I have spent the last year working with an image powerhouse. The power of images is great, an untapped source of traffic for sure. I am a search marketer that is all about the conversion, but if all you want it traffic, images are just awesome and long tail. What’s just so sharable? Images. Why do you think we take data and make it pretty (ala infographics)? People love images. The most recent, not sure if it’s really the brain child of Paula Holmes Crimm, but maybe.

Shared almost 2k times as of 5:12pm CDT

Really. How freaking cute. He/She let the dogs out. Took claim for the apparent mess it caused. You just want to kiss that puppy and the share it with all of your friends. I saw it this morning, reshared it, and 5 of my friends have done the same and not all from me.

Now the image search for this image. I figured “I let the dogs out” would do it.

Alas no. I may be wrong in the search or it might just not have been shared outside of FB yet. Therefore, Google hasn’t seen it. So I’m posting it. With good alt text and image name. Let’s see what happens and if I can get some traffic from it. </SEO>

Take Away for Search Marketers and Businesses

This small picture is being shared. There is no commerce behind it, no linking scheme, just an image. So I want to impart something I have seen as I’ve developed client infographics and link bait, don’t make it about you. Make it about users, your target market, the everyday user, the facebook user, whoever you want to see and share your content. Make it about them and they will share it. This does not have a 100% success rate (meaning making “viral linkbait” is still not possible to just create) but it does help get to the heart of the user and that might transfer down to the tip of their “share” finger.

Letting the Dogs Out: Image Search is a post from: Kate Morris

Dear ModCloth,

I love your Facebook ads, they are one of the few that work for me … repeatedly. I even bought one once, took it with me to Mexico and it was even borrowed from a friend! Great stuff.

On the left, myself and Lauren Polinsky. To the right, Kristy Bolsinger wearing the same Plum Role Dress.

 and 

There is an issue though. Those ads … they feature pretty dresses that catch my eye. I click … and am taken to the dresses page. The dress I loved is NOT THERE. I have to search for it.

Example

Landing Page:

No pretty blue dress. *sad face*

How to Fix This Issue and Sell More Dresses

Talk to your developers. Find some way to land on something like this:

Or the product page (bonus you have suggested other products!). Maybe retrofit the landing page to be the product page but rather than suggested accessories, you suggest other dresses. Or add a call to action at the top of the page “see other dresses” or something more catchy.

Thank you for your time,

Kate Morris

PS I do love your products. Ordered another one the other day. But please make it easier!

Thanks to Lauren Polinsky for the photos from a great trip!

Sell me this dress ModCloth! is a post from: Kate Morris

In a global and Internet-based economy, they [brands] build trust and reinforce value.

- Strategy: A View from the Top

Are brands dead? Have we killed traditional marketing? Are newspapers dead? Will television ads die?

In a simple answer: No. I wish I could say that this topic has been beaten to death (it has, really) but people keep bringing it up. With the influx of buzz around new media (read: social media and online marketing) there is always talk of how it’s ending everything. It’s not.

Instead, new media is bringing us back to our roots, marketing roots that is. We are leaving a world where we pushed out messages to consumers trying to catch the ones that were interested in our products, and maybe converting a few more. Consumers had little say in what messages they received. New media is giving that power back to the consumer.

The new marketing world is one in which consumers have a say, and marketers get to talk to those that want to hear from them. Word of mouth is more powerful than ever before. As marketers, we get to participate and help our brand advocates in their mission. This new world is one in which the best products win. You have to stand out to win. To get people talking about you, the “box” cannot exist.

So brands are not dead, in fact in this “new world,” they are more powerful than ever. Build your brand, talk to your customers, foster relationships – it’s these things that build trust. Your brand is what carries trust from one customer to another potential customer. Take the right amount of time to build that up.

Brands=Trust is a post from: Kate Morris

The Circle of Life

His major point was that communication has come full circle. Like almost everything else in life, how we convey messages and stories started out in the form of story telling person to person, and it seems to be headed back there. Now this gentleman made this point in about 2005, which in Internet years was decades ago. He was right then, and I am hoping some of the businesses present that day took note to what he was saying. So going in a broad but general order of how communication has changed over time …

Caveman Communication

In the beginning of communication, cavemen and human that developed after (many years after) communicated by storytelling. Think The Odyssey and campfires. The Bible is a collection of such stories and revered by many as God’s Word. They were stories passed down person to person, generation to generation. There were no books, no editors, not blogs. You trusted the story because it is all you had to go on. Who said Zeus wasn’t Hercules’ father?

Writings Abound

Once people began writing down stories, stories began to transfer a little better. Until the printing press though, these writings were for the rich and educated. Many writings were in Latin and other “high” languages that the masses could not read. So people still relied on authority figures to tell them what was real and true. When it came to everyday life, the masses told each other who the best butcher was, who the best matchmaker was, and so on. The spoken word had more impact to the common consumer because there was no other way to transmit stories among the masses.

