AK Works :: Musings on Business, Politics and, yes, SEO

Google Sites Has Largest Audience in Asia Pacific Region

2010-07-15T17:05:00.003-04:00

Google sites have the largest audience in Asia Pacific!

Earlier in July, comScore released research through a webinar that showed Google sites have the largest audience in Asia Pacific region.

Google Sites led as the most-visited property in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam
Yahoo! Sites attracted the most visitors in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan
Microsoft Sites led the market in Australia reaching 93 percent of online users
Local entities topped the list in China and South Korea, with Tencent Inc. and NHN Corporation reaching the largest percentage of Internet users
In the Philippines, Facebook.com reigned as the most-visited destination reaching 93 percent of online users, the highest penetration of any global market for the social networking site

Of course with a huge percentage of the human population based in the Asia-Pacific region, no wonder that Asia, specifically China, is hot.

Data like this research helps marketers value the importance of geo-specific regions and which web properties are best to leverage for maximum visibility, exposure, and awareness. And right now - Asia is hot.

International Search is the future of SEO and the future of International SEO is Mobile Search. International Search is Mobile Search. International SEO is Mobile SEO.

China Has 420 Million Internet Users

2010-07-15T16:05:00.006-04:00

China reportedly has 420 million Internet users, 277 million of them accessing the Internet via mobile devices.

The Chinese Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released its survey showing that since the end of 2009, in the first half of 2010 alone, China has increased Internet users by 36 million to 420 million.

Of the 420 million Internet users, 277 million accessed the Internet via mobile phones!

To give perspective, the US population is roughly 300 million. Japan's population is roughly 130 million. These figures are total population inclusive of men, women, children.

US Population:

From Blogger Pictures

Japan Population:

From Blogger Pictures

The numbers here are huge. This kind of market, by pure numbers, are unbelievable and haven't even touched a saturation point yet for China's total population.

Naturally, it was wise for Google to be friends with China again regardless of Google's less than 30% market share or < 1%>

Now Google needs Android phones to make a bigger inroad to capitalize on mobile search!

But these figures also reveal an important thing and reality of the future of the Internet and the future of SEO: the future of the Internet is global Internet community and a global Internet is based on mobile Internet.

The Western and industrialized nations are at a saturation point and growth will depend on the developing nations and China.

Look at the populations of China, India, Brazil vs. US & Japan. Japan's trend is actually flatlining while China and India are growing exponentially. Brazil and the US are growing steadily but Brazil is a hot emerging economy.

The SEO professional must be aware of International search and mobile search and track and understand the changes - in order to remain relevant.

International Search is the future of SEO and the future of International SEO is Mobile Search. International Search is Mobile Search. International SEO is Mobile SEO.

It's Been a While for AK Works - New Blog Coming Out

2010-03-17T11:33:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since AK Works Blog has come out. Big changes here at AK Works. The company was always a consulting company but will be moving into more SEO research with a focus on International SEO and Mobile SEO.

Why is this the case? Because the future of SEO and business is International.

As an active investor, I look for companies with international exposure to invest in. With the financial meltdown for the last 2-3 years, the case for investing in companies with international markets is even stronger.

For SEOs, the majority of work and understanding of SEO has been English-based and US/UK centric. To stay relevant, SEOs must learn business in the 2010s and the business priorities of this new decade.

Inevitably, this leads to International SEO.

While there are still plenty of SEO business in working with the SMBs of the United States, Canada, and even the UK, SEOs as a profession need to be versed in the global business landscape.

The SEO profession can only survive and remain relevant if SEOs fill business needs of all spectrum from the mom-and-pops to the local SMBs to the global Fortune 500 enterprises.

AK Works will spend time researching the global search landscape, the mobile landscape, and present data and analysis. We will also present case studies of existing projects that we do as well as research and results from our existing projects.

This blog will be used as one vehicle for the main website, currently at AK Works. Blog posts will originate there but also be promoted here as well. That site will be redesigned shortly.

Our goal with AK Works and with the blogs is to present data, third-party and primary market research, and critical analysis on International SEO, International markets, China & Asia markets, developments in International Search, Mobile SEO, mCommerce, and also stock investing in SEO-related firms.

MSFT Bing is NOT the Winner in Google Pulling Out of China

2010-03-17T10:52:00.003-04:00

Now that Google is 99.9% certain it will pull out of China, there is speculation that Microsoft Bing will be the winner and be able to snatch more market share. After all, with Google out of the picture, Microsoft can compete on more even ground against Baidu, Sina, or Sohu, right?

That's conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom also says that Google pulling out of China is a bad business move.

After all, Google would be pulling out of a country that has 1.3 billion people with 600 million of them in urban areas (presumably connected to the Internet). China's urbanized population alone is DOUBLE the entire population of the United States. Plus, China is estimated to be about 20% of the world's population. Conventional wisdom says this is a market that Google should learn to appease.

But conventional wisdom has more than once been proven wrong. Google is making a bet on Mobile

Google, if and when it pulls out of China, will essentially be breaking up with a cantankerous woman. A woman who is fine, but just way too full of drama.

Google's "lover on the side" or "cut buddy" is Mobile. And that's where Google is placing its bet on. Google itself has made plenty of strides into Mobile including the AdMob purchase and Nexus One.

If and when Google perfects mobile search and mobile ads, Google will not only command desktop search, it will command mobile search. And in Asia, Europe, and emerging economies, access to Internet through mobile devices is far more prevalent than in the US.

While Bing chases after Google's desktop search crumbs, Google is setting up the table and dining hall for mobile search.

Over the course of the next few days and weeks, I will be exploring Google and China and Mobile. I will be putting out a collection of articles on Google and China with more details, analysis, and references.

These will be followed by analysis and details on International SEO, Mobile SEO, and the future of the Internet & SEO.

NO to the Auto Industry Bailout

2008-11-18T10:44:00.003-05:00

I am not alone in saying NO the auto industry bailout. Many Americans feel the same way. The reasons may vary but most people I know don't want this bailout - including my Democrat friends.

We all feel the same way - why should our tax dollars be put into bailing out antiquated, inefficient, irresponsible companies?

Democrat and Republican voters might have differing views on the UAW and their role in the inefficiencies and irresponsibility of the Big 3, but we agree that the auto makers need reform and that those reforms should NOT be financed by our tax dollars.

I think most American voters are not comfortable with paying more taxes to fund a bailout of big companies when all of us are hurting and need our own individual bailout.

I personally hate Ford, GM, and Chrysler. I hate the companies because they make crappy cars. Their trucks suck; nothing more than giant gas-guzzling, top-heavy, road-hogging pieces of crap. Those things can't keep value, are loaded with extra crap, and are highly over-priced with average starting prices at $25,000. I drive an import. I have been a Honda man - and have lately found great value in Hyundai's Sonata - features, reliability, and great price. There's nothing in Ford, GM, or Chrysler's inventory even remotely close to that quality or value. Plus, there's no sedan that any of those Big 3 offers that is at all comparable to the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, or Hyundai Sonata.

I also hate the UAW and union workers. On top of, clearly, overpaid executives that continue to fumble the ball managing the Big 3, union auto workers are classic examples of overpaid, underworked labor. These guys make more money than I do, have more benefits than my job offrs, and I have a friggin college education! A college education is supposed to offer MORE economic opportunities, right? What gives? But I am not mad about them making more money - that's part of this society to be able to succeed spectacularly or fail miserably. What I don't like is the idea that the auto maker executives AND union workers want tax-payer money to continue to fund their cushy overpaid, underworked, lazy butts. Why should the government take the food out of my mouth to help their worthless butts keep their jobs?

I can say this with clarity because my job is non-union. So why should I support any union jobs with my tax dollars? It's a rhetorical question because I don't support it.

I can also say all this with clarity because Honda and Toyota manufacture their cars here in the US and they use non-union labor. They bring manufacturing plants to places OUTSIDE of Detriot and Michigan to places like Tennessee. These companies do very well. They employ workers, they sell their cars because the cars are well-built and have great value. The companies are efficient in manufacturing, keeping costs down, and they produce wise cars. Oh, and they also don't cheapen themselves by selling fleet vehicles.

Now if Honda and Toyota can do this, so can US automakers. US automakers can have fairer, non-union labor. They can make fuel-efficient, small cars. They can push the envelope of automotive engineering. Better manufacturing, better engineering - all of this is possible and it's been done already! The Big 3 - both management and union - are just way too lazy to evolve.

That's why I say NO to the bailout. Screw these guys. Let the fall, let them rot. They refuse to change for the better - and yet want tax payer money to help them to keep their ways? NO! Money is a great incentive - and they should be forced to change under duress.

Management needs to trim the fat. The surviving managers need to be driven like slaves to install refined and efficient manufacturing - and better business models. Engineers need to be slave-driven to push automotive engineering for more reliable and fuel-efficient cars. And Labor needs to "de-unionize". The union needs to be broken. When manufacturing is so streamlined with automation, there's no reason auto workers should be so highly overpaid. Labor is labor - if you are paid to press a button, you should be paid a wage befitting pressing a button.

Jerry Yang Stepping Down from Yahoo - Finally?

2008-11-17T20:21:00.002-05:00

Breaking news now - Jerry Yang is stepping down from Yahoo. He will step down from Yahoo as CEO as soon as a suitable replacement is found for the position. He'll remain with Yahoo and resume his former position of "Chief Yahoo" (rolls eyes - throwback to the crazy names from the pre-Dotcom Bubble Burst days).

YHOO closed 10.63 on November 17, 2008.

Report 1

Report 2

Report 3

Tuchman's Law - Is The Economy Really That Bad?

2008-11-12T00:48:00.000-05:00

Economic news is depressing these days. Ford and GM are dying - with shares trading at below $4 a share. Banks have failed. Even entire countries like Iceland is facing bankruptcy. Oil, which was hit by speculative trading that drove futures to nearly $150 a barrel have fallen - below $60 a barrel as of closing November 11, 2008. US consumers are not shopping affecting retail, particularly this holiday shopping season.

Home foreclosures continue, driving down home sales both new and existing. Cars are not selling, gas consumption in the US and worldwide (including China) have waned. And now - increasing rounds of layoffs as corporations attempt to trim the fat.

Yet even with all of these economic bad news, for most of us, is it really that bad? Or are we still functioning but with more sacrifice?

No doubt a lot of people are feeling the pain and have curtailed a lot of "luxuries" (whatever that may be - for me, it's going to the movies).

But, the fact that the bad economic news is not juxtaposed with the latest robberies, mugging, or murder-suicide over finances and is, instead, matched with more economic bad news, it makes me wonder if most people have found a way to cope.

Perhaps the American and human spirit is more resilient and is capable of coping with economic hardships. Perhaps, Tuchman's Law is in effect?

Tuchman's Law was coined by American author and historian, Barbara Tuchman who wrote "The Guns of August", a history about the buildup and first month of World War I. The book, by the way, was referenced by President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis and he encouraged his Cabinet to read it to help deal with the crisis (a really well done movie, Thirteen Days, is about the Cuban Missile Crisis).

Tuchman's Law, however, states that the presence of negative news would have you believe that the world is ending and that it seems at every moment, something bad is going to happen when the reality is that bad news is actually OUT of the ordinary.

The fact of being reported multiplies the apparent extent of any deplorable development by five- to tenfold. Disaster is rarely as pervasive as it seems from recorded accounts. The fact of being on the record makes it appear continuous and ubiquitous whereas it is more likely to have been sporadic both in time and place. Besides, persistence of the normal is usually greater than the effect of the disturbance, as we know from our own times. After absorbing the news of today, one expects to face a world consisting entirely of strikes, crimes, power failures, broken water mains, stalled trains, school shutdowns, muggers, drug addicts, neo-Nazis, and rapists. The fact is that one can come home in the evening, on a lucky day, without having encountered more than one or two of these phenomena.(reference)

I suspect that for most of us, the presence of the economic bad news has strained us, but has not broken us, caused us to be homicidal or suicidal (much). Perhaps my faith in God is also my strength because I know who's in control, regardless of a Democrat or Republican in charge.

But with most Americans having faith in a God - be it Christian, Jewish, Muslim or other - I suspect that most Americans are coping and making appropriate sacrifices, strengthened by their faith.

