Archive for August, 2007

Post-Conference Round-up and Thoughts

So it’s the Monday after the weekend next to the Thursday that was. You’ve slept on it, we’ve slept on it and we’ve also had a little brainstorm over the pluses and the minuses of the conference itself.

Conference Overall:

There weren’t any major disasters just the odd minor glitch, which would need ironing out if we were to hold another. We’re talking things like the color of the font in the binders being a touch light, speaker microphones not being used by everybody and times between speakers and for lunch being a bit on the long side. These weren’t complaints across the board, but that doesn’t mean everybody wouldn’t agree if they were brought up in conversation.

The Speakers:

Overall we felt the speakers were very good. Yes, there was a problem with a couple of them being a bit on the quiet side (could be rectified by ensuring everybody was wearing their mic), but that was as problematic for me as anybody else considering I was sat at the back and I’m a bit mutton Jeff (deaf in Cockney rhyming parlance). Most people thought there was a good balance between the mix of large, medium and local companies represented and that, on the whole, they referenced and complimented each other well. Some thought there were one or two moments when things became too much of a sales pitch for their liking.

The Topics:

Too broad and too vague, or a good mix with enough meat on the bones of each presentation? That is the question. Whether t’is nobler in the mind to suffer……whoops. Obviously, those who turned up thought the topics interesting enough in the first place, but did that pad out in practice? Well, nobody really smashed the topics in any of the feedback sheets, so we’re presuming everybody thought they had inherent value. Obviously, any one of the topics could’ve lasted the whole day and in the case of several other conferences around the country, a good few days. But, this was more of a sampler plate as opposed to a full three-course feast.

So, a few questions we’d maybe like to ask to get more detailed feedback:

What did you think of the conference overall? You know, organization, binders, room, lunch, set-up, stuff like that.

What did you think of the speakers? Let’s have a straw poll…..

Did the topics match up with your expectations?

And finally, would you come to something like this again, or would it need to be shorter for you, or more concentrated, or at a different time of the year?

Also, if you have any other thoughts, please, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

Thanks for coming

Well that’s it. All done and dusted. We’ve enjoyed having you all and hope you also enjoyed your time here. If you’d like to look over some of the pictures of the event you can look at our Flickr gallery of the conference.

We’d love to hear your feedback on the event whether good, bad or indifferent.

Please feel free to leave any comments below or on any of the presentation posts.

From all of us, thanks.

Lindsay Patross: Business Blogging Basics

Lindasy Patross

Lindsay works in online community building, managing the corporate blog for Spreadshirt and the website. Read Lindsay’s full speaker bio.
Business blogging, whilst not always free is remarkably cheap. Big shout out to Wordpress being the best blogging platform know to man, woman or child.

Here we go with what blogs are and why you should have one. Blog is a type of Web site. It’s chronologically backwards content – the newest is generally first. If we’re taling categories in a blog on this particular blog you’re reading the categories are down the left hand side. You place posts within those categories.

Comments vs no comments. You can have either. It’s a great feedback channel but can also be a spam headache.

RSS feeds – your blog can be read in a feed reader such as Google Reader . (Here’s a list of other RSS readers.) You can read many blogs at one time. \Good for skimming. To subscribe to the Online Marketing: Innovations that Work blog’s feed just click on this RSS button in the left sidebar. Aggregate your chosen content and let it update and you see the updated sites when you login to your reader.

Q. IS there a time you wouldn’t want to use an RSS feed as you’d rather drive people directly to your site.

Vanity searching for Lindsay Patross. Copy the RSS link to your RSS reader and it will update if you’ve been mentioned. Ties into what Justin Seibert was saying about reputation management earlier. Follow the conversation whether it’s good or bad. You need to know what is being said about you online.

Blogs are a great method of interactive engagement. Word of mouth recommendations.

Why should business blog?

Share info with customers; get feedback from customers; industry information; interesting and fun facts; learn to use your own products differently; establish a brand for yourself or your company. Start a global microbrand!

