04 Dec 09 What is Anchor Text?
When you are writing text that you want to link without putting in an ugly URL like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDkjQtAhDug you probably don’t want to actually have to read out the entire phrase that only a computer can love. What Anchor Text is, is a way to display the link without the code as you see here: You do this by highlighting a word and finding a button that commonly looks like a chain link. That makes the post more readable and the anchor text is monitored by Google as a way of saying that someone thinks an article or blog post is relevant to the topic the entry is discussing.
04 Oct 09 Two Social Networking sites you OUGHT to be on but I bet you aren’t (And Why you should join another 2 networking sites)
I’m personally expecting a bad summer movie coming soon to a theater near you called “Not another Damm Social Networking Site!” And yes, like many really bad sp
oof comedies that there are way too many of, there are far too many social networking sites, and it is indeed full time jobs for folks just to keep them all up to date. What sometimes gets lost is the reason that you want to be involved with multiple social networking sites. The goal is to get someone to find you wherever THEY choose to find you and to get them to go to your own site, from the social bookmarking sites. You do that by linking relevant and interesting information onto the social media sites so that they find out about YOU.
So the first obvious question is: How do you possibly find time for all of the social networking sites? The answer brings up cheating, and why I highly encourage you to do so, and a great way to “Cheat” I’ve found is:
1) Ping.FM- (www.Ping.FM) is a brilliant (and FREE) site to use that will update your status on most of your social networks at once, saving you the time, effort and energy of posting the same link/photo/video/whatever at once. I spent about 20 minutes setting it up (helping it login to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and a few others) and from now on, when I have something to share with any one, any way they care to follow me I just need to go to one site and put it down in 120* characters or less (If I’m tweeting) and a minute or so later, ALL of my social networks have been updated.
One of the biggest frustrations I have is with Linked-In. It SHOULD be a good professional networking site, and it SHOULD be a great tool for anyone to spend lots of time updating and maintaining. But, let’s be honest.
It’s NOT.
Why?
Linked-in is designed by and primarily for corporate headhunters to have discreet conversations with higher level staff to see how they can ‘bag’ them for another corporation. If you understand this, it suddenly makes sense why it is harder than it should be to post an event, show off your expertise and connect usefully with others; but it’s quite easy to post a virtual resume online.
So you’ve heard read my rant about Linked-In. So what do I suggest as an alternative?
2) www.Biznik.com – Biznik.com is designed from the bottom up by and for people looking to grow their business through networking. While it isn’t highly used in the Hudson Valley yet, I think that will change once more people realize this site might be going somewhere soon. This site is highly search engine optimized (meaning that time you spend here will go a long way in sending people to your web site, which is a VERY good thing).
Looking for an invite? E-mail Randy@AimOneMarketing.com and in the subject line put in: Biznik.
Only (partial) down side- they don’t allow any pitching of MLM.
Tags: Biznik, Cheating with social media, Ping.FM, SEO with Social Media, Social Media
30 Sep 09 What is the Least effective form of advertising?
Ask Professor Aimone:
Q- What is the least effective form of Advertising?
A- For small businesses, I don’t think that any particular tactic- be it radio, TV, websites, billboards, trade shows or newspapers is inherently wrong (ok, maybe yellow pages). What I do find the least effective form of advertising tends to be when people are trying to implement the wrong strategy. If your sole goal is to “Get your name out there” and to execute a “branding campaign” your marketing efforts will probably fail if you need results in briefer than a 2-5 year period.
There is a classic analogy of your marketing budget as a glass of water, and the goal is to fill it to overflowing. Nice analogy, and yes, when you blanket the area you do increase the chances that someone notices you. So what’s the problem I have with that analogy?
What happens to the advertising you’ve poured in if you can’t afford to fill the glass to overflowing?
How do you know before you start how big that glass you need to overfill is anyway?
When you pour advertising into the glasses, how do you know you are pouring it into the same glass?
Answers upcoming-
Have a Question on Small Business Marketing for Professor Aimone? Send an E-mail to Randy@AimOneMarketing.com, and if your question is chosen, you’ll receive a free gift (of up to a $125 value)
Tags: advertising, Branding, braning campaings, Duct Tape Marketing, Overfilled waterglass, Professor Aimone, Randy Aimone