Last week, Gary was a guest on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, where he spoke about his new book, The Thank You Economy and the power of one-on-one relationships in today’s economy.

If you missed the spot, which ran on March 9^th, I’ve pulled out a couple key points that I feel are essential for the future of any business in any market, large or small.

• Be more small town, more human. Have the corner store mentality – know what your customer wants and get it for him/her.

• The big-box store era is over and businesses will compete on relationships rather than strictly on pricing.

• People have a hunger for socialization and we have turned back the clock with our smart phones and social media platforms.

• Google will be the major player in social reviews and social searches.

According to Vaynerchuk, many businesses will be scared off by the lack of immediate, measurable ROI. But rest assured, those that prevail will come out with a bang in 2013-2015 and we will see some revolutionary new business models. Think Netflix vs. Blockbuster.

Click here to read more from this Mashable article about the release of Google Places.

For more information about whirLocal, check out the whirLocal website.

The Hotpot is run by you and your friends. You add friends whose opinion you trust and rate places like cafes, restaurants or hotels etc., Your search results will be listed based on the ratings you and your friends have given to the places. Seeing place recommendations based on your tastes and those of your friends across more Google searches will make results more relevant to you and maybe lead you to discover a new gem. If you don’t have Hotpot friends yet, you can invite them to share all the places they love with you by using the Friends tab on google.com/hotpot.

Check it out and give it a try.

First, the good news: Based on its study of 1,500 Facebook users, ExactTarget concluded that 38% of online U.S. consumers “Like” (formerly “Fan”) a brand on the social networking site. And the average fan Likes nine different brands, giving you plenty of opportunity to find your way into potential customers’ news feeds.

Here’s the breakdown of why users might “Like” your brand, illustrated by the percentage of respondents who said that they use Facebook for the listed activity:

* 40% to receive discounts and promotions

* 39% to show my support for the company to others

* 36% to get a “freebie”

* 34% to stay informed about the activities of the company

* 33% to get updates on future products

* 30% to get updates on upcoming sales

* 29% for fun or entertainment

* 25% to get access to exclusive content

* 22% someone recommended it to me

* 21% to learn more about the company

* 13% for education about company topics

* 13% to interact

On the surface, some of these findings seem to conflict with the idea of users being resistant to marketing messages. But the real takeaway is that users like brands for a wide variety of reasons, and the mix of content you post to your Facebook Page should reflect that.

To read more, click here, to go go straight to Mashable.

At thirdRiver, we halp small to medium sized businesses launch, develop and manage their brands via Social Media. How can we help you?

“I’m not sure I’ve ever told you the story of THE lowest point of my career. Laura and I drove from Chicago to Nebraska over a steamy hot 4th of July weekend in our $1200 1985 Honda Civic whose engine had just $$$ blown out 3 months before. We were buying gas on whatever fumes were left on our credit cards. I’d been demoted from my sales job to production manager at a tiny manufacturing company. Now I was earning zero sales commission. To try make up the difference I took home “outsourced assembly” projects from work.

My project that weekend was tiny screw assemblies. We took the box of parts with us and one of us would assemble while the other drove. We got paid 4 cents for each one. 5000 assemblies, 200 bucks. Woo-hoo!  In the middle of Iowa, our car engine started sputtering. Had to stop for the night. No money for a hotel. My brother in law knew some people in Cedar Rapids and we stayed at their house.  He made some comment like, “Hey I thought a young sales exec like yourself was supposed to be earning big commissions.” Bit my lip. Built screw assemblies and watched TV.

Took an extra day for somebody to fix the fuel filter. Had to call my boss & explain why I wasn’t coming into work that day. One more step closer to getting the boot.

Who’s gonna hire a sales guy who’s been at it for 2 years and hasn’t hardly sold anything? What engineering company is going to hire an engineer who’s left engineering and spent the last 2 years in sales?

DANG. THIS TOTALLY SUCKS. I felt totally, completely trapped.

Fast forward 6 months.

It’s 6:30 in the evening on a freezing cold January night in Chicago. Everyone else has gone home. There’s only 2 people in the office, me and my new boss Mike. It’s been a good sales day. I’ve just gotten my December check and it’s the biggest commission of my life.

I’m going to be late getting home from work. . . but Laura’s not going to be upset with me this time. I know that when I come in the office tomorrow there’s going to be more fresh hot sales leads waiting. More opportunities, more adventure.

The conversation Mike’s having with me is: “OK Perry, so what do we need to do to get you to stick around???”

In 180 days my life had done a complete 180.

I’m saying to myself: “Self, you and I sure could get used to this. Are you sure this is really happening?”

Yes, it was really happening. There were no words for the elation I felt. And it was only the beginning of a new and rewarding season. Of finally being useful to somebody, finding my groove, and digging myself out of the giant hole I’d created.

Last week I did a conference call with Drayton Bird, the great UK advertising legend. He said, “Good times breed bad habits. Bad times breed good habits.” How true.

It was at that low point in Iowa that I finally began to throw the useless cargo off the ship.

It didn’t *seem* useless at the time. But it was holding me back. When you begin to ask yourself the questions you’ve been afraid to ask, when you start listening to the right people, situations change. And they can change *fast*.

Some people are doing extraordinarily well right now. But admittedly, most people are wrangling with tight credit, reluctant customers and broken systems.

Now is the time to fix those systems. The marketplace is beckoning you to move from where you’ve been to something new… and it’s asking you to do it with existing resources.

The good news is, you aren’t confined to your existing knowledge. Almost every problem you need to solve has already been solved by somebody else, somewhere. Within the existing resources you have is some new configuration that offers 10X more value to others than what you’re doing now.

Within your reach is someone for whom your skills and your offerings are highly prized.

The other good news is, you only have to get about 5-10% of it perfect. A handful of the right ingredients can create a huge success story. The rest can wait.