So while the news seems bad, most of us are still handling our business. We go to work. Or look for a job - anything to pay the bills. We curtail our spending to essentials as much as possible (life still does take place, after all, so some measure of luxury can still be afforded).

To me, even with all the economic bad news and even though things are bad, things are not quite so bad. Tuchman's Law does indeed apply.

Critics say Tax-payer Mortgage Aid Not Enough

2008-11-11T23:41:00.002-05:00

From the AP news, "Critics say new mortgage aid effort for Fannie, Freddie loans doesn't go far enough."

The Federal (tax-payer) mortgage aid plan announced November 11 is geared towards Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. The plan, in simple terms, would allow Fannie and Freddie borrowers get reduced rates and longer loan terms to reduce payments and make it more affordable.

Sounds good, but the critics say Fannie and Freddie only make up about 20% of the distressed or delinquent loans.

Politics aside, I'm willing to concede that the economy is in crisis and extraordinary measures to bring stability is needed.

What I do not like are the journalists' usage of examples to try and build empathy. I don't know if there is enough empathy going around this country (or the world) anymore. People want to blame Bush, the mortgage companies, and the "other" borrowers - the "irresponsible" ones. In my case, I am among those who blame the borrowers as much as the mortgage companies and loan investors.

In this report, the particular "sob" story is San Francisco police officer, Troy Courtney. He is mad because this mortgage aid is too little too late for him. He lost his home in Mill Valley - taking his children, THREE dogs and ONE cat.

Tuesday's announcement comes too late for Troy Courtney, a 44-year-old San Francisco police officer.

He moved out of his home in Mill Valley, Calif., earlier this month -- taking his children, three dogs and one cat with him -- after failing at several attempts to get a loan modification or a short sale. A short sale occurs when the lender agrees to receive less than the loan is worth.

Courtney worked overtime and tapped into his retirement account to try to catch up with two loans on his home. But in the end, he couldn't persuade Countrywide Financial, which managed the loan for Wells Fargo, to modify the loan.

Now - maybe I'm heartless. Maybe I am selfish. Maybe it's because it's the economy or because I just am - but I don't feel sorry for Troy. In fact, he's exactly one of those irresponsible borrowers I blame.

What person, in his right mind, would keep THREE dogs and ONE cat - a full FOUR house pets - plus his children while struggling to pay his house?

First of all, he absolutely bought too much house for him to afford. Second of all, owning and maintaining FOUR house pets is NOT cheap. Dog food for three plus cat food add significant costs to groceries. Not to mention feeding and clothing his children, his monthly costs were probably exorbitant.

Now while Troy couldn't get rid of his children (nor should he), the pets should have been gone. Four pets should not suck a penny from the family budget, not in times like these and not when one is struggling to pay the mortgage.

And while it is possible that even without the pets, Troy would ultimately have lost his house, then at least he can walk away knowing he did all he could to make the sacrifices to make ends meet.

Troy's lack of personal financial responsibility, however, is a perfect example to me of the recklessness these types of borrowers - the ones I blame.

When I come across borrowers like Troy, it pisses me off. His own recklessness along with others like him, along with the mortgage companies, and along with idiot greedy investors, have caused world economic pain and have killed my own investment portfolio.

While people like Troy spent money like no tomorrow, people like me sacrificed "stuff" to sock money away for the long-term. Yet for those of us who played by the rules and tried to do the right thing, we end up losing because of people like Troy.

I want to say people like Troy got what he deserved. But his downfall contributed to my own pains - and I won't condemn myself. So I sit here, angry at Troy while he is angry that he lost his house.

Not much of a choice, in the end.

Learning Chinese for Business - and Perhaps SEO

2008-11-10T10:59:00.002-05:00

My last boss told me if he has his choice on what language his children would learn, he would have them learn Chinese. It's the language of the future, he said.

Since I speak Mandarin Chinese already, I wasn't going crazy up and down for it. I mean - shoot, I speak it with my parents. But then again, I have a natural fondness and affinity for language so I like all languages.

But while I speak conversational Mandarin Chinese, I grew up in the States and am a US citizen. My first language at this point is English. I don't have the expansive vocabulary to speak like a native fluent speaker. I also don't read or write Chinese.

And another thing that compounds learning Chinese is the difference between Traditional versus Simplified. As a Taiwanese (R.O.C.), I am a staunch "Traditionalist" that is, traditional Chinese character writing. But with China's (P.R.O.C., Mainland, Communist China) increasing world presence, China's Simplified writing system is gaining more usage. To someone like me, who's used to Traditional Chinese writing, trying to learn written Chinese is not easy because who knows what's Traditional and what is Simplified?

After a lot of searching (yes, SEO skills in use), I found one website that I really like that teaches both Traditional and Simplified: Chinese-course.com.

The website has flash cards to make it easy to learn. Daily lessons are available and can be emailed to you. You can also subscribe via RSS feed. Getting lessons is very easy.

If you want to learn how to read, write, and speak Mandarin Chinese without paying for Rosetta Stone (and without succumbing to Michael Phelps' pitch), then Chinese-Course.com is a great way to start.

Yahoo Microsoft Drama

2008-11-09T09:51:00.003-05:00

I have watched this closely since the beginning of Microsoft's unsolicited offer in early 2008. (I probably should have kept up with it by blogging about it). The latest news is that Yahoo's advertising deal with Google is lost as Google has decided it is simply not worth the DOJ trouble. As a result, Jerry Yang, who walked away from Microsoft's offer of $33 a share is now declaring Microsoft's best move is to buy Yahoo.

My opinion was always that Yahoo should have sold. As a search marketer, I saw no strength in Yahoo. While Yahoo actually commands strong usage outside of the US particularly in Asia, it is not enough to keep Yahoo competitive; especially against Google.

While MSN, or Windows Live, is FAR from competing with either Google or Yahoo, a merger of the 2 companies would make more sense. Mergers, of course, is a strategy for weaker parties to join together to better compete with a larger "foe". In this case, Microsoft and Yahoo made sense - again, from a search marketer's perspective.

But from a personal perspective, I love this whole drama. The drama of this whole affair is fascinating to me and I find incredible enjoyment in the way this story plays out. I imagine that this kind of "cult of personality" - Yang vs. Ballmer - was what European politics was like during the Middle Ages until the 20th century. Between all the aristocratic intrigue, royal families from one country ruling the other, and with the lives of the common people in the balance, the European days of yore seems to be playing out in Yang vs. Ballmer.

After Google walked away from the deal with Yahoo, Jerry Yang is interviewed by John Battelle (read the interview here)

"To this day, I have to say that the best thing for Microsoft to do is to buy Yahoo. I don't think that is a bad idea at all...at the right price, whatever the price is, we are willing to sell the company...We were ready to negotiate, we wanted to negotiate a deal, and we felt that we weren't that far apart. But at the end of the day, they withdrew and they since have been very clear about not wanting to buy the company."

To me, to say this after Yahoo walked away from Microsoft and after Google walked away from Yahoo, is severely losing face.

Maybe I'm just plain old fashioned, but I think even in this modern 21st century, people are people and saving face is important.

There's a part of me that sees Yang as having been tragically forced into this position. Terry Semel recklessly ran Yahoo long after his purpose was served (which was to help navigate Yahoo and keep it afloat after the Dotcom Bust of 2000-2001). During the good times, henceforth, however, Semel made Yahoo into a joke and lost out big to upstart Google.

Semel was finally replaced by Yang in 2007 but the damage was already done. In fact, Semel had survived a previous shareholder meeting in early 2007 and was not removed from his position even though shareholders had the opportunity. But by mid-2007, Yahoo had enough and the reigns were given over to co-founder Yang.

But Yahoo is a big ship and turning it around is not easy with 6 remaining months in 2007. The economy had already slowed down and in early 2007, foreclosures and the credit squeeze already began to rear their ugly heads. Yahoo's stock, YHOO, began to drop as well. In August 2007, the market suddenly dropped and many stocks lost value - including YHOO. By the end of January 2008, YHOO was trading below $20.

Talks of a MSFT buyout helped skyrocket YHOO's value to nearly $30 a share. When the deal fell through, YHOO dropped to below $25 a share as analysts had expected.

Meanwhile the economy continued to grind down, jobs lost, foreclosures and credit squeeze took its toll and speculative oil futures trading drove oil to $180. The economy was extremely strained helping to make things volatile for YHOO.

Then September and October 2008 came - "Armageddon".

By now, everything seemed to be at a standstill and the news from Wall Street's failures after Bear Sterns (earlier in 2008), Lehman Brothers, the banks, and AiG just made things worse. The world economy began feeling the chaotic butterfly effects too.

Which finally leaves us here - November 5. After long talks about Yahoo and Google's advertising deal, Google finally walks away. Some analysts think this was Google's intention all along - to simply drive a wedge of enmity between Yahoo and Microsoft. At this point, with Ballmer saying no we've moved on, it sure feels like enmity between the two CEOs.

But, as I wrote earlier, I almost feel Yang was forced into this position. I think he did believe he was acting in the best interest to ask for $37 a share from Microsoft. But it was a bad bluff and Microsoft called it. Then, having no recourse and no real direction for Yahoo, Yang turned to Google. And when that fell apart, Yang was left with no additional option for Yahoo.

Yahoo is in the middle - unable to move forward alone, unable (and justifiably unwilling) to move backward. Clearly, Yahoo cannot go it alone - it has no real innovation to effectively combat Google to win more user market share. MSFT has nothing to lose because it is so dead last compared to Google and Yahoo. It is in the position to keep sniping at both "giants".

But while I almost feel a little sympathy for Yang, I think he should have made a business decision and taken the deal. It made sense from a business perspective. It made sense from a search marketer's perspective. And it makes sense from a shareholder perspective.

...well, I at least am not a YHOO or MSFT shareholder.

I weep for American Journalism...

2008-03-27T09:49:00.002-04:00

...I do. I weep for American Journalism. It seems everyday, I read articles published by authors with English names (not international journalists...) making fundamental grammatical mistakes. If I read more into them, I'd probably find more glaring mistakes than those such as expressions, verb tense, and more.

Case 1:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080327/ap_on_re_us/census_growing_cities

Of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas, 27 were in the South and 20 were in the West. Two were in the Midwest, one — Fayetteville, Ark. — straddles the South and Midwest and none was in the Northeast.

A quick read tells me "none was" does not work and should be "none are". Why? Because the word "none" is not a contraction of "not one". "None" can be both singular and plural depending on the context (this might seem strange for English or even Western speakers, but for Asian language speakers such as myself, this isn't too hard to grasp).

Within context, "none" can refer to "not one" or "not any". If you said, "None of my friends are coming with me", you are contextually saying, "Not any of my friends are coming with me."

While technically correct to use "none" as both plural and singular, it is often more appropriate to use it as plural than singular. In this case, the article is referring to "of the 50 fastest growing metro areas". The sentence "Two were in the Midwest, one — Fayetteville, Ark. — straddles the South and Midwest and none was in the Northeast" is really an extension of the whole paragraph. The paragraph itself could have been written like so:

Of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas, 27 were in the South, 20 were in the West, 2 were in the Midwest, one — Fayetteville, Ark. — straddles the South and Midwest, and none were in the Northeast.

All of this is nit picky indeed and most people would not care. Even I would argue that language is organic and that there is no sacrament. Language grows with people, with current times, and changes generation after generation. And if usage changes fly in the face of the "old rules" then those rules need to break or bend to accommodate the change instead of the change bending to the rules.

But in this case, the "none was" tried to stick to the "old rules" and so deserves ridicule.

Here are some references:

http://www.grammarmudge.cityslide.com/articles/article/1026513/9903.htm

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-non2.htm
http://www.llrx.com/columns/grammar1.htm

Myths of META Tags for SEO Still Persist!

2007-09-11T23:41:00.000-04:00

I am often annoyed, vexed, and even infuriated when I deal with people who still talk about META tags for SEO.

META tags, those little tags that are coded like this:

< meta name="keywords" content="blah blah blah" >
or

< meta name="description" content="blah blah blaaaah" >

The TRUTH is: META TAGS DON'T WORK!!!

I recently had to consult with a friend/business acquaintance because he was left with an e-commerce website that does very little for him. In addition to e-commerce back end short comings, his shopping cart was completely search engine unfriendly.

