I'll admit it - I avoided YouTube and video SEO for about as long as I could. This year it became overly apparent that I could no longer do so and I have to acknowledge YouTube and video for what it is - an SEO superpower. Once I moved past my avoidance, I dug into video SEO and learned as much as I could about it. You know what I discovered? It's a lot like regular SEO. Keyword research, quality content, usability, and engagement all matter and they matter a lot. Before we dig into what ... Read More
Social Media
WordPress Automation Tools and Tips
When I first started the company seven years ago, I did everything myself and everything was done manually. It wasn't long before I realized I had to find and set up some WordPress automation tools to keep me sane. Over the years I've tried a lot of plugins, SaaS products, and tools. Many have come and gone, but a few good ones have stuck around and I'm very thankful for them. There is a false belief that marketing and selling on the internet is quick and easy. Well it isn't. There are a lot ... Read More
Friday’s Marketing Roundup: Good Reads for April 11th
Greetings from CaboPress! This week's marketing roundup comes to you from sunny Mexico. I am down at the ever so beautiful Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos. My journey south started Wednesday as I flew into Dallas, Texas to see Genesis colleague and friend Carrie Dils. I was gifted with a great day with Carrie, which is a huge treat for me because we live on opposite sides of the country. On Thursday I departed Dallas and flew into Cabo to attend an event called CaboPress that was arranged ... Read More
Looking Ahead to Marketing in 2014 Means Looking Back at 2013
It’s mid-December and everyone is busy with year-end preparations. Projects are wrapping up and new ones are kicking off as companies try to execute their 2013 goals or begin to prepare for 2014. This flurry of activity has kept us all very busy. My calendar is constantly full of calls or meetings, while my email seems to be a never-ending circle of activity. As I push forward through prospect and client discussions, I myself look back at 2013. I think about what we’ve accomplished and I ... Read More
Six Reasons Your Should Embrace Your Online Competition
Over the last four years our firm has had exceptional growth. I believe our competition has been an instrumental source of this growth and maturity. Since forming the firm I have embraced our competition. I don’t know why I went this route, but I did and it has helped us year over year. I believe and hope my philosophy can be adopted by other organizations. Competitors Are My Friends Inspiration – When I bumped into Jennifer Bourn online I immediately liked her. She is a direct competitor ... Read More
Rocking the Music World with WordPress Websites
The music industry was once a place of creativity and expression. This world of pitch, rhythm, and sound has morphed into a world of independence where artists can produce music without labels and where marketing and self-promotion is within the reach of every artist. Artists are now free to boycott major brands, interact with fans via Twitter, and promote their gigs via Facebook. The negative side of this new found independence is the old misperception of “what you don’t know can’t hurt you”. ... Read More
Social Media Isn’t Just a Buzz Word
For the last few years social media has been the talk of the internet. Websites like Quora and Pinterest have become the Cinderella stories of the tech world. What originally started out as a novelty, has now become an integral part of SEO and content marketing tactics. Everyone wants to be seen on these social networking websites or be heard talking about how cool they are to use for marketing. My Travels Within the World of Social Media My social media experience started with Facebook. ... Read More
Social Media Can be a Band-Aid and Not the Cure
This week I had a call from a very nice gentleman who wanted help with social media and blogging. He also mentioned the need for a little organic SEO. Great I thought, this is my thing and we’re a perfect fit for each other. I love the combination of social media, blogging, and SEO. To me this combination is like “Rebecca candy”. What Lies Beneath is Always So Scary At the end of our discussion I promised to review his website and dig further into his online presence. I’m not going to offer to ... Read More
Social Media is About the Shoes
Social media is everywhere and everyone thinks that he/she is an expert. The local dry cleaner, your lawyer or dentist, even the defunct SEO agency. These days everyone is into social media. Even my mother-in-law. But Are All These People Really Experts and Can They Truly Execute a Social Media Campaign? Well I think many agencies and people are just natural social media experts. Take my client Detroit Garden Works for example. Deborah, the owner, is a self-taught blogger and she is great at ... Read More
The Magic Formula of Great SEO
This weekend I looked back at SEO related statistics for a B2B website I launched in November of 2009. A full year has passed and I wanted to see the progress this company made over a twelve-month period. After launching the new WordPress website, the client retained me to work on their internet marketing efforts. It helped free up time for the client, it gave their internet marketing a cohesiveness it would not have had otherwise, and it gave me time to nurture my new baby. I believe it was ... Read More
Detroit 2020 Uses Social Media to Unify, Inspire, and Act
Last night WXYZ-TV launched a new initiative called Detroit 2020. The tag line is “Unify Inspire Act”. It is a news program and Internet marketing campaign designed to capture the public’s attention and focus it on the positive aspects of Detroit and the future of Southeastern Michigan. More specifically, where we will be in the year 2020. I cannot tell you how this news series and their social media outreach have touched me and so many other people in the metro Detroit area. I was privileged ... Read More
Do Facebook Likes and Twitter Followers Really Matter?