Passive content. Good for SEO. Tell a story. Humanize! Check the Spreadshirt blog.

LIST OF DIFFERENT BUSINESS BLOG EXAMPLES.

Discretion can be the better part of valor in relation to what you put on your blog. Negative commenting. Be honest and respond to criticism.

SET UP A BLOG:

Here’s a blog software list.

Don’t forget google’s blogger which is free and easy to start with.

Don’t regurgitate. Add to the conversation, don’t repeat it.

lorelle.wordpress.com

Q. How do you get people to link to your blog?

A.Write good content.

Q. CEO of Whole Foods making remarks to drive competition’s price down.

A.Laws of business etiquette should apply to the Web. Better to be honest and transparent

Q.Should a blog be part of a site or separate?

A.It can be closely branded to your site or talk about completely different stuff.

Q.How long would it take for marketing staff to maintain a corporate blog?

A.It depends on the type of content you’re putting up If you just want to be informational put simple stuff up as and when.

Steven Colon: Grow Your Business. What Will You Do With ML2

Steve Colon WEBTRENDS

Steve is a Strategic Business Consultant for WebTrends Inc. Check out his full speaker bio.

Presentation Synopsis:

Not only is Marketing Labs 2 capable of showing you where your visitors are coming from and how long they’re stopping, but it can also measure how engaged a user is on any given page of a site.

There’s no need to panic as Sarah manages to switch off the laptop.

The good old days of spending $500-$600 dollars to drive one person to your Website. Forget about throwing as many emails as is humanly possible to see what sticks.

80% of execs believe their company loses sales due to a failure to engage customers. What drives customers to buy and how etc.

What’s needed for succes?

360 degree view of consumers.

Data-driven decision making

Easy access across the organization

Automated, self-optimizing systems

I honestly think it’s best if you check your presentation notes and check out Marketing Lab 2 itself.

Coke & Mentos video

15-20% of install base is SME.

Q. Ajax and page views – can you track Web 2.o sites?

In a word, yes. It’s got a bit technical on the tracking front I’m afraid and I can’t hear what’s being asked or answered. Which is always slightly problematic.

Justin Seibert: They Said What? Protect Your Reputation With Search Engine Marketing

Justin Seibert

Justin is the President of Direct Online Marketing™ a full-service internet marketing firm specializing in results-based internet marketing. Read Justin’s full bio here.
And here we have the highlight of the whole day/afternoon/year. Well I have to say that considering Justin is my boss. And what a great guy he is to boot. No, really.

Two distinct elements of search results – Natural or Organic Listings vs Paid Listings.

Reputation management is an interesting angle to explain how search engine results work. And don’t think reputation management isn’t something you don’t need to bother with. If you’re online you have an online reputation.

http://www.providianfinancialsucks.com/

Consider your online footprint on places such as Facebook and Myspace etc. Beware befriending big green frogs.

How to combat bad press in a Michael Vick stylee:

Setup an SEM campaign – buy your name/company employee names.

Comment on blogs etc.

Optimized Online Press Releases.

Ensure your site is updated – there are no rocks to hise under online.

Track online conversations such as Technorati and Google Alerts.

http://www.vickletthedogsout.com/ Push other sites out of the listings by creating positive sites to compete with them.

AFTER THE EVENT:

Buy certain keywords such as dog fighting in Vick’s case. Specialized landing pages. Check DMCA.

QUESTIONS:

How do you optimize Press Releases?

Can be used to increase natural search listings. Use keywords in press release and link back to the press release. FOLLOW UP – concentrate optimization efforts in top part of press release including title. Put it on Web site and distribute through newswires such as www.pr.com. Always worth it to pay a little more for links back.

What is local searching and how does it work?

Geo targetting. Choose where you want your ads to show in PPC. Can be done geographically or by points on a map. Natural search use geographical terms in site to be picked up by engines.

And don’t forget to take your free subscription to Search Marketing Standard.