Absolute Marketing Tips

There is a lot of confusion around about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and the most frustrating part from my view point is that businesses have been lead to believe that it is “black magic”!   Plus, they believe that is something that only needs to be done once to achieve the results they are looking for.

I was going to write an article, but I came across this by Patricia Robles on the Econsultancy Blog.  If you want to know more about SEO and why it is a journey, not a destination, then check out this article by Patricia Robles.

Let me know your experiences of SEO.  Have you been hood winked or worst? Have you spent a lot of money with little results?  I look forward to hearing from you.

Really like this story about how a coffee shop doubled it clientele using Twitter  The Coffee GroundZ.  

Looking for lots of tips on twitter?  Then check out this article by Mark Nunney.

Especially the link to the article on how someone turned off their lights using Twitter! 

Interested to hear how you use twitter in your business and the effect it has had, drop me a comment.  I would love to hear from you.

This weekend I wore a coat that has been in the wardrobe since last year.  The sun was shining and I just needed something that was going to keep me warm as I went for a walk up the seafront with my son.  

We left the house and as I walked up the road, I put my hands in my pockets and I found a £10 note - WOW! Now we could go for a walk and have ice cream, drinks and a bag of chips (the diet was out of the window!) 

This got me thinking.  Can you remember that feeling of finding something that you wasn’t expecting?  

Now, hold that feeling and think about your business.  Imagine how your customers would feel if you could give them something today, this week or over the next month that they weren’t expecting. How would they respond?

Giving is really a simple task and can also be an inexpensive way to instantly improve your relationship with customers and prospects.

Ideas for you to think about

• Free tips
• Newsletter
• Sample
• Trial offers
• Free report
• Free white paper
• Short video

Make that extra effort and give your customers more then they were expecting.  You will be surprised by the results.  I am off to put together a Top Tips on Marketing.

Have a lovely day.

Being English and living in Wales, I often come across some stick.  So when I saw this recently I realised I couldn’t have put it a different way.

Excellent, check this out Differences between the English and the Welsh

Check out an article by  Political commentator Cenk Uygur http://tinyurl.com/b5llo2 about Kellogg’s decision to not extent Michael Phelps contract because of a picture of him smoking marijuana coming to light.

Uygur argues that in 2009 this type of Brand protection doesn’t make sense and is out of date.   He goes on to say that Kellogg’s have insulted a huge chuck of the population by saying this type of behaviour is wrong. 

What about the insult to the other 58% of people who haven’t smoked marijuana?  This really made me think about society today.  I 100% agree with Kellogg’s decision.  Michael Phelps is a national hero.  Somebody that people look up, admire and want to be like.  Why should a brand that promotes their products to children align themselves with such behaviour.  It is like saying, what the hell, do what you like, we still support you. 

Whilst 42% of Americans have admitted to smoking marijuana, I bet they didn’t do it in front of their family, children or boss?

There is a time and place for everything and this isn’t the time for a national hero to be endorsed by such a worldwide brand.

When will society learn that our actions have consequences?  I am sick of people thinking that they can do what they want, when they want and nobody will say a word.  Just look at the state of the governments and political parties across the world. 

Brand’s need to protect their image and also the image of the customers who buy into them.

Good for you Kellogg’s you have my vote.

SEO is often seen as a dark art.  

There is a lot that you can do that is relatively simple, the only problem you will have will time.  But if you want to get the most of your website, there has never been a better time to start looking at your sites search engine optimisation. 

1. Links - the search engines like you having inbound links.  This is where a link comes into your site.  Find out how many incoming links you’ve got by use Link Popularity
2. Sitemap - your site should have sitemap.  If you haven’t already done this, go to Google and create a site map Google Sitemap
3. Content - you need to add relevant content to your site in order to attract your target clients and the search engines. I will be adding free articles to my website for this sole purpose.  Content is what keeps people on your site.  

Kingsmill has opened a cafe - the Kingsmill Breakfast Kitchen.  On Little Portland Street in London.

It is serving free tea and wholegrain toast to communters to raise awareness of its “Wake up to Wholegrain Breakfast Campaign”

The secret to marketing is to take your produce to where your customers are and get them to sample it.

Opening a cafe is expensive, but I would be interested to see their sales results over the coming months and also their market share value.

Have you noticed how most of the brands are bring back ads from the past or using part of them.

The is logical to their madness.  They are already tried and test. Plus it costs less .

There is something about nostalgia that strikes a cord with people.  I would love to see, “We hope it’s Chips” and the Fudge advert.  They both remind of me of my childhood.

I have to say, the Hovis advert which passes through time is fantastic.

What ads would you like to see return to the screen?

Comic Relief has embraced social media.  You can catch up on YouTube, Twitter and Flickr to find out what is happening up to the Red Nose Day, March 13th.

You can also buy a virtual red nose.

On the evening, the Comic Relief Team will be using social media to provide additional backstage updates, such as celebrity photos, tweets.

The power of social media. What next?