Printing Press

The invention of the printing press opened up the world to stories and … pamphlets. Politicians and stores could finally let people know about their issues/stories. Newspapers abounded with current news and stories, and books were written with the old tales, and some new ones. This was the golden age of the printed word. Think about the days of Jane Eyre and A Tale of Two Cities. Local businesses and some national ones began to understand that the printed word could be used to drive business.2

Mass Media

After that, mass media really took hold. We got radio, television, books, newpapers, magazines, advertisements, everything was printed and published. This changed how stories were told and how we got our news. Over the years it was the advertisers and publishers that held the power. They told us what to want, what to buy, and what to care about. From politics to soap, the power was in the hands of publishers. Consumers took in the knowledge they were given. Word of mouth still existed but on a much smaller scale than before. This was the time of “Keeping up with the Jones’,” people wanted what was popular, and that wasn’t always local.

New Media and Power Shift

Then the Internet arrived. At first it was supposed to “kill” brick and mortar stores, but we soon figured out that the Internet would compliment traditional consumerism, not overtake it. But there was a shift that few saw coming. It was the shift of power back to the consumer. Over the past hundred years, the amount of advertising began to overload people, and new technology was allowing them to edit out much of it.

Social Media: Back to Caveman Times

Today people get to choose what advertising they take in. The power is back in the hands of the consumer, and the spoken word is back in power, only now it is written and digital. Companies no longer hold all the cards. Television and newspapers still have large circulations and impact on our culture. Advertising in traditional media still works (despite what some may say), it just doesn’t work as well. This new world of commerce is one of more balance than ever before.

What works in today’s world to grow your business is allowing and influencing word of mouth. Going out of your way to help your customers, going that extra mile will ensure that your customers talk about you, online and offline. This combined with a well integrated marketing campaign will allow your business to fire on all cylinders.

There is no one trick to social media marketing, or the perfect marketing campaign. The best marketing campaign for you is one that reaches all of your target at the moment that they are thinking of your products or services. This could be any combination of mediums. As a marketer, it is your job to find that best combination. Social media is not the answer, it’s part of the answer. And it’s not difficult, it is conversation participation. Keep your brand consistent and be available. That is the secret. So easy a caveman could do it, and they did.

Social Media: So Easy a Caveman Could Do It is a post from: Kate Morris

But now there seems to be a trend (and it could be because I live in my little hole called SEO) recently where good SEOs are being suspended on Social Media sites.

Case #1: Jill Whalen (@jillwhalen) was suspended on Twitter on September 22 at about 1pm CDT and reinstated a few hours later. No reason, nothing. Community support and twitter contacts helped.

Case #2: Rishi Lakhani (@rishil) has been suspended as of September 22 at 3:34pm London time and not yet reinstated was reinstated later that day. A twitter search for rishil shows the large amount of support for his reinstatement. Update: We got the story of why, written up by SEOptimise.

Case #3: My own Yahoo! Answers account has been suspended for “spammy” activity. None of which has ever happened. I have appealed three times, and gotten nothing. Yahoo seems to just not want to hear it. So my efforts to remove spam on Answers, and my support of that site are all for nothing. I am still not sure if I will ever return.

So what is the deal here? Are we being identified and purged no matter what? Yes, this is taking three small cases and making a HUGE assumption. But why are these accounts being marked and taken down? All have been in good standing and done nothing wrong.

Anyone else seen this happen? I’ll update as I learn more.

Fake Spamming by SEOs? is a post from: Kate Morris

There are sometimes that people/businesses follow me that I know and want to follow when I see their names. Just the other day, someone I thought I was following added me and I had no idea I wasn’t following them until I looked them up. Sorry again @WarrenWhitlock

But that’s not the point … the others I have been running across are restaurants. There have been a few in Austin that have added me and gotten some business as a result. One is @kahunastikibar. They added me and tweet discounts and specials that get my mouth watering. So when it’s time for lunch, I have inspiration on where to go. And that is what happened. That day, I visited them for their Monday 2 for 1 special.

So for the restaurants out there, get cracking. No, not eggs. Get on twitter. Find the influencers in your metro area and follow away. Twitter Grader from HubSpot is one of a number of places to get this info. You never know who might visit and start talking about you.

And points go to @SagraAustin for doing the same and inspiring this post.

Restaurant Discovery on Twitter is a post from: Kate Morris

Twitter has allowed me to meet and converse with some awesome people in the past year. My life will never be the same, and I can’t begin to thank the people I have met that have helped, influenced, pushed, and supported me.

So with the help with Gregg Hilferding (@whoisgregg), I posted a thank you page. It’s my way of saying thank you to everyone. You are all so awesome and I cannot wait to get to know more of you.

My 10,000th Tweet is a post from: Kate Morris

3. 42 Sites Where To Submit Your Tutorials

PCHacks.com gives a good list of where you can get good traffic for that tutorial you just built. My advice here is to not submit to everyone, but those that make sense to those people you are targeting. Not all traffic is good traffic. Keep in mind you want your business to work, not just be seen.