And here’s something you can ABSOLUTELY take to the bank:

While the rest of the world roils in chaos and waits for “something to happen”, we proactive alchemists are quietly re-engineering our offerings, our systems and our priorities. We’re still reeling in customers because we’re focusing on the core essentials.

We’re not listening to the whiners. We’re not reading the morning paper. We’re rising up in the morning and focusing on what’s POSITIVE. We’re building on what’s GOOD.

Today is August 6. On February 6, 2011 you can look back on your 180 day 180. My friend, you win in the end. IF you ask yourself the right questions. IF.

Don’t be afraid of those questions. And don’t let anyone steal your victory. It will be yours to keep and celebrate forever.”

Wow….I hope you enjoyed that and were as inspired as was when I read that. I haven’t edited ONE word that Perry wrote…it was so powerful.

Staying stuck in the way you were doing business before this recession and HOPING the economy turns around and your business becomes profitable, viable, or just even fun again is not a strategy. I hope you’ll take action on what Perry had to say here: Embrace change, ask the right questions of the right people and TAKE action.

At thirdRiver, we do more than just web design and social media, we help businesses do 180′s…so, if you’re ready to throw your useless cargo off the ship and are ready to create new systems and processes for attracting clients…we’re here to help.

Here’s to an awesome 180 days!

If you’d like more information about Perry Marshall, you can check him out here, http://www.perrymarshall.com/ .

However, that’s where the two components of social media marketing come into play. And without an understanding of this, you’re dead in the water as soon as you hit a Web 2.0 domain.

The vast webspace comprised of “social media” and “Web 2.0” properties are actually, from a marketing perspective, two kinds of sites and there are, as of right now, over 2000+ of them:

1. Social Media for Networking

2. Social Media for LinkBuilding

In his book, the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Steven Covey recommends that we begin with the end in mind. That “habit” is just as salient in an off-line world as it is in the Social Media world. So, we encourage all of our clients to think about what results they want from social media marketing. Is it to brand you or your product? To bring more referral traffic? To help with search engine optimization?

Michelle goes on to say, “It’s important to have your goals prioritized too so you know exactly where you should focus your energies at any given time. Is branding (Networking) more important than SEO (Linkbuilding)? Is referral traffic (Linkbuilding) more important than branding (Networking)? ” The answers to that question will bring clarity and allow you to develop a cohesive approach to your internet marketing strategy. In addition, it will help you set an accurate online marketing budget.

So, can you do it yourself? Yes…but if you’re a small business owner you already have a full time job. You could also consider outsourcing your social media managment needs to a Social Media firm like thirdRiver.

In her blog, SearchAmelia, tommielee, had this to say about the Social Media Manager as a new job in the new economy:

“Many small and midsized business entrepreneurs, as witnessed in our workshops, do simply not have the time to learn how to build, manage and profile themselves in the Social Media circus. And a circus it is but… unfortunately not getting involved means “Not Mattering Anymore” and you WILL lose out and could face extinction because your competitors are either more internet savvy or understand the importance of engaging with customers on social media.

Just as a refresher for some and an eye opener for others, Facebook today is the third largest country (if it where a country) in population with a little under 500 million users, responsible for over 40 billion sign-ins per month and well over 500 billion human interactions. Twitter is a distant second, but is gaining momentum regarding interaction and messages send and ranks now as the 6th largest, traffic wise, website in the world while YouTube, not strictly a Social Medium, is adding 25 hours of video per minute, 24 hours a day, as people and businesses getting into high gear of personal branding.

Foursquare, Flickr (yes, even them), Google Buzz are gaining traction in the circus and with more than 220,000 iPhone apps of which a good 20% are geared towards social media, as well as the development of social Android apps, the forest is growing into a jungle where trees are becoming more difficult to uniquely identify.

What tools to chose? Which networks to follow? How much time is needed to maintain the social media status? How to push the products and services in the social marketplace? All good questions and this is where the Social Media Manager Job description and thus services come into play. The job has grown exponentially in the last several months and consequently demand and job open positions is staggering. One small Job market website alone has over 17,000 Social Media Manager job openings listed.

A very recent survey shows that 91.5% of all small and medium sized businesses are considering a Social Media Manager while 85% who already have a social media manager have seen more than abnormal growth. These are staggering numbers if one realizes that there are over 30 million small businesses in the US alone. Many small businesses share a Social Media Manager and consultancy fees totaling $10,000 per month for a manager are not abnormal. Even if one considers that only one in 50 small businesses considers a Social Media Manager to take care of their social media needs, this would mean that 600,000 companies would be in a need to hire about 200,000 Managers in the next 3-6 months.”

To read the entire article, click right here.

As a small business owner, you are well aware you cannot NOT have a presence on Social Media sites…whether they be networking or link building sites. And as we’ve already said, “have your goals prioritized so you know exactly where you should focus your energies at any given time. Is branding more important than SEO? Is referral traffic more important than branding?”

If you have any questions, shoot us an email or just pick up your iPhone, Droid or ….gasp…landline phone…. and call us…we’d love to help YOU.

Just a little over a month ago, Google announced its new search index: Caffeine. For those who have yet to do their homework on the announcement, the first thing to know about Caffeine is that it is not a rankings algorithm update; rather it is a new indexing system. According to the Google blog,

Today, we’re announcing the completion of a new web indexing system called Caffeine. Caffeine provides 50 percent fresher results for web searches than our last index, and it’s the largest collection of web content we’ve offered. Whether it’s a news story, a blog or a forum post, you can now find links to relevant content much sooner after it is published than was possible ever before.

Some background for those of you who don’t build search engines for a living like us: when you search Google, you’re not searching the live web. Instead you’re searching Google’s index of the web which, like the list in the back of a book, helps you pinpoint exactly the information you need.

So why did we build a new search indexing system? Content on the web is blossoming. It’s growing not just in size and numbers but with the advent of video, images, news and real-time updates, the average webpage is richer and more complex. In addition, people’s expectations for search are higher than they used to be. Searchers want to find the latest relevant content and publishers expect to be found the instant they publish.

