Marketing Logic

SiteLogic expanding into more training opportunities

This has been an extremely busy summer, and there has been no lack of productivity. In fact, things have really been heating up in a number of areas. SiteLogic’s commitment to training businesses in internet marketing has been significantly enhanced by creating relationships with a number of organizations.

Now You Know Media
Did you know that the average commute time in the US is 23 minutes? Did you also know that millions of hours a year are spent commuting by Americans? We’re busy people, but we seem to spend a lot of time sitting in one place.

This is the focus audience of Now You Know Media, one of the most exciting businesses that I have had the pleasure of meeting. NYKM is focused on delivering life-enhancing teaching materials on CD. Targeted to commuters, each topic is 25 minutes long and provides a capsule of specific information, resulting in a 12-part series for each subject.

I was honored to be asked to provide the search engine optimization program for Now You Know Media. Delivering my sessions in 25-minute chapters in a recording studio was quite a challenge. Speaking in a recording studio made me realize how much I depend on seeing people and I use that as an indicator of where to take the session. After a few tries, I got the hang of it, and the time just flew by.

If you would like to pick up the series, you can order it at NowYouKnowMedia.com, and use the promotion code code: MB101 for a discount.

Now You Know Media is also running a blog which has been an amazing source of financial education and advice. I highly recommend adding it as one of your feeds. Blog.nowyouknowmedia.com

The Direct Marketing Association
Believe it or not, I am having an amazing amount of fun working with The Direct Marketing Association. Getting closer to this organization has been rewarding, and not just in a profitable sense. It has been rewarding from a professional development standpoint. I enjoy the DMA conferences, as I am able to go from my session on Search Marketing and then listen to experts in Direct Mail, List Brokering, Graphic Design, or any other number of marketing-oriented subjects. Some days, it’s very nice to remember that online marketing is still a very small slice of the pie, and very helpful to hear the lessons that other industries have learned.

SEO Certification
I have accepted the position to direct the Search Marketing Certification program for the Direct Marketing Association. Right now, we are working to complete the Level 2 Certification, and then we will be re-addressing some of the sessions in Level 1. The goal of this certification is to provide the most up-to-date, in-depth curriculum for the participants. We also have some great plans for keeping the information fresh and also providing industry-specific search marketing tactics.

Website Marketing Seminars
I will also be working with the DMA to present a series of seminars on website development and marketing. The 2-day seminar will cover the “Big Picture” of website marketing in a clear, understandable format. The sessions are broken up into three parts: Built it, Market it, Measure It. The course is designed for anyone in or overseeing the website process; programmers, marketers, creatives, and mangers.

You can find more information about these exciting seminars here:
http://www.the-dma.org/seminars/webmarketing/

Oops!
A few weeks ago a friend of mine told me about an “incident” that happened with his kids and a well-known search engine. The “incident” was brought about by his kids innocently typing words into the search engine, they were young enough that he didn’t think that they would use a search engine, but they did.

I found this out a few years ago; my daughter found the website dolphin.com and was asking questions about it. I asked her how she found it and she said that she typed it into the search engine. She was four.

Enter the parental responsibility mode. I am constantly on a quest to find safe ways for my children to enjoy the internet, but not find all of the crud that is out there. I’ve found resources that have let me feel more confident about their browsing, but nothing is a substitute for parental involvement.

Ask for Kids
Ask for Kids
This kid-friendly search engine rates very highly in my book. The interface is bright and simple. They even tell you where Jeeves may be vacationing. There are direct links to some fun games and lots of homework help. The results could use some beefing up, but I attribute that to the filtering process.

Kidzui
www.kidzui.com
This pleasant little program takes over the browser (and the computer if you like) and filters all content based on parents and teachers who determine age appropriate sites. For multiple children you can set up multiple accounts, using a picture. (The pictures are not displayed online, only on your computer). Each child will have specific content they can see, based on their age and the appropriateness of the content.

