needs. Search engines give more weight to targeted, valuable content, so if you want your business to be towards the top of the search results, you need to have valuable content on your chosen topic. When you re-design your web site: Focus on the information need of your visitors, not on making the sale.

2. Establish Creditability and Trust

The Internet is a low trust environment and means potential customers will ask questions to convince themselves that they can trust you. You need to build credibility immediately, or people will leave.

Questions they will ask themselves might include:

• Does this business really exist?
• How long has this business been around, and will they still be here tomorrow?
• If I buy or contact this business, will my details be safe?
• Will I receive my purchases, or will the promises made by the business be held?
• What type of post-sales support will I receive after receiving the product?

How to establish and foster creditability and trust:

1. DEFINE WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU DO.
2. Educate visitors and provide FREE advise via a company blog.
3. Display how long you’ve been in business. Include photos of your team, board of directors, etc.
4. Use Customer Testimonials strategically throughout the web site.
5. Put your business contact details on every page.
6. Include any memberships you have and/or business associations you belong to (e.g. Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, Housing and Building Association, etc.)
7. Create a Community (e.g. Forums)—an extremely powerful credibility tool, as it often achieves points 1, 3 and 4 all at once. Plus you allow customers to talk to each other and spread the word first hand to new customers.
8. Capture Customer Feedback—give visitors a mechanism to contact you easily to provide feedback or ask questions.

3. Convert Browsers to Buyers

Conversion is the art of turning an information seeker into a customer. It’s hard work, but developing your content and establishing your credibility, go a long way to helping with conversion. Identify your conversion goals and design you web site around those goals. Your web site should have at least two goals.

A primary goal is brings in money to your business:

• A sale in your online shop
• A reservation for a seminar or workshop

A secondary goal gives you an opportunity to achieve your primary goal later:

• Request more information (RFI) form
• Email newsletter subscription
• RSS subscription to a blog
• Registration to a forum
• Everybody likes FREE stuff, so if you can offer something in exchange for information you collect.

The key things you can work on to improve conversion are:

• Identify and refine your “Conversion funnel”. A Conversion funnel is the path you identify that begins where the customer is starting down the path to conversion, and ends after the conversion is made. A funnel needs to be designed to build comfort in the purchase, not be too many steps or be too complicated, but also not be too short. Funnels that are too short result in a “half-baked” customer who isn’t sure if they want to buy yet!
• Use “Calls to Action”. A call to action is something like “Buy now”, “Click here”, or “Get started today”. You should include these both in your site to start users down the conversion funnel but also within the conversion funnel to drive them to action.
• Use the secondary goal to “catch” people who fall out of the primary conversion funnel. By placing secondary goals strategically in the site, you can catch those potential customers who aren’t 100% convinced.

4. Provide Great Customer Service

Getting new customers is the most important piece of your business because the cost of acquisition of a customer is always higher than the cost of retention. For you to go out and go through the previous 3 steps and get a new customer is time consuming and requires effort—and money. So the last step is about how you can keep your customers happier and retain their business for as long as possible, as cost-effectively as possible. Key things to remember are:

• Customers are expensive to acquire
• Customers can find your competitors online very easily
• Customers online are impatient—they want service NOW
• The Customer has the “high ground” because the Internet gives them greater power to choose and compare you with your competitors

There are several key ways to increase your customers’ retention rates, including:

• Run loyalty building advertising campaigns. Loyalty campaigns are targeted marketing campaigns that leverage your knowledge of your customer. An example of such a marketing campaign is a birthday campaign that goes out before my birthday to offer me a special deal: “Happy Birthday: Buy one T-shirt and get one free in your birthday month”
• Provide exemplary service with fast response times. When you receive a lead, inquiry or support request, react as quickly as possible. Better yet, you should be receiving emails and SMS's notifying you of customers’ requests.
• Don’t waste time—provide useful FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) to allow your customers to find answers to their simpler questions without having to contact you.
• Build a relationship. Use the right tools to keep track of your correspondences with customers, and make sure you can share knowledge about your customers.

Each of these 4 items work in concert with one another, linking together to create a winning process that helps you generate more leads and ultimately make more money out of your online business. Watch your web site analytics and adjust accordingly.