To keep up with the evolution of the web and to meet rising user expectations, we’ve built Caffeine. The image below illustrates how our old indexing system worked compared to Caffeine:

Our old index had several layers, some of which were refreshed at a faster rate than others; the main layer would update every couple of weeks. To refresh a layer of the old index, we would analyze the entire web, which meant there was a significant delay between when we found a page and made it available to you.

With Caffeine, we analyze the web in small portions and update our search index on a continuous basis, globally. As we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we can add these straight to the index. That means you can find fresher information than ever before—no matter when or where it was published.

Caffeine lets us index web pages on an enormous scale. In fact, every second Caffeine processes hundreds of thousands of pages in parallel. If this were a pile of paper it would grow three miles taller every second. Caffeine takes up nearly 100 million gigabytes of storage in one database and adds new information at a rate of hundreds of thousands of gigabytes per day. You would need 625,000 of the largest iPods to store that much information; if these were stacked end-to-end they would go for more than 40 miles.

We’ve built Caffeine with the future in mind. Not only is it fresher, it’s a robust foundation that makes it possible for us to build an even faster and comprehensive search engine that scales with the growth of information online, and delivers even more relevant search results to you. So stay tuned, and look for more improvements in the months to come.

Why is Google Caffeine good for me?

Underline it, highlight it, draw circles around it, asterick’s, star it…whatever …here’s the thing…fresh content is more important than ever! In a world of real-time, right now, in the the moment results brought to Internet users from Facebook,  Twitter, Foursquare, et al…. Google has to pay attention to providing most up to date results, especially if they want to stay atop the two social media giants

SEOBoy has this to say about what you should do:

* Sitemaps – As Google more frequently indexes information, make sure you’re updating and resubmitting your sitemap. For en e-commerce client who regularly adds products to their site, I like to generate a map 2x a month.

* New Content – I can’t stress this point enough. The more unique, fresh, and relevant content you have on your site, the better you’re going to perform in search. Managing a website is not easy. If you want to be an authority on a topic or product, and thereby rank better, you have to prove your worth with great content. There is no such thing as setting up a site and sitting back while the rewards roll in.

* More Activity: Not only will you need to generate more content on your website, but in order to succeed in the world of Caffeine, you’ll need to be active on the real-time sites as well, which means Twitter, Facebook, etc.

This last point leads me to think that Caffeine could actually bring some huge changes to the SEM/PPC industry. If you’re already a client of the third river marketing, then you already know we’re ahead of the “Google Caffeine” curve by utilizing WordPress as a CRM platform because it allows you, as a client, to easily make quick changes to your website and add fresh, relevant content very quickly. In addition, we’ve long advocated using your website as the HUB for all your social media, which is why we rarely, if ever design a site that does not incorporate and link to a clients’ Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.

Web 2.0 is all about being where the people are and engaging and interacting. Social Media is here to stay and just as a company as large and far reaching as Google has had to adapt their business model to it….your business needs to adapt to it as well.

If you have any questions about this or the whole idea of “Social Media Management”, feel free to reach out. We’re here and ready to help.

Sources: Official Google Blog, SE O Boy

At the Battles of Concord and Battle Road in Massachussetts, the British met a surprising militia formation of American farmers. The Redcoats marched in plain view while colonial minutemen hid behind every house, tree and fencepost.

The score: Americans lost 93, but the British lost 273. It was a humiliating start to a war they would eventually lose.

As my friend Perry Marshall would say….that’s Guerrilla Warfare, my friend. Traditional warfare is “playing by the rules,” but Guerrilla warfare means re-defining the rules, even as the game is being played. It’s tossing conventional wisdom out the window and becoming your opponent’s unseen enemy.

Every week I talk to people who are sick and tired of playing by the rules, and not winning nearly as much as they could or should.

They’re sick of pulling that black checkbook out of their top desk drawer, giving money to some media rep and not knowing if that money is coming back, when it’s coming back, or how they’ll ever know.

But the game is shifting…and the battlefield is CHANGED. Are you ready?

The amount U.S. companies spend marketing themselves on social networking sites like Facebook is expected to grow from an estimated $4.5 billion last year to nearly $38 billion by 2015, according to a new report from Borrell Associates Inc.

More than 1.5 million local businesses participate in social networks, and they accounted for about half of all spending on social-network marketing last year, the report said.

What are the 5 strategies?

1. Generate more leads: What are you doing to generate more traffic (online and off) and leads for your business?  How are you getting more people to notice your company and raise their hand to say “yes, I’d like to know more?”  Until they become an actual lead, they are just suspects.

2.  Increase your conversion rate:  You can have all the leads in the world, but if you never convert them into a buyer, you will forever have hobby, not a business (and I might add, an expensive hobby at that).  What are you doing to increase your conversion and turning leads into buyers?

3.  Increase the buying frequency:  How many times does your average customer buy from you in a given month, year, etc?   You’ve probably heard the phrase “anybody can sell something once, but getting the repeat buyer is the key”.   What are some ways that you turn buyers into repeat buyers?

4. Increase the average dollar sale:  Have you ever bought something on impulse that was strategically positioned at the checkout counter?  I know I have?  Why, because the retailer knows how to increase the average sale by upselling.  What are some ways in your business that you could increase the amount of money your customer spends on average?

5. Increase profit margin: Do you know what products or services contribute the most profit to your bottom line?  There might be some areas of your business that you need to eliminate, and others that you need to increase so that your profit margin can go up, even if it is just a few percentage points.

What happens if you make small improvements in each of these areas?  Well, let’s look at an example:

Wow!  In this simple example, when you increase all five of these components by just 25%, you increase your profit by 305%!

So how is this done?  Over the next month or so we will be talking about 31 specific strategies to help you in each of these areas.    So be sure to stay tuned and we’d love to hear your comments and questions as well.  These are all great marketing and business makeover strategies.