He told me that the only thing he can do is to change META Tags. Unfortunately, changing META tags, not having ability to recode URLs, and not having access to the source code all work against his website.

Another friend of mine locked herself into a long-term e-commerce package deal before talking to me. Unfortunately for her - the same thing: no control other than META tags.

What's worse for both of these friends of mine is that not only did the companies tell them that's all the access that they have, the companies made it seem like it was their fault for the sites not ranking!

BUT - as I wrote earlier, META tags do NOT work for SEO. The MAJOR search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN do NOT use META tags to rank websites!

So unfortunately for them, until they can get out of their current contracts, they are stuck with sites that underperform.

Return of AK Works - Again!

2007-09-06T22:20:00.000-04:00

It's been an eventful time since the last post. AK Works as a blog has been on hiatus - but gaining new life and strength.

AK Works Consulting is launching officially soon. My several companies are changing and some new ventures are in the pipeline.

AK Works the blog, however, will continue to operate as a blog with musings, case studies, and other discussions on SEO.

Also be on the look out for AK Works at Active Rain. The AK Works Active Rain blog is up and running. The focus is primarily on SEO for real estate and mortgage professionals.

AK Works New Year's Resolution: Regular Posts

2006-12-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Among the things critics and all can lash at me is that this blog is not updated regularly. Between Servaunt, church ministries, personal life and of course, the full time gig - it is hard to find time to blog consistently.

But consistency is always the key. When clients talk to me about blogging for SEO, I always ask them:

Are you doing the writing or are you just linking to news?
What are you going to write about?
Can you and WILL you do it on a consistent basis, at least once a week?

Most never think on these questions and get flustered; "I don't know I just want SEO!" is usually the answer.

Well, I guess I should practice what I preach as well. As a New Year's resolution, I'm resolving to post consistently.

After all, AK Works focuses on small businesses and entrepreneurship and in particular real estate marketing and salon marketing. There is plenty to talk about, teach, and report.

So, AK Works' New Year's Resolution - regular posts.

New Domain Extensions .JOBS & .MOBI = Branding Opportunity?

2006-10-26T09:42:00.000-04:00

Are There Branding Opportunites with .JOBS & .MOBI Domain Extensions?

Recently, the new domain extensions .jobs and .mobi were made available to purchase. When these first alternative domain extensions like .net, .tv, .us and others were created, it looked like the leper of domain extensions (primarily .com, .org, .edu, and .gov).

But that has changed over the years, and in particular, in the last few years, these extensions have become far more accepted.

While .com remains the most popular, most "good" .com names are already claimed. As a result, some .coms are getting longer and longer. Long .com names, however, maybe difficult to remember and worse yet, frustrating to type in. Just think about how mad you'd be to type in www.compuglobalmegahypernet.com (Simpson's reference...!).

Increasingly companies are using .net as their main web address in place of .com. Some, however, have gotten creative in using the other domains available.

Take for instance the popular social bookmarking site del.icio.us. It spells the word "delicious". The site has nothing to do with cooking. But everything about the site and the company's branding is "del.icio.us".

What's the Opportunity?
True entrepreneurs know how to look for opportunities in every situation. I think with a little creativity, you can figure out how to use .tv, .jobs, .mobi, .biz and other domain extensions.

Take for instance .jobs. Maybe you are a recruiter for the nursing industry. You may want to create "nursing. jobs" to attract prospects.

Or for .mobi - even though it is intended for mobile sites - the "mobi" sounds kinda cute. So maybe you decide to create a cute sounding site like gobi.mobi.

The key is that these domains, instead of being "domain leprosy", can actually be very useful for your branding. With a little creativity, you can make the domain extension a part of your branding.

Fail to Plan = Plan to Fail: Breakthrough Marketing & Advertising

2006-10-25T01:51:00.000-04:00

Plan Your Marketing to Breakthrough Advertising Clutter

I normally hate cliches, proverbs, and basically, overused phrases. But in the case of this phrase, it is really does hold true: "Failing to plan is planning to fail!"

In marketing and advertising this is absolutely true!

I frequently teach clients that there is so much advertising and marketing clutter out there that in order to be effective, you have to PLAN!

I ask simple questions that lead to an outline of a campaign:

What is the purpose or desired action from this campaign?
Who is your target audience?
What is your advertising or marketing medium?

These are deceptively simple, but once the answers are drilled down, a lot can be revealed!

Planning your marketing and advertising campaign ahead of time using those questions above is a lot of front-end work, but highly necessary. Planning let's you strategize your plan of attack - attack through your competition's clutter that is.

Planning is nothing more than preparing to attack through the clutter of your competition.

Breakthrough your competition's marketing and advertising clutter by clearly defining what you want your prospects to do. Then define who you are targeting and what medium you are advertising on. For example, an email campaign will be different from a print campaign. A magazine campaign will be different from a magazine campaign.

Answer these questions first and your answers will show you how to plan your attack and break through your competition's clutter!

New Law Firm Blog, "White & Harper LegalWire"

2006-10-25T01:27:00.000-04:00

My personal friend, Ti Harper, recently entered into a partnership to form her own legal firm White & Harper.

She launched her firm's blog White & Harper LegalWire recently to help provide valuable insight into legal news that affects the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area.

She also recently launched Style & Grace Events, an event planning and consulting firm!

I am thrilled to see her move so quickly in business and entrepreneurship! It is always good to see a friend and fellow entrepreneur out there just doing what drives us all. A nice little post about her new ventures is just a small token of my support for her and all her ventures!

"The Island" & Future of Search Engine As Physical Search Kiosks

2006-10-25T00:46:00.000-04:00

I recently watched The Island - and since I have HBO, it's been repeating frequently. A scene caught my attention that made me wonder about the future.

The scene is when the two main characters, on the run from their pursuers, are at an "information directory". In the movie, it's a glorified phone booth. But on the side it said "MSN Search".

This got me thinking - how close are we to seeing something like that?

Imagine, an information kiosk that is a phone booth, a search engine/local directory booth, and mobile information/search interface - branded by a major search engine.

So in other words, this booth would have a public phone, an online search that serves up local directory information, and a mobile interface so that anyone with a mobile phone can download content pertinent to the local area.

Picture this: Google builds a phone-search directory booth in NYC. It has a phone and online touch screen. The keyboard is a touch screen for easy typing. The head up screen is a touch screen.

Someone looking for directory information searches this online directory, get's served results along with ads. In fact ads can be displayed throughout the interior of the booth. The searcher can make the calls in the phone booth.

But, Google pushes the features more and lets mobile phone users use the booth as a local search directory - and 1 quick click lets the mobile user download the directory listing onto their cell or PDA. This is already being done in Yahoo Local's results where you can actually send information to your cell.

The funny thing is, this reality is not far away.

The engines simply need to find a way where they can set up the physical infrastructure. They already can make alliances with Yellow Book, Yellow Pages, SuperPages, and more. They can already make alliances with celluar providers to provide mobile phone support.

The only question is the physical structure, how to work with utilities and the complexities involved there, and how to build the infrastructure to connect each booth online.

I think everything can be tested out in one place: the Airport!

The airport is the perfect place to build this pilot program. Airport travellers are going to want information quickly and are more likely to have the latest mobile gadgets with them (PDAs, cell phones, iPods, laptops, smartphones, etc.).

Once these tests are concluded - it's a matter of time before we see every city corner with a branded Google Kiosk, Yahoo! Kiosk, MSN Search Kiosk, and more.

A Brave New World!

Re-Launching AK Works Blog

2006-10-25T00:31:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since the last post in July of 2006. It is now October of 2006!

A lot has changed and progressed for Servaunt and for the content of this blog as well. More marketing information to come - more blogs, and soon, links to marketing articles written by me for Servaunt.

And as always, there's new things to learn in Marketing - of which it will be shared with you on this blog!

Stay tuned - new material, new knowledge, and new intelligence to be shared and exposed soon!

Time = Valuable: 10 Seconds & 1 Second to Get to the Point

2006-07-27T09:35:00.000-04:00

Time is Valuable
Your time is valuable - you don't like people to waste it.

Your customers' time is valuable. They don't want you to waste it. If you were selling face to face, you wouldn't dream of being late to your sales appointment, right?

Same thing when it comes to marketing.

Problems of Creating Your Own Ads
Most small business owners create their own ads and marketing collateral. Unfortunately, what most of them do is create ads and collateral that reflect their homespun ways.

The result? A lot of wasted money - and, possibly, frustration at lack of results. Lack of results can be particularly harmful if the business is in a competitive industry.

How can a small business owner create ads that are effective and not waste valuable marketing budgets?

Simple Guidelines for Creating More Effective Ads
Marketing 101 says that you have 30 seconds to capture a person's attention and advertise your product or service.

Take that 101 guideline and toss it out. In this hyper Internet Age, 30 seconds is too long. No one pays attention for 30 seconds.

The new guideline is this:

10 seconds to capture a person's attention via TV commercial or face to face
1 second to capture a person's attention via postcard, flyer, etc.

Sounds scary? It should be. But this is reality. Ad clutter is everywhere. Marketers and advertisers are vying for the newest ways to advertise. In a future post, there will be more discussion on ad clutter.

But, don't cry though - there's hope.

How to Capture Attention & Get to the Point
Getting through ad clutter is the challenge of every marketer. Before you go out and spend your valuable marketing/advertising budget, plan your strategy and message first!

Determine your product and your market - write it down, carve it in stone! You will need to refer back to this.
Write down what message you want to get across - you will need to refer back to this.
Write down what action you want your audience to take - you will need to refer back to this.
Write down why your audience will want to take this action - this is the HOOK!
Put #1-4 together and play with it - look for the hook.
Remember - for face to face, TV, or other active/animated medium, you have about 10 seconds or less to hook them.
Remember - you have 1 to 2 seconds to capture attention by printed flyer, postcard, or other printed material. Bright colors, big images, etc.
Quickly Get to the Point! Use FEW words! Short sentences. Less is better!
Present any information your audience needs to take the action you want: call, visit the website, email, time, date, place, etc.

Planning out your advertising is important for managing your precious marketing budget. As a small business, you need to get more bang for your buck. These 9 steps will guide you to do more homework and planning first - before tapping into your budget.

Myspace Advertising & Promotion: Is It for You?

2006-07-26T09:53:00.000-04:00

If you have been paying attention to the media recently, Myspace has been all the rage. For both good and bad, Myspace has been gaining tremendous exposure.

On one hand, Myspace has been exposed as a vulnerable marketplace for pedophiles. Stories abound about Myspace encounters between pedophiles and children that, in some instances, had tragic results. Here are some dangers with children using Myspace. Also here and here.

On the other hand, Myspace has been tauted by the online marketing and advertising industry as a god-send. In particular, advertisers and marketers salivate over the access to the coveted teen and young twenties crowd. Here and here are examples of the marketing industry's exploration of using Myspace for ads. And of course it helps when Myspace is rated the #1 website in the US.

But the question stands: is Myspace a valid advertising or promotion place for your business?

There are plenty of individuals who use Myspace as a place to promote their business. Many prolific Myspace promoters are MLM/Network Marketers. Others include realtors, loan officers, and other small business entrepreneurs.

The most visible "businesses" are entertainers. Models, musicians, designers, and others able to display their creative work on their profile. In fact Myspace originally was created to help promote indie bands and musicians.

But the interesting thing about Myspace is that many others are starting to use Myspace as well. Politics is one "industry" getting involved with Myspace. Here and here are examples of politics working with Myspace.

Entertainers, aggressive entrepreneurs, and even politicians are using the site. The social network, the social culture and the "Myspace ecosystem" offers appealing numbers and infrastructure.

So, is Myspace for your business? It's really up to you. Do news reports of Myspace as a predator paradise deter you? Or do the benefits of reaching all those users outweigh the risks?

My personal opinion is that unless you fall into an entertainment industry or offer consumer products that the youth demographic REALLY wants (cellphones, clothing, shoes, accessories, etc.) then don't bother.

Cool Businesses: Rubber Side Walks

2006-07-25T22:40:00.000-04:00

This is a new thing I'll be doing on this blog. I call it "Cool Businesses" because I would like to highlight some businesses or sites that really captures my attention, my values, or my imagination.

I'm going to start off with this company called Rubbersidewalks, Inc. I found them through a recent news article.