From Wikipedia

2. Black Swan Phenomena

This is an inspirational post from Jerry Esperanza about how with social media we all have the opportunity to be the Black Swan. Don’t just copy someone else. Give that great idea a go and utilize social media to get yourself noticed. You might be the next big thing and help others in the process.

1. Support Problem? Twitter to the Rescue

This is by far my favorite post this week. Marino notes a phenomena that many companies are starting to catch the train on. Utilizing social media to identify those customer service issues and develop relationships. In this story, the companies identified not only helped the customer, but also built a relationship with another provider that will help each grow their business by utilizing the other business’s knowledge. The takeaway here is that while you might not see an immediate increase in the bottom line, social media allows you to grow your company’s relationships in such a way that will guarantee it’s long term success.

Next week’s carnival will be hosted at Christie Media. Best of luck, and keep talking!

Social Media Blog Carnival – June 8, 2009 is a post from: Kate Morris

Jeremy Bencken and I met up at Starbucks and he told me the story of this new idea he was exploring, and I was floored. It was an idea that no one had come up with yet, but it was so important to the search marketing world. I was asked to keep it on the down low and did for a number of months. But since BuzzStream was named and sent to Beta, I have been the biggest fan girl.

So what is BuzzStream?

In one sentence: BuzzStream is a CRM for Linkbuilding.

What I get a lot is, “Well then why not use Salesforce for linkbuilding?” Basically? Salesforce is meant for sales, BuzzStream is for linkbuilding.

BuzzStream automatically grabs the info that a linkbuilder would need to classify the site for starters. It’s not just for tracking emails, contacts, and taking notes (but it does all of that). It’s more than that. Just a few of the items they pull for you are:

• Contact information (from any page on the site, email addresses, forms, phone numbers)
• Page Rank
• Number of Backlinks
• Site Age

The link building data they pull is only part of the system. BuzzStream has places to put the information you will need to reference later. It also automatically checks the sites to ensure the link you worked so hard on still exists. It checks that the link is there as well as making sure that it’s followed and the page doesn’t all of a sudden have poor onpage elements like Viagra ads.

Make Link Building Easy and Effective

We all hate link building. It is harder than ever to locate and create relationships with other sites. Buzzstream is there to help us track what we have done and the relationships we are building. The key is the relationship-building, but building relationships takes a lot of time.  You have to contact a lot of people, you have to try different channels, you have to remember what you did 2 months ago and follow up.   BuzzStream is the first tool that enables you to do all of this in a way that’s actually time-efficient.

Sales has metrics, Marketing has metrics, SEO and PPC do too … now Link Builders can have metrics. Pull reports for executives or clients, it’s all there at your fingertips. BuzzStream is adding features at every turn, so sign up now for access to the best link building tool. For example, one of the new items is that they are the first Social CRM – meaning they will import your tweets to identify contacts to build links with. Your boss and/or clients will thank you!

BuzzStream Review is a post from: Kate Morris

Note: Sorry about the mixup earlier, I wasn’t done with this post yet. Was going to wait to post it, but everyone is asking about it now. Stupid feedburner.

We’ve all heard it. Ashton did this. Miley got coffee. Oprah tweeted. All of a sudden all of our friends and family, and the mass public is on twitter. Our little world isn’t our little world anymore. Once Oprah talks about something … the world does it. I worked at a bookstore for years, I know what her influence does.

One thing I have noticed is that the Internet community is slightly annoyed by this new trend. Most are just tired about hearing about Ashton and Oprah, but I have seen some really ticked about it too. I know they have their reasons, and some are valid. This influx has brought more and more “social media gurus” out of the woodwork. People who consider themselves experts because they have a few thousand followers and was on twitter before it got big. Don’t get me wrong, I am annoyed at them too. But the people annoyed because others are banking on this new opportunity remind me of the acronym SPAM – sites positioned above mine. Don’t hate on those that are validly utilizing the opportunities.

I want to bring to light the good things about the masses using Twitter. It’s time for us as online marketers to step out of our happy bubble and see the great things that will come of this influx of popularity.

1. More people means more ears – As marketers, our job is to reach everyone that might want/need our client/company product. With more people on Twitter, the reach gets better. More clients will be able to utilize the power that is social media.
2. Better Ideas – With more people vying for social media clients, it forces better ideas and services for those potential clients. Think the fashion industry. More competition is better, trust me. And the worse they are, the better you look.
3. Realistic Feedback – Kinda goes along with #1, but with more people on twitter, there is more realistic feedback. Instead of 20 mentions a day, a company can see hundreds. This allows them to see a bigger cross section of current and potential clients.

Any more I’m missing? Let me know and I’ll add them.

See the silver lining in everything. Life is much better if you make lemonade (and then sell it).

The Silver Lining is a post from: Kate Morris