If you’d like help with a marketing makeover, be sure to give us a call.  You can reach Tim Fahndrich @ 503.581.4554 or David Chandler @ 503.816.6350.

When we started out with the marketing makeover, we had several distinct goals;

• update Matt’s logo, branding and web site
• improve search results and overall visibility online
• create an improved social media marketing strategy and coordinated branding approach
• set up systems to create more leads and more referrals
• position Matt as the fun, hip wedding entertainer that he his (but that his old branding did not reflect)

We unveiled the makeover last week when we hosted the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce Greeters. Thank you to everybody who attended.  I think it is safe to say everybody had a good time.

Here is a screenshot of his old site:

And here is a screenshot of his new website, live now at OregonWeddingDJs.com:

We worked with Signworks of Oregon to create new branding.  We wanted to create a new look that was hip and created a ‘nightclub’ and entertainment feel immediately.  We’re really pleased with the result.   You can see the new logo below;

We also had a new publicity photo taken by Cherie Renae, a Salem photography studio.  She did a great job capturing Matt’s fun and playful side.  Here is the picture we used on his new site;

This marketing makeover really allowed us to demonstrate the depth of services that we can provide for our clients.  It had a lot of features, including;

• new branding and photos
• custom built web site, built on the WordPress platform
• marketing video
• search engine optimization (this is an ongoing thing that we’ll be working on with Matt)
• Q&A marketing system
• new or revamped Social Media Marketing including Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube channels
• Twitter and Facebook marketing system designed to provide value and get more leads
• radio show featured wedding experts
• ability to broadcast weddings live over the internet for those not able to attend  the wedding
• lead generation tools
• and more…

A big thanks goes out to the team at Signworks of Oregon, Cherie Renae, and of course Matt Bixby.

If you’d like your own marketing makeover, give us a call at 503.581.4554.   We handle marketing makeovers from small to extreme and everything in between.

###

Tim Fahndrich is the president of The Third River, Inc., an Oregon Internet Marketing company.    He is passionate about people, marketing, and technology and loves helping businesses and organizations harness the power of the web. You can follow Tim on Twitter here or contact him at 503.581.4554.

Update 3/29/10: We have a winner!  Matt’s Entertainment of Albany.  Be sure to follow our Makeover Updates here

Is your business (or one that you know) in need of a marketing makeover?   The Third River, Inc. is excited to announce the Extreme Business Marketing Makeover: Salem Edition program!

Why are we doing this? We’re hosting the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce “Greeters” on April 9th, 2010.  In order to fully showcase the range of our services, we need more time than the 15 minutes allotted at Greeters.  So, we’d like to bless one local company with a complete marketing face-lift designed to help grow their business and showcase the range of services we can provide.   We will unveil the new look and marketing strategies at Greeters on April 9th.

If you are selected, here is what you’ll receive;

• A new company logo and color style (provided by Sign Works of Oregon)
  • PLUS, Sign Works is throwing in 500 business cards and 250 postcards with your new logo!
• A new keyword domain address and free hosting for 1 year
• A semi-custom marketing web site branded for your company, including
  • your new logo and color style
  • up to 5 pages of content
  • a built-in blog
  • integration with social media
  • a lead generation form to capture email addresses
  • easy-to-use content editing system which allows you to easily change the web site
• Social media marketing package
  • Branded Twitter profile and marketing package
  • Facebook Fan page
  • Linkedin Profile
  • Viral marketing loop
  • YouTube channel
• A new publicity photo for the owner(s) (provided by Cherie Renae Studios)
• Local search optimization for your primary keyword and 2 secondary keywords
• Local directory listings (ie Google Local, Yahoo Local, Bing Local)
• A short <2 minute video showcasing your business
• Your own broadcasting station
  • internet radio channel
    • one audio interview turned into a podcast
  • live internet TV channel
• A social media press release
• A mobile marketing campaign

Co-Sponsors:

Terms & Conditions:

• You must be a current member of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce,  Salem Business Builders, or Keizer Chamber of Commerce to apply
• The winner will be chosen by The Third River, Inc. based on a number of criteria.
• You must be able to be present at Greeters on April 9th.
• This is not a custom “web design”.  We will use our experience and marketing best practices to build a marketing web site and integrated marketing strategies designed to help you grow your business.
• You must be available for an initial interview on or around March 29th and be able to work with our marketing team in a very timely manner between March 29th – April 9th.
• This will not replace your existing web site, unless you choose to do so after the unveiling on April 9th.
• By your nomination, you give The Third River, Inc. permission to use your name, company name and brand in the marketing makeover and all related marketing efforts done by The Third River, Inc.

Timeline:

• Nominations will be received through Friday, March 26th, 2010.
• The selected company will be announced on Monday March 29th, 2010.
• Between March 29th and April 9th, our marketing team will work with the selected company to design and implement the Business Marketing Makeover.
• The Marketing Makeover will be unveiled during Greeters on April 9th, 2010.

So when I was approached over the holidays about a new company called ShopBest.com, I decided, reluctantly, to take a look at it in detail and see if it was just another shiny little object passing over my desk, or if actually passed my “Opportunity Filter” and was something that I felt I could share with others in my circle of influence.

>>>>> If you are just ready to start getting cash back on your online purchase, go now to ShopBest.com <<<<<< (Please note, this is an affiliate link.  If you make a purchase through the link, we will get paid)

I must admit, at first glance I was not interested in the least.  ShopBest.com looked like another ‘me too’ product offering in the way too crowded world of ‘click and save’ online shopping malls.  It reminded me immediately of a recent product launch of an online shopping mall / portal called Blastoff , which, quite frankly, I wasn’t interested in either.