What the company does is create and market rubber sidewalk panels to replace concrete sidewalks. The rubber sidewalks use recycled car tires. These panels provide a more resilient sidewalk compared to concrete. It is more expensive to install but lasts longer and requires less maintenance than concrete sidewalks.

Like much of what I term "green technology", the costs upfront are higher but long-term savings reduce the lifetime cost of the green technology compared to conventional technology.

These panels lasts better in cold climates between the freeze and thaw temperatures. The softer padding are also said to be better for people's feet and back. I personally would like to run on a stretch of these panels.

But I like the company because it illustrates what is possible with green technology. I am convinced the US MUST take the charge on cutting edge green technology to sustain itself in the future. Eventually, industrialized and developed nations will need to turn to alternative energy and use recycled materials. The US should be at the head of all of that technology and sell it to these nations.

Regardless, I applaud Rubbersidewalks for their work on improving, advancing, and marketing green technology!

Information as a Concierge Service

2006-07-25T21:55:00.000-04:00

Think of the term concierge and you probably think of a hotel, luxury, and at demand service. The term has really grown to encompass the idea of extra customer service.

In the real estate industry, concierge has come to mean a selection of home improvement, home repair, and home maintenance services - usually preferred vendors that homeowners can select or request their realtor to find and provide.

The real estate industry illustrates how concierge can be broadened to mean extra or even premium customer service. Which is to say, service the customer, retain the customer, and kill them with customer service.

Likewise, this idea of extra customer service can be applied to information as well. In a previous post, I talked about the virtues of repetition. In the context of information presentation slash information concierge, repetition can be used to service your customers.

Imagine that your customers (or even prospects) are way too busy to remember all the information you want them to remember. (This is probably also the real life case in 99% of your customers) How do you get your customers to do what you want them to do?

The Answer: Pretend you are an information concierge. Attend to them and send them reminders. Present the information right before their face. Lead your customers (and prospects) to take the action YOU want them to take.

As an example, I recently brokered a deal for a contractor friend. He told me he still needed the forms and agreements signed. I said sure, I'll let the client know - send them everything you just told me in an email and I'll be sure that the client gets it and signs it.

The contractor didn't like that and had a problem with it. He felt that everything was in the contract and that it should have been clear. Eventually, the contractor agreed - but what did the contractor fail to see initially?

He failed to see 2 critical things 1) the client is too busy - and made a quick decision and 2) this was an opportunity to engage his customer - the people who are responsible for cutting the check.

What's the lesson? Information concierge is about realizing and assuming that your customer and prospect is too busy for YOUR details. If you have details that are important - take the iniative!

Information concierge is about engaging your customer. The cost of acquiring a customer is higher than retaining one. So once you've acquired once, why not start off right and keep engaging them?

In the case of my contractor friend, all he needed to do was to send a quick email thanking the client for the business, appreciating the opportunity, and that as a reminder, the forms and agreements must be signed before the project begins.

This interaction would have quickly put the contractor in connection with the customer. It is information as a concierge service.

Remember - Information as a Concierge Service:
1) Assume the customer or prospect is too busy
2) Present the important information in a way to LEAD the customer to take the action you want them to take
3) Present the information so that the customer doesn't have to think
4) Engage and engage and engage your customer
5) Repeat yourself and do not hesistate to repeat yourself

Using Repetition for Branding Recall & SEO

2006-07-25T15:30:00.000-04:00

Pay attention to the next radio commercial. When they read off a phone number, how many times is it repeated? Now repeat this experiment a few more times and note the repetition pattern.

I personally find radio commercials repeat 3 times. I also find that TV commercials will repeat as well - though in varying ways from radio commercials (naturally - different medium).

Now, one might think radio and commercial are different mediums - but what does that have to do with Internet and SEO?

Well - in years past, SEO was achieved with endless, mindless repetition. Such practice is called keyword stuffing and known to be useless in the major search engines. But, repetition is still important, even in SEO.

When an engine evaluates what your webpage and website is about, it requires enough repetition to understand what your main subject is about. When you do keyword analysis over whether the page you are optimizing is optimized enough, keyword repetition is one of the analysis factors.

So, remember to incorporate repetition into your marketing. Don't repeat slogans or taglines that you think are cute. Repeat ideas, topics, subjects, key points that you want your audience to take away.

Make sure you build repetition and consistent repetition in your website, in your brochures, and throughout all of your marketing material.

Repetitions include text and visual repetitions. Image placement, certain colors, select designs, and others that are part of your marketing should be repeated.

Don't over do the repetition - but don't forget it!

Resources: Updated Free Press Release Websites

2006-07-12T14:21:00.000-04:00

Last year, I created a post about free press release sites that lets you submit press releases for free. Many are still free, but some on that list have changed.

Also, free is "free". The ones listed here are free, although you are encouraged to pay for additional services for greater exposure. Is that a good thing? It depends on your goal, the actual newsworthiness of your press release, and of course, your budget!

Try these following sites that I've used with success:

Also, here is a good post from SERountable about the challenges of getting into Google News.

Church Marketing and CRM

2006-06-21T12:09:00.000-04:00

I've been personally espousing the importance of Church Marketing and CRM and apparently, I'm not the only one pushing the importance of Church CRM.

This news came to my attention recently about a new independent marketing consultancy focused on CRM services to churches and other faith-based organizations.

Servaunt recently launched Church CRM services and are planning to develop a more customized, scalable application for ChurchCRM.

Why Church CRM?
Why should a church have a CRM system? CRM is designed to combine lead management and customer service into one application. It centralizes all of this interaction based upon relationship contact with each account.

The members of a church are very much like an account. Members join and fall away. Some stay active and some don't. One of the keys having a strong church is active members, serving in ministry, and caring about the health of the church. Conversely, one of the keys to a dying ministry is apathy.

A CRM allows the ministry to actively engage, track, and manage the relationship between the member and the ministry. This systemmatic approach to church membership management is an important step to building and maintaining a vibrant and healthy ministry.

Back in Full Swing

2006-06-21T11:35:00.000-04:00

AK Works has been silent for nearly a month as news and other developments have piled up at Servaunt.

A new launch of the Servaunt website is in the works as are relaunches of U.N.I Haire Care, the BCBPA, and many more.

Servaunt will also be launching several new website properties as well and have expanded offerings for startup websites, CRM deployment, realtor marketing, and church marketing.

Stay tuned for these developments. Now on to some News and useful information!

Looking for a Marriage of SEO Analytics and CRM

2006-05-15T12:32:00.000-04:00

In a previous post, I talked about SEO and CRM as something that small businesses need to take into consideration.

From an SEO point of view, this seems like a logical next step as part of a rounded service for our customers. There are some SEOs who believe their job is strictly boosting a website's search engine rankings. And in fact, there are customers who consider SEOs to be just that - and measure SEOs based on promises of ranking performance.

But other SEOs take a more holistic approach. They believe SEO requires more and should be measured by factors such as search engine visibility, conversion rates, and more.

The problem, however, is not in the ability of SEOs to measure their results, but in the ability of clients to quickly see the results themselves.

I've worked with clients who had CRM and SEOs work on their sites. Some clients with CRM question what they are paying for because they don't "see any results." Others who work with SEOs claim the same thing.

Yet even after a detailed report analyzing the results - many are disappointed. Primarily because their own expectations weren't met (everyone seems to believe they'll be the exception and strike it rich).

This leads me to believe that a CRM system that incorporates SEO analytics to datamine an SEO campaign is necessary. Current CRM systems allow for marketing campaign analysis and datamining - but nothing that is particular to SEO or even PPC. Hopefully, the next evolution in CRM is incorporating that analysis into a marketing campaign - particularly as SEO continues to grow into a critical element in a marketing mix.

Church CRM

2006-05-12T00:36:00.000-04:00

In developing the website and marketing strategies of the ministries that Servaunt is involved in, we have come to the conclusion that CRM has a lot of usefulness in ministries. Little did we know that we are not the only ones who came to the same conclusion.

Creflo Dollar's World Changers was recently highlighted in the December 2005 issue of Baseline magazine for having a CRM system in place - along with a ton of other technology - that help manage the megachurch's 25,000 members.

A media, marketing, and promotions conference targeting churches and ministries has a workshop on Microsoft CRM.

While I have a personal problem with the way "church marketing" is presented, I find that a CRM system is very useful for ministries.

Since a ministry is really about personal relationships, a CRM system is perfect for a ministry to manage existing members, supporters, and prospective members.

A CRM allows a ministry to track the relationship with a prospect from start to finish. From the initial contact to the point the prospect joins the ministry to the management of the ongoing relationship, the CRM tracks the entire process.

What that does is allow the ministry to methodically and systematically track the relationship from start to finish. Areas in the relationship to work on can be pinpointed and adjustments, improvements, or intervention can be made.

With specific customization, a CRM can also be used in true relationship management for purposes of law firms, doctors, psychologists, counselors, and even schools.

The reason why a general CRM is better than specific systems out there for the above industries is because there free, open-source CRM available. One popular open-source CRM is SugarCRM.

An affordable CRM system will help businesses, churches, ministries, and other manage relationships better. And in today's changing environment, it appears relationships are more important than ever before.

Silence of the Lambs

2006-05-11T13:40:00.000-04:00

Well it's been a few days since the last post. A lot of developments at Servaunt so the "inside scoop" is here at AK Works! Actually, this post was originally set for release on May 4. Today is May 11 - one week later!

We've been hard at work building a new site for an up and coming music ministry. They are set for a single release in the next month and a CD release in September 2006. Servaunt is busy building the website, the interactive marketing, and also filming and producing the online documentaries or "webumentaries" for this project (thank you George Lucas for the idea!). They are called Kevin Jarido and Nu Virtu and they are being set for release this year!

Also, we are busy with a large presentation on websites, online communication, and CRM systems for pastors and churches. This has lead increasingly to more ministry website and communication technology involvement.

We are also busy launching Phase II of the BCBPA website. This project is set to incorporate CRM into the ministry to help manage members, prospective members, and manage the accountability system via cases in the CRM.

A final set of projects coming up is a presentation on website design for a hair salon marketing consultant and presentations to several PR, web design, and marketing agencies to develop channel marketing partnerships.

We have our work cut out for us! As I said before - time flies in business. If you do not have your business plan for 2007 at least 50% by now, you are behind!

True Church Marketing: See a Need, Fill a Need?

2006-04-29T03:13:00.000-04:00

True Church Marketing?
To me, true Church Marketing is really communicating the works of God. God is not mocked and He does not need an advertising campaign or a marketing campaign to show himself. But, He does need the faithful to follow His commands on evangelizing and "marketing" the Gospel.

In other words, the product is already there. The product - the Gospel, the works of God - is already there. Church Marketing is really letting the product speak for itself.

God's Way: See a Need, Fill a Need
I think the best Church Marketing is really following a simple Godly principle (which is also a great business and marketing principle): see a need, fill a need.

I watched the movie Robots recently and one scene really stood out to me. It was when Rodney Copperbottom, the main character, went to the big city to find his dream job. He lands in a decripit neighborhood where all these other robots are in need of repair but can't find parts because the main company stopped making them.

Rodney begins fixing some of the robots, and before long, the entire neighborhood is coming to him to fix them.

This situation has church parallels: seeing a need a filling it. Some of today's big corporations began in similar fashion by seeing a need and filling it. To me, that's true Church Marketing.

"Church Marketing" Sucks

2006-04-29T02:29:00.000-04:00

I have a problem with "Church Marketing" and I personally think there is a danger with Church Marketing. It is not the idea of Church Marketing that bothers me. It is the practice of Church Marketing.

Is This Church Marketing: Church Ads on Cable?
The United Church of Christ is making a big push this year on cable networks. I've seen plenty of UCC commercials and "sponsored by" ads on cable programming. They even have some beautiful websites to support their campaign (here and here). I think the message is beautiful.

But, I am left thinking: is that what the church does with the money that is given to it? Even as a believer I wonder if this is the best use of resources. And I wonder how does this come off to unbelievers?

This is why I have a problem with Church Marketing. In my opinion, the purpose of church marketing is to communicate the Gospel in a better and more effective way. But that way does not mean resorting to the same carnal methods of the world.