The sites are the typical PBSKids.org, Nick Jr., Disney Kids, etc. but all of the sites are displayed in a crazy interface that allows additional exploration. The interface contains multimedia clips and pictures from cartoons, TV shows (yes, The Wiggles), combined with a lot of science and nature. There are also pictures and movoe clips from actual classroom learning. The site allows children to simply follow whatever they find interesting and supports very in-depth use. I don’t think our kids got boared on that site yet, as there is so mucvh to do, either directly on Kidzui, or though the portal sites.

At the end of each week, I receive a full report of all of the websites that each child has visited, all of the images and movies that they watched and all of the search queries that they made. It gives me a little more comfort to know what they are doing, but like I said – it’s no substitute for just sitting with them or checking in once in a while.

Kidzui is still in Beta, so a lot of parental controls are not available, such as time and website restrictions (I hate Bratz). But I like what they are doing and my kids love the options that are there. there is also the function to lock down Kidzui and not allow access outside of the portal. This would stop a child from simply reducing Kidzui and opening another browser. using this feature, the only way you can shut down the program is to use the master password. This is especially handy if you have an independent child that does not like to be told “no”. However, it does make it difficult when you have an older child that needs to use the computer for homework. So, the Lock-down mode was removed, but the kids still use the program.

This got me started on a quest to find some helpful kids websites and search engines. I published that list over at Search Engine Guide as a resource. Read through the rest of the article and see if there are any that you know about that you can add to the list. Search Engines for Kids - full article.

Anyone who has flown at all this year this year has probably experienced the unfortunate delays that are consistently plaguing the airline industry. As much as I travel, I expect it, however it has been rare. For some of my friends, their only time flying this year resulted in a frustrating experience. Amazingly, they were delayed twice On the way there, and on the way back.

I understand that the airplanes face tough choices and that schedules are arranged to maximize fuel, occupancy, routing and some sort of profitability. However, customer service has been one of the primary ingredients that have always been a problem with the airlines. No one expects to be treated kindly, so when kindness happens, it is a welcome departure.

Unfortunately, there are very few cases of unexpected kindness. Church of the Customer Blog reported on rogue United Airlines Pilot Capt. Denny Flanagan, who orders McDonald’s hamburgers for his passengers if the flight is delayed or diverted and goes out of his way to be sure that his passengers know him.

Consumer-Generated Complaints
Otherwise, the news is just bad, and the perfect medium for bad news is the internet. I feel the pain of one man who sat on the tarmac for 7 hours, resulting in 10 hours on the plane for a hop from JFK to Dallas-Fort Worth. Between changing crews, changing pilots, new paperwork, and not being at the gate to coordinate all of these changes. I did this for 5 hours in Newark this summer.

Being held hostage by an airline is one thing, but then not allowing people to eat (especially when there are four babies on board) is a crime. Delta refused to feed the passengers, who boarded at 4:00 PM, but did not leave until after 10:00 PM. A long litany of excuses is provided, until Delta ultimately states “that flight is not supposed to have any food.” The plane does not get back to a gate until after 9:00 PM, which is past closing time for restaurants in the airport.

Now this is Consumer Generated Media - the perfect advertisement for frustration:

Over 200,000 views in about 2 months.

It Figures . . .
Considering other airline news, USA Today reported that many airlines would like to re-route flights around New York and Philadelphia, as they are major hubs and the source of most of the delays. Unfortunately, local New York politicians are against the routing, even though it saves on fuel, emissions, time and delays, because it will cause additional noise for residence in their district. Let me guess, those that moved to a house near the airport?

Airline Replies
One situation for delays tried to travel fast in the negative news network, but didn’t seem to get traction. A couple was delayed for three hours, thereby missing a concert they planned to attend. They demanded the cost of the tickets, plus the cost of the concert tickets, and a few other things to be refunded by the airline. The CEO, by mistake, hit “Reply to All” on his email and basically said “So what? They’ll be back when they can save a buck.” While not overly enthused about his response, I can say that I have very little sympathy for about someone missing a flight to a concert. Isn’t that why you schedule a night over – so that you do not miss things like that?
For the airlines, the unfortunate news is that bad news is normal. We don’t see the sweeping word-of-mouth as experienced by rats at the Taco Bell. Delayed and missed flights are an all too-common experience.