So let’s begin our review about the company with a discussion about online Affiliate Marketing.  Many people have heard of affiliate marketing, but most do not understand it.  Amazon.com is one of the pioneers in the industry, and they offer the ability for just about anyone with a web site to make money by promoting their products.  I have been around the affiliate marketing industry since 1996, when I was one of the charter merchants with a company called Linkshare.  Here’s a brief video that explains how affiliate marketing works;

So affiliate marketing is a simple way to earn some extra cash by doing what Joel says, “selling other people’s stuff”.  Thousands and thousands of online merchants have affiliate programs.  I believe they are a great way to help grow sales as a merchant, and can become another income stream the little guy. The challenge is that in reality, it isn’t as simple as it sounds.  Here’s why:

a) As a web site owner (commonly called a publisher),  you have to drive the prospective buyer to the merchant’s web site through a special affiliate link on your web site.  However, in most cases, online shoppers already have their favorite merchants that they shop at, such as HomeDepot.com, Dell.com, Macys.com, or BestBuy.com, and they will usually just go directly to that site when they want to buy something.

b) Traditional affiliate programs rely entirely on the efforts of each individual affiliate.  This can be difficult if a person lacks online marketing experience … heck, it can be difficult even for experienced online marketers.  So it can be tough to make any real money.  So while I am a huge fan of affiliate marketing, it can definitely be more difficult than most people want to admit or spend their time on.

ShopBest.com changes this in a very innovative way.  It is setup as an affiliate program of sorts, except for the fact that they’ve done all the heavy lifting for you.

1. They’ve setup the affiliate relationships with thousands of merchants so that you don’t have to.
2. Instead of having to have a web site to publish the affiliate links, you simply have to download a ShopBest.com toolbar.  This toolbar installation takes about 3 minutes and tracks shopping activity at all of the participating merchants.  Even if you turn your toolbar off, it still tracks the shopping activity and rewards you cash back points.
3. The toolbar has built-in tools to be able to share it with others via your favorite social media links… so it is not a difficult process to setup affiliate links, etc.
4. You don’t need to rely on just your efforts.  You can share the toolbar with others … and get a percentage of their transactions as well.  This is where it starts to get really interesting.

The second thing you need to know about ShopBest.com is that it is set up as a network marketing company, which in a simple way is an affiliate program, but just with multiple levels of payout.  Now, I am a very cautious fan of the network marketing model.  There are so many fallacies and problems in most of the programs out there that most people don’t think about, including some of my favorites below:

• “anybody can do it” – not true… it takes hard work, the right mindset, and tremendous dedication to make anything work
  
• “everybody needs this” (ie their product or service) – again, not true
• “you can make tons of money” – some people have, but the vast majority of network marketers struggle to break even
• “we’re going to be bigger than Google” – this is one of my favorites … often stated before the company even launches by unknowing distributors.  How do you know you’re going to be bigger than Google? Do you realize how big Google is and how much they are worth?
  
• premium prices which are way more than most people would pay for the product – very common
• a complete change of buying habits in order to participate – customers and distributors usually have to completely change their buying habits to take part in the business

So while the model does have a lot of problems with it … it also has some real strengths as well.  It is definitely a model that provides leverage, and given the right product, can be a valid way of doing business.  In fact, it can even redefine entire industries.  One network marketing company that we believe in and promote is SendOutCards.  It is a great product and actually makes it easier and usually less expensive to send greeting cards to your friends, family, and business clients.

Back to Shopbest.  Here’s what I like about it:

1. You can benefit from it without spending a dime. There is no upfront cost or monthly fee to use the basic Toolbar.  You can simply download the toolbar, shop online at your favorite participating online merchants (there are over 1800), and you will get cash back points.  When you earn the equivalent of $15 or more,  you will actually get a check in the mail.  Once installed, you can basically ‘set it and forget it’ and it is still working for you.
2. It doesn’t force people to change their buying habits if you’re already shopping online. You don’t have to go to a specific ‘portal’ or ‘online mall’ to start your shopping.  Just download and install the toolbar, and the system takes care of the rest.  Quite frankly, I already have my established portals, social networks, etc… I don’t want another one.
3. There are no inflated pricing models. You shop directly at your favorite online merchants’ web sites.  Plus, there are often super saver deals that can potentially save you even more money.
4. You can start earning additional cash back points when you share the toolbar with others.
5. If you want to share the toolbar with lots of folks, there is an affiliate marketing opportunity that allows you to make even more money.

Here’s what I’m not going to tell you about ShopBest.com;

• It’s going to be bigger than Google: I have no clue how big it will be, but it does look like they have done pretty innovative things and could become a big company.
• You can make save gobs of money by earning cash back and taking advantage of the super saver deals that the merchants make available:  I can’t tell you that because I don’t know what your shopping habits are now.  While many of my friends shop online at least for some things, some prefer to only shop locally.  Being actively involved in my local chamber of commerce, I am a fan of that as well, but there are some things that I definitely buy online on a regular basis due to convenience and pricing.
• You can make a million dollars this year:  I can’t tell you how much you are going to make if you sign up as an affiliate.  I’m not going to promise you the moon.  I’m not going to talk about islands in the Caribbean that you’ll be able to visit at your leisure because you were in ‘early’ and are now part of the ‘billionaire’ club.  I can’t promise you anything.  I can only point you to the income calculator on the site … and let you determine if it is worth it for you and your family.
• Your kids can become millionaires by the end of the year.  (cool, sign me up right!)
• In case you’re wondering … I’ve heard all of these over and over again about other recent ‘opportunities’.

Closing thoughts:

If you shop online at all, it probably makes sense to download the free ShopBest.com Toolbar.  It takes about 3 minutes to download and install.  You can set it and forget it.

If you’re looking for ways to make additional money in 2010, check out the videos and the earnings calculator on the ShopBest.com web site to see the eight different ways the company allows you to make money by sharing this free toolbar with others.  For me, it fit my opportunity filter.

Here’s to a fantastic 2010.