I like Churchmarketingsucks.com and Heal Your Church Website. These two are among others that address Church Marketing, web design, and marketing communication. Sometimes they have critical thinking that is very analytical, thought-provoking, or on-point with Church Marketing.

SEO & Marketing: First Page or Bust - Why is it so?

2006-04-28T12:09:00.000-04:00

SEO & Marketing: You Need to Be Visible for the First 3 Search Pages
This article from eMarketer may not last for too long, but the research from iProspect's "Search Engine User Behavior Study" should last for a while.

Now first page or bust is not really surprising. Every marketer and website business owner knows that first page listings, especially in the top 3 rankings are ideal.

Numerous research like iProscpect, Hitwise, and many others show both surprising and unsurprising search behavior. And almost all research show that users lose interest after the first three pages.

But this study quantifies why search users lose interest past 2 or 3 pages.

Why Do Searchers Lose Interest?
The reason most searchers lost interest after 3 pages is their confidence in the search results.

What I observe when I am searching for something is that results can tend to be "irrelevant". For example, I may start on a search for "teleradiology" and my intentions are to find out more about the business of teleradiology. My results show medical information about teleradiogy which is not what I want. But as I progress from #1 to #10 and from page 1 to page 2, the results are going to be similar.

After 1 or 2 pages, I conclude that the results are not what I want. I lose confidence in the search results and I stop searching deeper.

Of course, I make this conclusion and decision within 5 minutes of reading and scanning the results.

Where Do They Go After 3 Pages?
I think searchers do one of two things:

type a more refined search query
go to another search engine using the same query

This is backed up by the research. According to the research, users who don't find what they are searching for:

41% change either the search query or the search engine after failed 1st page results
88% change either the search query or the search engine after failed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd page results
82% use the same engine but refine search queries with more terms.

Basically, either the searcher will refine the search query more (more words) or the searcher will try Yahoo or MSN.

Going Beyond the Top 3 Page Scare
The ramifications of the study show that it's important to be in the top 3 pages of search results.

But, digging deeper and understanding the searcher further is more important. You must be in the top 3 results for targeted searchers. That is, you must aim to be in the top 3 pages of search results that bring in the type of searchers that want your services or your products.

Sometimes that means highly refined niche searches. And remember, niche searches can generate higher conversions for lower volume.

Having Fun with Business Titles

2006-04-28T02:20:00.000-04:00

Well a previous rant about business titles has got me just going on and on for no reason. Probably the absurdity of it has me amused. And also probably cause it's so late at night.

My business partner has "Chief Technical Officer" as his title instead of the more standard business title of "Chief Technology Officer".

But in my state of....well....my state of "je ne sais quoi", I see it as "Chief Tactical Officer". Now I'm the Chief Marketing Officer and again, in my state of "I don't know what", I see it as Chief Mobilization Officer.

See, ever since my days with the boy scouts, I've had a somewhat paramility fetish. And to me Marketing, has some military language that tickles me.

And with Garden Storm and War Room on my mind - following the whole German name to it (how much more "military" can you get than using German names?) - I decided to just get creative:

der Sturmgarten
das Kriegzimmer
der Oberstermarketingfuhrer (the proper term is "Oberhauptmarketingoffizier") - Chief Marketing Officer, or Leader
der Oberstertechnologiefuhrer (the proper term is "Technischer Direktor") - Chief Technology Officer, or Leader
Oberster Befehlshaber der Gesellschaft - Chief Executive Officer
Marketingsturmtruppen - Sales Reps

Anyway, that was fun - silly but fun. Here's a great site for simple language translations.

Business TV Shows and the Entrepreneur Channel

2006-04-27T23:52:00.000-04:00

I watched the History Channel tonight and saw a show on the history of Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. I mean it traced the history and the Cola Wars, it delved into the marketing, the advertising, the strategy, everything.

It occurred to me that programming like this can provide invaluable business education, but it doesn't seem to be prevalent enough.

There really should be a bundle of Business Cable Channels. One channel should be for new entrepreneurs oriented towards celebrating the stories of entrepreneurial success. Startups and entrepreneurs need encouraging stories to help them keep their dreams and visions alive. A history of established companies like Coca-Cola and Nike can be inspirational. Reality TV shows like The Apprentice can be both encouraging and educational - as espoused in a previous post.

Another channel should be geared towards the more established entrepreneur. The programming would include information on accounting, finance, management, organizational management, legal matters, and marketing. The shows would be more appropriate for entrepreneurs managing a business instead of starting one up.

And a final channel should be geared towards general business. Stories, news, and critical analysis of economics, financial markets, how to invest, building portfolio, analyzing news events, and politics.

As the cable channel package grows, maybe more specialized channels like the Marketing Channel, the Management Channel, and more can be added.

I would love to see more of this kind of educational and inspirational television available. Channels like The Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and TBN are wholesome, educational, inspirational, and spiritual. To me, that's a good thing for everyone.

Website Copyrights, Who Owns?

2006-04-27T09:40:00.000-04:00

One company I work with recently had a client who actually followed through with copyrighting their content. The problem this time though was that the client spoke with the company's VP of Marketing who is a complete dope. I mean seriously - a dope (he insisted that link farming was something he wanted to get involved with despite all the resources I threw at him telling him it's bad)!

Now what the VP did was to tell the client that the company can just copy the website files and send it to them. The website files - meaning all coding, source files, and everything.

Now, I had a problem with that because content copy is one thing - but coding is another. That client's site had some proprietary tracking code from me and I was not going to allow that client to copyright any of my code.

Of course, all of this can be avoided simply by addressing copyrights in the contract. This brings to mind just how protective do you get about your intellectual property? If you are the client, do you protect your website copy? If you are the designer, what do you protect? And if you are the SEO and client provides the content, what rights do you have, if any?

While Servaunt has incorporated measures like this in our contracts, I'll still be keeping a close watch on all of this copyrighting and intellectual property issue.

Market Your Knowledge & Say Something

2006-04-27T09:02:00.000-04:00

One client I am working with is a carpet business who sells online exclusively. He has a site up and is hurting for traffic so he wanted SEO help.

Of course, first things first, I had to get over the fact that his business and his website was not at all built to be entirely online. In other words, his site had poor design, no conversion metrics, poor navigation, and very poor data capture.

Moving beyond that, the website's content was miniscule. This was going to be a factor in both SEO and marketing. I asked the client one big question: "What makes you more attractive than Empire?"

He immediately had a lot to say and when he was finished, I asked him, "Where is all this on the website?"

Market Your Knowledge for SEO and Marketing
The client's website had virtually no content so any searcher that lands on the site had no reason to convert into a lead. Just because the front page says "Free Consultation" doesn't mean the searcher is interested. In fact, the searcher probably expects a free consultation.

What's going to be the difference maker? The searcher should feel confident that you know what you are talking about. The searcher should perceive that you know what you are talking about. And if you know what you are talking about, you will probably service them well.

Put Your Knowledge on Your Website
Put your knowledge on your website now. Don't naively wait for the prospect to contact you then you tell him all that you know. Close the prospect now by showing him you know what you're talking about. Put your knowledge out there and give the prospect confidence in you and your expertise.

SEO for Impulse Buys & Niche Markets

2006-04-27T01:46:00.000-04:00

SEO for Impulse Buys & Niche Markets for More Sales

Every once in a while, I get impulsive buy urges. Chocolate fountains, peacock feathers, business card cases, and even wax seals.

I am one of those consumers who likes to research before I buy - just so I can compare apples to apples. I am amazed at the kinds of research I can gather just by conducting a random search like "wax seals" or "peacock feathers". Where do I go to search? Search engines of course!

My impulse buy journey leads to SEO.

Is your website optimized for such impulse niche market searches? An SEO campaign is supposed to target specific searches. A more targeted search term should bring more targeted traffic ready to convert into a sale.

When prospects come to me and bemoan that they do not have hits, one of the things I look for are niche SEO opportunities. Any opportunity where niche searches can be served is included in my analysis and proposal.

Optimizing your website for niche products and services can help you be more visible, open up new areas for marketing expansion, and ultimately, get more sales.

SEO & CRM

2006-04-27T01:43:00.000-04:00

SEO and CRM do not seem to be topics discussed together by many SEO firms or SEO experts. That's probably because CRM is usually beyond what SEOs focus on or offer.

CRM stands for "customer relationship management". It is a software that allows a company to manage leads from start to close and to manage the continual relationship with that customer. CRM is inline with BI - business intelligence software.

But I find it important for small companies working on SEO to have a bigger competitive edge than just SEO. CRM is the backbone for companies to manage the sales process and the ongoing customer relationship.

Here is a good CRM blog with blogrolls to many other CRM blogs and CRM websites.

Servaunt takes CRM seriously as a way for small businesses to be competitive. Open Source CRMs like SugarCRM help make it more affordable for small businesses to have a CRM system.

For small businesses, being competitive with the big boys means providing your customers with excellent service and quality - beyond that which your bigger competitors can offer. So, for small businesses that want to be more competitive, CRM and SEO may be the best combo choice.

Storm Garden, War Rooms and Bizarre Business Nomenclature

2006-04-26T18:45:00.000-04:00

One company I work with has this VP of Marketing that likes to make up words. On his office door, he has a sign that says "Garden Storm" and "War Room".

Every time I see it I think of the "stormtroopers". Not the Star Wars Stormtroopers but the Nazi ones. So for me, "Garden Storm" becomes "Sturmgarten" and "War Room" becomes "das Kriegszimmer" (German is a cool language).

Another company I work with has names like "Client Service Manager" and "Customer Advocate" to really mean "customer service" and "project manager".

Creative Titles From the Dotcom Bubble Burst
I think back to the heyday of the Dotcom Bubble when companies had all kinds of crazy titles. I recall that for an early company I started (called Everything's Fun), I created the title of "Net Director" meaning the CTO. I put that name down on a business plan and folks went crazy for it.

Silicon Valley had bizarre names like "Evangelist", "Guru", and other names. Looking back at it, they all sound so dumb and silly. This website has some dotcom goofups. The site is dumb now - post dotcom bubble burst, but the archives dating back to '99, '00, and '01 are good.

Be Efficient - Speak Business Language
For me, at some point, these names are all pointless. Action speaks louder than words - and adequately descriptive titles are, well adequate.

Creativity is great - but business is business and communication is communication. Speaking the same business language lets us all focus on the task at hand - not the frivolous worthless titles. Communication and execution is the most important thing in business.

Choose Marketable, Brandable Domain Names

2006-04-26T16:39:00.000-04:00

Your website domain name is very important. By now, most people know this - but they may not understand this.

Your website domain name is a marketing tool. Not in terms of SEO (although there are some perceived benefits), but in terms of recall and recognition.

Marqui domain names do not have numbers in them and are short enough to remember and spell easily. Domains that contain numbers, unless it is part of the company name like "Pizza 2 Go" (hence www.pizza2go.com), then numbers in domains do not belong.

Now, you might say, but what if all the good domains are taken? For example, say local carpet retailer Carpet Seller wants a domain. Let's say the domain www.carpetseller.com is taken - but www.carpetseller1.com is not. Should Carpet Seller take it? The wise marketing answer is NO!

Domain Names to Avoid
Avoid domain names that:

are long and hard to remember: Ex. www.haveanotherbeeronmetogo.com is bad
are long and full of dashes: Ex. www.take-my-wife-please.com (these are hard to remember and also typically the type of domains used by spammy sites - very poor form)
uses numbers when no numbers are in the company name: Ex. Carpet Seller = www.carpetseller1.com (this is bad)

How Do You Choose Good, Marketable Domains?
Look harder, look deeper! Remember your domain name is a marketing tool. How easily will you be remembered? Try this: Monster.com....GoDaddy.com.

By themselves, the domains mean very little. Combined with the offline marketing they have, they are pretty recognizable.

You might say but those are big companies! Well, yes, but are you special or just average? If you are special, don't you want a brandable name that is easy to recall? Do you want to be Monster.com or AnotherJobSite.com? Or maybe you want to be Jobs4u.com?

Think about what's easier to remember - what rolls off the tongue more? Be creative while practical with your domain name.

Educational Business-Oriented TV Shows

2006-04-26T01:41:00.000-04:00

On PBS there used to be some great educational TV shows about entrepreneurs. But they seemed to have disappeared from PBS' programming.

Yet the success of The Apprentice doesn't seem to have brought on other business TV show copycats. Why?