Facebook likes and Twitter followers do not equal success. If you are a fly-by-night, wannabee internet marketing consultant, then yes, by all means, use Facebook likes and Twitter followers to measure the success of your online marketing efforts. Otherwise, dig deeper to see if your social media efforts are worth the time and money spent. Social media is about engaging with your audience, increasing brand awareness, and providing value to the visitors who land upon your Facebook page or ... Read More
For Detroit, Social Media Empowers Us
I’m sitting at the #140Conf Detroit conference at the Filmore in downtown Detroit. I’m a geek who lives in the burbs amongst subdivisions so coming to busy Detroit always pushes me outside my comfort zone. I was just in Detroit just last month for TEDxDetroit, so Woodward Avenue should not freak me out. Yet no matter how cool my GPS lady is, driving around unknown streets in rush hour traffic does make me uneasy. But then I arrive and as soon as I’m at the venue and I sit, I am at ease. I ... Read More
Malibu Boats: A Case Study in Social Media Excellence
When I met my husband many years ago, I quickly became painfully aware of his two loves: hunting and boating. No matter how great his love for me, I could not interfere with his beloved hobbies. In 2008 we purchased a new Malibu Boat to continue his tradition of summer days spent on the water. Our Malibu Wakesetter was a major purchase and something I personally struggled with until I realized we spent every weekend on the boat and dragged along numerous friends and families with us. We are ... Read More
Conflicts Within Marketing, Social Media, and ERP
Since college I have loved ERP software. I embraced the concept of an order entry system back in 1993 when I created a tiny Lotus 123 script to enter a basic sales order. From that day on I was hooked. I mean really hooked. I fell absolutely in love with technology and could not turn back no matter how hard I tried. After college I found a temporary position at a barcode and data collection distribution and before I knew it, I was a full-time employee running their operations. Why? ... Read More
Popularity Contests Take the Next Level With Social Media
We are all familiar with the popularity contests of high school. The idea of becoming homecoming queen or the student council president scared me as a teen, as neither were my thing. I was more quiet and into other pursuits. What is funny is now, some twenty years later, I find myself in Internet marketing and social media. What is even funnier is the fact that I didn’t gasp at the idea of Mashable’s Open Web Awards Social Media Edition popularity contest. Instead, I’d love to be nominated ... Read More
Twitter and Linkedin Unite in Social Matrimony
This week Twitter and Linkedin united to share status updates across their mass social media networks. I was thrilled, as I love both communities. As soon as the functionality was released, I was on my Linkedin profile attempting to unite the two applications. And for a moment, I quickly fell out of love with them and all the social ramblings they represent. At first, the process was bug ridden and would not connect my profiles. I am fairly savvy on the computer, so I knew this was not ... Read More
When the Secret Service Goes After Social Media Misfits
Social media is not for everyone and the events of the last few days are a classic example of why this statement is true. Over the weekend a poll was released on Facebook that questioned the public’s desire to have someone kill President Obama. Yes, as amazing as it is, this story is true. Facebook responded quickly and shutdown both the poll and the third party application used to generate it. While some may dismiss this as just pure silliness, it is not. It is not only a very sad display of ... Read More
9/11 Remembered Through the Eyes of Social Media
I was sitting by my computer when the phone rang. My sister was calling my office in the middle of a workday, which was very odd. Did you hear was all I remember her saying and then silence – utter silence. I had not heard about the 9/11 attacks and quite frankly I almost did not believe her. I tried to access CNN’s website, but our Internet lines were jammed with activity and my screen stood in an abyss of grayness. I was completely cut off from the world or at least this is how I felt. I ... Read More
MySpace Proposes to iLike
Prior to launching my own Internet marketing company, I worked for an ERP software developer for almost a decade. I loved the company and the people, but was amazed at the industry. I watched in disbelief as Y2K came and went, and countless ERP software vendors evaporated through my ten year stint. As I transferred myself fulltime into search engine optimization, social media, and web design, I thought this would change. I thought these acquisition crazy companies were just ERP software ... Read More
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