For anybody not familiar with Touch of Mink, they have been around for 28 years, located in West Salem.  If you’ve been to a home show in Salem, you’ve seen Touch of Mink.  Their primary marketing strategies have been shows, where they do demonstrations of their product, mail order, and their web site.

However, their web site had not been updated in several years and was badly in need of an upgrade.  After taking several months to outline their objectives, they came back us in mid-Fall and hired us to completely redo their ecommerce enabled site.

Their objectives were as follows;

• create a clean, updated website with easy navigation
• integrate their new company branding and color styles that were completed over the summer
• create a more modern shopping cart system
• develop a comprehensive ‘back end’ admin area to manage orders, customers, and marketing
• set the foundation to dramatically grow online sales in 2010

We went to work, and we’re excited to announce the brand new Touch of Mink web site.  In addition, phase two of the project will integrate modern online marketing strategies such as social media integration, additional search engine optimziation, an email newsletter, an affiliate program, and online video.

Platform:  Volusion

Key Features:

• completely revamped design and layout
• easily tell your friends about our products
• product reviews
• categorized product listings
• fully functional “MyAccount” section where you can update your information, track orders, and more
• ability to create your own “Wishlist”
• live shipping rates
• affiliate program (coming soon)
• … and much more

Screenshot:

1. Is it relevant?
2. How do I find the time?
3. How do I ‘do it’?
4. Where is the return on investment?

During my presentation I talked about 4 steps to getting started and maximizing your social media efforts for your business;

1. Get started: sign up for accounts at Linkedin, Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook (both a personal profile and setup a Fan page). Setup keyword-rich profiles at each one and brand your presence to match your current branding.
2. Start connecting:  Reach out to others who may want to connect to you.  While each of the sites provide a tool for you to import and invite your entire address book – doing so is probably not necessary nor is it appropriate.  You can use these tools, but be selective when you invite.  Remember, you are out to build relationships, not numbers.
3. Setup a routine that works for you:  Don’t feel like you “have to” tweet, post, or nudge a certain number of times per day or certain content just because somebody else says you should.
4. Continually promote: put your social media icons on your web site, in your email signature, forum and blog signatures, and anywhere people might see it.  (Link to your Facebook Fan page, not your personal profile).

I didn’t realize how close #3 had hit home until later after the presentation.  You see, I had started out on a lighter note with the following slide (No offense intended with the politically-incorrect ‘R’ word)

One of the attendees, Fred Molesworth, a Salem Oregon photographer, mentioned how he had recently attended another seminar in Salem where the presenter was talking about how you should get up in the morning and Tweet what you are having for breakfast, and keep tweeting throughout the day exactly what you are doing.   Really.

Really?? My slide was intended to be funny, not a statement of what you should do.  Now I’m not going say that I’ve never posted about food (especially my daughter’s brownies) but I don’t make a regular habit of it.  And neither should you.  If you are trying to use social networking for your business, focus on things like the following;

1. Building relationships by engaging in conversation
2. Providing value for those connected with you
3. Keeping people abreast of what’s happening in your company (and life, but don’t overdo it)
4. Positioning yourself as an expert

While we are all certainly interested in the details of each others’ lives (to a point), and the occasional posting about food isn’t going to hurt anything … we can only handle so much detail.  If you’re doing it every day … pretty soon it just becomes overwhelming and we begin to tune it out, which doesn’t do anybody any good.

Usually, I end my presentations with my one and only rule “Never, ever post something you wouldn’t want your spouse, kids, boss, or colleagues to see” …

but now I’m adding a new rule.  “Just because you can …. doesn’t mean you should“.

If you’d like help with your social media strategy for your business, give us a call at 503.581.4554.  We’d love to chat.

Tim presenting to Chemeketa Small Business Management Group

Since we provide search engine optimization services for our clients, we get asked a lot of questions about how to improve rankings.

One of the steps we take to improve your search engine results is to make sure your meta-titles, meta-descriptions, and meta-keywords are accurate and descriptive for the key words and phrases that you are trying to get ranked for.  Now … what exactly do I mean by that?

I’ll review what each one is below;

Meta-Title:

When you do a search on Google, the title is what shows up in the search as the link to the website.  You can see the link above has the title of “Search Engine Optimization & Local Search | Web Design Salem Oregon“.   This properly describes what this web site and in this case the actual page on the web site is trying to get ranked for on Google.

More often than not we see titles that are not descriptive, include the company name only, or a simple page name like “Home” or “Search”.  You should focus on the “What” you do and the “Where” you do it.   Titles are one of the most important factors of your page content and structure that you should make sure are structured properly.

Meta-Description:

The description shows up in the search results as well, and in the above example starts with “We can help you with …”.  Descriptions should use sentence structure for the most part and should not be a list of keywords.   Again, focus in on what you do and where you do it.

Meta-keywords:

Keywords do not show up on the search results, but they can play a part in your search results… although recent things we’ve read suggest that the search engines are not paying as much attention to keywords that they used to.  Your key words are just a comma separated list of key words and phrases that describe, again, what you do and where you do it.  In this case above, we would want to use things like “search engine optimization, salem oregon, google rankings, …”.   You can use as many key words and phrases as you like, but you generally shouldn’t repeat them (you could get away with that in the old days, but search engines are much smarter today).

So, if you are looking to review your titles, descriptions, and keywords, you can do a search for the term and location that you want to be found for.  Check out what the top search results are using to get ideas of how to improve your own.  By the way, you can go to any web page and view the page source (the code behind the page) to show the keywords as well.   If you use Firefox for your web browser, you can right-click and View Page Source.  If you use Internet Explorer, you can right-click and View Source.  Here’s what it looks like:

If you are doing your own web site using a content management system or site builder, you will want to look for a SEO or Search Engine Optimization section for your site or (preferably) for each page.   It should look something this:

Getting your titles, descriptions, and keywords properly structured is definitely a positive step to help your search engine rankings.