I would love to see an American Chopper like educational-reality TV show about entrepreneurs, about starting a business.

Several years ago, I watched a documentary called "Startup.com" about a startup during the waning days of the dotcom bubble before it burst. It came out in 2001 - when the bubble burst, so it was apt. Now, while it showed failure, post dotcom burst and post The Apprentice success, this type of programming should be resurrected.

If network TV is willing to dump Survivor copies and milk it for so long, why not attempt something more educational and copy The Apprentice?

Oh, and NO - The Benefactor does not count! Nothing against Mark Cuban - but the show sucked.

But I think the Discovery Channel's model of educational, entertaining reality TV vis a vis American Chopper, Monster House - and the other copycats like Trading Spaces and others - are ripe for a business-oriented TV show.

Also, the Food Network did some specials that showed the start of chef services, Bobby Flay's restaurant opening, and so much more.

I think more of these types of shows should be produced. Any takers?

Entrepreneur Tip: Learn to Love Networking

2006-04-26T01:26:00.000-04:00

I love to network. I love meeting new people. It's fun to me. Plus I am genuinely interested in entrepreneurs' business ideas.

I find it odd for any entrepreneur not willing to network with other people. Some feel that networking is "brown-nosing". Others have a problem with networking if they cannot find "buyers".

Such attitudes are a shame because networking is not about selling or kissing butt. Networking is about meeting new people and building relationships.

Network for Relationships, Not Sales or Butt Kissing
New entrepreneurs especially need to rely on networking to start building up a strong base. Where you network is important, of course. If you offers products or services to businesses, networking with other entrepreneurs and business owners is important. If you are a retail business, networking may help you get into a relationship with other businesses that can help you grow.

In the case of Servaunt, for example, we are able to build flexible pricing in order to help startup retailers. We can do this for those we network and have relationship with.

Scared to Network?
Of course another reason people don't like networking is because they are afraid to. They may also be afraid to sell. They may also be afraid of rejection. This a handicap since everything in business is relationship and communication. In short - get over it!

Positive Networking Experience
I think the key to networking is to enjoy meeting new people and hear about their businesses. You never know who you meet. Never have any expectation of kissing butt or "getting a sale". Like the church experience, no one goes to networking to be "sold". They are, in fact, there to meet people and promote what THEY do.

Places to Network
There are a few places to network. The first place to start is your local chamber of commerce. If you are in the Philadelphia-South NJ area, check out:

MinorityPROS - this online directory holds annual networking events in Philadelphia
BCBPA - this is my church's business ministry and holds monthly networking events
Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce - name says it all; networking events listed
Cherry Hill Chamber of Commerce - Cherry Hill, NJ; holds events & networking lunches
Christian Chamber of Commerce - a Christian organization; holds monthly networking events

Of course this list, just for the Philadelphia region, is not complete - but it's a start. Check them out.

Protect Your Domain Names, Linking, and SEO

2006-04-25T16:51:00.000-04:00

My church is working with a firm to help propel the ministry more globally with media and all that jazz to spread the Gospel.

While I love it and pray that it goes well, as an interactive marketing and SEO consultant, one of the things they are doing has me inflamed. Well, I was inflamed but settled down by now - after all, it isn't my call.

But the thing this company wanted to do was to suddenly change the church website's domain. Now mind you, this domain has been around for about 10 years and has already been on TV and radio for at least 3 years. It's an old domain with a lot of good inbound links. Yahoo and MSN both register the site with 121-129 backlinks - pretty good - especially for a church. And links from TBN and other media sites certainly help.

The plan is to turn this perfectly good domain into something else. No redirect, nothing. So in other words, the domain would be hijacked for another project. The church will be pushed to another domain, loose all inbound links, start from scratch, and lose referral traffic as well.

To me, it's like that scene in Sideways with Paul Giamatti and Thomas Church: Paul is talking about the intricacies of the wine's flavor and Thomas just swigs the wine down and says, what's next? Neanderthalish!

Lesson for you? Protect your domain - especially if it's been around for awhile and has good backlinks! This is valuable for SEO!

Entrepreneur Tip: Learn to Write Well

2006-04-25T09:49:00.000-04:00

Writing is important. There is no greater turnoff than a marketing collateral that has simple misspellings or wrong grammar like "they're, their, and there" or "you're, your" and so on. But even beyond that, good professional writing is important.

A prospect recently asked me to evaluate her website. As I reviewed her site, it was clear that the writer was not professional. The voice was clearly biased, there was no third-party view, and it was clear that the writer did not understand the audience.

The site was designed for an annual event but had very little content about the event itself. But the thing that caught my eye was the management team's bio. Each bio was like a self-glorified homage to themselves.

As an entrepreneur (and in SEO copywriting), it is important to know your voice, the purpose of what you're writing, and who you are writing to. No one should write like Norm Chomsky, Dave Barry, or Kurt Vonnegut. No one should write like a text book or law book.

What you should do is write professional copy. Decide if you need to speak directly to your reader or not. Establish these things as you write your copy and always, proof and proof again before launching on a website!

Are You Ready for Influx of Leads?

2006-04-25T02:11:00.000-04:00

Does Your Company Have the Infrastructure for Sales Growth?
One of the key things I do first when speaking to an SEO or marketing prospect is to find out what their goals are. This usually helps me to establish performance criteria and also to see what they are thinking.

A common request is to increase leads. After all, they want to make sales. Some get caught up with hearing about all of the marketing technology that can potentially draw leads. Some are able to spend the money. Others are not.

But one of the factors not a single one of them think about at this early stage is, do they have the infrastructure to handle the leads?

Your Company Sales Machine
Getting leads is only part of the battle. In fact, it's darn near establishing the beachhead - as we continue with the war illustration.

Getting leads only gets your foot at the door. Then there is lead qualification. What constitutes a lead?

In managed PPC campaigns, this is an important consideration and is integral in outsourced PPC management because the client is paying for results. But in a general marketing campaign, where communication is the key, this lead qualification step can be overlooked, mistakenly.

Now that you have quality leads, are you able to follow up? If you are handling 2 leads a day, are you able to handle 5 leads a day? Or are you able to handle 10-15 leads a day?

If you don't have the sales machine in place - the sales infrastructure to follow up on leads, nurse the leads, and close those leads - then your first step may not be marketing. You may need to build your internal staffing and lead management system.

A CRM system is one solution, but you should also clearly define your sales process. It may seem like a strange thing to do but knowing your own process helps you to keep track of your sales performance by more than just "hitting the numbers".

When you start in sales, like in the mortgage industry, you are told that it takes about 100 cold calls to take about 2 or 3 loan applications day (*these are based on my personal experience, not industry). It then takes about 10 apps to close a loan. Therefore, at least 100 calls day must be made.

Well, no company can give such instructions unless they have a sales process and have analyzed sales performance in such detail.

As an entrepreneur, you must commit more time to the details in order to be competitive with your bigger, older rivals.

Before you begin a quest for more leads, build your sales infrastructure first to be sure you'll be able to handle the influx of leads.

New Beginnings for AK Works the Blog

2006-04-24T07:29:00.000-04:00

Looking back on the last few entries, it has been several months since the last blog update. This is a new beginning for this blog as more topics are explored, more musings are ruminated, and industry news are discussed.

Since the posts seem kinda long, many of the posts will be expanded into articles that will be published on Servaunt. I will probably also distribute them through article submission sites.

Some topics will be explored into full books. Realtor marketing is one such planned book. Others are in the works and will follow.

One of my plans is to write a whole series of books focused on a particular industry. The book would detail how a hair stylist, for example, can maximize the use of a website to better market, capture data, and develop the business.

Much like how I wrote about the selling in the church, these books would help would-be entrepreneurs get into the right mindset and push their business thinking to another level.

Ultimately, I pray these books become a blessing to many who read them.

Entrepreneur Tip: Selling in Churches & The Wrong Approach

2006-04-23T22:55:00.000-04:00

How many churches hold fundraiser events that allow vendors to set up shop? Are you an entrepreneur starting a new business or already have a part-time business? Have you ever set up shop at church events?

My church has a lot of ministries and holds a lot of events. With nearly 25,000 members, it's important to have a strong variety of ministries to support the specialized needs and interests of a lot of people.

Recently, my church held a fashion show fundraiser for one of the ministries. It's not the first time they did an event like this. A little while back they did a bridal show as well.

Each time there's an opportunity for vendors to have a table, help offset the cost of the fundraiser, and basically, give the vendors a chance to be connected to the event.

I was in the fashion show recently and afterwards, I made my way through all the vendors to network with them. Speaking to each vendor, I would ask them about their business, how long they've been in business, and if they have business cards.

I asked each one of them how things are going and each time I got the same reply: "didn't sell anything" or "didn't sell as much as we wanted."

Now mind you, I do this at all of the church events that welcome vendors and each time, I get almost all of the same responses. This leads me to wonder - just what did people expect?

Wrong Attitude, Wrong Approach
I think many of the vendors are church members with their own part-time business and decided that this would be a great opportunity for them to make some sales. But that's the problem: it's the wrong attitude and the wrong approach.

Their commercial presence is additional to the main event - the church fundraiser. In the case of the fashion show, the vendors who offered clothing, jewelry, makeup, and other products add to the presence of the event. But the main event is still the fashion show - not them.

Their attitude and approach to the event was placed on sales not marketing. They did not comprehend the value of event presence as part of their strategic marketing mix.

Don't Base Your Business on Sales in Church Events
One of the biggest failures of these businesses is counting on sales from these church events. No business should ever count on sales from vending opportunities in church events. This is because there are more efficient and cost-effective sales mediums.

A church flea market will never replace a commercial flea market. A church flea market is limited to the marketing it can produce to attract buyers. A commercial flea market is far more robust in the marketing to attract consumers.

Any vending opportunities in churches are only an additional opportunity to market the business, not an additional place to sell.

Real selling opportunities to grow a part-time business are through e-commerce, advertising, SEO, PPC, classifieds, flea markets, word-of-mouth, eBay and other online auctions, and even price-comparison shopping portals. These mediums are designed for sales and what a business should focus on if the intended goals are for sales.

Marketing & Data Capture Is the Ojective - Not Sales
This comprehension failure caused the vendors to fail in several critical points of marketing:

lack of marketing collateral
no business cards
no data capture

At such events, it is absolutely critical to have marketing material and to capture data. Just because someone is not interested in buying a product does not mean that you cannot capture their information for future marketing.

One of the vendors was a Mary Kay consultant who had a Mother's Day promotional basket. She asked people to sign up for a chance to win. They not only asked women to sign up, but men as well. The information they captured included name, email, address, and phone number. This was definitely the right way to maximize their vending experience.

It is absolutely critical to have marketing material like catalogs to give away. Business cards are also important because that allows you to give prospects direct access to you. And data capture is very important. You should have a prospect card, a prospect sheet, or a notepad for interested people to signup.

Capturing their data for the purpose of building a relationship can be better than making that quick sale. That quick sale may be that one and only sale. But building a relationship may create a repeat customer - which is more valuable than a 1 time sale.

Reflection: Time Passes Fast for Businesses

2006-04-22T03:15:00.000-04:00

When it was January 2006, one of board members of the BCBPA, my church's business ministry, told everyone at a networking event that anyone without a business plan by the end of January or February is late and has lost 2006.

I agreed with him then, and I still agree with him today. Yet it still astounds me how fast time flies. It is now April 22, 2006. In business, we are already in May and planning for June.

And of course, there is NEVER enough time in the day. Even running on 5 hours of sleep daily, it is incredibly difficult to get all that you need or want to get done - done!

Experienced managers and enterpreneurs say the only way to do it all is to set your day with tasks and not stop working until you get them done.

But, that still does not make it any easier when you realize that in business, when you reach May, you are in June and when you reach June you are really already in July and August - and so on.

I guess it puts a different spin on "When you're early, you're on time. When you're on time, you're late. When you're late, you're dead."

Marketing Consumer Ownership Customization

2006-04-22T02:23:00.000-04:00

While marketers may be shying away from advertising on Myspace because of some quality control issues and legal incidents from Myspace users, there are still companies out there that put up Myspace profiles.

It seems to them that the ability to network with others is a big draw and small enough risk to continue pursuing marketing themselves via Myspace.