Before you attempt to start a word-of-mouth campaign, make sure that what customers think of you or your industry is well documented. Otherwise a big backfire could be in your future. Ask a few questions in advance:
How far does good news carry in your industry?
How often are nice things noticed?
Are difference makers appreciated?

Knowing your market and the customer expectations will do wonders for setting up your campaign.

In a land of unhappiness, any kindness is noticed.
As far as the airlines, the least little act of kindness will not be unnoticed. Especially when considering the many problems coupled with dim customer expectations. This year, I missed a connection on one of my flights with Continental. The ticket agents noticed that I was on my way home after a long trip, and had run the length of the airport only to miss my flight. She was able to get me a food voucher for dinner. She did not have to do that, and it wasn’t her fault, but that simple act (that and getting me on the next plane!) was much appreciated and it makes me an even more loyal customer of Continental.

Mike Moran from IBM made a very insightful post a few weeks back. Unfortunately, I don’t think it received the attention that it should have. It really is the frustration of many consultants and marketers like myself who go through all of the pains to help clients market themselves effectively, but they just don’t get the fact that analytics has EVERYTHING to do with marketing.

Like Mike, my approach in my teaching is focused on the development of business goals and measurement of results. Unfortunately, many clients are miles ahead and wanting to start their marketing campaign. Mike’s comments focus on search and rankings, but it even goes beyond that. Many marketers are in love with the campaign, but despise the measurement, or even taking the time to define success.

It was one of the most fulfilling moments a few weeks ago when a client complemented our approach. She was grateful that I didn’t cave in to their desire to start marketing right away. Rather, she was thankful that they followed my advice to take a step back, evaluate everything, build measurement goals, and then refocus the campaign. That thankfulness made my day. When clients understand the value of metrics, they then start to measure everything in terms of value, and web marketing takes on a whole new aspect. (and becomes fun!)

The value of metrics is clear.
Information is readily available to evaluate and compare new campaigns. New niche markets are exposed. Entire regions are discovered from old campaigns and analytics, providing unearthed resources for new campaigns. New ideas can be gleaned from old data, and once repeated campaigns can now be refocused on specific targets.

For me, I can’t understand the thinking of changing a website based on a guess that it might improve. Too many companies focus attention on campaigns or the latest social media buzz without first exploring the metrics and methods for success. There are too many companies that simply purchase Google AdWords without doing the slightest bit of research into keywords and reporting.

Ideally, once campaigns begin, measurements are in place to provide immediate measurement and metrics for success. It is no longer a guessing game. Improvements have specific results that are focused on the bottom line. Each change can be tied to a reason and a measurable result.

Goals
The web has made everything faster, and analytics tends to get left behind. Granted, much of today’s tools and depth of insight was absent early on, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. For some organizations the first question I ask seems to be the hardest: “What is the purpose of your website?”

Eric Peterson mentioned this same concept when he said “analytics works best when measurement expectations are clearly defined in advance, not after the fact or in an ad-hoc basis.” Amazingly, this same concept works in almost every area of life and business. For some reason, it’s been forgotten in online marketing.

Analytics is not just about numbers, it’s about improvements, processes, experience, and planning. You don’t have to be doomed to repeat the same failed campaigns. History teaches powerful lessons, and analytics are a primary tool for learning those lessons.

Mike provides one of the best closing statements I’ve heard about online marketing. “If you say to yourself that you are working on search optimization because you believe it will make you money, that’s not a business, that’s a religion. Instead, put search on the same footing as every other business decision and optimize your business instead of your search campaign.”

Amen, brother.