If you’d like help with your search engine rankings to help you get your web site listed higher on Google, Yahoo, and Bing … give us a call at 503.581.4554.  We’d be happy to provide a free consultation on how you can improve your rankings.

But, I kept hearing the term … so I decided to check it out and find out what it really means.  And boy am I glad I did.

You see, I’m a very visual person, and if you’re anything like me, you’ve got way too many ideas floating around in your head and far too many things to do that won’t fit on your standard linear “to-do” list.  That means my productivity suffers sometimes, as I can’t quite keep track of it all and easily get distracted.

Now I’ve been through all of the day-planning seminars over the years to try to get my life organized … but to be honest I still struggle with staying on task in any organized fashion and yet still capturing all of my ideas into a cohesive action plan.

Enter the mindmap.

The mindmap is basically a piece of software that allows you to organize your thoughts, things that you need to do, and even business systems into a visual format.  You can see an example below;

(** We are an affiliate of DiscoverFreeMind.com and receive a commission if you purchase their mindmap video training course)

It depends because the site that is the best for your business is really the one that works best for you.

Ok, so what do I mean by that?  I mean you have to find the one that best works with your personality, style, corporate culture, target audience, and needs.  There are literally hundreds of social networking sites (actually, let’s start calling them business networking sites).

The big three that I talk about all the time are Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter.  If you’re a member of the Salem Chamber, don’t forget Face2Face.  BUT, that doesn’t necessarily mean these are the only ones or that either of these is “it” for you. Each one has it’s unique characteristics.  And, there may be a niche networking site that generates more leads and relationships for you than the big three.

So how do you determine which one is best?  Let me first say that it is not an overnight kind of deal.  Just like any other marketing strategy, it will take time and some testing, measuring, and tweaking to fine tune your strategy.

Here’s my suggestion;

1. Setup profiles on all of the big name networks.  Follow a branded approach so that you present your company brand consistently among the networks.
2. Also research and find either 2-3 niche networks or groups within the big three that are your target market.  A great place to start is to go to Ning.com and search niche social networks to find one that interests you.
3. Start building connections, friends, followers, etc. on each site by inviting select current contacts to connect with you AND by carefully selecting others who are a) like minded or b) are in your target demographic.
4. Start writing articles (aka blogging) to a) position yourself as an expert, and b) test response to your articles
5. Connect your articles so that they automatically post to your online profiles.  Some call this magic … and I would agree.
6. Engage, provide value, and build relationships.  See who responds and on what sites.  Determine which site(s) you are most confortable on.
7. Get married to the process, NOT to a particular site.  What works today may be outdated a year from now … but if you engage in the process, and are willing to adapt and change as necessary, you will always be ready to thrive.

Make no mistake, online business networking is here to stay.   Business is being done.  Relationships are being built.  Time is being leveraged (yes, you read that correctly).  Brands are being built.

I strongly encourage you to incorporate online social business networking into your marketing plans.  If you’d like help getting started and determining the best strategy for your company, give us a call at 503.581.4554.

And so, this is our ‘top 10 ways to tell if your company web site stinks’:

10. You have an animated cartoon character that you grabbed off of freespinningicons4you.com. Ummm, I’m not even gonna go there.

9. You haven’t updated your site since 2004… and you’re proud of it (ie. you display ‘last updated October 2004′)

8. Nobody has a clue what your site is all about and what your company does … except your cousin Benny who designed the site for $50 and a 6-pack

7. There is no contact form or any way to get a hold of you …(c’mon people, don’t you want people to contact you? It’s not a bad thing … really!)

6. Poor and inconsistent navigation … dude, don’t you think people are having are hard enough day already?

5. Your still measuring “hits” to your web site and even have a “counter” to tell the world (ugh!)

4. Your music audio or video starts playing automatically. STOP! First of all it scares the %^%&^&% out of people. Then they’re scrambling to turn it off!

3. It’s sooooooo pretty … with all kinds of Flash and incredible graphics … but it doesn’t DO anything to support your business goals and make a connection with your visitors.

2. Your site has 15 automatic pop-up windows that annoy the heck out of your visitors and distract them from the actual site … trust me – they are not gonna come back!

And the number one reason why your web site stinks is …

1. Oh yeah, you don’t have one.  Smile

Seriously, there’s a lot more too it than this humorous list … but if your web site has “issues” … or you don’t have a web site for your business … take action today. Give us a call at 503.581.4554 and I’d be happy to sit down over a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and talk about how to take your web marketing to the next level.

I was talking with a potential JV partner today and explained some of my process with him.  I told him I was a “recovering opportunity addict” (I’m a work in progress) … which generated a good laugh from the other end of the line.  I know a lot of people have been there… I know I have.  Things come along that look really good and so we jump head first without thinking … and usually regret it later.

Here are a couple of questions I ask as part of my opportunity filter.  It could apply to network marketing opportunities (I’m sure you’ve never been approached right), online marketing “secrets”, or other types of business ventures;

Q:  Is it part of my core business offering or would it require a totally different skill set than I have right now?

Focus.  That is a good word.   This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ever take the opportunity to expand your horizons (sometimes this CAN be a good thing) … but you really need to think long and hard before doing so.  Otherwise you are going to stretch yourself too thin and ultimately will not feel like you are reaching your goals.

By focusing on areas that are within your core competency, you will most likely be able to build a much more effective, profitable business and one that meets your goals and lifestyle needs.

Q: Ask the person promoting the opportunity this question – “if you never made a dime from selling “x” (the product or service), would you still promote it to your closest friends and family?”

This is a great question!

In other words – be sure that they (and ultimately you) believe in the product itself, not just the opportunity to sell it and make money from it.

Let me give you an example.  We represent a company called SendOutCards.  It provides a service that allows you to quickly and easily send real, send-through-the-U.S.-mail greeting cards through the internet.  I love this service!!  It is convenient, inexpensive, flexible, and people love to get real cards from us (especially in this electronic age).