But to me, one of the most revealing things is how Myspace users love to customize their profiles. An entire cottage industry has developed where Myspace tools like profile editors, profile templates, and more are available.

What I see is a a maturing and defining trend from the teen to 30-something demographic. I call this "consumer ownership customization".

Consumer Ownership Customization
I don't even know if this term means anything really. I just call it that to describe the trend or demographic characteristic that I observe.

This characteristic I first observed with cellphones 3 years ago. Now, that was just me. Cellphone customization had already taken off several years before 2003.

But the characteristic is the same nonetheless. It seems this demographic age group likes to personalize the stuff that they own. This kind of individualism seems far more prevalent in teens. Of course, it makes sense because teens are in a stage of developing into their own selves. Yet this individualism is carried over into adulthood.

Marketing to Individualism, Customization, Ownership
The automotive industry has long understood the importance of marketing to individualism. Not only do manufacturers offer different options for each model to consumers, an entire automotive secondary market lets consumers customize their

The wireless industry and the secondary market also understand the importance of marketing to individualism. The secondary industries offer new cellphone covers, custom ringtones that sound like real songs, color-rich cellphone wallpapers, and more.

Myspace, Instant Messenger, and Why This is Important
Why is this topic important? This demographic is accustomed to personalization, individualism, and customization. As this demographic matures as consumers, how they receive marketing messages, how they buy, and how they govern their consumer loyalty, will be affected by what they are accustomed to now.

This demographic is exposed to a LOT of personalization and customization. Shows like MTV's "Pimp My Ride" or "Trading Spaces" glorify personalization of owned goods. While personalization of cars and homes do not seem like a revelation, I believe there is a cumulative effect that has ramification with communicating to this demographic.

Entertainment, movies, and artists offer media downloads as part of their promotion mix. Computer desktop wallpapers, AIM buddy icons, and other media downloads are almost an integral part of the marketing mix. All of these things are meant for branding via customization and personalization.

The cumulative effect of this demographic, accustomed to readily customize and personalize their property will affect how they receive marketing messages.

Marketing in the Future
I believe this warrants closer scrutiny and your own personal investigation. Many available marketing research may not have the full data - or the right data.

I believe observing and even immersing in youth-oriented marketing is important for preparing for the future marketing communications paradigm that is already developing.

SEO for Your Name

2006-04-21T23:45:00.000-04:00

Are you visible for your name? Can you find your business website searching in Google, Yahoo, or MSN?

One of the familiar stories I hear from SEO prospects and clients is that they cannot find their sites when they search for their name. An even worse case is when they promote themselves and their prospects do a search for their name and cannot find them.

One client we are doing work for recently discovered this problem. He is a new Christian artist making a public launch of his music ministry. What he found as he promoted his ministry was that people would go and search for his name or his ministry's name in the search engines. They get excited about what they hear and try to find him online.

This is a revelation because in today's business environment, not only must you have a website to be taken seriously, you must be visible. This is what Servaunt means when we say "be seen, be visible".

Businesses with Existing Websites
For businesses with existing websites, one of the first and most important terms to be seen and be visible for is your business name. But this is not as easy as it seems.

If your company is First Choice Realty, for example, your name is not particularly unique. Many other realtors can easily use "First Choice Realty". This means being visible for "First Choice Realty" in a giant Internet world is not easy.

To be visible for a "common" name like "first choice", you must put significant effort to SEO your site. You should treat it like another SEO keyword.

On the other hand, if your business name is unique like "Servaunt", then you may be able to put in less effort.

New Businesses with No Websites
For new businesses with no websites, plan your website out before you launch. Think about the importance of visibility for your business name. Follow proper search engine optimization methods and techniques.

If your business name qualifies as "common", be sure to plan for significant optimization of your website for your business name.

If your business name is "unique", be sure to optimize the site for your name. However, you may not need to work as hard on that effort with an unique business name.

Marketing and Branding, the Ultimate Purpose
Keep in mind that the ultimate purpose for this exercise is to be visible when you conduct offline marketing. Whether you are personally conducting the offline marketing or a friend or associate is doing it for you, as long as you are being promoted offline, you want to be prepared to be found online.

This is the reality of the modern business world and the modern consumer. No matter what your industry is, if you are promoting a business online, a website helps establish your legitimacy. But your website must be visible in the search engines, especially for your name.

A New Website Launched

2006-01-31T22:06:00.000-05:00

We recently launched a new website and search engine optimization project through a joint-contract with another SEO.

The project is BeatingTrafficTicket.com. The website - the company behind the website actually - offers a legal way to beat a speeding ticket in court.

How? Apparently, they offer a downloadable ebook or zip file filled with legal research, case precedence, past rulings, and even a court script to guide you through the entire process.

Does this work? My research found that there are a lot of the myths surrounding beating speeding tickets - and this system seems to NOT follow those myths. One speeding ticket myth was something a friend once emailed me. The myth is if you overpay your speeding ticket, the courts can't complete the accounting and therefore, your points don't go up.

Upon further investigation, and if you think about it long enough, that's a really dumb idea. I mean, if you think about it, once a judge rules against you in a speeding ticket case, then the ruling stands and it's entered into the record. An insurance company doesn't need to know whether you paid your ticket or not. It just needs to know whether you were ruled guilty or not.

Furthermore - accounting-wsie, that doesn't make any sense. If the transaction doesn't balance out, how is that supposed to affect the ruling or your points? Your points allotted against you in a speeding ticket case has nothing to do with the courts' accounting.

Anyway - that's one of the speeding ticket myths that BeatingTrafficTicket.com covers and explains away.

Another Free PR Service

2005-10-25T21:11:00.000-04:00

I found this new free PR service called PR Leap. Like the previous post on PR resources, this site can be very useful in generating news, buzz, and inbound links to your business.

In fact, I found PR Leap by way of Google Alert. One of their press releases was picked up in the news and Google Alert hooked the press release.

Since PR Leap was not previously listed, I decided it would be good to add as a resource.

Absence & Return of AK Works

2005-10-25T21:05:00.000-04:00

It's been quite some time since the last post on AK Works. The new company has been very busy with work, clients, and consulting.

Coupled with work on ministries and other projects, it has been very hectic. In the next few months, AK Works will be working on a new project taking an old website and revamping it into a small business resource site.

Bargainpanda.com will be a source for information, products, and services for small businesses. There will be information like networking events and free PR resources that small businesses can really use.

Eventually, AK Works will be incorporated into the new site as well as having it's own independent domain.

Keep an eye out for the new site.

New Development at AK Works

2005-08-04T00:51:00.000-04:00

It's been over a month since the last update. The merger of AK Works with Servaunt is complete. We are now one company, pooling our clients together. We now have a full range of services from web development to marketing to graphics and advertising.

This blog will continue to exist as a marketing resource, but will eventually move over to Servaunt's website at www.servaunt.com.

I will update with more information as the project is completed.

Websites Drive Sales Online & Offline for Small Businesses

2005-06-14T00:34:00.000-04:00

A report from Interland's annual Spring 2005 Business Barometer of Small Business Activities revealed some interesting results from small to medium-sized businesses. The survey was a national study on small and medium-sized businesses.

Some nuggets of information include:

On Websites & E-commerce:
Small and medium-sized businesses are profiting from their website through online sales or online marketing influencing offline sales.

24% of businesses say that 26%-100% of their 2004 revenues were generated by online sales or online-marketing-influenced sales offline.
Of those 24%, 42% of them report that at least 26% of monthly sales come from online conversions

On E-mail Marketing:
94% of small and medium-sized businesses report being connected by email. 70% of them believe that email is vital to business operations.

72% use email to communicate with existing customers
53% use email to engage prospective buyers

On Critical Marketing Tactics:
What did small and medium-sized businesses consider to be critical marketing tactics that drives business? It appears to be integrated interactive marketing! A mixture of online and offline marketing, leveraging multiple communication channels, seems to be the most effective marketing strategy in driving business.

55% consider community relations to be critical
47% consider the business website to be critical
31% consider public relations & media coverage to be critical [see my PR post]
direct mail came in at 26%
Yellow Pages advertising came in at 23%, although not specific if that is strictly offline, strictly online, or listing for both
Search engine keywords came in at 18%

This survey shows that websites indeed are useful for all businesses. Websites do not only drive online sales but can influence offline sales.

This survey also shows that email does not have to be spam, but rather serves as a valuable customer retention tool. We can also extrapolate that good customer service can lead to word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing and repeat sales.

What can you come away from this? We've talked about the importance of leveraging your offline marketing and offline image with your online marketing and image. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Search engine optimization is NOT a magic bullet, but at 18%, is still a critical element in a marketing mix.

Utilize all of your communication channels! Maximize your business.

AK Works Returns Again

2005-06-13T19:08:00.000-04:00

It's been over a month since the last entry. I've been busy here with a lot of new things happening at AK Works.

First, I've teamed up with some web designers and developers to form a full-service web agency. We've formed a business syndicate called Servaunt.

Servaunt consists of AK Works, Inspyr Design, and Servaunt - originally a web development and design company. With the syndicate of 3 interactive specialists, we can each focus on our specialty and service our clients better.

Right off the bat, we've been busy with projects, new clients, and new prospects. AK Works will still function as an interactive marketing blog for small businesses.

But now AK Works features the following:

SEO services both local & national
SEO consulting
SEM services & consulting
Intergrated Interactive consulting
Monetizing websites consulting
Consultation & creation of specialized, ROI-driven, results-driven landing pages

I'm excited to be able to offer these services to many of our small business clients. Many of our clients don't have access to this kind of specialized information, don't have the time to hunt and research it all, or aren't even aware of its existence.

With this marketing blog and our forth-coming articles, I will be able to offer more tools, information, knowledge, and resources to other small businesses.

Does Your Small Business Use PR?

2005-05-10T23:07:00.000-04:00

One of the challenges of small businesses is to get attention without paying megabucks for advertising. One of the best ways to get that kind of attention - short of pulling incredible publicity stunts - is to create press releases.

Benefits of Press Releases
A press release does not automatically help you get attention. The press release needs to be published and then it can be picked up by newspapers, journals, and others before you get the attention you want.

One of the online marketing values of press releases is that once published, the press release provides a link to your website and other websites can link to your site or the press release. The benefit is that there is more traffic to your site and can boost your site's popularity and search rankings - which can ultimately result in more business.

A List of PR Resources
A post by SearchEngineWatch forums moderator "mcanerin" lists several PR submission websites that he says he knows are reputable PR resources:

You can create and submit press releases for your company using those resources above. PRWeb has a press release template and tips to help you get started.

Another good PR source, especially for small businesses, is to use your local area chamber of commerce and business associations. These resources have the power and connections to get you local attention which may increase your business andlead to more regional and national press attention.

So what is PR news worthy? Pretty much any news for your company is news worthy. Did you just launch and have an unique angle on your business? Did you secure a new client or new partnership? If it's information that is worth telling to people, outside of your family, it's worth creating a press release.

Google Stops Web Accelerator Downloads

2005-05-10T02:08:00.000-04:00

Quiet as kept, Google stopped downloads for Web Accelerator. Fantomaster broke the news. Notice the quiet disclaimer from Google that they have reached the capacity limit for their users.

Clearly, a combination of the negative buzz surrounding this product and the Google outage on May 7 convinced Google to regroup a little.

If Web Accelerator truly is useful, I hope Google fixes the security flaws. Personally, with the cable modem connection that I currently have, I see no need to use Web Accelerator.

As a personal opinion, it's a good thing I didn't try it. I usually try the new products from Google and Yahoo. I particularly like My Search History and Gmail. But I do too much work online, like banking, to have Web Accelerator mess with my privacy and security.

Hope Google learns from this and fixes the bugs.

One Great Small Business Blog to Read

2005-05-08T01:37:00.000-04:00

John Jantsch runs Duct Tape Marketing, a blog for small businesses. He has great resources and articles on search engine marketing, guerilla marketing, and other topics for small businesses.

He also sells material that he created and wrote. MarketingSherpa, a great marketing research resource, voted Duct Tape Marketing as the best small business blog.

Marketing blogs can get stale, dry, self-righteous, esoteric, or just go off on the deep end and discuss social ethics or try to predict the future. Some ruminate about theoretical stuff - or pontificate about theoretical stuff.