Hopefully when you ask this question, you get a resounding “YES!” as the answer, just like I feel about SendOutCards.

Q: Are you saying “yes” to an opportunity only because you’re afraid of what you might miss out on?

This is a bad reason to say yes.  Taking on a new project, business, or opportunity should be something you really want to do and can get passionate about, not something you feel badly about saying no to or because you think you might miss out on something.  If it’s a good opportunity and it fits your other criteria, it will still be available when you are ready.

Q: Do you already have umpteen “opportunities” that you’ve already started and not finished.

Opportunity addicts are always looking for the magic bullet, the “secret”, or the latest, greatest, bestest way to make money.  Trust me – I’ve been there and am still there every day.  I see stuff come across my desk that makes sense and I think to myself – “oooh, that looks good”.  My friend Jennifer Powers calls it the “shiny little object” syndrome.

That is why it is extremely important to ask yourself these questions when presented with opportunities.  Otherwise, you will just have a stack of projects, tools, systems, opportunities and unrealized goals sitting on your desk.

Q: Does it align with your values and core beliefs of how you’d like to be treated?

This is one of the most important questions you can ask.  Again, I see lots of things come across my desk.  Sometimes, I just want to shut off the noise and all the hype.  I mean c’mon people – do you really believe that if I just buy into your opportunity or “system” that I can make $77 million this next year?  Really??  I mean it says ‘anyone’ can do it right!

If you get turned off by the marketing of an opportunity … it probably doesn’t make sense for you to turn around and market it yourself.

I learned this the hard way this past year.  I had received an email inviting me to promote a particular online marketing system.   The story was an interesting and somewhat inspiring one … but it used a lot of hype to get people excited about it.

Well, I sent it out to my list … and it didn’t take long to get an angry email back from one of my loyal subscribers … I had hooked her with the subject / headline … but totally turned her off with the offer.  When I revisited what I had sent out … I realized that I would not have liked to have been treated that way.

These are just a few of the questions I ask myself.  I would highly recommend that you come up with your own opportunity filter to help guide your decisions each and every day.

Mr. Massey needed a web site that he could control and provide the opportunity to showcase his investment properties, provide real estate investing advice, as well as showcase his public speaking and direct sales coaching.   After discussing options with The Third River, an real estate web design company, they worked together to come up with a powerful, flexible web marketing platform.

Platform:  WordPress

Key Features:

• Content Management System allowing 24/7 editing by Mr. J.  Massey
• Ability to ‘Feature’ content and articles in a rotating slideshow on homepage
• Integration with Social Media
• Custom Header and icon integration
• Email Newsletter

Screenshot

www.mrjmassey.com

Sue Bloom, the co-coordinator of the program, contacted Tim Fahndrich about doing a redesign due to a number of challenges with their existing site.  Challenges included a) the lack of ability to easily add and edit site content and keep it up to date, and b) the need for a revised information flow when educators request guest speakers for their classrooms.

The Third River, Inc., and active member of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, provides web design in Salem Oregon, as well for clients all over the country.

Platform:  WordPress

Key Features:

• Content Management System allowing for easy updating by organizational staff
• Ability to load documents, flyers, and related collateral
• Request Speaker forms that coordinate request forms between educators and staff

Favorite New Feature:  Ability to easily update the site without having to wait on a web company

Screenshot:

www.workandlearnnow.com

At age 34 he found himself flat broke, and having to start life over. If you’ve ever made a lot of money and lost it, you can relate. It’s a very uncomfortable, disheartening experience. Things got so bad for Matt that he found himself bagging groceries for six months.  He couldn’t believe where he had ended up.  He had gone from living a life that consisted of six-figure months, weekend getaways and fine dining, and had now been reduced to nights at home with the television and a Cup-of-Noodles.

He has now found new success through various avenues including real estate investing.  He is in process of writing a book called and has become known as “The DoOver Guy”.

Matt contacted The Third River, Inc., a provider of web design for authors and marketing services, to create a new web site to help him chronicle the “Do Over” and start building exposure for his upcoming book.  He had seen an Anthony Robbins site that he like the looks of, so we built a similar layout for the WordPress platform.  Matt is now maintaining the site and adding content to it.

Platform: WordPress

Key Features:

• Content Management System
• Social Media Integration
• Ability to add affiliate links for recommended resources

Screenshot:

www.thedooverguy.com

By day she might cut hair, but by nights and weekends she is a car and racing fanatic. She selected The Third River, a leading provider of web design services in Salem Oregon, to redesign the site.  Previously, Bry managed the site in Homestead, a national provider of web hosting and services.  But the limited design flexibility  left her wanting more.

Platform:  WordPress

Features:

• Ability to edit 24/7
• Search Engine Friendly
• Integrates with Bry’s Social Media profiles
• Built-in article / tip blog

Favorite New Feature:  The clean yet exciting new design

Results: #1 on Google for “Dallas Oregon Stylist” and “Salem Oregon Stylist”, among others

Screenshot:

www.hotrodhair.com

In fact, I ran into someone the other day who asked if I was related to him … an old customer of his from well over 10 years ago … and they fondly related how much they always appreciated him and his friendly service.

Here are the words on this old, faded sheet of paper:

What is a customer?

A customer is the most important person in any business.

A customer is not dependent on us. We are dependent of him.

A customer is not an interruption of our work.  He is the purpose of it.

A customer does us a favor when he comes in.  We aren’t doing him a favor by waiting on him.

A customer is part of our business – not an outsider.  A customer is not just money in the cash register. He is a human being with feelings and deservers to be treated with respect.

A customer is a person who comes to us with his needs and his wants. It is our job to fill them.

A customer deserves the most courteous attention we can give him.  He is the lifeblood of this and every business.  He pays your salary.  Without him we would have to close our doors.  Don’t ever forget it.

Thanks dad, for the reminder today.