Duct Tape Marketing keeps it based on reality.This is one of my personal favorite reads.

DO NOT USE Google Web Accelerator!

2005-05-07T23:46:00.000-04:00

If you value your personal information and security, do NOT use Google Web Accelerator!

Google recently launched Google Web Accelerator, a tool that is supposed to make web page loading faster. Part of the technology to allow this ability is Google caching websites and loading a cached website on your browser.

Security Flaws with Web Accelerator
Unfortunately, the technology comes with serious security flaws. It tracks all of the pages you visit and caches that information, and acts, in fact, like an ISP. For your information, your ISP has a wealth of information on you such as your passwords. However, your ISP is bound to keep such information private - Google, however, is not! Google Web Accelerator can cache your password information, even your online statements and be able to serve them up.

According to eWeek, Google confirmed on Friday, May 6 that at least 5 websites returned Web Accelerator users cached pages of other people's user names and accounts. Google blames the negative results on websites with improperly coded cache-control headers.

A Storm Over Google Fiasco
Their assessment set off reactions from web developers both positive and negative. A fury of negative reactions have plastered the web since Google lauched Google Web Accelerator. Fantomaster, an internet marketing expert and software developer, has been keeping a comprehensive log on this apparent Google fiasco.

Better Safe Than Sorry
If you value your privacy and online security, it is best for you to NOT install Google Web Accelerator. Whether or not the problem is improperly coded cache-control headers or buggy software design in Google Web Accelerator (the product is still in beta-testing), the risks are too great. Identity theft and other dangers are prevalent enough online - there is no need to involve greater risk.

Until Google perfects the product and relaunchs, it is best for you to NOT install Google Web Accelerator.

[Update]
Searchenginewatch forums have more detailed information about the dangers of Google Web Accelerator.

Check Your Site Logs for Keyword Clues

2005-05-06T00:26:00.000-04:00

One of the "secrets" of professional search optimization specialists is to check the log files of a website. Often SEO specialists do this after their work is done to measure their own results.

But this analysis also works for pre-SEO work. You can learn a lot about how visitors are finding your site based on information from your site logs.

Your site logs can tell you what search terms are bringing people to your site. Often the answers can surprise you but also reveal new opportunities.

Check Your Stats for Clues
One of the best web stats software is AWStats. AWStats is a popular web stats program often included as part of your hosting. You can simply log into your hosting account to check your web stats.

Check your stats for search terms and entry and exit pages. The search terms can often surprise you.

Look for the top search terms that bring visitors to your website. Pay attention to the search phrases, not single search words. Searchers search online in phrases and not single word terms.

Optimize or Create New Pages
Once you have reviewed the top 10 search terms that bring visitors to your site, look for opportunities to optimize pages for those terms.

Not all of the information will be worth value to you. Keep everything in perspective and realize that not all search terms that brought traffic to your site are useful. Look for the terms that you can actually use on your website.

You can optimize your current content copy to reflect the search terms. For example, if you find that your website name is the highest referral term, you may want to optimize your page copy for your website name or web address.
You can create new pages & optimize for those terms. Some terms may be better optimized as a new page. For example, if you sell natural hair care products and you find that visitors get to you by searching for "natural hair care locks", you may want to create a separate page talking about natural haire care products for hair locks.
Some terms may surprise you - if they are useful for your site, either optimize for those terms or create new pages. Any excuse to create new pages that are useful to your visitors is good. It helps build up your site size and it helps make you seem like an authority.

With your web stats, you can find clues and learn how to better service your visitors and what their behavior is like. Ultimately, you will also find clues to help build and improve your site to increase your business.

Synchronize Your Website with Your Offline Ads

2005-05-05T20:42:00.000-04:00

If your business markets and advertises in the local newspapers, coupon mailers, and other ad venues, make sure you match those ads on your website.

Big Businesses Synchronize Ads...
Big businesses have only recently started to pick up on the power of synchronizing their websites with their offline ads and commercials. GoDaddy.com is an example of a business synchronizing their website with their Super Bowl commercial. In the days before the Super Bowl, during and after the Super Bowl, GoDaddy.com witnessed a spike in traffic as people clamoured to see the "GoDaddy Girl".

Another example is the Dove and Pontiac product placement on the hit show The Apprentice which increased web traffic for Dove.com and Pontiac.com.

...Small Businesses Should Too
If the big guys see benefit to synchronizing ads with website content, why not small businesses? Small businesses that advertise in local newspapers, coupon mailers, and other ad spaces, should synchronize their websites with their offline ads.

For small businesses, synchronizing your website content with your offline adveritsing can help increase traffic, increase your business, and increase your marketing ROI.

Consistent Image Reinforces Prospects & Helps Them Remember
If your ads contain your website address, having that same ad on your website builds a consistent image for your business.

The consistent marketing and image reinforces what your prospects sees both online and in the ads. This helps prospects remember your business and website better.

Prospects Want Assurance You Know What You Are Doing
Synchronizing your website with your latest ads also makes your website look very updated and modern.

Remember, prospects who visit your page want to see what you are about. A well maintained and active website demonstrates to them that you know what you are doing. It demonstrates to them that you care enough to put the effort to give them the information they wanted to see from you.

Ultimately, it gives prospects the confidence to do business with you which equals to revenue for you!

Make Sure People Can Find Your Name!

2005-05-05T00:10:00.000-04:00

Does your business have a website? Make sure people can find you by your name! It may seem almost silly but, the truth is people may not always find you by a search for your company name.

In early 2005, Google adjusted their search engine algorithms. This adjustment temporarily threw a lot of site rankings off when searching for the business names of those sites. Prominent search experts like Aaron Wall's SEOBook.com were thrown out of their top ranking spots.

Can Your Site Be Found?
It is almost taken for granted that at minimum, a website ranks for the name of the business or website. It seems logical that a website for CompanyA will show up in a search for "CompanyA". But, the algorithm adjustment revealed a disturbing problem that even the name of a business may not be found in a search engine search!

This is a vulnerability particularly if your business name is "John Smith Plumbing", "Jane Smith Accounting", or "A-1 Roofers". These kinds of names are a dime a dozen and highly common.

How to Make Adjustments!
Make sure your site is optimized for your own business name! Stick to the SEO basics to help keep your site optimized for your business name.

Use H1, H2, or H3 tags for your business name, where appropriate
Use your business name and/or website name in the content copy of your site
Don't keep using "home" to link to the main page - use your business name or website name sometimes as the link "anchor text" to the main page
If you have a physical location with addresses, hours or other contact information, list them throughout the site; it helps serve your readers and helps search engines find you by name.

Local Search Advertising Options for Small Businesses

2005-05-04T23:35:00.000-04:00

One of the hot topics in the search engine marketing industry is local search. Local search is the ability to search for local business listings online - an online phone directory, but through the search engines.

Local search advertising & marketing is still a nascent niche industry. The idea is that local and small businesses will have more targeted and refined online advertising options with local search rather than the more cutthroat national and international search advertising & marketing venue.

There are several different options available for small businesses and we'll take a look at a few available.

Search Engine Local Listings: Both Google and Yahoo have prominent local search indexes that are free to submit for indexing. Yahoo even offers local businesses a free listing plus free 5-page website. Google requires you to have a Google account. You can open one for local listing or use a Gmail or Adsense.
Paid Search Engine Listings: Yahoo Local offers paid advertising options that let you paid your way to the top spot in local search listings. So for example, if you wanted to be the top Mover in your local market and you know there are several other moving companies you compete with, if you can pay it, you can be the top listing in a local search. Google offers paid listings through AdSense only.
Paid Listings in Online Phone Directories: You can also pay your way into a listing on YellowBook.com, YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, and other online versions of printed phone directories.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising: Text-based advertising where you pay only when someone clicks on your sponsored ad. In Yahoo and Google, you can set the geography that you want to target your advertising, so when someone searches for your industry by geography, your ad shows up. Costs per click can be as low as 1 cent, or even upwards of over $100 per click, depending on how competitive the market is. Yahoo & Google currently reign as kings of PPC advertising. Other smaller sites include Kanoodle and Mamma to name a few.
Pay-Per-Call Advertising: Pay when someone calls a special #800 to reach your business. This is the newest form of advertising targeted specifically for the local business who does a lot of business by phone. The idea is when someone does a local search and sees your business's listing, they call a special #800 that is specific to your company and to your company's listing. When they call, you close the sale over the phone. This is much more expensive than pay-per-click, starting at $2 per call. However, the frequency of volume would be lower than pay-per-click. AOL and Findwhat are the major publishers of pay-per-call advertising.

These are just some of the exciting search engine advertising options for local and small businesses.

Creative Guerilla Marketing for Small Businesses

2005-05-01T00:55:00.000-04:00

Small businesses often have the opportunity and flexibility to be creative in guerrilla advertising. While most of the time this creativity is driven out of necessity for lack of advertising funds, it can also be very rewarding.

John Jantsch of Ducttapemarketing.com wrote a post about a plumber in his hometown who created yardsigns during the last election and convinced customers to put them on their lawns. The signs read "Bob Hamilton for Plumber".

This is a creative and amusing tactic and probably generated enough buzz that a short article was written in the town newspaper.

Now imagine if your small business could do something like Bob only better? A small business website can open several marketing and publicity opportunities that translate into increased business.

Putting a sign in high traffic, highly visible areas could be a good way to advertise. It would, in fact, be a scaled down version of billboard advertising. To maximize this space, you need to make it easy for a driving passerby to quickly get the idea of what your service is.

You need to tell them:

Your name or Company name
What you do (plumbing, roofing, masonry, catering, mortgages, etc.)
Phone number
Website

Be sure to mention and advertise your website on these signs. Why?

Advertise Your Website!
Why be sure to advertise your website? What is easier to remember when you drive by a sign: a phone number or web address?

If your sign impressed the passerby, he or she will remember the website a lot easier than a series of numbers. By making it easy for your prospects to remember and reach you, you increase your chances of ROI on these lawnsign advertising.

This is the power of small businesses with websites - multiple forms of communications to prospects and existing customers!

AK Works Returns

2005-04-29T05:51:00.000-04:00

AK Works took a break from publishing this blog but now we're back!

Since our last post, the interactive marketing industry has been very active with Yahoo and Google pumping out new products almost neck to neck.

Saved Search Histories
Google came out with My Search History and a week later Yahoo came out with My Web. Both are versions of saved search histories which saves your searches as you surf the Internet. In essence, instead of bookmarking your favorite sites, Google or Yahoo can save it automatically for you.

Ads in RSS, XML Feeds, and More!
Google also made news with a new AdSense beta-test: AdSense in RSS feeds! Currently in testing with only 1 site, Google is testing if AdSense can work in RSS feeds at Longhornblogs.com. Unlike previous tests by Google competitors, this test includes the ad within the post, not in a separate ad-only posts.

Yahoo has already been experimenting with RSS ads and earlier this year, Kanoodle and Moreover teamed up to offer RSS ads.

Contextual Image Ads
Google and Yahoo continued head-to-head competition by announcing new contextual image ads testing. Google's plan allow advertisers to choose publishers for ad placement. While some feel this option will be great for advertisers, there are already detractors who say advertisers can go directly to the publishers themselves and cut out the middleman - Google.

Introducing AK Works

2005-03-31T20:08:00.000-05:00

AK Works offers combined web design and interactive & integrated marketing services.

AK Works specializes in working with small businesses. In particular, AK Works helps small or local businesses:

start and develop a website
build, promote, and market an existing website
integrate offline and online marketing campaigns
refine existing marketing campaigns
redevelop & optimize existing websites with marketing-oriented development

AK Works offers marketing services like:

marketing-optimized web design
search engine marketing & advertising
search engine optimization
local search engine optimization
integrated online & offline marketing

AK Works offers comprehensive marketing and site development packages for small businesses and startups, as well as interactive marketing consulting for established and medium-sized businesses.

My name is Al Kao. My callsign in the interactive marketing world is "Cryptblade". I am active in WebProWorld and Search Engine Watch, as well as SEO Chat, Highrankings.com, and WebMasterWorld.

As a site developer and interactive marketer, I have been developing sites for clients and my own properties.

My portfolio of sites feature local search engine optimization & marketing, on-going search engine optimization, content creation & management, and interactive marketing & client-retention management consulting.